Product Description

The D-Link Xtreme N Duo USB Adapter (DWA-160) is the latest addition to the award-winning Xtreme N product family. The DWA-160 is designed for users looking to get a reliable wireless connection that can handle High-Definition (HD) video streams throughout the house. This is achieved by using the DWA-160 together with a draft 802.11n dual band router.The Duo technology in the DWA-160 supports selectable dual band (2.4GHz or 5GHz) wireless signals. This allows you to check e-mail and browse the Internet using the 2.4GHz band or stream HD movies and other media on the 5GHz band. The DWA-160 is also backward compatible, which means it can be used in existing 802.11g networks.

Product Details

• Color: blackwhite
• Brand: D-Link
• Model: DWA-160
• Original language: English, French
• Dimensions: .51" h x 1.50" w x 3.46" l, 3.00 pounds
• Networking: Hi-Speed USB

Features

• The Duo technology in the DWA-160 supports selectable dualband (2.4GHz or 5GHz) wireless signals.
• The DWA-160 utilizes MediaBand (5GHz), which is the best technology available for wirelessly streaming HD videos across your network
• D-Linkâ¿¿s Quick Adapter Setup Wizard guides you step-by-step through the installation process
• Delivers up to 14x faster speeds* and 6x farther range* than 802.11g
• Xtreme N Duo is the latest addition to the award-winning Xtreme N product family

Customer Reviews

Great Adapter
I bought this adapter (Rev. B1) because I was only getting 65 Mbps on my Acer 8930 laptop (Vista Home Premium 64 bit) with my Intel 5100 Wireless Card a/g/n via my Netgear WNR2000 N Router. Installation was simple and only took a few minutes. I discarded the CD and loaded firmware 2.2 from D-Links site. I then was prompted to insert the adapter into a USB port. After a couple of minutes, I was prompted to enter my SSID and Password. Bingo. Now I get a consistent 270 Mbps, with a very strong signal.

D-Link would like you to think that you only get the fastest wireless speeds if you use this adapter with one of their Routers. But I found that this adapter works great with my Netgear WNR2000 Router.

Make sure you get the Rev. B1 model (not Rev. A1)

DWA-160 didn't work for me with XP
Very few electronic products that I buy make me regret purchasing the item once I start using them. This DWA-160 is one of them though. I am returning this beast to the Circuit City today.

My computer that I am using it on is a Windows XP, when I called support with my issues they attempted to get me straigthened out, but either due to software issues or something else this unit didn't work well for me. I had been happily using my DWL-G132 Super G usb adapter but I wanted to match my new DIR-655 wireless n router up with a new 'N' usb device. I didn't have a problem one with the DWL-G132 which I've been using for a couple years faithfully now.


My problem hinged around after I got the DWA-160 connected using WPA, when I logged off and then my Mrs. signed on to her account on our Win XP SP2 machine, it would cause the DWA-160 to search for a connection, and broke my connection as well. I tried 5 hours of trouble shooting every configuration I could think of and two service calls to Dlink and threw in the towel. I uninstalled the DWA-160 and reboxed it, and then reinstalled my DWL-g132 super g usb and within a couple minutes was back up and running with no problems using my DIR-655 N Router, this DWA-160 didn't work at all for me.

Unusual Design But Works OK
I received this adapter with a DLINK N router. I found it to work fairly well, although I could not test the speed due to my laptop limitations. Note that you should use this with the DLINK routers, since the "N" wireless standard is not yet, well, standardized. Also, this adapter has special speed capabilities when paired with a corresponding DLINK router.

The adapter has a very unusual configuration. It comes with a USB cable that terminates in what looks like a wireless transmitter, but in fact is the base station for the actuall transmitter (which is pictured here). I suppose this allows one to get better reception, but it looks strange. The "antenna" portion has a removable cap, which is the black part pictured above.

The instructions said to run the install wizard, which I did. This is not unusual. However, these wizards usually just install the drivers, and then Windows (I'm using XP) recognizes the adaptor when it is inserted. Instead, the wizard said to connect the adapter about 1/2 way through the install process. It then connected to my home network, including my typing in the security codes. The only problem is that once the wizard was finished, I had no connectivity. I rebooted my machine and used the Windows XP connection manager to scan for and connect to my network. After that it worked fine.

I had my laptop only about 20 feet from the base station, and I only had 4 bars reception, so I'm not sure how well this adaptor will fulfill the long range requirement.

For newer laptops with USB 2.0, this adaptor may work pretty well, but the unusual base station requires a lot of room in the laptop case. A PC-Card is much slimmer and easier to fit into that case. So I think that this adapter is best reserved for those with lots of room in their laptop case, or for desktop users who have the corresponding DLINK router.