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The installation process also includes the install of D-Link's Wireless Connection Manager. I typically don’t like third-party wireless managers sitting on top of the Windows native wireless management because the utility usually makes adjusting any settings through Windows Network and Sharing interface useless. D-Link's utility did not prevent me from using Windows wireless networking settings, though.
The utility displays all wireless networks in proximity. You can connect to a network through the manager and it shows signal strength, the channel the network is on and whether the network is secured or not. I like the fact that it shows percentage of signal strength and the channel the wireless network is operating on, information that Windows does not show natively.
Networks you connect to most frequently are listed in the utility under My Wireless Networks with battery such as IBM ThinkPad T40 Battery, IBM ThinkPad T43 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R50 Battery, IBM ThinkPad R51 Battery, IBM FRU 08K8193 Battery, IBM 92P1060 Battery, IBM 08K8214 Battery, IBM 08K8195 Battery, IBM 08K8193 Battery, IBM 08K8192 Battery, IBM 92P1101 Battery, Lenovo IdeaPad Y450 Battery, and there's a quick link to D-Link support. The utility is not necessary to use, but it does provide a bit more insight into a wireless networks than the operating system alone.
I was disappointed with performance. I did not see anywhere near the speeds vendors are claiming about 802.11ac, and just a sight bump in performance in 5 GHz 802.11ac mode. Below is a table comparing throughput testing D-Link's DIR-865L router using a standard 802.11n 3xe3 wireless adapter versus the DWA-182 in Mixed 11ac mode:
802.11n testing was performed with an HP Elitebook with an integrated Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN wirelessly connected to the DIR-865L; a Windows server machine with a Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet card connected to a LAN port on the DIR-865L and Ixia's IxChariot throughput script.
11ac testing was performed with the same equipment and script but for the exception: the Intel Centrino wireless adapter was disabled on the Elitebook and the DWA-182 adapter installed.
My testing environment has lots of RF interference, and I never see in actual testing the theoretical throughput speeds that vendors put on the packaging of wireless networking products—nor do I ever expect to. Still, I expected better throughput than the numbers in the chart from the DWA-182.
All of the makers of network hardware are rushing to get pre-draft 802.11ac technology to market and I think it's a waste at this point for the consumer. This includes the DWA-182. I'm just not seeing throughput from any of the products that nears the faster-than-Gigabit Ethernet speeds 11ac is supposed to deliver. This doesn't mean we won't see those speeds in the future, and the near future—we will. But robust 11ac isn't here yet. Unless you have just got to have an early 11ac adopter, the DWA-182 is for you—mainly because it's the only USB wireless adapter available. However, with no performance gains over 802.11n, I don’t see a use-case for this adapter for most wireless router owners. I'm also troubled by the inability of the adapter to connect to router that is not D-Link's. The DWA-182 earns 2.5 stars thanks mainly to easy setup and a cool wireless utility manager.