Posted 01/25/08 at 07:00:43 PM | by Michael Brown
Considering how hostile the double-walled, double-insulated media room at Maximum PC Lab North has been to wireless routers, we were pleasantly surprised at how well the Linksys DMA2200 performed. It's the first media streamer we've tested that supports 802.11n (using either the 2.4- or 5GHz radio bands, no less), and we were impressed with how well it performs (Linksys' dual-band router, the WRT600N earned a 9 Kick Ass verdict in our April 2008 issue).
A lot of people will want to stash the their Media Center extender inside their entertainment center. When we did that with the DMA2200, we immediately ran into trouble streaming high-definition video to the device over a wireless connection--even though we were using a 5GHz 802.11n router.
We had much better luck reaching the DMA2200 when we moved it into a more open area of the entertainment center. Even here, however, we encountered difficulties streaming video that contained a 5.1-channel audio track. If you intend to plant your media center extender in a cabinet, you might find that a hard-wired connection is required for best results. (We tested the DMA2200 using Viewsonics' 42-inch LCD television, model N4285p.)
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Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/linksys_dma2200_media_center_extender
[2] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/linksys_wrt600n_dual_band_wi_fi_router
[3] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/linksys_goes_dual_band
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/next_gen_media_center_extenders_to_use_802_11n
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/Linksys-Wireless-N-WRT300N-Ver--1