I’m in the middle of a house move that is taking forever to finalise. At the new pad I was intending to install network cabling and ethernet ports in each room, as in the past I’ve found that WiFi connections just aren’t good enough to stream HD video.

However, I’ve been reading up on new 802.11n 5GHz wireless routers and I think it might be time for me to give WiFi another chance. Rather than using the already congested 2.4GHz band like early 802.11n routers, these advanced routers are able to unlock their full potential by using the less congested 5GHz.

Going WiFi has its attractions, particularly when I don’t fancy spending a weekend running lengthy CAT6 wires between rooms. I’ve got my eye on the D-Link DIR-855 which is coming out in May. The DIR-855 is actually a dualband router and outputs 2.4GHz & 5GHz wireless signals at the same time. The beauty of this is you can use the slower 2.4GHz network to surf the web and for visitors to connect to, with the faster 5GHz network saved for streaming HD content. In tests, the DIR-855 has been able to stream two 1080p videos at the same time and if this is true, this will more than meet my requirements.

The D-Link DIR-855 also features strong QoS which will be important as in the new pad, I’m not going to install a fixed line phone as it’s going to cost me a ridiculous £120 to install the phone line. I refuse to pay this amount, particularly when this money can pay for more than 10,000 inclusive minutes with the excellent Voipfone, which includes international minutes. I will also save money with Voipfone as I can route my Mobile calls via the VOIP line (once I work out how to do it!).

What wireless network/router are you currently running? Have you found the performance to be disappointing? Are you planning on upgrading to 802.11n this year?