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It's been about a year since the debut of dual-band routers, those that support both the ever-popularly used 2.4Ghz and the newer, less busy 5Ghz frequencies. This was very exciting news at first, but after having worked with a few of them, I wonder if they are really worth it.

Just like AT&T cell service, a wireless LAN can be unreliable at times.

(Credit: Dell)

If you turn on a wireless network scan in a neighborhood of a big city (like where we are right now in downtown San Francisco), chances are you'll find multiple existing wireless networks.

Wireless routers are so popular now. Up till about a year ago, they all operated in the 2.4ghz frequency, which is shared by many other home appliances, such cordless phones or Bluetooth devices. This, in crowded areas, could potentially create interference that adversely affects your wireless network's performance.

This is the main reason why wireless networking vendors have turned to the cleaner 5Ghz frequency, thus the birth of dual-band routers, such as the Linksys WRT 610N or the D-Link DIR 855.

For you to take advantage of the 5Ghz frequency, the receivers (client machines/adapters) also needs to support this frequency. Most of the existing wireless adapters, however, are made to support only the 2.4Ghz. For this reason, the new routers that support the 5Ghz frequency are generally those that can also support the 2.4Ghz, in most case, simultaneously.

And that is all good. What is not, however, is the problem I have found in all of the dual-band routers I've worked with: the range of the 5Ghz frequency is shorter than that of the 2.4Ghz frequency. Often, the 5Ghz throughput performance is not much faster that of the 2.4Ghz, either.

Also, though the dual-band routers have been out there for a year, there are still very few adapters/clients that support the 5Ghz frequency. And those that do tend to also support the 2.4Ghz frequency. This means, it doesn't matter how much you want it; so far the 5Ghz frequency has been more of an option than a transition.

I find this very much like the ongoing change from the 32-bit Windows operating system to the 64-bit one. As the 64-bit Windows supports 32-bit software applications and there aren't many 64-bit-only software applications, there aren't that many compelling reasons to switch. After a while, your excitement wanes and you wonder why you should even worry about the 64-bit OS at all.

One more thing: Wireless-N routers' radio spectrum consists of 11 channels. This means if they are all set up to use one channel each, there needs to be 12 or more routers/access points in an area to create a considerable amount of interference. Most Wireless-N routers offer the option of scanning and picking the unused channel by themselves.

When it comes to wireless routers, the two most important factors are range and throughput performance. Personally, I find that 2.4Ghz Wireless-N routers are still the best for this. Case in point: our only Editors' Choice award for wireless routers this year is the Belkin N+, a router that doesn't offer any 5Ghz support at all.

Last but not least, 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz, wireless networking to me has always been a mystery. With the same router, it works differently from one location to another, from one Internet service to another, and so on. There are so many unknown factors that could affect your wireless signal.

The only way to ensure the consistency of a LAN is relying on something you can put your finger on. This is where the network cable or a pair of powerline adapters come into play.

Bearing the same futuristic, compact design, the WRT610N is slightly larger than the previous models of the same design.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Linksys announced its latest router today, the WRT610N, and it might just be the first router that offers everything you would want and then some.

First off, it's a true dual-band wireless router. This is important because I've run into not-so-true dual-band wireless routers before, like the D-Link DGL-4500 or the Netgear WNDR3300. The D-Link can only work in either 2.4Ghz frequency or 5ghz frequency at a time making it not so much of a dual-band router. The Netgear, on the other hand, can work in both frequencies at time, however, in dual-band mode only its 5Ghz frequency access point offers Draft N 2.0 performance, while the 2.4Ghz access point works at the old school 802.11g speed (maxed out at 54 Mbps). The Linksys WRT610N is the first I've got my hands on that offers simultaneous Draft N 2.0 dual-band. It has two separate Wireless-N access points, one uses the 2.4Ghz frequency while the other uses the 5Ghz frequency, and both can be set to operate at the same time.

The WRT610N comes fully loaded with gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port for its network storage capability

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Bearing the same sleek, internal antenna design as previous model the WRT310N and WRT110, the WRT610N has a slightly larger footprint, though overall still very compact. The little increment in size allows for a better ventilation solution, presumably to address the heat issue that I noticed in the WRT310N. The biggest improvement of the WRT610N, apart from the dual-band feature, is its USB port on the back. This port when hosts an external hard drive turns the WRT610N into a full feature network attached storage device that supports FTP server and UPnP Media Server. The router also supports high-speed wired connection with all of its ports being gigabit-capable.

The WRT610N comes with Linksys popular Linksys EasyLink adviser (LELA) software for both PC and Mac. It supports WiFi Protected Setup for quickly adding wireless clients to the network. Most impressively, it's also Linksys's attempts into "green" tech. The device is mostly made of recycled materials. For this reason, the WRT610N bears the Energy Star certification and cost only only $149, a great deal for such high-end router.

Now that's probably more than most of you would look for in a router. For me, though, I am not entirely satisfied. First, the WRT610N doesn't have a built-in print server. And secondly, I really wish they had chosen a better name for it. The device's official full name is "Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router WRT610N," and calling that a mouthful is a gross understatement. Try saying it and you will agree!

The Netgear WNDR3300 can operate in 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies simultaneously.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Ever since the review of the D-Link DGL-4500, a Draft N 2.0 router can operate in ether 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequencies, I've been anticipating the day when I can get my hands on a router that can operate in both frequencies simultaneously. Today is that day.

The WNDR3300 bears the same look as that of others in Netgear's RangeMax series. The router has a sleek casing and a big round button that glitters blue light when the router is at work.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Out of the blue, I just received the RangMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router WNDR3300 from Netgear. The router looks very much like others in Netgear's RangeMax series with the sleek casing (that attracts fingerprints very easily) and the round, big button on top that glows blue light when the router is at work. However, this is the first router I've received so far that's capable of operating in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz at the same time.

For a long time, most routers (both Wireless-G and Draft N) have been made to operate in the 2.4GHz frequency. With the proliferation of the wireless networking in the last couple of years, chances are there might be a few working right now in your vicinity. On top of that, other home electronics such as cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, and so on also use this 2.4GHz frequency to transmit their radio signal. This results in the fact that the 2.4GHz spectrum is getting more and more crowded and interference (or noise) is inevitable. In this kind of environment, the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks' signal and stability are prone to degrade. Moving to 5GHz would solve this problem by tapping into an unused radio spectrum. However, for this to work, both the access point (included in all wireless routers) and the Wi-Fi clients of the wireless network have to support this frequency. Since there are so many existing 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapters, the only way to guarantee the backward compatibility is having a router that works with both and at the same time. And the Netgear WNDR3300 is the first one I've seen so far that fits in these criteria, though not quite exactly the way I thought it should be.

In dual-band mode, the Netgear WNDR3300m, unfortunately, allows for max 2.4GHz throughput of up to only 54Mbps.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

To my disappointment, the Netgear WNDR3300 doesn't really offer Dual-Band Draft N 2.0 but rather a dual access point, one being the regular Wireless-G (2.4GHz only) and the other is the Draflt N 2.0 that can be set to operate in either 5GHz or 2.4GHz frequency. This means when working in dual-band mode, the router only allows for max 2.4GHz throughput of up to only 54Mbps (as opposed to 270Mbps if it works in 2.4GHz only mode). While this is not the kind of Dual-Band I was looking for, it is still the first router that supports 5GHz adapters without leaving out the 2.4GHz crowd. The Netgear WNDR3300 is also a simple router. It offers Wi-Fi Protected Setup (which is nice, but rather standard now with almost all new routers), but doesn't even have Gigabit Ethernet. It has no USB port, which means no print serving or any other USB-related features, either.

You can get the Netgear WNDR3300 now for about $100, which seems like a good deal, considering its intuitive web-interface, sleek internal antenna design, decent networking feature set and the capability of working with both 5GHz and 2.4GHhz Wi-Fi adapters simultaneously.