D-Link Amplifi Access Point/MediaBridge (DAP-1525) Wireless N300, SmartBeam Coverage, Dual-Band, Gigabit D-Link Amplifi Access Point/MediaBridge (DAP-1525) Wireless N300, SmartBeam Coverage, Dual-Band, Gigabit

Pros: Sigh. Good idea? Like the design. Can act as a bridge or WAP. That's about it, barely worth two stars for that.

Cons: Where do I begin? It's supposed to be a range extender, but at 10 ft from it I barely get a 'good' signal. That's no walls between, just me 10 feet away. Right now, it's about half as far from me as the main AP is, but I am connecting to the main AP! This morning (it does this regularly) it decides it does not want to WPS to the main AP and I have to go through the whole re-paring bit, complete with dragging it into the back bedroom and all the button pressing and sprinkling with pixie dust to get it to work again. I give up. I am in the market again for another AP.

Other Thoughts: If Dlink had delivered what they wrote on the box they would have something. But it's too weak, too finicky, oh-and did I mention that the instructions are just about worthless? Sorry Dlink, nix the WPS and call it a basic AP for really small apartments and you would have something there...

Pros: The Wi-Fi Booster has not only been engineered to deliver seamless connectivity to your favorite wireless devices, but comes equipped with 4 high-performance Gigabit Ethernet ports to power your digital entertainment system as well. HDTVs, the Boxee Box by D-Link, Blu-Ray Players, xBox® 360®, Playstation 3 –Connect your favorite performance devices and give them the 300 Mbps speed and advanced QoS bandwidth prioritization they need for seamless iPad® HD video streams, high-performance gaming, and VOIP calls without annoying glitches or lags. Connect Printers, NAS servers - even security cameras - with the Wi-Fi Booster you can even connect up to 4 additional Ethernet devices with no additional configuration - just plug and play.

Cons: yes

Pros: I found the setup to be fairly straightforward. The quickstart guide tells you the pre-set IP address and login information. (Would have been better if this were simply placed on the bottom of the AP itself.) Once logged in it was quick and painless to configure all the settings. (My use is strictly as a 5 GHz N AP.) I plan on mostly using this in one small area, so range is not much of an issue.

In a quick impromptu test I copied a Wave file from my gigabit network drive through this access point. With my old router I would max out at 2 MBps. This unit seems to average 11 MBps (megaBytes, not bits). That's fairly close to wired Fast Ethernet speed.

Cons: The only con I can think of is price, but if it lasts as long as my old router and performs this well all the time I'll be pleased. Crossing my fingers.

Other Thoughts: I spent days trying to find a replacement router for my old WRT-54G that would be the cream of the crop. Any time I got close to finding something it was shot down with one shortcoming or another, whether it be lack of features, restrictions or reliability.

I finally just decided to get a simple access point. This is the only one I found that not only sounded promising but also has the perfect feature set for me. It pairs with my old router perfectly.

Pros: You can easily add a 2.4 or 5 Ghz 11n network if you don't already have one. It will work fine as a bridge on an existing network.

Cons: The device does not work so well as the thing that is supposed to distinguish it. It does not boost my network range or strength one bit. None. It's also difficult to figure it how to set it up as a booster. For a standard AP or Bridge, it's not a problem.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to extend the range and strength of an existing 5 Ghz 11n network. After fumbling a bit on the setup (the manual doesn't specifically include booster setup, just AP and Bridge) I realized it just needed to be an AP with the same SSID, preferably using WPS. Once I got that figured out, I used inSSIDer software to determine that the DAP-1525 has lower signal strength at every point in my house than my existing DGL-4500. As a result, nothing chooses to connect to it. Why bother? I'm giving it two stars because it would work as standard AP or Bridge if that is what you need. D-Link should stop calling it a booster.

Pros: Excellent options, quality, and ease of use.

Cons: None that I have found so far.

Other Thoughts: The documentation and manual is not great. I am still confused as to what some of the buttons/lights on the front do/signify. I understand the information for these is probably in a part of the manual I have not seen but on something like this hardware LEDs and buttons should be explained on the box due to the central role they play.

The CD seems to be little more than a digital version of the manual. I'm glad it came with the device even though I'll probably never use it.

On a final note it can take some time to establish a connection with certain routers in bridge mode so be patient. Once it latches on though it seems to be rock solid.