WL-550gE (Encore) vs. WL-500g Deluxe

[Les Wire]

WL-550gE (Encore) http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...96&modelmenu=1
WL-500g Deluxe http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...59&modelmenu=1

I haven't seen Asus WL-550gE (Encore) mentioned in this forum before, I tried to search the forum for "WL-550gE" but with no hits.

What are the differencies between these two routers?

It seems this feature is only on WL-550gE:
Broad Range - Triple signal coverage range of 802.11g standard
With Broadcom's latest BroadRange technology, the WL-550gE leveraged advanced digital signal processing to deliver the highest signal sensitivity and enhance coverage range by 300%

But are there other differencies and which router should i buy?
I can buy both models at my local Danish computer store: http://shg.dk/produkter/list2.asp?katid=5880#6342 for almost the same price. I would guess WL-550gE is better than WL-500g Deluxe since it's newer?
Why haven't anyone mentioned WL-550gE in this forum before, is it so new?

Thanks in advance

[Oleg]

550gE does not have a USB/LPT and has 16MB of RAM only. It's based on the BCM5352E CPU.
It's not better, it's different. As for extended range - it looks like a marketing thing...

Buy wl500g Deluxe instead.

[wtzm]

550gE does not have a USB

At least no external USB ports...
Have you already taken a look at the FCC internal photos, page 3? There is an unpopulated header with the familiar caption "GND D1+ D1- 5V+" and "GND D2+ D2- 5V+" next to the serial ports and GPIO (?) header.

[Les Wire]

Thanks Oleg,

This answered my question, I will probably buy the WL-500G Deluxe then.
Somehow I missed the fact that WL-550gE has no USB ports, when I compared the two routers.
The USB ports is the main reason I want to buy the Asus router in the first place, instead of for example Linksys WRT54G or other similar routers.
I think UBS ports is the main selling point of this router compared to for example Linksys.

[Les Wire]

At least no external USB ports...
Have you already taken a look at the FCC internal photos, page 3? There is an unpopulated header with the familiar caption "GND D1+ D1- 5V+" and "GND D2+ D2- 5V+" next to the serial ports and GPIO (?) header.

Yeah you're right, does anybody know if the internal 2-port USB header is supported in the firmware too?

FCC documentation:
WL-550gE (Encore)
WL-500gD (Deluxe)
WL-500g

[Oleg]

WL-550gE is not supported by custom firmware at the moment. There is no problems in using internal (USB 1.1) ports. WL500g Deluxe has USB 2.0, which doubles performance.