D-Link DIR-655 Extreme-N Gigabit Wireless Router
by D-Link Systems, Inc.
|
List Price: Our Price: $73.99 You Save: $51.00 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $45.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of D-Link DIR-655 Extreme-N Gigabit Wireless Router
Customer Review: Good product but useless tech support (ip address issue)
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my fourth router purchase. I originally had a SMC Barricade for about 7 years. When it started dropping connection 1-2 times a day, I replaced it with a Netgear WGT624 108mbps router which worked but slower. A few weeks ago I purchased a Belkin N router thinking it had better compatability than the Dlink DIR 655 alternate choice in order to improve the speed. The Belkin was terrible. It ignored the password I tried to add and the speed was not improved from my old Netgear. Tech support was no help when I lost several computers off the network after I had tried to implement wireless security. So I bought the Dlink DIR 655 for about $20 more. Right away it seems a more robust router with the gigabit switch and it was backwards comptatible with my b hardwired computers and my g bridge. I don't use wireless yet so that will be for future functionality.
I did lose the view of several computers on my network and had to call tech support on 3- 4 occasions. What a waste of time. I have in the past gotten excellent network configuration guidance from Linksys (on my WAP 54G wireless access points- I also called them but my WAP are out of warranty- over 5 years; so that is fair, although the new reviews for Linksys products indicate that their tech support quality is much lower these days; part of the reason I considered Dlink).
The Dlink tech support is totally useless. After long waits, automated phone menu you get an offshore tech support person who is poorly trained. The extent of the advice you get is to stick a paper clip in the reset hole and once you get internet access on one cpu, they feel their job is done and they proceed to tell you that that is all the support they are trained/authorized to provide you. Never mind that you lost the view of half of your network and your shared computers resources no longer work.
I finally figured it out for myself. I recalled when I had my network set up at some point the ip addresses on the workstations were static assigned. Those I had to change when the new interim routers were installed to automatically assign ip addresses. The problem with the dlink was their gateway default router address is 192.168.0.1 while my previous router was 192.168.2.1. Once I went into the admin login for the dlink and changed the gateway router address to 192.168.2.1 and the range to 192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.99 and rebooted my workstations, every computer is seen by the router and can get to the internet thru the cable modem attached to the router. I am still having issues with some of the workstations accessing the shared resources on the 2nd workgroup (access permission error message) but I am much closer to getting back to the way things were. This all took 3 full days and late nights and I am debating whether fixing something that wasn't broken was worth it or if it was a comfort to know that if it didn't work I could always go back to the old slow Netgear. Anyway, thanks to the good product reviews on Amazon for this product. I am pleased with my purchase. Just be warned, it can take a bit of tweaking and searching on the web to make it work.
Customer Review: Alright... Some issues so far though...
Summary: 3 Stars
The 655 was chosen for it's decent reviews, gigabit ports, and wireless functionality. However, so far I keep on having constant disconnects with my laptop and my cell phone regardless of usage. The firmware is the latest 2.0NA and the router is within 10 feet without obstruction to both devices... Both disconnect at the same time, which means theres something wrong with the router rather than both devices at the same time. Wired desktop works properly though. The router itself doesn't crash, and the switch functions as it does, just the wireless part restarts.
Have tried changing various settings without success including N only, mixed modes, power settings, channels, security modes, etc.
... May end up returning.
EDIT (1 month later) : After getting a replacement all issues regarding the disconnects are gone. Seems like it was a defective product that actually worked relatively well.
- Easy like before to install, literally running within 3 minutes of opening the box. I spent more time organizing the cables then setting up the router (along with wireless clients).
- Tried the shareport function, for plugging in a usb drive you are required to install its program which then connects to the drive. Not as well implemented as other devices, but at this price, at least it offers it.
- Hasn't crashed since I received it (nearly 2 weeks +) with all sorts of traffic (streaming, P2P, gaming, multiple clients, VOIP) usually used across multiple computers and cell phones.
- Definately not very warm to touch (but ambient temperature is roughly 14~17c here), doesn't seem to or will ever have heat issues.
- I'm not so sure about whether the QoS/traffic shaping function works all that well, I'm experimenting with it on and off but haven't come to any conclusions yet.
- Web interface is okay, for most users, the wizards are fine. Some descriptions could need some work on them but otherwise it is relatively easy to use.
- Probably the best price for its class. There aren't many comparable models with this kind of features/performance at this price. Notably gigabit features (my primary buying aspect) and its pretty solid overall wireless performance. I'm pretty happy that I choose for a replacement instead of having to try out other kinds of (most more expensive) routers, which all may have their own sorts of faults.
I would suggest people to try asking for help if they really can't setup this router, or find a friend or professional. Its performance is decent (transfered some files today from wired->wireless) but wireless will never beat cable in latency, transfer rates, or stability, its just not possible (at least for consumers and this price) so don't expect it to. I'm overall happy with it, and recommend people to check it out if they are stuck on a decision. If you have some random issues, just return/replace/RMA it, most likely you'll have a defective product like I did even though most functions are 100% operational.
Customer Review: Lots of features, stable, fast, easy to set up.
Summary: 5 Stars
Preface: I've been working in information technology business for 10 years. I've been a technology hobbyist for 16 or more years... I've always had a bit of a "bad taste" in my mouth for D-link after much of their equipment failed or had compatibility issues with other manufactures. This router changed all that.
Packaging: Excellent. Protected the equipment but wasn't wasteful.
Setup: I had a Linksys WRT54G and wanted to go to Wireless N for large file transfers and HD content streaming. I promptly ignored the "run CD before installing router" stickers and removed my old router. Plugged into one of the ports and went to 192.168.0.1 from my desktop's browser. The router displayed the log-in screen but I couldn't log in after repeated attempts (UN "Admin" and PW blank by default). Turns out it was something with Firefox (which has been admittedly buggy since I went to the newest beta release). It worked just fine in IE. Set up was a breeze with my cable modem. I used the manual process but you can choose to use setup wizards for internet settings, LAN and wireless LAN settings. The firmware seems solid and the interface is intuitive, even to a long time Cisco/Linksys guy.
Performance: Excellent. There are many detailed performance reviews online and I've been pleasantly surprised how well it performs in my mixed environment. I highly recommend it- even if you are a long time Linksys user. I love their B and G products, but the Linksys wireless-N routers I've used have been sub-par at best. This unit and the Apple AirPort Extreme are the only two N routers I've been impressed with. Either one is a solid buy. This one costs a little less and outperforms the Apple unit at close distances. The AirPort Extreme is more consistent and performs better/faster if you have any devices that are a good distance from the router. Read more online if this is a concern for you. My devices are all within 20 yards of my router so it was not a factor for me.
Suggestions: Use IE to interface with the router, Firefox (could just be a beta thing) didn't work with it (although it was listed as supported in the docs). Of course Firefox works just fine as a browser after the setup is complete, I just couldn't get it to actually log in to the router. I didn't test Opera. Download the latest firmware from D-link and install it before you bother configuring your new router, it will save you a few minutes. The firmware I updated to erased all my settings (which is not at all uncommon) and some of them transfer when you backup/restore, others don't.
Conclusion: For the money, it's by far the best cost/value in wireless-N routers at the moment. That can easily change before I can hit publish on this review, but at this time (April '08) only the AirPort Extreme rivals it. So check out both of them, even if you're not an Apple fan, the AirPort is a great unit as well. Also, FYI- I hear that D-link's support is horrible but I haven't needed to call so that's just hearsay.
Customer Review: Very bad software
Summary: 1 Stars
D-Link seem to have somehow relisted this device to get round the hundreds of previous reviews, so here's my experience. As of 11/2/10 I have to disable SecurePoint on a regular basis, so the last software I was able to load still sends my URLs to a third party I never signed up with. Surely that's illegal? D-Link threatened consumers for talking about it on their forums.
EDIT: As of around 3/3/10 the SecurePoint system keeps switching on and blocking all access. D-Link people have been abusive to irritated users on their forums. I have not been impressed to find that this system has, apparently, been vetting all our surfing even when it was supposedly disabled. Spyware gone crazy.
D-Link blocked further discussion of this issue on their support forums and have not fixed the issue, so far as I am aware. See their final word on page 8 of the following thread, I am particularly unimpressed by their authoritarian attitude. They won't get another penny from me.
[...]
First, before you do anything else, you have to get the software update. Old versions gave horrible performance, wired and wireless. Later versions improved out of all proportion. I work for a commercial wireless equipment provider and I can't believe that they could have shipped the original version. But I would say that, wouldn't I? But we don't compete, I don't do domestic wireless.
I am on v1.32 now and it doesn't crash. Previous versions, when WinAmp did a CDDB lookup the 655 would reboot. No more ripping CDs for me.
The user interface is not bad, a bit confused but very well featured. I can block our 16 year old from doing all those things that would turn her mother gray, if she knew, with a fair degree of ease. The do have a few bugs, you need to define a schedule then a use for it before you reboot and put it in to operation. If you don't reboot it flushes the unused schedules and you need to start over. I don't see anything bad on the inside of the firewall, so I guess that is working. I set it up to forward port 80 to a local server and that worked fine too. So far so good.
Then came the reliability issues. Well first was the crashing on CDDB access, which meant we lost Internet connection every time I played a CD, but a software update fixed that. No easy way to report bugs either.
Anyway, reliability. After a while we noticed that the wireless would randomly drop after a few minutes. I cured this by adding a commercial wireless device to one of the wired ports. This restored reliable wireless Internet for a month or so, but then the wired side started dropping out. Now we have continuous dropouts. We know it's the 655 because when it drops the net you also can't get to the management interface, the web based management interface, that it serves on the local net. When it comes back up the Internet also returns.
I got it in December, I guess I'll try to return it to offset the cost of trying something else, or maybe they can repair it, who knows?
Customer Review: Works well after arduous setup
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm writing this on behalf of a friend for whom I set up this router. He bought it to replace a DIR-628 that was dead from the start - wouldn't even boot. He was unable to find a replacement when he went back to the store with a return authorization, which made me suspect the manufacturer probably had a run of defectives, so I recommended he switch to another model.
Although this unit is now functioning properly, it emphatically did NOT do so right out of the box - at least not if you have AT&T DSL. And neither tech support from AT&T nor D-Link was able to solve the problem. The former stated that since it wasn't their product, my friend would have to pay for anything past the most basic help. The latter was more knowledgeable about the router (of course), but not about its interaction with the AT&T-supplied modem. And I still have trouble understanding those Indian accents.
First, the router. It comes default-set to a cable internet connection. It's very possible that, if that's what you have, it WILL connect you right up. However, I eventually discovered that when you switch to PPPoE mode for DSL, and choose Dynamic IP address (which is required for AT&T), the DNS server entries are NOT zeroed out as they should be. Instead, they specified the ROUTER's IP address, which I believe prevented dynamic mode from functioning properly. I discovered this by comparing the configuration of a properly-functioning D-Link WBR-2310, which was successfully connected to AT&T. Once I went in manually and cleared those entries, I finally had internet access. As a side-note, it seemed that when I changed the connection mode from the default "on demand" to "always on," it functioned faster, presumably because it didn't have to "wake up" after a period of inactivity.
Regarding the modem, AT&T (at least in the SF Bay Area in CA) provides a Siemons Speedstream 4100 DSL modem. When this modem is connected directly to a computer's network port, its "INTERNET" light confirms internet connection. However, what D-Link's tech support did not know - presumably because it isn't THEIR product - was that this feature does NOT function through a DIR-655 router (or a WBR-2310, for that matter). But that does NOT necessarily mean there is no internet connection present; it just means you can no longer confirm its presence via the modem light. Lack of this knowledge led my D-Link support agent down a primrose path for quite awhile.
Once I got internet connection, setting up wireless access was trouble-free, and the laptop I brought with me was quickly able to log on with the security key my friend chose.
In sum, I have no reason to believe that this unit won't have the reliability and longevity that I've seen with other D-Link routers. It's very likely, though, that many folks who have given up in disgust and returned these things, could have had them working if D-Link's support staff had a more comprehensive knowledge base. I can't be the first one to have traveled this road.