D-Link 4-Port RangeBooster Wireless-N Router
by D-Link
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List Price: Our Price: $59.99 You Save: $50.00 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $13.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of D-Link 4-Port RangeBooster Wireless-N Router
Customer Review: One star because zero stars isn't an option.
Summary: 1 Stars
So here it is...my first ever review. I just had to write a review because this product is that bad. Let me say first...I have always been a huge fan of D-Link products. I own a D-Link Media Server and it has been great. I have VoIP that uses a D-Link telephone adapter. My old telephone adapter was also D-Link. On to the DIR-625. I read mixed reviews here and on other sites. Some were very good, some were very bad. I have an older Gateway Desktop PC and a 2 week old Dell Studio 1735, both wireless. The Gateway has an older AT&T G netwrok card. The Dell Laptop has a built in Dell 1510 N card. For whatever reason, the deskptop seemed to maintain a fairly reliable connection. The laptop could not. It would drop connection several times per minute. When on the road with the laptop, it had no problems picking up hotspots and staying connected. I spoke to D-Link and Dell tech support and tried all of their recommendations. Nothing inmproved the reliability. The signal strength was excellent, setup was easy. Neither of which matter if it doesn't stay connected. Maybe it was a compatibility issue with the Dell, but my experience with this router was a disaster. Based on my history with D-Link, I decided to give them another try and bought the DIR-655. I am happy to say that the signal strength is excellent, 5 bars throughout my house. The setup is as easy or involved as you'd like it to be based on your technical knowledge. And...most importantly...the connection is as solid as a rock.Customer Review: Works for me!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my first experience setting up a home network. I found the setup to be relatively easy and straightforward. All the instructions are on the CD that comes with the unit. I hooked up the D-Link router to my DSL modem, with a desktop PC running XP hooked by Ethernet cable to the router and a laptop running Vista connected wireless. I was able to set up file sharing between the two machines with a little more effort. I still have some issues related to reading email on the laptop, but those don't seem to be related to the router.
I chose the N router because the router needs to be on the upper (split) level of one end of the house and I wanted to be able to run the laptop at the other end of the middle level. I heard that the worst case for wireless is when the direct path between router and PC traverses through a wall or floor/ceiling on a shallow angle, and my path has both of these features! We have noticed occasional disconnects between the laptop and the router, but so far they have occurred only when the laptop was on but not in use.
All in all, the ease of setup and the performance have been much better than I expected. My only complaint is that I don't have a clear understanding of the level of protection I have for my network. I think that the wireless network is password protected, but I haven't tested it with a third PC. I didn't find anything in the documentation about verifying the security level.
Customer Review: Poor Choice -
Summary: 1 Stars
Absolutely the worst VPN support setup I've ever seen. Wired or Wireless - you'll have a degree in router config geek-speak by the time you're up and running - - - not to mention the work-around is nearly a DMZ setup - uber der stupid! I work in IT supporting distributed applications for a large enterprise where I frequently assist our users with their remote access configurations - we use Nortel VPN (contivity) client software. Until now, never had a problem with routers for the most part - and I've seen them all. We've blacklisted these devices (N class) - stay away from this and save yourself some hair. *Range for wireless NOT impressive - experience with same physical space using a WRT54Gs was actually better - even with QOS. Not a fan of any brand, but must say - no longer a DLink fan after dealing with their support staff in Bangalore or wherever they have these script-reading robots plugged in. For a minute I thought I'd accidentally called Dell!
**Menu systems are kind of pretty and some cool features, but a little cluttered as seems they've made a real effort to be "different" and as "non-Linksys" looking as possible (which they all looked alike a few iterations back), so the verbiage kind of screws with intuitive sort of standard 'most' consumer-line routers tend to have. Somebody got an "A" in Art, but needs a lesson in Logos 101. Good gift for the AOL subscriber in your life; they deserve one another.
Customer Review: Solid and Stable Wireless N Router
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this router since moving apartments back in November. We used to have a Wireless G gaming router from D-Link that belonged to my old roomate, but I needed to purchase a new one for my own uses. The high user rating for this model sold me, and I was looking for something that supports Wireless N. As much of a tech guy as I am, user reviews on something like this mean a lot more to me then a few professional reviews that may be on old firmware or have limited hardware connected to it for a broad range of opinions.
In about 5 months of use this has been incredibly solid, without any drops or issues. My laptop that has a built in Intel N adapter connects without a problem, as does my Macbook and now my desktop. It's nice and quick, with a lot of configuration options for port forwarding and triggering, as well as your standard security settings. It's a bit annoying having to save settings on each page, and having to click an extra button to head over the wireless configuration, but I'm definitely happy with it. I also have my XBox360 and Samsung Blu-ray player connected to it with a wired connection and it's perfect with those as well.
While getting a Dual-band router would have been nice, for the price this thing is fantastic against comparable models from Linksys or Netgear. I highly recommend it.
Customer Review: Took 15 minutes to set up and works great!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this router to solve the issue of not being able to connect wirelessly from the back rooms of the house (about ~2000 sq ft) using the wireless-G modem I've had for the past three years. Our cable modem sits in the far corner of the living room, and the two bedrooms in back are the absolute furthest they can be from it.
It took me 15 minutes total to get this new wireless router up and running with the security settings also set up. The setup of the modem itself is very simple; the setup of the security settings via the included Network Magic program is not as intuitive (choosing WEP vs WPA vs WPA-PSK, etc), so I'd say those folks who are not computer savvy will struggle with understanding/setting up the security settings.
Bonus for being able to now share my huge collection of music with my roommates using Network Magic. They love it.
I'm pleased to say that I can now sit in the back bedroom and have great signal strength (always at least 3 of 5 bars) despite the many walls and electronics that can potentially interfere with the wireless connection.
Just for kicks, I'm also planning to buy the D-Link N adapter card recommended on this page (@ $16.99, what a steal!) for my notebook to see how much it boosts my speed/range.