Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am a Linksys person and I teach a Wireless course using Linksys products. I have been using Linksys products since their 802.11b wired routers first became available. I recently purchased the WRT610N and after trying this D-Link, I am sorry I chose the Linksys WRT610N.
As my first D-link product, I failed to realize D-link uses a 192.168.0.1 network address for its router. I am used to 192.168.1.1 on Linksys products.
PROs:
It is a Dual-Band wireless router, just like the WRT610N. It allows you to schedule wireless access. It has a great manual, which even tells you how to hook up one router to another for extending coverage. I was surprised to see this. I like being able to adjust power output of wireless radios. I love the idea of Guest wireless internet zones. It allows guests, such as friends, to get on your network without having access to local resources or giving out your normal SSID/Password.
It clearly has more options than the Linksys WRT610N, which can be seemingly less user freindly and requires more knowledge of networking. The web configuration screens are similar to Linksys screens though. Anyone familiar with Linksys can find their way around. I did not try the setup CD. Instead I manually configured it using the web interface.
I did not experience any of the instability issues I had with WRT610N. With a Lenovo T61, Apple TV, iPhone, two Macs, a PS3, and a PC connected to a Buffalo LinkStation Gaming Adapter, I needed to find the least common denominator wireless settings in order for all of these devices to connect and stay connected successfully. There were just too many disconnects, which necessitated the least common denominator approach. This approach meant I had to choose "Mixed BG" instead of "mixed (which includes n), had to set channel width to 20, and had to use Tkip WPA only. The D-link allowed me to use all three speed grades (B, G, and N) with WPA or WPA2 (becuase it autodetects the best encryption method available with client devices). I was also able to set the Channel Width to auto (40 or 20 depending on the clients).
CONs:
It only allows up to 63 alpha characters for the wireless passphrase/password. I prefer 64 hex character passwords.
The menus are a bit more complex, which could be an issue for some.
Only one person at a time can access a USB hard drive attached to the D-Link wireless router. Many can access the USB hard drive hanging off of the Linksys WRT610N.
OVERALL:
This is a great wireless router. I tested it as a drop-in replacement for my Linksys WRT610N (after changing the subnet to 192.168.1.x) and it performed admirably. If you are looking, I would consider this strongly before purchasing any other brand.DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE: When my company moved to a webpage-based VPN solution (we have to access a webpage and login which then opens up the tunnels), I discovered that the firmware version (1.01) I had caused issues. I upgraded to version 1.12NA and now I am experiencing daily wireless connectivity dropouts on the 2.4 ghz band. The only solution thus far is to restart the router. This new development has been detailed across the web. I am going to try some of the suggestions, such as any one or a combination of...disabling DNS Relay, disabling IPV6 on client computers, downgrading to 1.11.
SECOND DECEMBER UPDATE: After disabling the DNS Relay, I have been running for over a week with no issues.
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