Customer Reviews

D-Link 4-port Broadband VPN Router ( DI-804HV )

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have deployed close to a hundred VPN routers for my clients, and have done so primarily with Linksys BEFVP41 routers. They are cheap, but they have done the job - until lately, that is. Many of them are failing (crypto sub-system failure), so replacements are beginning to occur on a regular basis.

I have used several other brands (3com, Netgear, etc.), but have not seen anything at this price point ($52). I picked one up from my distributor to test, and have not been disappointed.

This unit will accept inbound PPTP and LT2P connections, something most VPN routers do not offer. I think the limit is five. I usually don't need this, as most of my clients already have PPTP running on their servers. It also claims to allow up to 40 IPSEC tunnels. That is less than the BEFVP41, but more than most people will ever need (I currently have 40 on my Netgear FVS328).

You should plan on upgrading the firmware right away. I just upgraded to 1.40, which has been solid. The previous version (1.39) allows MPPE encryption on PPTP connections, and adds IPSEC keep-alive functionality. Mine was shipped with 1.36.

The netbios functionality works excellent. The only thing keeping me from giving it five stars is the inability to specify Netbios by tunnel. I have clients that need Netbios (network neighborhood computer browsing), and others that do not. The problem is between my network and my client's networks. I want Netbios on some, and definitely not others. The Dlink offers it to all or none.

If you have two or more offices with broadband connections, and wish to get them connected for sharing of network resources, this is the only way to go. As a matter of fact, you can connect a modem to the serial port on this unit and configure it to use Dial-up or ISDN, instead of cable, dsl, or T-1. I kept looking for a fallback configuration, i.e. dial the connection if the broadband connection fails, but I didn't see it. I rarely need this, but it really could be useful for branch office connections to host systems (telnet, AS400, unix POS systems, etc.). Perhaps a later firmware release will add this capability.

If you are new to IPSEC, this might all seem daunting. If you have done it before, it shouldn't be a problem. I got a tunnel up and running on the first try, without referring to any documentation. Linksys router users will balk at having to set up the IKE and IPSEC options on different screens. Anyone who has experience with Netscreen, checkpoint, watchguard, netgear, and the bulk of the existing VPN routers out there should get it on the first try.

For $52.00 (give or take), this is a steal. For my typical branch office clients, this will be my first choice. The Netgear FVS318 is a good router, but at nearly twice the price. Sorry guys, the Dlink gets the nod here.

Don't even consider Linksys anymore. The only thing worse than the quality of their products (since the Cisco take-over) is the appalling tech support. It's sad to see Linksys decline as they have. I haven't purchased anything from Linksys in a year.

Unlike the last reviewer, I was able to establish IKE-based VPN between the DI-804HV and a Netscreen 25. This is a great router for telecommuters who need IPSEC VPN capability back to a main office. I have measured throughput up to 1.8Mbps for both VPN and non-VPN traffic (1.8Mbps was the line rate, not the limit of this device)- this is plenty for the average home DSL line. The price point sure beats existing VPN telecommuting solutions like the Netscreen 5 or SonicWall SOHO.

I bought this router to replace a desktop that I use as an internet router (cable internet) and to use to to put a Cisco VoIP gateway behind the router. For VoIP and general internet use, it works great but if you use VPN (L2TP in my case), the speed is excrutiatingly slow through this router. This is consistent with other users' experiences. When I put my desktop (which is an old and slow machine) back as the router, VPN speed is at least 20 times faster. This is after all my troubleshooting and I'm a networks engineer. If you need VPN, don't get this router.

This is the 5th One I'm buying. I'm so happy as a Firewall that I give it as a gift.

I bought this router to hook a couple of houses together. It works great for that. Encryption does work in this mode.

The real problem I had was with tunnels from my laptop. Tunnels don't work with encryption turned on, so I create an unencrypted tunnel, and then I connect to my XP Pro box at home through an encrypted tunnel. That seems to work fine.

I have been happy with the product, except for the fact that the encryption doesn't work on the external tunnel.

Hint: If you want to VPN 2 houses together, and either have to use DHCP with your broadband provider, use DDNS in the router with dyndns.org, then your VPN stays up even as your IP addresses change.

**** Response to another reviewer *****

I tried to use PPTP from my laptop remote. It works, but not if I turn on encryption on the tunnel. If he knows how to do that, I would sure like the information. I had this problem, and at least 10 others with the same problem on support sites, and nobody had the solution. Please post how you got PPTP tunnels to work from Windows with encryption enabled.

Background: I have 13 years as a network engineer. I bought this box with the anticipation that I could use it as a VPN endpoint, allowing me access to my home network from my WinXP laptop when I'm away from home. Before buying it, I verified with D-link that I could do it. So far, though, I have been unable to get it to work. (VPNs are not *that* hard to set up....)

On the bright side, the web-based interface is very easy to use and gives you a finer degree of control than many similarly priced routers. For example, it allows me to enable/disable responding to PING requests from the WAN side, allows FTP'ing to ports other than port 21 and so on.... Heck, if I didn't need the VPN capability, I'd buy it again. As it is, I'll probably end up returning it.