Customer Reviews

D-Link ADSL2/2+ Modem/Wireless Router

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I bought this D-Link modem/wireless router to replace a Speedstream 5360 modem and a Linksys wireless router. It works MUCH better than the other system I was using. This system has been very stable--no more random disconnects from the internet or continual problems with the wireless system that I was experiencing previously. The D-Link wireless router has a much stronger signal than the Linksys it replaced. My D-Link system is in a building next to my house (about 20 feet away) and I can recieve signals anywhere in the house on a laptop with no problem at all--the Linksys was only usable in one room. The set up was easy and I like the combination modem/router--does not clutter up the desk. D-Link has created a good prodcut for my application.

A decent choice, but definately bang for the buck; That's how I'd describe this gateway modem. There are some very fine features to this unit, but those come alongside some pretty big drawbacks.

In my usual fashion, I'll get right to the bad, then end on a good note.

My first issue is the heat. This modem gets hot enough, nearly to burn you at times, and I'm not exaggerating.

Secondly would have to be it's Web Interface, which just plain sucks. This is the same layout I saw in a DSL modem I used nearly a decade ago, and it was just as bad then.

Third is usability. The manual which is electronic only, is worthless aside from setting up the modem's physical connections. It's a good thing this is a MODEM/gateway, which means you have internet. Google is your friend with this modem, and unfortuanately will be your only user guide of worth.

One more thing, not a true issue, but.. LOSE the fake metal and child-like silver painted trim, thins modem looks like a Happy-Meal pack-in!

OK. Got all those out of the way. Now for the easy part, what I *like about the modem.

Features, it's got a lot of em, and some QoS of some worth considering the price. It has very good set of features that I'm happy to have at my disposal.

I love it when a router throws in options I don't nexessarily *need, but like having. Some standard features seem to get lost in the shuffle lately, so here are a few features of note for the quick glancing consumer:
- QoS (decent at that)
- Port Triggering
- PVC
- Multiple VPN passthrough (not just 1 tunnel, NOT VPN ITSELF HOWEVER)
- Proper DMZ (set rules are followed, but failing in finding a suitable rule, the router sends that traffic, solicited or not to the DMZ host)
- Annex M (when 24/3.5Mb service arrives, this modem is ready)
- Time-of Day restrictions
- TelNet Configuration.

Setup is a breeze if you have a rudimentary knowledge of computers (although some from AT&T service have complained about shoddy auto-config) and I was able to get this unit running in about 5min. It just really is too bad the GUI is so badly done..

All in all, I would surely recommend this modem/gateway based on it's feature set and price, but as you can tell, there are issues as well. If you aren't tech savvy, I'd be sure you ARE savvy with finding information on the net before taking the plunge, as you WILL need to look a few things up. If you *are Tech Savvy, and like your features, I'd have to say the features outweight the negative issues, and go for it.

Price for Performance: 4.5/5
Usability and Design: 2.5/5

OVERALL: 3.5/5

Like the other reviewer, I also bought this to replace a SpeedStream DSL modem and a Linksys wireless router. Overall, I'm happy with its performance, but had some headaches with the initial setup.

SETUP: Be prepared to immediately call your ISP for assistance. D-Link provides a "Wizard" to help you set it up for the first time. However, the DSL configuration did not work with my ISP's settings. Luckily, my ISP's Help Desk is very friendly and easy to work with. After some back-and-forth with my ISP via email and phone, I finally got connected. If your ISP is difficult to contact, you may end up returning this modem after some headaches.

FEATURES: Overall, it contains all of the settings I was looking for. It has a fairly robust firewall with lots of options. The wireless configuration has all of the security settings as stand-alone wireless routers (WEP, WPA, etc). However, I found that the web interface is not as easy-to-use as Linksys or Netgear.

OPERATION: So far, so good. I have experienced less disconnects, which is part of the reason I wanted to get rid of my 5+ year old SpeedStream. However, I found that the wireless signal is not as strong, since the antenna is not very good. Honestly, I eventually took off the antenna from my old Linksys wireless router, which improved my signal from "Good" to "Excellent".

OVERALL: 4 STARS

Follow the below steps for easy set up.

1. Once AT&T turns on your DSL, plug in the modem to your phone jack and make sure you get the green DSL light.
2. Connect modem to computer with an ethernet cable.
3. Open your browser (Internet Explorer) and log in to the router admin (address: 192.168.1.1 user: admin password: admin).
4. On the first page you see, de-select 'DSL Auto-connect' and input '8' for VPI and '35' for VCI (VPI depends on resident state: 0 or 8). Click next.
5. Select PPPoE and leave the encapsulation mode on LLC/SNAP. Click next.
6. Input 'ATTREG@ATT.NET' as the username and 'ATTREG' as the password. Click next.
7. Leave the default settings. Click next.
8. Leave the default settings. Click next.
9. Enable wireless if you want. Click next.
10. Click 'Save/Reboot'. Exit the browser, wait for 2 min.
11. Once that is done, reconnect to the network and navigate your browser to att.net/activate (that is the only website you will be able to access).
12. Follow the instructions to setup your personal username and password.
13. You will need to install a file called 'ATTInternet...'
14. Here it says it failed to recognize modem since its 3rd party. And also says to log in to modem and enter new user name and network password.
15. Now log back to modem in a new browser (address: 192.168.1.1 user: admin password: admin) and click on the 'Tools' tab and the the 'System' button.
16. Click 'Restore Default Settings'.
17. Once that is completed, repeat steps 3-10 using your newly setup username (......@att.net) and network password (provided by ATT during account setup).
18. Now you should have internet! Look for the green internet light.
19. Secure your network by going to Home -> Wireless -> Security. Select WPA-PSK.

I've had this product for a good 2 months now, it is NOT very user friendly and a little glitchy at the beginning. I bought this product for my AT&T DSL service. and has been running pretty well since i installed it. At the beginning you should be using attreg@att.net to login in order to register your own personalized username and password. After doing so, I restarted the router and put in my new user name and password, problem? it would still use attreg@att.net! it refused to change it to my new user name and password no matter how many times I saved the changes. So I had to RESET it from the button in the back of the modem/router, only then is the login/password cleared and I was able to add in the necessary new information to login. Also, in case anyone is looking for the original instructions I used to install the device you can google it, thank you to the original instructions poster.

1. Connect your computer directly to the D-Link using the cat 5 cable. Type in http://192.168.1.1/ into the URL bar of your browser. If your system has assigned itself a 169. address, you will first need to manually assign your computer an IP address like 192.168.1.5, a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and a default gateway of 192.168.1.1 to do so.
2. Use "admin" for both the username and password to proceed.
3. You should be presented with a Home / Wizard screen. Un-check the box labeled "DSL Auto-connect." This will allow you to specify the VPI and VCI for your connection. For most ISPs in the AT&T ILEC footprint, this will be 0 and 35 respectively. Click Next.
4. You should be prompted to set the connection type. Select the radio button labeled "Bridging" and the pull-down menu option labeled "LLC/SNAP-BRIDGING." Click Next.
5. You will be presented with the Device Setup screen. The default settings will suffice for most home use. Click Next.
6. You will be presented with the wireless configuration screen. If you wish to disable wireless for some reason (and should have bought at 2320B instead), un-check the box labeled "Enable Wireless." Click Next.
7. You will be presented with a summary of your configuration. Read it carefully to ensure that it understood you correctly, then click the button labeled "Save / Reboot." The DSL-2640B will restart, after which you should have Internet connectivity.

If you don't know the password for your D-Link, you can perform a hard reset (reverting it to factory settings).

1. Locate the Reset button on the rear panel.
2. With the device powered on (but without network cables plugged in), use a paperclip to hold the button down for 10 seconds.
3. Release the button. The modem should reboot.
4. Wait about 30 seconds to access the modem as above.\

I purchased the D-Link combo modem & router out of necessity. I had just made the switch from PC to Mac, and was enjoying the Macbook, except for one glaring issue. My internet was severely hampered by constant DSL signal drops from my 2Wire modem. I don't know if 2Wire (AT&T) or Apple is to blame for the incompatibility, but I do know that I spent numerous hours resetting Safari, adjusting network connections, performing Plist resets, and talking to Apple and AT&T support (the later of which is worthless).

So as a last ditch effort, to try and salvage a decent internet experience, I found a google posting that mentioned this router as a solution to terrible AT&T DSL/Mac performance. This terrific router has made all the difference. NO DSL drops, no laggy website loading. Just a great little $89 solution (a steal at this price, but even cheaper on Amazon).

My one small complaint has been mentioned in other reviews: it's not the easiest thing to set up. If you're a Mac user, throw away the install disk, as it's worthless. Being a computer novice, it was essential to talk to support. They weren't overly friendly (i.e. "kissing up"), but they seemed to do a fairly competent job. Better than friendly and incompetent. If I want that, I'll contact AT&T. Anyway, I was up and running with a wireless network in 15 minutes, but it took another 40 with support to get a WPA encrypted network set up. However, now that I have it set up correctly, it runs like a dream. Highly recommended for DSL Mac users that are having signal issues with their 2Wire.

First the good. The setup of the modem/router was fairly easy. It automatically detected my settings for a connection to Verizon (now FairPoint) in Vermont. The web based admin looks like a website from 1995, but all the options are there. Make sure that you change all the default passwords else someone might be able to hack into the admin over wireless. I got all my various wireless devices (laptop, Tivo, iPod Touch) connected to the new router and the wireless connection was good.

Now the bad. I soon noticed that this unit runs really hot. I had read about this, but I didn't think it would be this hot. I might be exaggerating a little bit, but I think I could have fried an egg on it. More importantly the unit froze up within 24 hours. Neither the wireless nor the wried connections worked. I had to reboot the unit to get it working again. I don't mind the wireless connections occasionally dropping, but when I lose the wired connections (including my Vonage connection), then I have a problem. I'll be returning the unit.

I always liked the idea of these combo units in order to minimize the amount of networking equipment cluttering up my desk, but it seems that it's best to have separate modems, routers, wireless access points, Vonage adapters, etc. I guess I'll just have to put up a special shelf for them all.

I've been purchasing D-Link routers for my clients for about two years now. They make a good product at good prices. All D-Link products I have used up to this point have been remotely accessible via a web browser. So if you were out of the office, and had to make a change to the firewall rules or whatever, you could simply log in to the router from your web browser, make the change, and log out. No problem.

The DSL-2640B has many advanced features and supports different kinds of remote management EXCEPT for web-based management! When you are on your LAN, you may manage the router via a browser, but you cannot do this from the WAN side. It is beyond ridiculous that a SOHO-class router cannot be managed like D-Link's older products (some of which only cost $50). This makes NO sense at all. Their telephone support is horrible, and the support reps have no idea how to configure this unit. They hang up on you and close trouble tickets which are still unresolved.

If this is how D-Link is planning on operating, I'll be looking to buy from a different company. That being said, if you don't need to remotely administer the router from the WAN side, its a fine little unit for home use.

I purchased this D-Link ADSL Router for 2 reasons. First, my 6-year-old Siemens SpeedStreem 4100 had developed a nasty habit of freezing under heavy video load (2 teenagers addicted to YouTube). Second, my structured media panel had both the Siemens modem and a D-Link router, and I wanted to replace the two boxes with just one and open up more space.

Plus side: Fast, rock-solid, many ATM and ADSL performance statistics (great for arguing with AT&T when they want to blame their problems on your in-home wiring or equipment you didn't buy from them), secure out of box (full Shields-Up stealthmode without additional configuration), compact size. Heat has not been a problem--even in the closed structured media panel.

Down side: Auto configuration didn't work for me (AT&T), and QoS seemed to bog down with >4 active users (again at least 2 streaming video), so I disabled it. Surprisingly, there is no D-Link FAQ for manually configuring an AT&T connection even though I and other users report that the auto-configure fails with AT&T DSL service. The trick for me (San Francisco Bay Area @sbcglobal.com) was to:

1) Use the Wizard to manually accept all WAN / LAN defaults AND set the following:

-- VPI ==> 0
-- VCI ==> 35
-- Protocol ==> PPPoE

2) Make sure you enter your user id / password correctly :-)

3) The D-Link setup instructions, like most other similar products from other companies) walk you through using a Static IP address on the PC to initially configure the modem/router via web browser admin tool (which is great). However, the D-Link instructions fail to mention that once you've initially configured the modem, you need to return the PC to Dynamic (DHCP) IP management before you can use the router to connect to the Internet. Of course, you could also set the Gateway IP address on your Static IP configuration, but it's probably easier to just get back to dynamically assigned addresses as soon as possible.

All in all, it took me less than 5 minutes using the above technique and information to get both the modem and router up and running.

I have AT&T (SBC?) Yahoo DSL, and setup was a breeze. I just ran the wizard and everything worked. I replaced two boxes (the modem and a failing D Link wireless router) with one smaller box, so it definitely freed up some space around my computer. My old D-Link DI-614+ wireless router had been dropped on the floor a few times, so I guess it can be forgiven for failing after three years. I haven't notice a difference in speed, but I'm very happy.