Customer Reviews

D-Link DAP-1522 Extreme 4-Port Gigabit Dual-Band Wireless-N Bridge/Access Point

5 star:		(110)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(48)

 

 

I've configured the DAP-1522 as a wireless bridge to a DIR-655 (2.5Ghz). I've got a PS3 and a Satellite DVR connected to two of the four ethernet ports on the DAP-1522. I have configured the 1522 to use WPA2 security as well.

Setup was a little tricky, but it was my fault not the fault of the 1522. If you choose to manually configure the 1522 be sure you follow the directions and connect the 1522 to your computer and with your computer configured to use a static IP address in the 192.168.0/24 subnet. I mistakenly had my computer still trying to use DHCP when connecting to the bridge and it took me a little while to figure out what was wrong. My computer couldn't get an IP address and so Windows kept assigning an address from a different subnet, so I was not able to establish a connection to the DAP-1522's default 192.168.0.50 IP address.

The 1522 works as expected. Performance is very good with a max of 162Mbps through 3 drywall walls (approx 40 ft) to my entertainment center as displayed on the DIR-655 console. I haven't run any local network bandwidth tests to verify the throughput yet, but I can easily stream HD content without blocking between a PS3 and a wired media server. Previously I was using the PS3's internal 802.11g network interface, and HD media was not viewable as it overwhelmed the 11g link.

I did notice that the orientation of the DIR-655 and the DAP-1522 did make a difference in the reported signal strength and data rate as seen from the DIR-655 console. So after you've gotten things to work, don't forget to run some experiments to determine the best position for the devices to get the best performance possible.

It might bear noting that I'm technically proficient, and I've used several access points and switches over the years. This was my first D-Link purchase in years only because Linksys's reputation has become pretty terrible. Overall, this piece of equipment is GREAT, with a HUGE caveat that the range SUCKS.

I used this router for about 3 weeks before I replaced it with the D-Link DIR-825 because of the range problem. The 1522's user interface isn't bad. I had no problem configuring this switch to do everything I wanted. I did not experience any dropped connections or dropped packets. Granted 3 weeks isn't a terribly long time - but I never had to power cycle the Access Point. It just worked and did a great job.

I should have known that since the DAP1522 uses an internal antennae the range would not be comparable to my old Linksys WRT54G. I am intentionally trying to share my wireless with my neighbors, and the DAP1522 is unusable, and I'm not exaggerating, 30 feet away. To be fair, there are 3 (non-thick, normal wood) walls between the DAP1522 and the laptop - but still 30 feet? On the other hand, this could be a major selling point. Scared that your neighbors might be stealing your wireless signal? Just buy a DAP1522!

If you have a large house or coverage area, this isn't going to cut it. But if you live in a small apartment, this thing is perfect. For anyone who needs better range, I'd recommend the slightly more expensive DIR-825.

PS For anybody who's confused - this bridge/AP is essentially a switch plus an access point. It lacks the "router" capability and WAN port that similar pieces of equipment have which make them routers. For the typical person, you only need a bridge/AP if you already have a router and want to add a wireless access point to your network.

I purchased to pair with the DIR-655 router and a DSM-750 media extender, both from Dlink. Depending on how you feel, this product could be anywhere from a 1 - 5 star item. The thing works great, which is the most important aspect to me. However, I would say that the range is less than excellent, thus a half star off for that. Another half star off because the reset button is pretty much useless. I'm taking the other star off for it being a massive pain in the butt to get it working - in bridge mode.

AP mode is easy to set up. All you have to do is set the switch to AP on the back and connect it to your router with an Ethernet cable. You should then be able to access the configuration page by typing in 192.168.0.50 in your web browser. You can then set up the wireless broadcast as you see fit (enter in an SSID in the box (different from your router for a separate broadcast) - use a static IP address, set up the IP address of your router as the gateway address, etc). You can also update the firmware.

Bridge mode is a completely different matter. Theoretically, you should be able to press the WPS button on your router and then press the button on your bridge and it will connect automatically (probably still helps to connect via Ethernet cable first so you can access the config page). Maybe that worked for some people, but it did not work for me. I tried push button connect, tried connecting using pin numbers, tried manually setting everything up, but nothing worked. I was tempted to think I had a defective unit, but it worked fine in AP mode, so I was sure the thing was functioning properly.

Here is how I configured it to make it finally work in bridge mode. First, I reset this and my router to factory defaults. I set the switch on the back to bridge mode. I connected the bridge to the router via Ethernet cable. I turned on the router and then the bridge. I set up the router as before - broadcast in 802.11n only mode, 40MHZ and WPA2 (AES encryption), which enabled me to achieve 300 mbps network speed. I then went to the config page for the bridge. On the wireless set-up, I manually set it up to match the router. I selected the static IP. I left the SSID box blank and used the site survey to select the wireless connection from my router. I then de-selected the clone MAC box. As if by magic, the stupid thing finally connected wirelessly, and i have been pleased with its performance since. I was even able to unplug it and set it up in another location, and it was still able to connect.

Certainly wish I'd had the kind of wonderful experiences with this unit that others have enjoyed. Unfortunately, both of the units I've received have been DOA: Neither would boot up in Bridge mode. In both cases, putting the mode selector into Bridge position results in both the Bridge and AP lights coming on (not blinking) and staying on.

To make matters worse, I've spent over 6 hours with D-Link's grossly incompetent product support (generally overseas folks - hard to understand, in addition to being nearly completely ignorant of both the products and the general technologies). On the third call - for the first unit - the tech decided that the problem was with my D-Link DIR-825 router (nevermind that the DAP-1522 wouldn't even boot in Bridge mode) and ended up totally trashing the configuration of the wireless router! (Thankfully, I had taken the initiative to back up the DIR-825 configuration before following the tech's misguided instructions.)

Finally - adding insult to injury - after spending 5 hours with the tech support at the ("D-Link is here to help") support number included with the unit, I was informed I was calling the wrong number for this particular product. Unfortunately, the tech at the "correct number" for the DAP-1522 was every bit as ignorant as the tech at the original support number (seemed to think the problem was with my cable modem!). Tier 2 support didn't even seem to know there was a difference between bridge and AP modes - or that there was a switch on the DAP-1522 to select the mode (I had to have her pull up the Quick Installation Guide on the screen and show her the switch).

I truly wish this thing worked, but after having received two defunct units in a row - and spending the better part of a full day on the phone with incompetent (and nearly unintelligible) support staff, I've pretty much given up.

I already have a wired router (D-Link DGL-4100 Broadband Gaming Router, 4-Port Gigabit Switch), so I bought the DAP-1522 to add Draft-N wireless connectivity to my existing wired network, through its ability to act as an access point. It is small, light, and has no projecting antennas, so you can put it just about anywhere. The built-in browser-based wizards made setting up the network easy - I chose to go with the 5 GHz band to avoid interference from our cordless phone and microwave oven, and to limit the network to draft-N devices only - and the results are really impressive. We carried a laptop all over the house, including upstairs in a two-story house, and it got the maximum signal strength everywhere. Internet access seems to be every bit as fast as over a wired connection, as I would have expected since draft-N connections are supposed to be quite a bit faster than the internet connection itself (via cable modem). Highly recommended!

This has to be one of the most frustrating electronic devices I have ever owned, in 20 years of using computers and 15 working as a software engineer.

It really needs to be stated here that the easy "WPS" setup of this device just does not work as described in the manual. The Push Button Control method does not work, period, against either D-Link's own DIR-655 router, or Cisco/Linksys newest dual-band E-3000 router. Even with all devices updated to latest firmware as of 12/15/2010 . The WPS "PIN" method did work once against the E-3000. But there is not much point to it. Once you have gotten to the point where you can access the device UI, you might as well enter the entire Wireless password.

D-Link really needs to include a proper manual for the "advanced" setup method, which is the only one that works reliably ! And that manual needs to be in hardcopy, not buried in a PDF on the CD. Since WPS is so unreliable, that should be the first method listed in print, also. I would give -1 stars for ease of installation, and -1 for documentation if I could.

So, just forget that this device has a Push button at all, and that your router or other device might also. Ignore the CD that comes with the device also. Just
a) connect the bridge via the Ethernet cable directly to your computer
b) make sure the computer is not connected to anything else. Disable the wireless card in particular
c) setup the computer's network interface with an IP in the 192.168.0.xxx range such as 192.168.0.100 . netmask 255.255.255.0 . The procedure for this varies by operating system
d) connect to the router at [...] in your browser
e) choose the Setup tab
f) select wizard
g) click Launch wireless setup wizard
h) leave the device name alone (unless you have more than one bridge) and click next.
i) select a new password and click next
j) select MANUAL and click next
k) click SITE SURVEY
l) hopefully your router's SSID will show up with decent strength . Select it and click next .
m) select security mode . Hopefully WPA2 (some routers call this AES)
n) enter the SSID password
o) wait for the router to connect
p) check under the STATUS page that it is connected to Wifi . Wireless radio should say "Enabled", status should be "Connected".
If not, try again
q) disconnect the computer from bridge
l) reset your computer's ethernet interface to DHCP (or previous settings)
m) reconnect the computer to your network, either via Ethernet or via wireless
n) make sure the computer can still ping 192.168.0.50 and access the bridge UI over HTTP . This is going over wireless now .
o) If you weren't in the desired location for the bridge, move it to your desired location and wait about a minute for it to come back up. The delay is important .
n) make sure the computer can still ping 192.168.0.50 and access the bridge UI over HTTP from the computer . This is going over wireless now . If so, you are good to go.
o) don't thank D-Link for not writing the doc.

I have a D-link Xtreme Gigabit router connected with this device and the speed is blazing.

I bought the linksys game adapter that only has one ethernet port, but I found this product on D-link's website. I returned the Linksys adapter immediately. It's only available online right now, but this product is a must have if you have multiple devices that require internet access. The price is only around $100, has 4 ethernet ports, and it's uses 802.11n. The linksys adapter has 1 port and it cost $99. The Xbox 360 wireless adapter is $99 and it uses 802.11g. It's a no brainer! I have a Xbox 360, Directv HD-DVR, and my new Samsung 52in 6 series connected to this bridge. I'm about to add a Slingbox. Best wireless product of the year!

Not a big fan of DLINK at all, but given this is the only product available for what it does I had to bight the bullet. As others have said it is by no means a plug and play event to get this thing up and running. Maybe it is if you are connecting to another DLINK product, can't say. Anyways, here are a few tips that worked for me...

1. First of all to make the WPS work you have to hard wire the thing to your router, it does not work wirelessly and the instruction do not specify this
2. Once tethered, the WPS connectivity works...follow what the instructions say for this part
3. However, even after WPS, if your network is on 192.168.1.x you will not be able to see the router via a web browser because it is set to 192.168.0.50
4. In this case you will need to tether the device to your PC, and reset your PC IP address to 192.168.0.x
5. Now you can connect to the device via a web browser by IP or as noted in the manual [...]
6. Once connected , in the settings change the IP address of the DLINK device to something that will work on your network such as 192.168.1.50 and save the settings
7. Now change your PC back to automatic IP and log off and on or do an ipconfig /renew to refresh your IP
8. Once you PC is back online, check that you can connect to the DLINK via a web browser on 192.168.1.50 or whatever you set it to
9. You should be all set

This is not the device for the non-tech savy person, unless you have DLINK already and it just works in that scenario. I cannot say if that is the case. Just know for other routers it will not be that simple to get up and running.

We have a 2wire router that came with our Uverse installation. It works fine, but the wireless signal is weak and limits wireless access to about half of the rooms in our house. The router also does not support 802.11(n). I purchased the DAP-1522 to spread wireless coverage across out whole house ("access point" mode) and provide 802.11(n) operation.

Setup was confusing, as I first tried following the DLink instructions. Forget it - it was a mess. The key for me (like many other reviewers here) was to get the DAP-1522 connected directly via the included Ethernet cable to a Mac (or PC) whose IP address was set to 192.168.0.x (where x is anything but 50). Then use an internet browser to connect to (...). The setup from there was pretty simple, and the DLink documentation (a PDF on the CD included with the device) was then somewhat helpful. I set the switch of the DAP to "AP", set it for DHCP, disconnected the DAP from the Mac and plugged it into an Etehrnet jack that was connected to the router. It connected to the router no problem, and I was off to the races.

Once configured, I had no problem conecting to it with other wireless devices, whether they were 802.11(b), (g), or (n). I left the wireless on the router in tact, so we can now choose which access point to connect to. We have wireless coverage everywhere now. As an added bonus, the three remaining Ethernet ports on the DAP look like switch ports and can be used for other hardwired devices. I connected our NAS to it and that is working well.

I'm a network engineer, an owner of an IT company that does networking, servers, firewalls, etc, for a living. So it's not as if I don't know what I'm doing. Yet both myself and, after a couple hours of beating my head against a wall, Dlink support, were unable to get this to perform with another Dlink product, their DWA-160 USB adapter.
Even with every setting manually hardcoded to what Dlink promises will get the 300MB connection (and yes, I understand theoretical max vs. real world) I could not get a connection to display better than 103 to 108MB. And real time file transfers? About 750KBPS. A mere fraction of the speed I already was getting with my older 802.11g network.

Hugely disappointed with this product, wish I had the success that others had reviewed here, but it just was not meant to be in my infrastructure here at home. Time to start shopping for a differnet manufacturer's unit and see if I fare any better.