Customer Reviews

D-Link DIR-615 Wireless-N Router, 4-Port

5 star:		(150)
4 star:		(85)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(38)
1 star:		(127)

 

 

This is a very good router, but I had issues during setup. I have Qwest DSL and the DIR-615 wizard setup couldn't auto-configure the router to provide internet service.

Most routers use an intranet address in the range of 192.168.x.x and then devices connected to the router are assigned within that ip range. I finally manually played with the settings and still couldn't get it to work. Frustrated, I called Qwest thinking the problem was with the DNS values. That assumption was incorrect and generally Qwest DSL requires no tweaking at the router level. Qwest DSL tech support was great. They said it was a setup issue with the router and called Dlink's tech team on a Sunday morning and we had a 3-way call. Dlink's technician had me fixed up in 3 minutes.

Here's what worked for me. Under the router's 'network settings' we set the router IP address to 172.16.0.1 and the subnet mask to 255.255.0.0. If not checked, enable "DHCP Server". Under 'Wireless' set the Channel to 11 and the Mode to "Mixed" to support 802.11b,g,n. I set security to WPA-Personal. Be sure to save the configuration and this will cause the router to reboot. If things don't work immediately, unplug the modem to cold-start the system, wait a minute and finally plug in the router.

Contrary to what someone wrote in a review, this router does indeed support wireless-N devices in a mixed environement and does not downstep to G for the whole network.

Remember, you can't setup the router via wireless. You have to use an ethernet cable from your pc to port #1 on the router. Another cable runs from the router Internet port to the dsl modem.

Before calling tech support, first confirm that the modem is working. Run a cable from the pc to the modem and confirm you can browse the Internet. With the modem eliminated as an issue, the tech people can quickly help you configure the router. I'm using Vista and the setup process did not require any Windows firewall changes so keep the firewall 'On'.

I may be wrong but here's what I think the core setup problem was for me. The Qwest DSL modem uses a DHCP Default Gateway of 192.168.0.1. This is the same IP the Dlink router attempts to use as its address. Thus you end up with an IP addresss conflict since both can't use the same address. The Dlink technician changed the router address to a different subnet in 172.16.x.x and eliminated the conflict.

I bought this router and, after the fact, was curious to see how it was rated on Amazon. I was surprised to see so many negative reviews on here. I don't normally write reviews, but I just wanted to clarify some points raised in other reviews on here.

First, many of these reviews, both good and bad, were written one to two years ago. The latest firmware has resolved some of the complaints I've seen on here. One complaint was that it was not possible to use the fast N connection if you simultaneously have G devices running. In other words, having one G device connected to the router forced any other N capable devices to run at G speed. While that may have been a problem in the past, the latest firmware has made it possible to have both types of devices running simultaneously at their respective speeds.

Set up was REALLY, REALLY easy. I didn't even use the Quick Install CD that came with it. I had my desktop (wired connection), two laptops, Vonage, a Wii, and a PS3 all set up to run on this router in less than 20 minutes.

I've also seen complaints that the router gets too hot. This has not been my experience with it. I've had other D-Link routers before that got really hot, but this one's fine.

It's a really good router and a killer value at $49.95. If you have a handful of devices, want to do some online gaming wirelessly, stream Netflix to your TV, surf the internet, etc. then this router is an excellent choice.

I'm writing this review to help dispel the myths about this router. I read many bad reviews for this router after I ordered it. I got really anxious and started getting buyer's remorse, before I even had it in my hands. I received the DIR-615 today and immediately hooked it up, I transfered all the cables from my D-Link 'b' wireless router. I restarted my Time Warner Cable Modem and my Mac G4 computer. Everything worked fine. I checked the wi-fi connection to my iMac, which worked perfect, after I changed the network selection on the iMac. I then took my Titanium G4 Powermac to the second floor (the DIR-615 is setup in the basement). I got perfect reception 2 flights up. After checking all Wi-Fi functionality, I upgraded the firmware, from ver. 2.2 to 2.4 via D-Link's web site, all is well. no problems.

This is an attractive router. I found it easy to set up, it has up-to-date security features and works well (except for the 802.11N issue)

My problem with this router is that if you have any 802.11G devices in your network, then the network will run at G speeds, period (says customer support.) I have one network device that is 802.11G and non-upgradeable. I bought this router with a DLink 802.11N PCMCIA card to get my laptop running at 802.11N, however, the router will not talk N to the card in the laptop, because I have a G device on my network. Thus, while the router is now doing a fine job as an 802.11G router, I might as well throw the PCMCIA card away.

DLink's web site says of the DIR-615 router that "Not only does D-Link's Wireless N technology extend your wireless range, it also works with your existing 802.11g wireless devices." It would be nice if DLink fessed up that mixed-mode doesnt work as expected. That factoid is hidden in a FAQ on the page for the PCMCIA card. I had to call customer support to learn this. They say there are no plans to upgrade the firmware to truely support mixed mode environments.

Until 2-3 weeks ago, I was very frustrated with this router. I purchased it from a retail store in June after my previous DLink (624) had completely failed. From that point on, I'd suffered from continuous connectivity loss. Our connection to DSL would stay up for 5 minutes - to 3 days (MAX). On a daily basis, I was restarting the DSL modem or router or both. I'd gotten to the point of purchasing my another modem (ISP wouldn't help from their side) just to prove the DSL modem. Finally, I called DLink customer support and was told of the firmware update 1.1 [...].

Installing this firmware update (for rev A routers only) has completely cleared my issues. Now the router performs as it should have the entire time. One bounce that cleared on its own since the firmware upgrade. Please do yourself the favor of upgrading ASAP upon use of this router!

Of course, it sure would have been nice to have this severity of quirkiness ironed out before final product distribution, but...

I bought this router and upgraded to latest firmware. It worked like a charm for 3 days. After that connection keeps droping for both wired and wireless every 2-3 hours. The logs are not helpful, samething about dlink customer support. I am only using Dlink router and Dlink Network card. I have FIOS as soon as switch to another router everything is fine. The configurations are also anoying if you have to change you have to wait 20 secs.

I've worked with this for days and I and the rest of the house are SICK of it. I get it to work, then someone else comes along and it isn't working again. I have to reboot it, and re-reboot it, and re-re-reconfigure it and it is time to REFUND it.

Don't know if it's just the wrong revision of firmware or not. I've had wireless routers that worked before (built in DSL modem, but now I'm on cable) and this is NOT how the product is supposed to work.

I finally upgraded my laptop to a MacBook with 802.11n built-in. Thus I eventually wanted to get a good N router at a decent price. I think $100+ for a router is simply ridiculous.

Well, when Apple upgraded the 802.11x drivers for Airport in the 10.5.2 update, my Linksys 802.11g router with the latest firmware was no longer functional, as it would not connect at all. I verified that it wasn't the computer, as I took it to several different hotspots (Starbucks, Apple Store, etc.), and I was able to get online easily.

It was at this point that i ran across this router at Target. Most places had it for $60 - $75. Target had it on sale for $49.99. Thus, even with the many bad reviews it has received, I decided to give it a test, and if I didn't like it, I'd simply return it back to Target.

Well, I must say that it has definitely worked as advertised. The included setup software is bad. I'm experienced at tinkering with router settings as an administrator, so the bad setup software (which didn't work on my MacBook completely) wasn't that big of a deal to me.

I connected my cable modem and Slingbox Solo to it. The high speed internet saw a dramatic speed increase on my MacBook. After doing several speed tests, I saw a 35-40% jump in my internet downloading. My Slingbox didn't work as easily as it did with the Linksys. The setup info for this router wasn't on the Slingmedia website. I contacted their tech support staff, and with the appropriate settings configured, she had it up and running perfectly within 2 minutes.

Also, some other reviewer said it didn't work well in a mixed G/N environment. I have to disagree with that assessment, as I also have a Power Mac G4 connected to the network via USB 802.11g adapter, and I'm still getting N transfer speeds easily.

Overall, it is a nice router at a nice price.

I've had no problems reported by others here.
I have hardware revision B2 with the latest firmware 2.25.
I didn't use the software that came with it just used a browser to configure the router. I had to select wpa/aes to get n speeds on my wireless pcs.

Setup took about 30 mins.


UPDATE

Since writing my review I ran into some problems. The problem appears to be with the DHCP server on this router. Clients are unable to connect unless you have DHCP turned on on the router, if you turn on DHCP clients loose connectivity after a while.

After some experimentation this is what worked for me -

- Turn on DHCP
- Once all your clients (PC's) acquire an ip address turn off DHCP and set the ip address on the PC's manually ( turn off DHCP on the PC but not on the router).
- On the router add all your PC's to the DHCP reservations list You will find this under Network Setup.

This seems to be be working for me for over a month.

I had one of these for six months. I had to update the firmware to get the thing to work. After six months, it completely died. No lights, no nothing. It was covered under warranty, but I didn't save my receipt (I only file my receipts for major purchases), and I would have had to pay shipping costs and suffer the downtime anyway. The moral: You get what you pay for. Buy a good router and you'll be rewarded. Buy this at your own risk.