Customer Reviews

D-Link DSL-2320B ADSL2/2+ USB Ethernet Modem

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This thing works fine, and this review is less of a review than a cautionary tale. I purchased this fine piece of equipment and got it all hooked up and nothing happened. No internets! omg plz!

Turns out I had to adjust the settings of the modem which is fairly easy if you are a computer geek, but for me it was a bit of a challenge. D-Link support refused to help me on the basis that all they would help me with was knowing how to plug it in and making sure the unit was not defective. They suggested I talk to my ISP.

My ISP would not tell me the VCI/VCP needed but luckily the modem found that on its own using the WAN Wizard setup, however I had to manually adjust a few settings before it would work, settings that neither my ISP or D-Link support knew anything about when I asked them. I did manage to get it to work but I nearly had to send it back and buy a modem of the same brand that my ISP requires.

So in short, this thing works as it should, but I recommend you consult with your ISP prior to purchasing a modem to determine which brands they do support so as not to have to deal with d-link support.

I spent about 4 hours trying to install and debug this DSL modem. The initial install went beautifully, more easily than any other DSL modem or cable modem I've used. It was great. The auto-detect process seemed to work perfectly and quickly found exactly the right settings for my ISP (AT&T) without having to make obscure config changes to get it to connect.

So I was up on the internet in just a minute. But I started noticing weird problems with some sites and it was slow in general. Some sites were totally impossible to access, timing out eventually. Other sites had some images or other parts inconsistently corrupted. Some sites seemed to work perfectly. This inconsistent behavior was mysterious to me.

By searching online and reading reviews by other users I eventually discovered the source of the problem. PPPoE, the protocol used for DSL, has a maximum packet size of around 1492 bytes. But most network equipment and PCs default to a 1500 max packet size. A packet that is too large for the connection will be either dropped or fragmented.

In the case of the this dlink DSL modem, it either botches the fragmentation causing packet corruption or simply drops them. So websites that use packets bigger than 1492 bytes fail to function. An example is www.microsoft.com.

Note that some people have partially resolved this problem but the solution is NOT acceptable. It is possible to install software on your PC or modify your windows registry to force smaller packet sizes than the 1500 default. This avoids the bug in this dlink modem. But EVERY computer or device attached to your network will need to be individually modified to function correctly! That isn't the way it is supposed to work.

I tried putting a router in front of the dlink modem and setting its maximum packet size to various sizes below 1492 hoping that it would fragment the packets so the dlink modem wouldn't barf. But that didn't work for some unknown reason.

Anyway, since that time, I've bought and used two other brands of DSL modem (an integrated DSL modem/802.11n router from Netgear and an Actiontec GT701D). Both of these other DSL modems work perfectly with zero problems with large packets. So don't but this dlink until they fix this widely reported bug. Its too bad because otherwise it seemed like a cool modem.

I recommend the Actiontec GT701D. So far it has performed really well. The auto-detect didn't work right (typical) but after manually entering the right settings it worked and is fast. And it also has a lot of status to track its functioning. It even has pretty advanced monitoring and logging to track network use by port, IP address, etc. Cool stuff, especially considering it was the cheapest DSL modem I could find.

After becoming very frustrated with the provided and for purchase DSL modems from ATT, I selected this item based on compatibility with the rest of my network equipment. The modem was an easy set-up and has worked without a flaw. And best of all has eliminated the 'Network Cable Unplugged' issue that plagued the ATT modem.

Bought this to replace a Speedstream 5100 on AT&T DSL. Below are the steps I took to get this to work. Please note that this method causes the DLink modem to enter "bridged" mode and all firewall protection and DHCP becomes the responsibility of the Router.

Here is my setup:

PCs --> WiFi Router --> DLink DSL Modem --> Phone Line
- Router has dd-wrt firmware installed

My Installation order:
1) plug power and phone line into DSL modem, but don't turn it on yet
2) plug router into power, turn it on
3) configure router for PPPoE, with correct username and password
4) connect DSL Modem to router that is already on
5) finally, turn on the DSL Modem
at this point, any PC connected to the router will now have DSL Internet

From my experience, this transfers at the same top speed as the old modem, but the response time and burst speed is much faster. It also seems to be more tolerant of line noise.

I read other reviews on this modem and I was leery about getting it since many people were so annoyed by how technical it could get to setup this modem and lots of compatibility issues. I was not worried about the technical issues since I work in an IT job. The compatibility was my worry but, I gave the modem a try anyways and I am glad that I did.

You open the box up, you hook it up like your old one but you have to hook a computer directly to it first to complete the setup. You tap into the modem's web wizard, you hit the auto detect and it looks for the DSL signal, once it finds it, it will change its settings to match the incoming signal and the wizard is done with a success screen. That is it!!!! I could not believe it, I was done in just 6 minutes and that included the time it took to open the shrink wrap and hook the modem up. Of course I was prepared after reading all of the forums and such because I was afraid after reading about all the nightmares others were having with the setup. I tell you what, it was so easy even a caveman can do it!!! The instructions in the manual for the more advanced items were even simple to follow in plain English, not like the manuals that I am use to reading.

I don't know about the other carriers but, I have Verizon DSL hi speed service and it was one of the mentioned issue Internet service providers in a couple of forums. It detected everything just fine and I have not had issue with anything since I installed it a few weeks ago. If you are having issues like I did with Verizon's crap modems, I recommend you get this one as a replacement.

I, Like many others, have been having problems getting this to work correctly. Initially I hooked it up with my Wireless router attached and could not get anything to work, so unhooked it all and started from scratch. With just the modem hooked up directly to the computer the autodetect installation seemed to work ok, so I thought I was making progress. Well, it continued to search and search and would never find my ISP (ATT). After a call to support we were able to get it working. All is good, right? Wrong. The modem seemed slow and some sites ([...] for instance) would not come up at all, it would just time out. After reading a few reviews here I found that this is a very common problem, something having to do with a "Data Packet Size" restriction. OK, I have no Idea waht that means technically, but basicly, in its default configuration it doesn't work well. So I call support again. The gist of the conversation was that it was moving traffic therefore it is working and maybe I should check with my ISP. So I call ATT and a VERY helpful tech in Michigan (not india thank,God) did all kinds of stuff and could not get it working correctly. He said he had never seen any thing like it before. So, anyway over the next week or so I tried to mess with it and could not get it fully functioning, especially if you have a router or something inline between it and the computer. If you do this it either doesn't work at all or is VERY slow. I play an on-line game and with the router hooked up the latency was so slow that I would get disconnected after about 15 seconds. This also (after reading a few reviews) is a common problem with this product. My advice, skipit and try something else.

I bought this Modem to replace the one that was sold to me by my internet provider. I plugged it in set it as a bridged network and that was it. as easy as the instructions say. This modem sped up the data flow. pages load faster and gaming is even faster. works well with other D-link products.

Purchased at Fry's. Tried 2 different computers (an iMac and a MacBook). Could not get either computer to "see" the modem. Five blinking lights on the front of the modem. Tried assigning static IP addresses to the computers, pings sent through Network Utility, swapping Ethernet cables, re-booting the modem...nothing worked. 60 minutes on the phone with D-Link's tech people, and they finally gave up and told me to return the thing to Fry's. Won't bother with another D-Link...and this was my first and last trip to Fry's.

Does what it suppose to do. Reliable enough when used with ATT DSL service. the box itself gets a bit warm and do not stack it on top of another router or switch.

Working with my ISP, I got this up and running in no time. The auto connect didn't work with Surewest. Once I manually set up the modem and rebooted we connected but I couldn't get to the GUI any longer. It is configured to Bridge, and D-link said they "believe" you should still be able to manage the modem. I gave up working with D-link after that. I haven't checked with the ISP but I'm thinking that in this mode the modem is transparent. None of this is a real problem as it's plugged into the router and everything is communicating just fine.