Customer Reviews

D-Link DI-704 Internet Gateway and Firewall with 4 Port Switch

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This is a neat little router idealy for a small home network. It comes with four RJ45 10/100 ports on the front and a connection in the back for a DSL or cable modem. Two CAT-5 cables were included as well.

I have a networking background, but the quickstart guide has screen shots for Windows95/98 and easy to follow instructions. I was already using DHCP to connect to my cable modem, so I didn't need to change any settings to use this router. I literally plugged it in, restarted, and was up and running with one Windows 95 and one Windows 98 computer....

The advanced options can be setup via your web browser. It supports such options as NAT firewall protection (you can limit which ports are accessed), DMZ host (allows one computer to operate without the "protection" of the firewall), set the IP range and domain name for DHCP, and change access rights for different computers. It also has a "virtual server" which lets you rout services to different computers such as HTML to one, FTP to another, etc.

I read ALL these reviews before purchasing my DI-704. It's really very easy to install/configure. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow for anyone who knows anything about the networking settings of their PC. You essentially copy the static IP address (of your @home or broadband provider) from your PC to the DI-704 (via an easy to access browser-based setup window). You remove all DNS and Gateway settings in your PC's networking setup and copy that info to the DI-704 setup window.

The one trick I discovered to access the DI-704 setup window via my Netscape &/or Internet Explorer browser was to temporarilly turn off any Proxy Server settings. Once I did that, my browser immediately connected to the DI-704 for setup.

At the end of the process, the DI-704 has all the IP address, subnet and gateway settings that @home put into your PC. Each of the PCs you connect to the DI-704 router are simply configured so that it's IP address is dynamically provided (ie: not static).

In less than 30-minutes, both my wife's and my laptop PCs were sharing the same @home cable modem and now both of our PCs are behind a firewall (for added protection from internet hackers).

All in all, a great value and easy to install and enjoy.

Hope this review helps you make the right choice for you.

I knew from the reviews that the DI-704 was a wonderful device when I bought it, but I was really disappointed with the installation instructions. After two or three frustrating hours of following the manual and experimenting every which way I could think of, all I'd managed to accomplish was to be able to log onto the DI-704 and change its settings via its web page. Regardless of everything I tried, I had no success being able to use the internet.

What finally worked was searching the D-Link website (no, not through the DI-704) where I found detailed instructions in the FAQ's for setting the device up with @home service. After following these instructions everything worked flawlessly. It's amazing what wonders a few detailed instructions can accomplish. For example, after selecting a dynamic IP address it is then necessary to clone the MAC address. Although I'd figured this part out earlier, and also figured out that it was necessary to unplug the cable modem for 30 seconds, I hadn't figured out that it was also necessary to turn power off on the DI-704 for 10 seconds before powering it back up again.

OK, it's a great product, but forget about using the manual. Instead, go to the FAQ's on the D-Link website and download detailed instructions for your broadband service provider.

What attracted me the most about the D-Link Cable/DSL Router w/Firewall besides all the other ones out there is the physical look and the performance. I have seen great results in other reviews on the Internet.

It looks and feels like the casing is bulletproof or something. The case is flat (so I can stack my modem and another switch on top) and is made of metal not plastic. This gives me a good feeling, like I bought something that is going to last. I like that feeling.

It was just as easy to set-up as most Switches/Firewalls and it is faster and cheaper. What more do you want? Or need?

After reading a few reviews here on amazon and other sites, I figured this is just the product I need. I was so happy to be correct, the DI-704 is super fast, very secure, and it made of hard metal. I didn't like the plastic casings other products had. It makes me feel more secure.

I recommend this to anyone who has a Cable or DSL connection, even if you only have one computer. That way you have protection and room to grow. the DI-704 provides blazing speeds and great security at a low low price. I don't see anything wrong with it.

I'm a proud owner of a DI-704. I would recommend this product to those who know what they're doing. This product is focused on consumers who have some knowledge on networking. I admit the tech support if horrible and the instruction manual doesnt say much. Like I said this product assumes that you know what you are doing. The DI-704 offers great features, reliability, and stability. If DI-704 doesnt work for you....i suggest buying a LYNKSYS Router. Beware the LYNKSYS promises PPPoE support, but its features are limited when it comes to PPPoE. The DI-704 fully supports this protocol and you shouldnt have any problems. I also suggest the NETGEAR RT314 and if you are on a budget, i suggest purchasing the DI-704.

I didn't have any problems at all setting up this router. Since I already had my computers set up for DHCP, I just took the old ethernet hub out, plugged this one in, and I was up and running. Five minutes tops.

Watch out if you use Microsoft's netmeeting with this. Because its a pure NAT router you have to enter the ports you want to let through. However Microsoft have written net meeting to use random ports so you can't configure the router around this. The only thing to do is switch the router off which leaves you completly unprotected while video conferencing. Read up on your firewalls before you buy and find out if they have issues with the internet software you use. I still use it but wish I'd looked into it a bit more before buying

Even though I'm good with computers I don't know why you would have problems setting this devise up. it took me about 1 hour to get it running, and now all three of my computers are online.

This is a great product with good price. It comes with 2 cat5 cables, a poster Installation Guide and a User's Manual. The instruction provided on the user's manual is quite easy to follow. I am using optimum Online and it doesn't require me to configure PPPoE. (if you can turn on computer and go online immediately without sign-on like Dialing-up, you probably don't need to configure PPPoE)

If you don't need IP-forwarding, you can set your computer to use the DHCP service provided by this router (by default). If you want to use IP-forwarding feature with static IP, be sure to acquire DNS sevrer address from your broadband ISP and enter it into yout TCP-IP protocol DNS property. (a requirement)

Router configuration is Web-based. Be aware of a few things that are important in the manual, such as: 1) you may need to clone the MAC address during configuration and click on the reboot button to take effect. If your router can't RENEW a Dynamic IP from your modem, chance is that you need to clone MAC address. 2) If you want to use the IP-Forwarding feature, you need to select a static IP (a number betwen 192.168.0.2-192.168.0.99 by default) and obtain DNS data from your ISP to enter into the TCP-IP protocol property page. 3)By default, you should select the "Dynamic Ip Address" option to configure your WAN IP (connected to ISP via cable modem).

I am a programmer with networking experence and therefore I feel comfortable with this product. If your have mutiple PCs, I suggest that you try to set up the first PC with DHCP because it is easier and doesn't require DNS data from your ISP.

I hope this info will help you to configure it without spending unnecessary hours .....