D-Link Wireless 150 Router, 4-Port 10/100 Switch, Draft 802.11n-based Technology, 150Mbps (Black)

by D-Link

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002KEJ58C
• Item model number: DIR-600
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,666 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 30, 2009

Product Description

D-Link Wireless 150 Router, 4-Port 10/100 Switch, Draft 802.11n-based Technology, 150Mbps (Black)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A router for experienced users, October 26, 2009

By 

Lyn Robie (US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: D-Link Wireless 150 Router, 4-Port 10/100 Switch, Draft 802.11n-based Technology, 150Mbps (Black) (Personal Computers)

I'm an experienced user and I always use the manual setup menus so I can't speak for how well the wizards work with neophytes. My experience with the DIR-600 has been totally positive.

Let me set the stage so you can judge if my situation and yours are comparable enough to make the review relevant.

I have a mixed wired and wireless network. Five computers are wired and three are wireless. I run XP and occasionally Linux. Most of the time there is only one computer active. Seldom more than three. I do NOT use bitorrent or other applications that create many concurrent sessions. I do NOT do realtime computer gaming.

I am what you would call a very light user of the web. Occasionally I stream video via Netflix.

I have a Roku Soundbridge media player that uses a wireless connection to a SLUG that streams sound. It runs 24/7 and I immediately know if there is a glitch on the network because the sound stops.

If you're a gamer or run huge downloads via bitorrent you should just stop reading now. I can't speak for such intense use.

The setup proceeded smoothly and I was extremely pleased with the formatting of the setup screens. I had no trouble connecting with a Scientific Atlanta cable modem nor with my wireless devices via WPA encryption. What was particularly helpful for me was the capability this router provides to assign arbitrary IP's for devices based on their MAC addresses. I have several NAS hard drives and I used to set them up with fixed IP addresses at the device. Now I can leave them with DHCP enabled and know that the router will always assign them the same IP. This is handy because the DHCP also assigns DNS IP's and these change from time to time. When I had to set up devices manually I had to assign fixed DNS addresses too. If these servers went down, my NAS time services would fail and the devices would lose sync and start stamping my files with times that weren't accurate.

The "phone home" abilities of the DIR-600 are good too. I have it send me an email whenever the log overflows or trouble occurs on the network. The log files are detailed and helpful.

The wireless signal strength seems comparable to my Linksys WRT-54GS units even though the DIR-600 only has one antenna. I get reasonable coverage in a house about seventy feet long by thirty feet wide. The router sits at one end of the house and has to send signal through several adobe walls.

According to the network ping tests I am not dropping packets and ping latency is 20 ms to the Los Angeles test server. Netflix movies show (on the wired network) without drops. I have not tried Netflix movies on the wireless network.

The hardware provides 16 megs of ram and 4 megs of flash. This makes it comparable to the Linksys WRT-54GL.

I've been running the unit for over a week now and it has never failed. The logs indicate that it is very capable of responding appropriately to the loss of signal to the cable modem. DHCP is extremely reliable. If something isn't working correctly the detailed debug logs are immensely helpful. They show all the incoming and outgoing DHCP messages during an IP assignment.

For my purposes as outlined above, this router is the best I've had. It has my features that I have not explored including QOS settings for VOIP, virtual servers, VPN, etc. I can't speak for how well they work but the screen displays are crisp, the help files are actually helpful and (I know this sounds snobbish) the spelling and grammar is correct. The overall feel of this unit is that it was actually programmed and documented by a native English speaker.

Cosmetically it's just a shiny little plastic box with led's and an antenna. It doesn't get warm to the touch so I assume it uses little power. The layout of the board inside is trim and professional.

Note well that I have not extensively tested the unit for its wireless capabilities. The Soundbridge application is not intense. There may be dropouts and recoveries that occur without my awareness.

The problem with modern electronic devices like these is that they are very complicated. They work well in some applications and fail in others. The best way to judge a router is to buy it from Amazon or a dealer with a thirty day return privilege. Set it up quickly and test it as comprehensively as you can. My experience is that most failures can be detected in thirty days.

This review was for a DIR-600 Revision A. The DIR-600 Revision B uses a RaLink vs: Atheros chipset, has 32 vs: 16 megs of memory and runs at a higher clock rate. I don't know if the screens are identical. Just so you know. If there is truth and justice in the world the two units should present much the same interface and provide similar capacities.

If you wish to use DD-WRT make sure you get revision B! Revision A is not supported. Revision B was introduced in August of 2009 I believe so there are a lot of Rev A units still in the pipeline. Some retailers have been selling them for $20.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great inexpensive home router!, October 3, 2009

By 

B. Orluk (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: D-Link Wireless 150 Router, 4-Port 10/100 Switch, Draft 802.11n-based Technology, 150Mbps (Black) (Personal Computers)

I'm not sure why others have had such a hard time configuring the DIR-600. While I don't think the web interface is laid out very well, I did find it straightforward enough to get going within 10 minutes...

The wireless coverage is great and the draft 802.11n speeds are excellent for copying data and streaming video from my Windows 7 Ultimate system. Plus, it can be configured for Open NAT so it runs perfectly with XBox Live. Also, since this unit has a QoS (Quality of Service) feature has done a great job with prioritizing my XBox 360 traffic over say a download going on on my PC at the same time.

You can't beat the price for this excellent home router.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inconsistent performance coupled with horrible customer support, October 18, 2009

By 

Jason McDonald (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: D-Link Wireless 150 Router, 4-Port 10/100 Switch, Draft 802.11n-based Technology, 150Mbps (Black) (Personal Computers)

I've had this router for 10 days now and it has needed constant rebooting and connecting with an ethernet cable to maintain connectivity. When my wife called customer support, they insisted that the problem was our ethernet cable. We replaced the ethernet cable--same spotty performance. Looking for a replacement on Amazon right now.