Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I recently bought this item in order to hook up my xbox 360 plus other pcs to it.
God knows how much support you get from dlink in regards to port forwarding mac address set up and configuration (had a bit better experience with Microsoft when trying to get this going). Overall I can honestly say I will never EVER buy a dlink product again. I will stick to the trusty Linksys routers due to that they give you no problems at all with the initial set up, configuration is so much easier and have way better customer care support.

Set up was the most difficult thing in the WORLD! Although the item was cheaper than others in the end I would have paid a little more due to the amount of agonizing time I spent trying to hook it up to the internet. I was unable to configure it, and when I called the call center for help, they were rude. I gave it two stars because it actually does work, but again...not worth the pain and frustration during set up...

Overall, it works just fine with regular tasks and all devices. Great for basic users.

However, it does not naturally support VPN connections. This is a recurring issue with some D-Link routers. There are ways to set the port forwarding and firewall up so it'll work with certain VPN clientes (Cisco AnyConnect for example), but no love for Cicsco VPN client 4.8, no matter what configuration i use.

Granted I'm not an expert at this and there probably is a configuration to sort this out, but I don't think one should be a computer engineer to figure out this kind of stuff with this kind of product. D-Link support does not help and their knowledgebase is terrible.

In general: great product, bad support.

Some people say they've had problems setting this router up but I got it up and running in may be 15 minutes. I did not need tech support. So far it seems to be working fine, I got my ipod and my psp to work with it just fine.

I couldn't get my Netgear Wireless Router WGR614 to work and after an extremely long bout of going without one I decided to try once more again and ended up purchasing this router, the cheapest one on the shelf at a local electronics store. Being able to compare the installation process with another product, I found the D-Link Router to be highly user friendly for an average skilled computer user. The software guides you through the setup process from start to finish and after approximately 30 minutes I was connected (there are a few steps where you have to wait several minutes for configurations to be made). I have tested the wireless connection on my apple itouch and my laptop and both worked successfully with a strong signal. I haven't tested the signal strength in every room in my house but as far as the modem setup and connection goes I am very satisfied. If you are looking for a high end modem then this may not be your best bet, but for something simple and cheap I would recommend it. If I have any problems I will follow-up.