Customer Reviews

D-Link DI-714P+ Wireless Cable/DSL Router, 4-Port Switch, Prnt Server, 802.11b, 22Mbps

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Setup: fairly straightforward. There is a "wizard" setup for those who don't like to go through every single option screen. The screen navigation is laid out in a simple, but not intuitive manner - it takes a few moments to realize the buttons on the left change with tab options at the top, but the buttons on the left don't change if there are multiple screens on the right (like "next page" or a button to press). There is no "go back a page" - they expect you to hit the button to the right that is still visible. All my complaining about that aside - it's as easy, if not easier, to navigate and find settings than both netgear and linksys.

Print server: no setup available on the router - it either is or is not plugged in. Software setup for PC works fine. Did not try it with linux yet.

Wireless: finally, something that works with 64/128 bit WEP. Netgear never worked. Linksys was so-so. This works. NOTE: For those who want to limit ACCESS to the WIRELESS by MAC ADDRESS - this unit cannot do it. It can limit by MAC to the INTERNET, but that will also limit who can attach to the unit, both with wireless and with a physical connection. Most other units only use this filter to limit access to the wireless portion. If used, you have to put in all the machines connecting to it - both wireless and physical....

Firewall: Syslog, email logs available. Nice. SPI works. DMZ support. Passthrough ports available. Works great with my nortel VPN client (this is always a good test of PPTP and so on).

FIRMWARE NOTE: I had the hardest time getting this thing to work with windows terminal services. No matter what setting I used, it would lock up then drop the connection until I rebooted the router (software reboot). Some settings would go longer, but I could get it to lock up within 2 minutes. Nothing seemed to fix it - a few people have reported this on the internet, but since most people aren't using the terminal services part of windows on a regular basis - they would never know it.

The fix was to load the 1.22 firmware, not the 1.23 that came with it. This REMOVES the 802.1X authentication tab (some type of shared radius key BS - if you want radius support, get a REAL wireless device) and it removes the 4X mode for the B+ series of wireless adapters (which I do not have anyway).

TO LOAD FIRMWARE: you would need to run either executable (one for MAC or the other for PC) OR use the web browser to upload the file (requires either java or activeX - not sure) because it opens up the "open file" dialog box - meaning - experimental browsers, like those in my beloved linux box - don't work well with this. ALSO - it states in no unclear terms DO NOT UPGRADE USING A WIRELESS LINK. Use a hard wired computer. I went from 1.23 to 1.22 and back and forth and so on testing this remote desktop issue.

FINAL FIX: load 1.23, hit the button to reset the router to the defaults, load 1.22, reboot, hit the button to reset the router to the defaults, then type all your configuration back in.

Why the crazy steps? If you loaded 1.23, typed ANYTHING in the boxes that aren't available in 1.22 - it remembers and will cause problems, even though that option isn't availble in 1.22 (I tried this - several times for fun). 1.23 -> load setup defaults -> load 1.22 -> load setup defaults -> configure.

Live without their crippled version of RADIUS (if you don't know what this is you don't need it) and who cares about the crappy 4X mode for the B+ stuff? Another marketing ploy anyway.

Bottom line - with some experimentation, I figured out the firmware thing. IT has worked BETTER than the linksys ever did (can we say firmware of the week?) and improved over the netgears I have used (you can print and not be disconnected from the internet - thanks a lot netgear).

4 stars because firmware is supposed to fix stuff, and their two listed updates should not have affected the RDP stuff in 2000/XP. But it did.

I have the LinkSys BEFW11S4 wireless broadband router at home, and it has been working great for 2 years. But, I needed a product that had a print server for all the computers on my home network. Though, there aren't a lot of choices out there for a combined router & print server - I found this D-Link DI-714P+ at Amazon... This product worked PERFECTLY right out of the box. The setup took about 15 minutes total, and anybody could do it! Just install the printer driver found on the CD on all your computers and you are printing in minutes! Do yourself a favor and GET THIS PRODUCT! Inexpensive, easy to setup, easy to maintain, range is great, and it has many of the features that the LinkSys product has...

I tried Linksys 802.11b products and got very dispointed in their signal strengths. D-Link is a totally different story. I have used D-Link's DWL-900+AP, DI-614+, and DWL-650+. No matter wherever you go in the house (even in the garage with doors closed), you get almost 100% signal strength.

DI-714p+ is a great product with all the needed functions in one package, built on the solid grounds of DWL-900+AP. It is a router, a switch, a wireless accress point, and a print server. I was watching streaming video online while installing it. I unplugged my computer from the cable modem, replugged it into DI-714p+, and plugged DI-714p+ right into my cable modem. Amazingly, after 3 secs of interuption, my streaming video restarted by itself. Yes, no setup necessary to get DI-714p+ to work. With the built-in print server, everyone on my network can print to the printer independently. Now I can get rid of my old router, wireless access point, and print server.

I am so glad that DI-714p+ makes my desk look much cleaner and my life so much simpler. I strongly recommend it.

Can't beat the price of a wireless router/switch and print server all in one.

However the product has some real "inconvenient" bugs:
* I have never been able to make WEP work with my Lucent wireless card
* The router needs to be rebooted in average once a day, suddenly the wireless network stops working and even the wireless button on the admin interface seems to be gone
* The router won't sync by itself with the time server, needs to be done manually with every reboot.

If you don't need the extra speed, I would recommend going for the 713p. It has been at least 3 months since the last time I had to reset that one.

I purchased this product a few months ago and have been extremely happy with it since. Everything works as advertised right out of the box. The only problems I have experienced are related to dropped connections by my ISP or DSL modem, not the actual router (although it appears some folks believe it is actually the router's fault, but in my case that has been the wrong assumption every time). The print server works flawlessly with my older laser printer and speeds between my workstation and laptop are excellent. I can use my laptop anywhere on my 1/4 acre property and 2000 sq. foot home and get at least a 'GOOD' connection which far away exceeds my DSL speeds anyway. Additionally, I found the help manual from D-Link was very good and easy to read. I highly recommend this product for anyone like me who is new to the wireless/home networking world.

I purchased this product on February and it worked great after the initial set up but then started to drop the internet connection every few days so I had to reconfigure everything over and over. Tech support was helpful to a point but seemed to give a different answer to the problem everytime I phoned: maybe it's Microsoft...maybe it's your 2.4GHZ phone running on the same frequency...maybe it's the firmware. I finally got back to phoning them again this past month ( June. I have a new baby so I needed to find 4 hours I could carve out to spend on the phone with tech support). After 4 hours I'm up again, but the print server does not work. Come to find out my printer, a new Canon i850, is not on their "hardware compatibility list", which mysteriously was not posted anywhere convenient when I bought both of these products at the same time. Annoying. I may keep the router if it stays stable for a month, but I will need to buy another wireless print server if I want to be truely wireless. If your in the market, I recommend researching other products to avoid this purchase.

I've had the DI-714P+ for about 3 months. I'm retired and live in a small ranch house, and have excellent results everywhere, including the deck and yard, front porch and basement. The router sits on an upper shelf in my den/office, about 2 feet from the ceiling. I use my HP Pavilion laptop in the wireless mode 95% of the time. Both my LAN and wireless are integrated, so no cards to mess with. I download very large files and applications (750 Mb was the largest so far) with no interuption whatsoever in downloading. However, it has dropped connections when idle, but mostly after coming out of hibernation or standby. Re-booting the router fixes this. It has gone for a couple of weeks without needing a reboot. Instllation was a breeze, having it up and running in less than 30 minutes. The print server worked for a while, then stopped working. I actually think it was something I did when messing around with configurations, and haven't gotten it fixed yet - I just dock it when I want to print something. As for conflicting with my 2.4 Ghz phone, I've not noticed any problems. It's not perfect, but for my needs does an excellent job.

The DI-714P+ I purchased was defective from day 1. However, it has now taken me 2 months to go through D-Link's technical support before they finally admited it, and I still have not been able to return it. Trying to get a hold of technical support has been a nightmare. Their email service is of no help, and their phone system habitually disconnects you or does not "understand" your selections. Other times the phone is busy, or the line is dead, or you get dumped into a voicemail box of someone that never calls you. Their technical support is by far the worst I have ever encoutered.
If you need a router with a printer port, I strongly recommend the Netgear FM114P. It is a little more expensive, but it also includes a hardware firewall, and a real technical service department. The time I wasted on the D-Link was worth far more than the price difference.

The configuration utility is relatively easy to use. It depends in your knowledge about networks and computers. I assign an static IP from my LAN for the router with access to the internet.

I use the WEP encription with 128 bits. I didn't use the 256 bit encription, because I am using different adapters from differents brands. Some of them didn't support 256 bit encription. Currently, I have conected a Dell truemobile 1300 in a Dell Inspiron 600m, Dell Truemobile 1180 in a Desktop Dell Optiplex SX270, Dlink adapter DWL 650+ in a Laptop Dell inspiron 2650, and a Sony Vaio Z1RA. All of them are conected and working fine. I can access the internet and share files with no problem at all.

Interference? Remember that this device and the adapters use the 2.4Ghz range. Is the same range that some of the long range Cordless Telephones like Panasonic, Sony and other popular brands use. So, if you have this kind of Phones, just dont put the base next to the router. And also, try to locate your router as high as you can.

I still didnt test the print server so I cant tell you anything about it

I just bought this unit. I've purchased the DI-614 for work, and it has worked flawlessly for nearly 3 months and is still going strong. I was impressed with the Transieved signal.

So tonight, I decided to upgrade my home wireless network. I was running a Linksys with their Signal Booster, but was still unhappy with the range.

I'm now running a D-Link DI-714P+, and the signal has improved considerably. This is in reference to the signal meter application that came with my laptops SMC wireless card.

Setup was easy, but I've had experience setting these things up. It only gets easier the more you do it.

I'm very happy so far, and it goes great with my Tungsten C, I can know read my e-mail while I sit on the toilet! Hahahaha...

In conclusion, after reading the mulitude of reviews, it seems that these things fail after a few months according to a few (very few) people. We'll see.