D-Link DI-713P Wireless Broadband Router and Access Point with 3-Port Switch

Other products by D-Link

Product Details

Product Manual [3.70mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005KB24
• Item model number: DI-713P
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 31, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The D-Link DI-713P is a broadband IEEE 802.11b compliant wireless gateway. It provides the ability to share a broadband connection as well as a print server function. You can share a DSL or cable modem connection through its three local 10/100 Ethernet ports or via its integrated Wireless IEEE 802.11b component. The DI-713P is equipped with a bidirectional LPT port to support a direct printer connection. Its integrated router and firewall provide NAT, DHCP, and packet filtering services between the local network and the Internet.

D-Link's DI-713P allows wireless LAN users to share the Internet connection while providing the security of 128-bit encryption. Static address support, integrated DHCP, PPPoE, and device name support will allow it to connect to nearly any broadband provider, whether cable or DSL based, and at the same time simplify local area network settings.

The DI-713P provides two levels of security support. First, it masks local users' IP addresses from others on the Internet, making it much more difficult for a hacker to target a machine on the network. Second, it can block and redirect certain ports to limit the services that outside users can access. Specific ports can be opened by the user to ensure that games and other Internet applications will run properly.

The router and access point combo also provides special pass-through for common VPN implementations including PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol), L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) and IPSec*. The Virtual Server feature allows the user to expose HTTP, FTP, Game Servers, and other local services to be accessible to Internet users located outside the LAN. The User-Definable Application Sensing Tunnel feature allows the user to define the attributes to support special applications requiring multiple connections, such as Internet gaming, video conferencing, and Internet telephony. A DMZ setting can be applied to a single client behind the DI-713P to expose it to the Internet and ensure complete Internet application compatibility, even if specific ports are not known.

Unlike proxy server or NAT software that requires the software server to remain visible on the Internet, no local computers are directly externally visible when using the DI-713P. Also, the DI-713P, like broadband, is always on, removing the need to constantly boot a software server when Internet access is desired from a client.

Integrated DHCP services allow up to 252 users to obtain their IP address automatically on bootup from the DI-713P. Client machines require no software; simply set them to accept a dynamically assigned IP address and reboot. Each time they are powered up, the DI-713P will recognize them and set their IP address to instantly connect them to the LAN.

* PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec support compatibility are dependent on the platform used.

Product Description

The D-Link DI-713P is a broadband IEEE 802.11b compliant wireless gateway. The DI-713P provides the ability to share a broadband connection as well as a print server function. The D-Link DI-713P allows a DSL or Cable Modem connection to be shared through either its three local 10/100 Ethernet ports or via its integrated Wireless IEEE 802.11b component. The DI-713P is equipped with a bi-directional LPT port to support a direct printer connection. The DI-713's integrated Router and Firewall provide NAT, DHCP, and packet filtering services between the local network and the Internet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great value, solid performer, with some room for improvement, December 24, 2001

By	Walter L. Smith "wls508" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pros: reasonable price; three ports for wired connections; reasonably simple administration procedures and usable interface; integrated print server (parallel connector)

Cons: no support for bi-directional communications with my HP LaserJet 1200se (e.g., it no longer tells me I'm out of paper, etc.).

After scouring the Web for insight and equipment reviews (the PracticallyNetworked site was especially helpful) of the myriad of router options, I decided on this one from D-Link. My housemate and I needed to share our newly installed cable Internet service in our three-story house, so wireless seemed like the easiest option. I put the router in my office on the second floor, and he has no trouble accessing the Net by laptop from his office on the first floor, and I can usually get 500+ Kbps (on a PII-333 laptop running a NetGear PC card) in the living room on the third floor. 2Wire's bandwidth meter clocks about a 1.5 Mbps connection for my P4-1.2 wired directly to the router.

I haven't had to call D-Link for tech support, so I can't speak to their abilities/response time. I did use their Web site to download a firmware upgrade. All told, I had our wireless net up and running in less than an hour (which also included a call into RCN to get them to tweak our cable modem on their end).

One thing to bear in mind: pick access clients that are solid performers, whether they're PC card or USB devices. Routers like this are only the access point portion of the wireless equation -- speed and range can be easily hobbled by anemic clients that can't hold up their end of the bargain.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't forget to update the firmware, July 10, 2001

By	Phyo Win (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

I wanted a DSL/Cable router with wireless access point, 10/100 switch, and built-in print server, and only 2 products fit my budget: D-Link and SMC. I picked D-Link primarily because one of its product had a pretty good rating in PC Magazine wireless testing.

I first attached my desktop through a standard ethernet port, and it worked like a charm. The installation was no more than 10 min - really! Then, I installed D-Link 650 wireless card to my notebook, and to my surprise it too was working in 10 minutes. But, the mystery began once I reboot my notebook. My notebook could see the router, but for some strange reasons, router wasn't giving out the correct IP address. I spent the next 6 hrs trying out all possibilities, and I was ready to call it quit and ship it back. Then, as a last resort, I updated the firmware, and boom ... everything worked all of a sudden. The print server works with my Brother laser printer, but not with Epson ink-jet.

The signal strength is always at Good or Excellent inside my home. The signal gets weak and drop at certain angles from the yard, but I could still surf the net at the speed of well above 1 MB from my hammock. I only wish that the boss would let me work from my hammock everyday :)

Overall, I'm very happy with it. I only wish that I updated the firmware sooner.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It worked right out of the box!, February 26, 2002

By	David Crockett (Melbourne, FL) - See all my reviews

I spent several hours online, exploring various wireless network hardware specs and reviews before finally deciding on a D-Link wireless system. This DI-713P Wireless Broadband Router had both hardwire and wireless ports. This allowed me to continue using the wired Ethernet card already installed in my P3-800 Windows-Me PC, yet also install wireless networking for my wife's P2-400 Windows-Me PC (located about 25' away) and for our P2-233 Windows 98 SE laptop, no matter where it was used in our home (up to 60' away). I had originally wanted a wireless network only for sharing our Broadband Cable modem with our 3 computers. A complete and fully operational home network was a secondary consideration at the time. I ordered the DI-713P, a DWL-120 USB wireless adapter for my wife's PC, and a DWL-650 PCMCIA wireless adapter for our laptop, then anxiously awaited their arrival in the mail.

When they arrived, I figured the installation was going to be problematic, since several reviews had warned users of some potential problems and the need to upgrade the DI-713P's firmware right away. I turned off my PC and Cable modem, unboxed the DI-713P and inserted it between the modem and my PC's Ethernet card, then powered everything up. Voila, success! Immediately I had internet access through the DI-713P.

I installed the software, then connected the DWL-120 to my wife's PC via a USB port. Voila again! Her PC had instant wireless broadband internet access, although I had to play around with the DWL-120's and DI-713P's unit and antenna orientations to get an acceptable signal level between them, diagonally (45 degrees) through two walls at 25'.

Next, I plugged the DWL-650 into a PCMCIA slot on our laptop and installed the drivers using the included Quick Installation Guide...and you guessed it. Wireless internet success! I was on a roll and my vision had shifted to include a complete wireless network, which I now sensed was within my grasp.

It was now time for real "wireless" networking. To give myself an edge, I downloaded and installed the latest firmware for the DI-713P and drivers for the other two wireless units. By now I was wondering why I had waited so long to set up a wireless home network. I read the User's manuals, took a deep breath, and started setting up my PC and the laptop to "talk". But...for some reason I could not get the two computers to communicate, except for internet access. The User's manuals are fairly descriptive, but I would have killed to know what Windows software options needed to be installed in each computer and a step-by-step procedure on how to set up Network configurations for Windows 98 SE and Me OS's correctly. Fortunately, I was able to get my PC and our laptop communicating after about an hour of trial and error semi-educated guesswork. When it finally started working, it was a thing of beauty to behold.

Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky with my wife's PC. Apparently, two Windows Me machines are harder to set up to network together then are an Me and a 98 SE . I spent several hours trying to get it to work "properly" and finally shut everything down in disgust, thinking that I would call Customer Service the next day for help. When I powered the system up the next day, it worked PERFECTLY. My guess is that I needed to reboot the DI-713P before it would recognize and allocate an IP address to a second computer. What a kick!

So now I am a happy camper, smiling and chuckling to myself every time I use our ... wireless networked system with its two shared printers and 80 GB's of shared hard drives. I LOVE IT!

My only problem is that I think the advertised communication distances are overstated. Indoors, our laptop can only get about 25 meters (not 100) away from the DI-713P before useful internet/network communications are lost. Even then, the laptop/DWL-650, the PC/DWL-120, and the DI-713P orientation and antennas must be carefully aligned to transceive adequate signal strengths and achieve acceptable signal qualities. This is borderline performance in my book and cries out for product improvement.