D-Link DGL-4300 Wireless 108G Gaming Router Reviews

• Its a pretty great router, but support is weak!

  
  By A39LRLKACX89IP on 2005-04-08
  I'm a computer professional so technology is not much of a mystery to me, but I still want something that's solid, and easy to manage. The internal software to his unit is pretty good, and the performance is top notch. For one its easy to store, and save your configurations. This is important because there may be occasion where you have to reset the router, and your settings would be lost. The firmware was easy to update, and will need to be updated as soon as you connect the device. A word of caution here, if you are using a dial-up connection, (unless its always been very stable), I don't recommend upgrading the firmware with it. One thing you cannot do, because it will likely render the router useless, is lose your connection in the middle of a firmware upgrade.
  
  This is a gamer modem, and the help files and web manual provide good information as to how to set it up. It even has the settings to port replicate many popular game already built in. In addition, it has a special gamer network traffic section to keep your games running on an even keel over your network. I works, but better with some games than others. While I can't speak for any screaming, bleeding edge speed boosters, it seemed fast. I connected my old Windows 98SE machine using a Hawking, USB, wireless receiver, and it just worked! I experienced none of the problems I'd read horror stories about with other wireless routers.
  
  Connection is a snap. Disconnect your cable modem from the back of your comp, connects its ethernet cable to your new D-Link router, run the included cable from the D-link to your ethernet port on your comp. (If your computer was connected with USB, you might need a $10 ethernet PCI card if you don't have an ethernet connection.) Turn everything back on, and (at least in my case, it just worked). If your running it as a network, and not just a single firewall, I'd recommend the most modern computer for the wired connection. The rest can either go wired or wireless. I got excellent signal strength, and have yet to experience a dropout on my wireless machine. For those who don't know, a wireless router is normally wired to the first machine (wired connections are generally faster and more solid than wireless). The wireless part is generally for other computers and network devices (like printers and such) to be connected to the wireless part of the network. In the past all connections to a router were wired. If you have one computer you can use an access point, instead of a firewall, but with the exception of this one, (which is expensive) most access points cost near the same as a four port wireless router.
  
  Ok, now the bad news. It is a complicated piece of tech, and to do some things, people might need help. My advice is to read the FAQ's, and go to the web boards. I needed to get it to host a BattleNet game. I had the correct ports replicated as an exception, but it didn't work. I called the tech serve, and a typical moron told me how to ping the system with Windows command line. I spent a half hour trying to tell him I was connected fine, and could even play the game I wanted (Warcraft III Frozen Throne), but could not host a game. He couldn't answer a few simple questions, and finally admitted he didn't know anything about networking, but was reading from a test script. He agreed to transfer me to level 2 technicians. When I spoke to them they couldn't answer my questions either, and gave some lame excuse that if they told me how to host on BNet it would make my network insecure, and they would be liable to a lawsuit. Give me a break, you create a gamer router, and even include the ports listed for that game, then won't tell your customers how to set it up. I just don't think they held up their end of the bargain (D-Link support that is).
  
  After two days of testing it, I finally figured out, I had to create virtual servers for each port separately, then create a static IP address, and connect it up to the dynamically created one from Comcast. That would allow the virtual servers to be used by the gamers connecting to the host machine, to connect to a defined, unchanging address, which would connect to whatever other address came up dynamically by the service provider, using the DCHP server. It sounds complicated to a non-network guy, and it is. I'd have like to been told how to do that by tech serve, but they were too incompetent so it was just trial and error, plus a lot of reading.
  
  Bottom line is if you've gone though the router trials before, this will probably be a good experience. If not, prepare to educate yourself on the wonderful world of networking. I do recommend routers to be used as firewalls to all computer users who access the web, gamers or not. Hackers are banging on your computers ports all day long on the web, and with a hardware router, they only see a router, not the computers hidden behind it. If your not a gamer, this one is pricey, but if you want the latest greatest, as of today, this is pretty much it.
  
  

• Best Router I've ever owned

  
  By A39KJOCZGCM8P1 on 2005-12-30
  I've always sworn by Linksys and Netgear, but this past summer, I was pulling my hair out with VOIP problems. On both my older Linksys Wireless-G router and a newer Netgear WGR614 router, all calls over VOIP would end spontaneously after 5-10 minutes. It varied and improved somewhat when I moved to the WGR614.
  
  On a whim, I purchased this from CompUSA. I'd had problems with D-Link in the past - two wireless routers in a row died in less than a year, just prior to purchasing my Linksys G-router. Oh man, how things have changed.
  
  1) VOIP is given priority on this router. I haven't dropped a Vonage call in three weeks.
  2) Where before my XBox live signal (XBOX360 w/ wireless-G adapter) was weak and prone to disconnection, this router provides a very robust and stable connection.
  3) Both of my Apple Powerbooks connect without issue. I've had problems with both the Linksys and Netgear router and WPA-PSK implementation. It would often kick back my password, deny access to the network, or my Apple would wake from sleep and not be able to find the network. Again, in three weeks, both Powerbooks have connected within seconds using WPA-PSK.
  4) It sounds stupid but...this router is attractive. No longer do I feel the need to hid the unit under a desk. It just looks...cool. LEDs are bright, though, so if you game in a darkened room with this router, watch out. ;)
  5) More intuitive interface than the competition.
  
  I've heard that D-Link provides weak support for their products, but then, so did Netgear and Linksys, both of whom I called about the VOIP issue and both, naturally, blamed it on the VOIP box. Hopefully, with such an outstanding product, I'm sure I'll never have to avail myself upon D-Link's tech support.
  
  Sure, this router is MUCH more expensive than the competition, but it works as advertised, provides a better WiFi signal and, most importantly, its CONSISTANT.
  
  

• Great Router for all around home use.

  
  By A2UZ0JHM10EAH5 on 2006-03-17
  D-Link only made one mistake with this router, and that was bad marketing. They shouldn't market this as a 'Gaming' router, but more as their premium brand router. The real option that makes this router shine is that it just works. I had initially bought a linksys WRT54G seeing that Cisco bought linksys and I thought it would be great but it was bad news. It was slow, had poor signal strength compared the 4300 and wouldn't 'just work' with the PSP and the Gameboy DS. I sent it back to Amazon and bought 4300 instead. I had bought a new router to replace my old DLink 614+, and am nothing shy of overjoyed. This router is no gimmick. It has a gigabit switch built in which if you have gigabit NIC's in your wired network make file transfer lightning fast. And the wireless has an increased range over my previous DLink router, not to mention wireless G and the Dlink 108 boosted signal as well. The real feature that makes this router amazing is the Quality of Service (QoS) features. They make it seem like its more for gaming, but you can tweak priority of packets between gaming, internet traffic, phone (VoIP) traffic, and customize it to the your liking. You can even set it to turn off certain ports or all activity at certain times, i.e. you can keep people off after their bedtime!!! Overall this router is Stellar, but I have to say that if your not a techie, or really going to take the time to learn how to use thing, it will just seem like a plain old router when in fact it is a powerful networking tool, that you can set up once correctly and walk away from. If your very new to home networks, you may just like something simpler. Either way this is an amaizng product and the best home router i have ever used.
  
  ********
  Router Uptime is now 6 Months. Never had a problem and its been wonderful. Xbox Live works well as does the Nintendo DS with Mario Kart. The range on my laptop is pretty good. i have the Router in the basement but receive 75%+ signal strength all over the first floor of our house. I haven't decided if i want this on an upper floor to increase the range and strength out into the neighborhood. More on VoIP as soon as we get it.
  
  

• A rather complex gadget!

  
  By ATBADDXLX27EW on 2007-05-30
  This router does all that it claims to do, and more, but it is not without its problems. I bought it for my Xbox 360 (it's officially on their approved list, unlike my last router!), and it gets me into some great, high speed Live situations. Most of the reviews here are outstanding for this little guy, so I won't duplicate what others have said. I'll simply share my own downsides.
  
  1) Very complex piece of ordinance! I'm fair with computers, and I have a friend who programs video games, a friend who just graduated with several certificates in computers, and a friend who is a full professor of computer science. It took all four of us about two weeks to get this router set up properly. There are a million and one settings to juggle around, and if you don't know your way around a router, skip this one and go for something much more simple.
  
  2) You have to do some real trouble shooting to open ports and get the settings just right for your 360. In my case, the WEP level of security didn't ever work with my 360. The Xbox just couldn't pass the log in test. I spent three days on the phone with customer support from microsoft as well as dlink, and they each blamed each other. Eventually, I went more secure and used WPA security, and my 360 loved it. My Wii also synced up with no problems (although now, my Nintendo DS doesn't get online since it doesn't support WPA security).
  
  3) Horrible customer support! Dlink has the worst customer support. Usually, I've gotten computer support from people who know a little and rely on the computer prompting them a little. These guys and gals know NOTHING. They got me more screwed up following their instruction than I was before I called in. To boot, their accents were incredibly thick and their phone system was full of static. I couldn't ever hear what they were saying, and when I did, I couldn't understand them. Kinda frustrating... To boot, two of the three people I dealt with were just plain rude! If you need support, good luck.
  
  4) Finally, and this isn't really a complaint, if you use it for the Xbox 360, you'll need to get Firmware version 1.6 (or 1.2 or 1.3). Mine came with 1.7, and I upgraded to 1.8 before I learned that neither of these support Xbox live. I downgraded back to 1.6, and everything's fine. (For more technical info on this router and others, you can go to portforward.com)
  
  Again, this router has a ton of features. If you know your way around a network, you'll really your money out of this thing, and I highly suggest you buy it. I learned a ton just setting mine up and getting it to talk to my gaming systems. Now that it's up and running, I wouldn't get rid of it. If you're hoping for a simple plug and play router, though, go with another one that has fewer features and fewer settings to screw you up! I'd give it a higher rating if it was more accessible to the average joe, but as it is, I have to give it low marks and warn the average consumer away from it.
  
  
  

• Some üBer 1337-ness from D-Link

  
  By A1ZBFX4P0N4RE5 on 2005-03-24
  I just recently went to a LAN party with some friends and this router was powering the Intenret connection. Those blue LEDs were mad bright! The Internet connection at the LAN was flawless and I knew I had to have one of these bad boys. Plus this thing has all gigabit ports! w00t!
  
  I ordered it on the Internet and it came the next day. I've had it running in my room for 3 days now and I have to say that it does make a difference with my ping times in CS. And I've had to face this router towards my wall because the LEDs were so bright.
  
  All my friends are jealous and they want one.
  I got gigabit and you don't! HAHA!
  
  
• Less then meets the eye
  By A1KN1XJJ7ZWCJ on 2005-06-14
  I purchased my DGL-4300 to replace my DI-614+, only to discover it dosen't support PPTP connections. After waiting two months, D-Link finaly released an upgrade that enabled PPTP connections.
  
  When trying to use the router, I kept getting disconected from the net, every time I try to use a program that transfers high volumes of data, like video confrencing or on-line gaming. Every time I contacted D-link, they didn't know what the story was. After a long time, they finally said they have no idea what the problem is, and blamed other factors.
  
  The router's firewall kept dropping packets without any reason, and kept causing the connection to reset. This problem, and others, when searched on the web, turn up often enough but without a solution.
  
  
• Adding to the others...
  By AM852KZMJ1NSM on 2005-02-22
  I won't waste too much space. I also own this router and agree the other reviews are accurate.
  
  [...]
  
  Bottom line: This router will *help* you if you have multiple users doing different types of tasks (say 1 person games, 1 downloads legitimately purchased music, 1 uploads vacation pictures to a friend), but it won't solve all of your problems if you are an avid P2P file-sharer. I would recommend reading the help guide (very useful online help) to assist in tweaking the router to maximise performance. Also, I've had to call D-Link tech support for my business, they are friendly, knowledgable, and were responsive in getting my problem solved.
  
  Be warned: I've read reports of problems with a feature of this router with X-Box Live (but also note: the feature is DISABLED by default!).
  
  
• The Perfect Gaming Router for the Home
  By AVBBL1AIXWHUN on 2005-05-24
  If you play a lot of online games, or download a lot of files all the time, then this is the router you want to get the best performance out of your Internet connection.
  
  I will save you the time of reading my review since it will mostly reiterate what other reviews have said.
  
  Basically this router rules, as it does what it says it can do, and you don't have to fiddle around with it much to get it working properly. The wireless signal is great, it works well with it's partners in crime (DGL-3426 - Wireless Adapter) and looks totally bi*chen with the blue LEDs and black casing.
  I just want to add another 5/5 rating because this product deserves it.
  
  
• Best router yet! Great power, strong signal, Gigabit Ethernet - what else could you want?
  By A1QFMCHEU3FO66 on 2005-08-27
  I upgraded from a Netgear WGT624 108Mbps router to the D-Link DGL-4300 and boy, what a difference! The signal that was weak and always dropping upstairs through several foot-thick stone walls is now solid and fast. Gigabit local network is so fast I can capture video to a networked computer's RAID hard drives without overloading mine :-). Because of the removable antenna, I can attach a booster to it, but now that it's working so well, why bother? I just saved another $100 :-).
  
  The only configuration I had to do on Comcast was to copy the MAC address of my old router to this one (Internet Port MAC Address) so Comcast thinks I'm using my old router (then reboot the computer). If you don't have a router yet, you can simply clone your computer's address, and you're done. Be sure to upgrade to the latest bios ASAP in the setup process before you configure too much. The latest is a huge improvement in speed and compatability with 108/g/b protocols.
  
  This is by far the best router out there- probably even better than most Pre-N routers for range, and defititly better for Gigabit LAN speeds! I've never been so happy about a product's performance as I am with the DGL-4300!
  
  
• Most stable router ever used.
  By A1PVHY6WF6B10K on 2005-08-23
  Living in Alaska presents a lot of issues with networking and power fluctuations. I could not stay connected for more than a couple of hours at a time with other routers I was purchasing. I do a lot of online gaming, DAoC, SB, WoW, etc and randomly losing connections during large battles really became frustrating. After buying Linksys router and giving up on I decided to try the DGL-4300 gaming router, to see if I could stay online for more than a couple of hours. Installation was a breeze and the first large PvP battle I fought in with 50+ people on screen I noticed that not only was the lag I had been receiving with the Linksys routers non-existent, but I never once became disconnected for an entire evening of intense fighting. I am sold 100% that this router is worth every penny. I spend top money to buy high-end computer equipment that I can overclock to its maximum potential, but I always ended up buying cheap routers. This gaming router lives up to the hype and helps my equipment produce maximum online gaming potential.
  
  
• Incredible Router....Perfect for Gamers
  By A1YS2EAINXL2KO on 2005-05-13
  Sleek design and unbelievable performance! I use this for my online gaming, while the family uses the network for other uses at the same time. Not once have I received any lag in my gaming. D-Link is the only one on the market to integrate the GameFuel technology which is exactly what sets this apart from all the other underachieving gaming devices on the market. The DGL-4300 is a must have in any household.
  
  
• Perfect for X-Box Live and Nintendo Wi-Fi
  By A117GJYXI844FX on 2005-11-19
  I agree with all the preceeding reviews. This router is extremely stable, has a fantastic range, the blue LEDs and black chromed finish are beautiful too. Best router I've ever owned.
  
  I'm posting here to add that (once you upgrade to the 1.5 firmware) this router works great with BOTH X-Box Live and Nintendo Wi-Fi with no additional setup. I even enabled WEP and there were no problems connecting to either service, all I had to do was enter the WEP key on the Nintindo DS and it was ready to go. Be you a router configuring expert or a novice, you'll find this router meets and exceeds all your needs.
  
  
• Decent router with plenty of processing power
  By A1Q2ZXHK3R3HEW on 2006-01-11
  Pros: Very powerful CPU, never hang up, gigabit ports, lots of parameters to play with
  Cons: Expensive
  I've tried many other routers including Netgear (wireless b/g), Linksys (b), Belkin (b). None of them work flawlessly. Most of them lose connections constantly, no matter wired or wireless. The netgears does not crash down, but they significantly slow down under load. A quick search on the web revealed that the cpu power of the router plays a critical role. For example, I heard that D-Link DGL604 can only handle up to 2000 connections simutaneously. It'll crash down if the load is too high.
  Someone disassembled this gaming router and found it uses a Ubicom IP3023 processor which operates at 250MHz with eight-way hardware multithreading. This allows more connections when compared to other routers (most of them uses 160MHz-200MHz cpu to reduce cost, e.g. the Netgear g uses Broadcom BCM5352KPB chipset, which has a 200 MHz processor). Other components in this router include a Broadcom BCM5385 gigabit switch and an Atheros AR5004X mini-PCI wireless card.
  With these positive points I decided to make this investment. Needless to say I was not disappointed. The speed significantly increased and the router never hang up since I set it up (~6 weeks). My suggestion: if you do intensive networking, go get this router. If you only do the internet surfing, a cheaper one will work equally well.
  
  
• An excellent router
  By A2D6OAU9M4QB4Z on 2005-02-15
  This DGL-4300 is the nicest router I have owned, in looks, features and reliability. My previous routers were an SMC, Microsoft MN-100, Microsoft MN-500, Linksys WRT54G. I've owned this router for over a month now.
  
  This router basically is everything I want in a router, minus a few bugs. Such as if I uncheck one of the logging options, and then it will email me a blank log file instead. The log file btw is detailed, and holds many log entries (350 or more).... unlike many other brands which only store a few lines which tell you nothing. It also does not support UPnP yet, but may in the future, although it does have support for Port Triggering which is a variation of UPnP.
  
  The BLUE LED lights on this are also super bright. So much so that it lights up your room at night time. I suppose that could be a drawback to some people who don't like any lights when they sleep. Its a very nice looking router, with a chrome front plate around the LED's (remove the thin plastic to see the shiny chrome, there is also a thin plastic covering the logo on top of the router), and the matt black color all adds up to a nice looking router.
  
  The chipset inside this router is made by Ubicomm, the chipset and cpu are specifically designed for QOS. Unlike any other routers which claims to have QOS. Just remember to turn on the Gamefuel option and you don't need to really do anything else. Except set your maximum upload speed so it knows how to adjust the QOS. The QOS works great for games and when I was uploading at full speed, it had little to no affect on the game.
  
  I have not tried VOIP, I don't plan on getting that any time soon. One thing I have learned over the years is that every brand of router has its own problems. This one has been the best for me so far.
  
  
  
• Excellent wireless router!
  By A2TGMXVCA6RK25 on 2005-08-02
  We had 3 desktops, a laptop and a TiVo all wirelessly connected in our home using Linksys adapters and a WRT54G Linksys wireless G router. That router was the bane of my existence--it dropped signal constantly, at least 3-4 times per day, for no explicable reason. Numerous calls to Linksys as well as warranty replacements and firmware tweaks did nothing to fix the issue.
  
  Despite the larger price tag, I decided to try the D-Link DGL-4300 after reading several positive reviews from people who had the same Linksys troubles as I did.
  
  This router is fantastic! The menus are easy to navigate, featuring a simple format for novice users and a detailed menu for those more technically inclined. I literally had it set up and working with WEP encryption within 5 minutes. In addition, since it is designed with gamers in mind, the router already had a pre-set list of games and the communication ports they use. Since we play World of Warcraft, it was a snap to set up the firewall to allow WoW to communicate through the router, just by selecting the game from a list.
  
  But the best aspect of this router is that it has been running for almost a month now and we haven't had a single drop in signal that has affected our network at all! I attribute this to a smart feature inside the router configuration (you can enable or disable it) that will automatically channel scan for the clearest channel available if it picks up any interference, a lot like a cordless phone does. So if my neighbors change their wireless network channel, the D-Link DGL-4300 will switch to a clear channel and then inform all my wireless devices to do the same--the total process takes less than 3 seconds and is fast and efficient enough not to result in lost signal or packets. It's wonderful!
  
  My only reservation about an otherwise perfect experience thus far has been some limitations D-Link's firmware imposes on WEP security. With several wireless networks in my neighborhood, security is a big concern for us. With the Linksys, even a 64-bit WEP password could be up to 21 characters long. With this D-Link, a 64-bit WEP password has a maximum ASCII character length of 5, which forces you to get really creative with your password choosing. To add a little insult to injury for those less technically-minded, it also requires you key in your WEP password in hexidecimal, rather than plain text. This can be a bit of a pain--indeed, I had to Google a web site to translate my password to hex for me. Still, it is a small price to pay for an otherwise top notch performance router.
  
  If you're having any connection or synch issues with your existing wireless network, or if you are looking to add a wireless network to your home and want speed, performance and (mostly) ease of use, you don't have to be a gamer to appreciate the subtle perfection that is the D-Link DGL-4300.
  
  
• Finally, a router that actually works as advertised
  By A16WKPOSEGQC3Y on 2005-12-06
  I don't know what it is, but all the routers I've had have all been, well lousy. Random hangs and crashes, crude and sloppy software, moody DHCP servers, unreliable upgrades, garbage power supplies, and general bad behavior. Funny thing is, they've all been linksys, and they never improved. Yup, faster, and more expensive was the claim, but they all were just junk. I'd finally had it. Especially in a house with school age kids that learn to rely on the internet, and when it crashes twice a week, I become tech support boy real quick.
  
  Now this router is another story. I'd started playing around with Gigabit Ethernet last year, for gaming and MP3 file sharing, and was surprised to see a router that featured GbE when I went looking to replace yet another failed blue box. Let me tell you, after some 6 or so blue routers over the past 8 years, this one rocks. It just worked, no drama. The software makes sense, and is not a sloppy mess. It upgrades itself it you tell it to. It tells you whats going on. Its fast. You can find things in it.
  
  The power supply even looks decent. I've had some D-Link stuff over the years, mostly wireless cards, and I knew they were pretty good, but this thing takes the cake. It IS worth the extra money, especially if it lasts a couple of years. Highly recommended
  
  
• Best router ever!
  By A28584XWJEA1E7 on 2005-08-09
  I have had experience with all sorts of routers. This router is by far the best. I have had it over a month now and it hasn't dropped connection one time! Furthermore, I have a Mac G5 with an Airport and it worked seamlessly with it. I just basically turned it on, created a network and it worked. Getting the WPA encryption going was easy too. It has great range and is more responsive than my old Linksys router. On top of all that it has many popular gaming ports and online services preconfigured for instant activation. The blue lights are pretty nifty too. Oh ya, it plays nice with my Airport express which streams my music to the living room. Sweet!
  
  
• Good product poor support
  By AHO6EXHOM7R6A on 2006-04-27
  My experience is not as good as the majority of other reviewers. The product was difficult to install and the first rep was unhelpful. Once it became clear that he was not able to help with the problem, he hanged up... The second call was more successful albeit the critical help was provided from the DSL provider. The problem turned out to be that the DSL model already had router functions that had to be disabled. Now the router works well.
  
  
• Thank God the last router I'll need for a LONG time!
  By A1K3ZIY87XE6ER on 2006-12-10
  We are avid online gamers at our house. Every day there are at least 3 people gaming or surfing the web at the same time. Downloading, streaming, uploading, vent server, you name it and its going on. We've put a lot of routers through their paces and none of them have been able to stand up to us. Several models of Belkin, Linksys, and Netgear have come and gone in our household. Some routers would last 6 months and most never more than a year. Once I was so sick and tired of buying new ones that I made everyone suffer with the one we had. My son was bugging me to try this router before it was even released. When it was finally out, I decided to try it but with the warning that if it didn't stand up to the test that this was it for a LONG LONG time!
  
  Well I'm happy to report that the router has been up for over a year which is quite a feat. We have not had one single issue or complaint with it yet! I am beyond happy at not throwing money out the door left and right! I could kiss the president of D-Link! So if you are a gamer, feel very comfortable buying this router because you can not go wrong!
  
  
• Works great for the 360 - NAT is now OPEN
  By A2Y1WNETD9AYHO on 2007-01-24
  
  My linksys would sometimes cause my 360 to go to moderate on my nat for no reason - so playing call of duty 3 I would never find or get into matches.
  This router easily has options to easily place the 360 into the proper port forwards and DMZ . The router has some nice setup features that the linksys makes archaic while the 4300 is more understandable and workable.
  
  So if you have an xbox 360 and your nat is always moderate or strict and wont stay open then give this router a try - its xbox live certified .
  
  
• DGL-4300 Gamefuel Router
  By A3U4REQLJDTH6O on 2007-09-30
  I could not disagree more with the comments about turning off the Gamefuel option. Even if you are not a gamer, make a rule that places your browser and your movie downloads first and they will work better. We have seven computers, a Wii, and an XBox on line in our house. Two of the computers and the Wii are wireless, the rest hard wired. My wife and I play Everquest, our kids play World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Halo, and a whole bunch of other things. Since we installed this router our ping times have been lower, lag less, and disconnects have been entirely elliminated due to network lag. We are on AT&T DSL extreme with am 8m connection and even my download times improved with this router. We use PPPOE and have it set to keep the connection "always on" with a disconnect delay of Zero.
  
  I found the wireless version for $20 less than the wired. ($99 new)
  
  
• What a relief
  By APAUM5KMD2T00 on 2005-08-21
  Had Belkin PRE-N for 2 mothts. It is long shooter. Great range. But not stable. Now have DGL-4300 for 4 days: range, of course, is not that great. Speed: in par or somewhat better. And: NO PROBLEM. No rebooting, restarting, re-initializing,etc. For wired connection extra benefit - gigabit hub. So, happy man again. My advice: if range is not concern, if you are looking for workhorse, to avoid frustration, go with this one!
  
  
• This saved me From KILLING my Brother
  By A26EXIIK5GK107 on 2006-01-05
  Until I got this router I was going to kill my Brother. I couldn't get him to stop Downloading from P2P programs, but with this router I can limit the bandwidth so the internet still works like BROADBAND. I love this produce and would recommend it to anyone looking for a router, even if they don't have the same problem I did. The user interface is well laid out and easy to get around. The wireless signal is very strong. Plus it has cool blue lights on it.
  
  
• Beats Netgear hands down
  By AOSR6W2TCA742 on 2006-04-16
  I bought this to replace my fairly new Netgear hardware. Netgear seems to have issues with their wireless routers requiring frequent reboots. I saw this behavior with mine. I was pleasently surprised with the performance of the DLink. It was easy to setup and customize (I'm a computer geek, so that may have helped), and the configs are easy to save.
  
  The real surprise came when my Netgear 108mbps cards actually synced up at 108 with the DLink! I was prepared to replace my existing Netgear cards gradually, but that won't be necessary now! So far, this router has been rock solid.
  
  
• Works well - but no support for a Mac
  By A3LJJ032L6UXI0 on 2006-05-02
  Packet Prioritization is VERY nice -- I can lower the priority of big downloads so they don't impact my normal network usage.
  
  802.11 b/g Signal strength is fine.
  
  WPA (personal) seems to work fine with Macs and with a buffalo wireless ethernet bridge. (PC's are all wired, but I assume it would work there too.) I never bothered to try the older WEP standard. Haven't tried WPA (enterprise).
  
  Routing seems to be fine. (In particular, iTunes music sharing DOESN'T crash the router when crossing from wifi to wired--unlike on a number of other routers where it DOES crash the router.)
  
  The web config tool seems pretty good (as long as you use a supported browser--see below)
  
  Mac users note: it can only be configured from a PC -- or from a Mac if you install FireFox. It simply does not work with Safari. DLink was upfront about this on their packaging (they don't claim Mac support), but it sure would be nice if it worked with a Mac. The lack of functioning web config pages on Safari is the main reason it only gets 4 starts instead of 5.
  
  
• Best router I've bought
  By A1T1YSCDW0PD25 on 2006-05-23
  I really like this router. It has a lot of features and appears to be a great performer. You can prioritize packet routing from certain IP address, which I used to prioritize the packets from my Vonage adapter. The router interface is the best I've seen. The gigabit switch is great.
  
  
• Great product
  By A226CC6DXQUHF1 on 2006-08-18
  Took it out of the box, connected the cables and it worked. No software to install. Had a Linksys router and nothing but trouble, had to keep rebooting. D-Link is performing trouble free and again an extremely easy installation.
  
  
• A rock solid piece of networking gear
  By AK4FBHBXSPNE6 on 2006-08-28
  This thing runs flat out all the time, wired and wireless. It has an excellent amount of tweakability. Once you figure out what a lot of the options even do you'll feel like a networking pro. The quality of service (QoS) stuff actually works as advertised, it's amazing once you have everything configured to have this router so dynamically manage your bandwidth - it almost makes you feel like you have an unlimited net connection.
  A few of the drawbacks include a lot of options, so there can be a little learning curve if you want to tweak, but the default options are secure and work well anyway. Some of the QoS settings are hard to understand (from this IP and port on my local subnet to this IP range and ports on this subnet over the internet, etc.) but it's dynamic setup does a decent job by itself. I found the ALGs (Application-Level Gateways) seem to cause more problems than good and so I unchecked all of them and added the port forwarding rules manually. In fact this router has three areas to set port forwards, but the 'Gaming' section is the most versitle and easy to use, so that's where you'll probably put in all your rules. The D-Link speedboost stuff only works with other D-Link speedboost gear, but so what, it does regular 54Mbp 802.11g beautifully - I've meseaured the range out to 200ft from the base station with good signal strengh.
  
  If you want the best consumer-level home networking gear, this certainly fits the bill.
  
  
• Works as advertised
  By A1HRY19XI0SUAM on 2006-10-06
  I purchased this router in May 2006. I wanted to get familiar with the router before posting a review. Some of the negative responses I see regarding this router makes me wonder how long did the person actually had the router before reporting "it doesn't work as advertised" or "no
  difference in performance".
  
  Since I have purchased this router I have learned how to properly use it and I have to admit I am impressed. It does work as advertised if it is configured properly. For example, I think a common misconception is if you turn on Gamefuel your all set. That is not the case at least in my experience.
  
  I have Gamefuel turned on but I still had to configure rules for XBox Live and Bittorrent clients. In a nutshell it appears you should create rules for certain apps and let Gamefuel handle everything in between your highest and lowest priority apps.
  
  My clients include an XBox, 2 PC's (Linux and WinXP) and a print server.
  Excellent product!
  
  **Also if you have other wireless devices that use this router you should reboot them after you reboot the router! I have noticed my router gets flaky if the wireless clients are not rebooted after the router itself is rebooted.
  
  
  
• XBL users must read this!
  By AU2L40GRV7NU5 on 2007-02-23
  I bought this because I host a ton of games in RainbowSix. Out of the box the gamerfuel is nice. HOWEVER, if you're going to host games in Xbox live, you MUST go to the advanced tab, gamefuel link and uncheck the "Dynamic Fragmentation" box. This will resolve and "Disconnected from Xbox Live" errors received while hosting.
  
  

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