D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router Reviews

• Best Wireless Router I Have Ever Owned...By FAR

  
  By AVH11WSMMLDW3 on 2007-02-14
  Im sitting on this thing right now. Man oh man...im getting a "very good" signal where my connection used to be dropping...
  
  I used to have a few problems with WiFi. The first problem was obviously the range...as I said a few moments ago, the DIR-655 fixed that...I mean, even though it claims 6x range, but I was going to be happy with just a 25% improvement...I seriously think that this router increased my range 50-75%!
  
  I used to always be frustrated with the lack of settings in many routers. Some would have QoS (Quality of Service...something that can prioritize important internet activity like Voice Over IP...internet phone) but it didnt really work. Some would be lacking in semi-advanced routing features...others would barely have any non-novice features at all...This one has plenty of options for the advanced user to have a lot of fun screwing with settings. The most beautiful thing about it though, is that there is a wizard in the interface so that even the most novice of users can set up a great network with strong security. It also has context sensitive online help...what that is, is when you are trying to adjust settings and you dont know what something means, there is a little help button right there that you can click to get an explanation right then and there! Its kinda like the Yin-Yang of routers...
  
  I want to mention that I have been looking at draft-N routers for a few weeks now and have been reading the reviews. The reason that I am writing this review is that it was so hard for me to find a good review on this router. Cnet doesnt even have an official review (as of 2/13/07) but it does have very positive user comments. From my homework though, (user reviews, and more importantly official reviews from Cnet, engadget, etc) every Draft-N wireless router has some kind of problem. Some dont work well in environments with more than a couple neighboring networks, some dont have good throughput, and some dont have better range. Again, I didn't want to buy this one because I couldn't find any solid review on it. After going through a couple of different Draft-N routers, Let me help you out. This is the one.
  
  BTW...im not running an "N" wireless adapter...this thing even increases the range of "B" and "G" signals. GREAT JOB D-LINK!
  
  

• Intel Mac users beware!

  
  By AVB1BHAHK1YH0 on 2007-04-12
  Intel Macs running the current version of Mac OS X (10.4.9) are incompatible with this router. The configuration page does not render properly on any of my three Macs, regardless of whether they use a wired or wireless connection. And with the latest AirPort firmware on the MacBook, the WPA settings cause a system crash (kernel panic).
  
  D-Link technical support was no help. I sent them an email with a screen shot from Safari and Firefox, and they responded: "You shoudl [sic] be able to do it with safari. Can you try it in another environment?" So they didn't properly answer my question, and they never responded to my two follow-up emails. Zero stars for tech support!
  
  The reason I'm giving this product two stars is that it did work properly with my Windows computers. But Intel Mac users should look elsewhere. I did.
  
  

• Fast Enough for HD-DVD Playback, 120-240v

  
  By A1UEL5C1N6E5SE on 2007-10-12
  Very satisfied. Smaller than expected. Fast enough to play HD-DVDs wirelessly to my notebook (Dell Inspiron E1505, 802.11BGN, 945GM, Core Duo (2) 2GHz, Vista Premium, Arcsoft Digital Theater, D-Link DNS-323 NAS). Great speed and coverage. 120 to 240 volts. Also handles HDTV perfectly via HDHomeRun device.
  
  Don't forget to upgrade firmware.
  
  Update 11-Nov-2007: This router may be my biggest gadget surprise this year. It continues to perform better than expected, completely solving all past wireless issues and handling all tasks such as streaming HD-DVD.
  
  

• Works with Tivo, Wii (and PCs)

  
  By A63XTYRMUM26Y on 2007-07-01
  I ordered this because my old router was dying. I have an older Tivo, which runs only 802.11B and a Ninetndo Wii (802.11G) in addition to two standard PC wireless connections (and a couple of wired ones). I had to dial back the wireless security in order to bring my Tivo along, which locked the router into only B/G function, but the signal strength is great and there have been no "legacy" issues at all. Color me quite happy.
  
  

• Hotter than the sidewalk in Phoenix in July

  
  By A16723ZETJAWIS on 2007-10-08
  First off, the really tough thing about wireless routers is that your performance can vary dramatically from someone elses. Whether its your hardware, your software, spyware, configuration of your house, your ISP, what type of cordless phone you use, or a myriad of other things, your experience may be entirely different from your best friend's. So, this isn't so much a review of the router as it is a review of my experience with it.
  
  The Good
  
  This router has all of the bells and whistles with the exception of dual band broadcasting. QoS, WISH, VPN, Port Forwarding, all levels of security, etc. It has Gigabit wired ports. You cannot get anything more elsewhere without doubling the price. It is all packaged within an attractive set up that provides hope that this will be your last router for quite some time. Set up is easy and straight forward. And, most importantly, you literally cannot get a faster router when within 30 feet.
  
  The Bad
  I really wanted to keep this router but I couldn't. My main problem was heat. After a few hours of use (just being on at all), this router was almost too hot to touch. I actually exchanged it figuring it must be a bad router but the new one was the same way. And, more importantly, when it got hot, I got intermittent lag via my wire machine on my internet traffic. Games that played flawlessly on my old Buffalo router started lagging; video started stuttering; downloads started pausing. Diagnosed it with my ISP as being on my side of their modem. When my old router was plugged in, all problems went away. D-Link tried to help me but there was a language barrier and no matter what we did with QoS and WISH, it didn't go away. I had to return the router.
  
  The Ugly
  FYI: Blue lights are pretty but REALLY bright. Seriously, you could read by them.
  
  Like I said, I really wanted to keep it but I had to replace it instead. Your experience may vary so I would encourage you to try it because it is a very feature-rich router. Just keep your old one handy just in case.
  
  P.S. Owned it for three weeks before returning it.
  
  
• FAAAAAST!!!
  By A28OIXJ7687WF2 on 2007-05-02
  Wow! I used a Linksys RT31P2 for the last year or so. It was a piece of junk!! Would slow down, get constipated, and finally died. Since we are Mac family (I have been an IT consultant too long to stay PC) I used the Airport Extreme (802.11g) for a while also. It was reliable.
  
  BUT WHEN I PLUGGED IN THIS D-LINK ROUTER, I realized that all my previous routers had been huge bottlenecks. Over the Airport, my upload speed on Comcast cable modem increased from 4Mbps to 20Mbps. Wow. Didn't even realize Comcast had opened up that much bandwidth. [...]
  So in my house we have a wired Mac, wireless Mac, wireless TiVo, Vonage adapter, Airport printserver, Airport iTunes, and they all work fine. I am currently using 802.11g and WPA2 since I don't own any 802.11n stuff yet. Signal strength for 802.11g has doubled on the fringe areas from 30% on my Tivo adapter to 60%.
  
  I bought the D-Link vonage ATA adapter and plugged into one of the ports. I was concerned my phone calls would get choppy since the ATA is behind the router. HOWEVER, THE D-LINK ROUTER HAS SOME VERY GOOD QoS FEATURES AND USING THE AUTOMATIC SETTINGS, THE VONAGE CALLS ARE NOT CHOPPY AND EVERYTHING WORKS FINE.
  
  Build Quality: This router is built a lot more solid than many other routers I have seen, especially the Linksys P.O.S. I just placed in the trash can (best place for it really).
  
  Summary: Gigabit switch is awesome. Router can do SPI and even some deep packet inspection such as H.323 (Netmeeting) compatibility and QOS stuff while maintaining lots of speed. It is VoIP aware and supports SIP and QOS is tuned for VOIP. It works great in a Mac environment and I'm sure would in a PC environemtn also. VERY extensive router setup settings for the home user including INCOMING filters, flexible DHCP server with ability to reserve IP addresses for specific MAC addresses (nice). Will email you the log files, and automatically checks D-Link's website for firmware updates. Overall an awesome router for the money.
  
  
• The WORST investment I have made for my network to date.
  By A28HBJOYP6BL62 on 2007-05-04
  I think that Dlink has hired people to write positive reviews for this thing, because it is a joke.
  
  Let me say, I have a $30 Linksys router Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Routerthat I have replaced with this one. I moved into the basement, 3 floors from the computer upstairs, and thought that the Linksys would not reach. I was wrong, the Linksys reached fine, however, we had already ordered this router, its talks of faster internet and safety sold me on it, I thought it may be worth replacing the old router, which I had bought in 2004 I believe.
  
  Upon recieving this router, I installed it, and immediately, my internet was slowed down by at least 5x of what it was. It made my system crash, because of this software it came with, and my internet would disconnect CONSTANTLY.
  
  I called Dlink technical support, which has been a joke! I spent 3 days talking to these people. 30 minutes to get to a technician, just to have them insult your intelligence and tell you to reboot the router and the computer, and call them back if you have any more problems. No matter how many times I told these people I have done that, and that there is a problem, they keep telling me that as if it will magically fix things. It doesn't, obviously.
  
  Finally, I got some semblance of good advice before being hung up on, adjusting a number on my router's advanced settings, that stopped the constant DCing, however my computer was still running like a turtle carrying a refridgerator on its back. I rolled back my system to the day I recieved the router before I installed anything, now my internet is fine. However, I am hard wired into the router.
  
  the computer upstairs, say that it is out of range of the router. I had to bring it all the way down stairs, and it still said it was out of range!
  
  upon turning encryption WAY DOWN it finally said that it was connected, yay, sort of. Unable to use WPA encryption? how is that SAFER then the $30 router I had previously? its really not.
  
  However about 1 minute after I got it to connect, it promptly lost signal, even being NEXT to the router. Absolutely useless. Even though it had a full 5 bars, it cannot connect.
  
  its not the network cards fault, this computer was connected wireless from 3 stories up with the $30 Linksys, mind you, and cannot with a $120 peice of garbage.
  
  Finally, someone from Dlink, upon my billionth call, tells me that there is a chance that you cannot encrypt with Dell computers, (the upstairs computer is a Dell) notice how, no where on ANYTHING about this router, does it tell you that.
  
  I also purchased the network card that acompanies this router, the same model and what not.
  
  I installed it, and my computer doesn't see it, or see it exists.
  
  I cannot install the drivers, as it doesn't detect the new hardware.
  
  I STRONGLY advise anyone thinking of purchasing this, think again, or at least, just take the money and throw it down the toilet you will be doing the same thing, just saving yourself money on phone calls to Dlink and from ripping your own hair out from frustration.
  
  
• Have ATandT/yahoo DSL? DO NOT BUY THIS!
  By A144R5DP2PMFXI on 2007-10-18
  This company in their infinite wisdom gave this unit the SAME address as the common ATandT yahoo modem. To correct this problem hook up the modem with the router and sign on to the internet, but wait...they dont work together because of the conflict. You therefore cant sign on with them hooked up to correct the problem. Does this sound circular? There is a customer support line for you to call LONG DISTANCE and be on hold for half an hour or better at YOUR expense. There you get someone that has learned a years worth of ENGLISH from a book so cant understand what you are saying. After several minutes of them not being able to understand your questions, they drop connection. You can either get BACK in the customer support line...on hold...long distance at YOUR expense, or throw the item in the trash. Please dont waste your money. Before you buy ANY router, please go to its support page. See if your DSL provider is listed there with NUMEROUS complaints. Though to be fair, I can understand how small the company AT and T is and therefore why THIS company hasnt bothered to put out a product that does not conflict. Also be aware that their web site has BLATENTLY written "We give NO refunds for ANY reason". Now if this unit were NOT such a problem why would they NEED to write that! Please ignore the GLOWING reviews written by employees of this company and go see their web page for yourself. BEWARE! The company doesnt give refunds so Im essentially throwing over a hundred bucks in the trash. Wanna join me or you wanna pass this by?
  
  
• Great device
  By A167UAQ4E98K0Q on 2007-03-09
  I previously had a Linksys WRT54G and was moderately satisfied with it until it started exhibiting signs of 'cheapness', like general flakiness, inability to load the web management (it'd load a blank screen), etc. After getting frustrated enough, and desiring a router with gigabit ports, I started searching, until I came across the DIR-655.
  
  The first best part (and there's more than one) of this router was unpacking it. Honestly, it's the sexiest networking device I've seen in a long while. There's a button hiding stealthily on the right side, if you take note, but no mention is made of it in the manual. Also included in the package is a little black plastic stand, so you can stand the router on end - that's pretty standard for D-Link, and I like that. They threw in a Cat-5 cable, was that a joke? What am I going to do with a Cat-5 cable on a gigabit router? That's very amusing.
  
  I elected not to run the software included on the CD. There's no real need if you know what you're doing. However, for more advanced users I'd recommend connecting the router to your computer, but NOT connecting to your internet connection (cable modem), and just spending a few minutes familiarizing yourself with your new sweet toy and all of her options.
  
  Now for the good stuff: This router is amazing! The main 'Setup' page is basically divided into 2 parts for each section, a 'wizard' for quick-and-easy setup, and a 'manual' page. Basically, if you're a beginner, stick to the wizard pages. If you wanna get up and running fast, go through the wizards, you can always go back later and manually tweak the settings to your liking.
  
  Connectivity is top level. I tested it by transferring 25 GB of large files then 25GB of small files between two hosts connected to this router, both using 10 feet of cat6 each. 100% success, no packets lost, no fragmentation, and the transfer was about 4% faster than the same transfer straight through on an unmanaged gigabit switch. Internet connectivity was great too. Thanks to the built-in SPI firewall, all the 'network noise' (thanks to all the other 'dirty' hosts on comcast's network) is effectively eliminated, and honestly speeds up my internet activity significantly over what I'm used to when using the WRT54G. Checking the logs revealed the dirty details of all this crap that's filtered out, and I like it gone.
  
  Wireless-N connectivity was also good. Not much can be said here, it works like it should, and I have no complaints.
  
  Administration is also very nice. As usual, the router is administered via browser, and while that's cool, I'd also like to be able to ssh into it and take care of business via CLI, but alas that is not to be. But otherwise, the web management is well designed, fast and easy to understand. This router also checks periodically for firmware updates and notifies you via email if you have the email settings enabled.
  
  Other items of note: VoIP works flawlessly, as does all online gaming that I tried. Latency is noticeably reduced (on my favorite server, from about 80ms to about 60ms avg) in Half-Life 2 deathmatch. torrents worked fine. So far I have no real complaints about this router. It's now my most favorite part of my network.
  
  Overall, I give this 5/5. Honestly, I'd easily say it's worth the price I paid for it (at the time it was $140), and for my network it is a perfect match. If you're a 'normal' computer user, don't buy this just to impress your friends; the features and complexity would be lost on you and are not worth the price.
  
  PROS:
  -DHCP Address Reservation
  -Easy administration
  -Quick Setup
  -Email logs
  -Incredibly easy port forwarding and per-application settings
  -SPI + NAT + WPA2. Nuff said.
  -Great documentation and help files.
  -Port forwarding scheduling.
  
  CONS:
  -No SSH or CLI administration.
  -Reboot required after changing most settings.
  -No matching high quality D-Link cable modem to go with this.
  
  Congratulations, D-Link, on crafting yet another incredible piece of networking equipment. The DIR-655 is worthy enough to sit on my desk, instead of crammed behind it like the Linksys was!
  
  
• Router kind of works, unbelieveably TERRIBLE tech support
  By A1KPXRG8S4N1ZE on 2008-03-12
  This was a great learning experience. My new take on the "Amazon Star" rating process is to calculate ratio of low rating (1 or 2 stars) to the overall number of ratings and that will give you the percentage chance of having a bad experience with a product.
  
  Unfortunately, I fell into the 30% of the people that have had bad experience with this product. The real question for you as you're thinking about buying this product is "do I feel lucky or will I be the approximately 1 out of 3 people who get unlucky?". Some people like to gamble with hours of time on hold with tech support. Turns out I don't.
  
  I purchased this router to replace my Linksys wrt54gx. I have a network with 3 laptops and 5 other computers that worked fine (each computer can see the other) before installing the Dlink DIR 655.
  
  After installing the DLink and working for about an hour, I was finally able to get each individual computer to see the internet. Unfortnately, none of the computers could see each other, nor even respond to simple ping commands.
  
  Tech support calls went like this:
  Call 1 - nice rep, worked hard to understand and gave me a case number so I could call back in 15 mins to talk to a level 2 rep
  Call 2 - level 2 rep - explained the whole situation to the rep again and they put me on hold while they looked up some information. 10 mins later - click, I was magically disconnected
  Call 3 - level 2 rep again - ditto of call 1, but this time disconnected after 15 minutes
  Call 4 - Level 2 rep (Kelly), explained the whole situation again, simplifying it to say "I would just like to ping from Laptop A to Laptop B". Her response was that type of functionality was not covered by DLink support(????). She said that since my computers were all talking to the internet, their product was working and that any communication issues between my two laptops were my responsibility. Also that if I did want support, I had to call their networking department to get free support at 888-814-2882. When I told her I knew that was a $ per call support line, she lied and said it was not and tried to rush me off the phone. When I asked to speak with a manager, she said there were none available(????). When I got very specific and said that there were no managers or supervisors managing all of the tech support reps that evening, she said they all managed themselves. Given that she lied before about the $ per call support line, I didn't believe her, but what can you do.
  Call 5 - I called the 888-814-2882 number and indeed they are a per fee support line. The rep suggested I call back the original number and ask for a senior person.
  Call 6 - Called back the original number, gave my case id and asked for a senior person. The rep started asking me all the basic questions again and I politely asked for his name and ID, he kept talking over me and would not give his name nor id. When I politely persisted in asking for his name and ID started raising his voice and then yelled at me an hung up.
  Call 7 - Asked for the name and ID of the rep in case we got disconnected. He would not give them to me(he identified himself as George when the call started, but would not say his name again). He said the only process I could use to make sure I got support was to use my case id. When I explained that the other reps did not leave a comment or identifying mark on my case file, he said there was nothing he could do.
  
  I had high hopes for this router based on the reviews and I guess if you use it in a basic one computer or two computer network it works fine (maybe?).
  
  Don't bother with tech support, Linksys is head and shoulders above Dlink in this regard.
  
  This whole incident reminds me of the old fashioned off shore support that companies thought they could get away with a few years ago, but ended turning customers away and crashing their sales (Dell, Sprint, etc).
  
  I really wanted to love this router, but how can anyone buy something that really doesn't work as advertised, yet also isn't supported by the company or that you have to "pay" to get working out of the box?
  
  Sorry DLink - fix your product and support policies and maybe I'll come back one day.
  
  
  
• Best router ever . . .PERIOD
  By A25BA5DDLMT8WJ on 2007-11-26
  Tested with the following network:
  Comcast Cable Internet
  Motorola SB 5100 (Cable Modem)
  D-Link DIR-655 (Router)
  D-Link RangeBooster N DWA-642 (Adaptor)
  IBM Thinkpad (Laptop)
  Gateway PC (Personal Computer)
  Dish Network DVR (Digital Video Recorder)
  HP Media Vault MV2020 (Network Attached Storage)
  HP Officejet 7310 All-in-One (All-in-One Printer)
  Sony Playstation 3 (Gaming Console)
  Netgear 85 Mbps Powerline 4-Port Ethernet Adapter (Ethernet Adapter)
  
  PROS:
  1. Incredibly fast (fastest router available)
  2. Good range
  3. Wireless/Wireline (4 ethernet ports)
  4. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n compatible
  5. Great security features
  6. Great customer support
  7. Stable
  8. Constant firmware updates keep hardware up-to-date
  9. Easy to setup
  10. Comes with user friendly Network Magic software
  11. Inexpensive for performance (sells well below retail price)
  
  CONS:
  1. Looks ugly and cheap
  2. Interferes with 2.4Ghz cordless phones
  3. Some people have had poor experiences with D-Link's customer service.
  4. People using VoIP have had problems with this router.
  5. D-Link has a poor reputation.
  
  Do not underestimate the importance of a good router. With broadband Internet becoming more readily available, faster, and cheaper, products are increasingly being designed to tap into this infrastructure to utilize both the Internet and your network. No longer are PCs and laptops the only devices connecting to the Internet. Now you have DVRs (e.g., video on demand, updating, etc.), phones (e.g., VoIP, video phones, etc.), media players, print servers, gaming consoles (e.g., PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, etc. not only accessing the Internet for gaming and content, but acting as UPnP AV media servers), storage (e.g., network attached storage, Ethernet external hard drives, etc.), etc. What is more is the interoperability of such products (see, e.g., UPnP - an industry initiative designed to enable simple and robust connectivity among consumer electronics, intelligent appliances and mobile devices from many different vendors). In sum, your router is going to be the gateway for all this new technology, and thus, it is VITAL for your router to be stable, reliable, compatible, and fast.
  
  SPEED
  In terms of speed, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g are old news. The newest standard that is going to be released soon is 802.11n, which is going to be significantly faster and have significantly longer range than previous standards. Most likely, your computer or laptop adaptor is not new enough to utilize the draft N standard. Thus (this is extremely important), you must purchase the appropriate adaptor to match your draft N router. For my laptop, I chose the D-Link RangeBooster N DWA-642 notebook card. They also make a USB adaptor, but I did not want to plug up one of my USB slots, especially when I use none of my notebook card slots. Although the N standard is still in "draft" stage, many hardware vendors already sell "pre-N" or "Draft-N" hardware, based on the most recent draft. These vendors anticipate the final version will not be significantly different from the draft, and in a bid to get the early mover advantage, are pushing ahead with the technology. Many of these products have failed to perform to the hype of the N standard. Reviewers have suggested waiting on buying such routers, especially since many of them are expensive, until 802.11n is released. I disagree with their recommendation, because:
  
  1. Many of the reviews are obsolete given driver and firmware updates. The D-Link DIR-655 is a Draft 2.0-compliant gear, which means that it is guaranteed to be fully compatible with the final 802.11n standard (it also, of course, is compatible with 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standards). You do not have to worry about buying this router and then having to buy another "true 802.11n standard" router in the future. D-Link has been excellent in providing firmware updates so that your hardware does not go obsolete. In fact, as of November 2007, there have been 6 updates so far, and there are certainly going to be many more as the 802.11n standard is released (see http://www.dlink.com/products/support.asp?pid=530&sec=0#firmware).
  
  and 2. The D-Link DIR-655 is extremely fast (much faster than 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g standard routers) and has been consistently tested to be easily the fastest draft N router available (see, e.g., http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/d-link-dir-655/4505-3319_7-32145084.html?tag=prod.txt.1; http://www.dlink.com/products/DIR-655/snb-charts.asp#wan).
  
  2a. Internet performance
  The DIR-655 is rated at 300Mb/s, which is faster than any available Internet connection available. Accordingly, the infrastructure of your Internet connection is always going to be the ceiling when it comes to performance until it is rated above 300Mb/s. In other words, the D-Link DIR-655 cannot improve performance above what your Internet line (e.g., cable or DSL) and modem can offer. For example, if your Cable Internet is rated at 6 MB/s, there is nothing the DIR-655 can do to increase that transfer rate, because the cable infrastructure itself is the bottleneck. While the router may not increase your download/upload speeds, despite routers typically being rated higher than your Internet connection, it may decrease it. This is more of a risk when connecting to the Internet wirelessly instead of through an ethernet cable, because the packets of data are slowed down by bouncing off of walls, getting interference from other devices, etc. As a result, to evaluate the performance of the DIR-655, I connected my laptop directly to the modem with an ethernet cable and compared that speed to: (1)DIR-655 Wireless connection ; and (2) DIR-655 ethernet cable connection. The DIR-655 performed very well, because I did not notice any drop in performance when using the router.
  
  and 2b. Network performance
  The DIR-655 theoretical 300Mb/s speed is more significant when it comes transferring data over your network. Thus, if you are planning on sharing or streaming media (e.g., pictures, music, and videos) over your network, especially high-definition content, you will utilize its performance. Thus far, I have successfully wirelessly streamed pictures, music, and avi and flash videos from an external hard drive connected to my laptop to my Playstation 3 (acting as a UPnP AV media server). I have not streamed DivX video files yet, because the Playstation 3 does not support such format and I am too lazy to convert the format to MPEG-4, which it does recognize. TVersity is a service that transcodes DivX allowing it to be played on the PS3, but Sony announced that it will release a firmware update supporting DivX soon, so I will just wait until then. I also have a HP Media Vault, which also acts as a UPnP AV media server. I set it up on the network no problem, but have not had time to transfer any content to it to stream. So far, so good, but I will update accordingly.
  
  SECURITY
  The D-Link DIR-655 has the most up-to-date and powerful security tools. This is especially important since the range of this router creates a wireless cloud that makes it easy for your wireless network to be picked up by intruders. For encryption, the DIR-655 offers WEP (an obsolete standard), WPA-Personal, and WPA-Enterprise. It also, of course, offers an 8 to 63 character alphanumeric pass-phrase for your network. You could also hide your network to make it difficult for intruders to find your network. In addition, you can also put a network lock on your network so that only devises you approve could use your connection.
  
  SETUP
  You can setup you router by typing http://192.168.0.1/ into your web browser. D-link also provides Network Magic software (which, of course, is fully compatible with the D-Link DIR-655) to help monitor, troubleshoot, and tweak your connection. Network Magic comes with a very useful flowchart mapping out all the devices in your network with valuable information (e.g., its IP address, subnet mask, MAC address, etc.) including possible intruders that you can boot off your network. It also makes it easy to tweak the D-Link DIR-655's up to date and powerful wireless connection security options such as network lock, hiding the network name, and enabling encryption. Although the Network Magic software is a free one month trial version, you can still use it when the trial expires.
  
  SUPPORT
  When setting up a sophisticated network with products using cutting edge new technology, you are undoubtedly going to run into some problems. This is why good customer support for a router is very important, more so than other products. I have read people's complaints about D-Link's poor customer service with other devices. In fact, when doing my research about which router to purchase, many have told me to avoid D-Link as a company due to its reputation of making inferior products and offering poor customer service. However, given good customer feedback for D-Link's DIR-655 specifically and how well it out performed its competitors in objective tests, I decided to give the DIR-655 a try. I am very happy I took the risk.
  
  With regards to D-Link's customer service, the only D-Link device I have is the DIR-655, so I can only comment on my personal experience. I have contacted customer support about five times. One of the calls was regarding a "limited or no connectivity" message I was receiving (see below). The other four times the call was regarding help with setting up and maximizing my home network, as opposed to a problem with the DIR-655 directly. Every time I called, to my surprise, I got first-rate support and my problem was solved and (more importantly) never returned. In addition, their router technical support department had no heavy foreign accents, were willing to help, was conducted over a high quality phone line (loud, no hisses, no cracks, no pops, etc.), and, most importantly, the troubleshooting techniques were specific to my problem as opposed to unhelpful general comments read off a computer screen. It is very frustrating when technical support cannot solve your problem after leading you through troubleshooting techniques that you tried before your called and techniques that you are certain will not solve the problem. It was very refreshing to not deal with such customer service. Honestly, it is some of the best customer support from a technology company I have experienced and it puts companies such as Belkin to shame (I had an absolute nightmare experience with their support).
  
  STABILITY
  In the past I've owned two Linksys routers and a Dell router. All three routers required me to reset the routers from time to time to cure problems such as slow Internet speeds, no Internet connection, etc. When I first setup the DIR-655, I had no problems with it dropping a connection. Then, for some reason, the Internet connection kept dropping with a "limited or no connectivity" error message. This happened for a few days, resetting the router by unplugging the router did not help, so I called D-Link technical support. D-Link made me reset the router by pushing the little reset button in the back with a paperclip (as opposed to merely unplugging it) and made me change a few advanced setting under its control panel. I got the impression that they knew what they were doing, because the setting they made me change were not simple settings and it fixed my problem. They told me that if that did not fix the problem they would send me a new router. This was months ago, and not only did it fix the problem, but I haven't had to reset my router ever since. The router has been nothing but stable.
  
  INTERFERENCE
  The D-Link DIR-655, and many other routers as well, use a 2.4Ghz band. Thus, it will interfere with products that utilize the 2.4Ghz band (the most common example would be a 2.4Ghz band cordless phone), resulting in you losing your wireless internet connection. You can still, however, use the router through a wired line when the cordless phone is in use. I suggest simply upgrading your phone to a DECT 6.0 standard cordless phone, which does not interfere with the router.
  
  APPEARANCE
  One flaw the D-Link DIR-655 has is that it is ugly and looks cheap. You take one look at the router and say to yourself, this thing is the best router out there? In addition, it is difficult to discern what the blue lit icons in the front of the router stand for since they are so small and generic. In fact, the only use the blue lights have for me is that the router is working. I use Network Magic for everything else. At the end of the day, however, you should not judge a book (or a router) by its cover. Many of the new top-of-the-line routers currently available have a very Apple-like design to them such as sleek Belkin N1 Vision with its large informative LCD screen or some of Netgears Apple white designs. Nevertheless, while appearance is always tempting, the performance of a router is paramount and the DIR-655's far outperforms any other router out there.
  
  
• My extensive test with Comcast and with 802.11G Dell Notebooks
  By A3C9PDZ3LAI85E on 2007-11-29
  I upgraded from my dLink DI-624 to the DIR-655 because my DI-624 was rebooting every few hours and my dell laptop inspiron 6000(XP) would disconnect every hour. I have also the dell E1405 (Vista) which would get 2-7% connections on my 3rd floor.
  
  Here is my layout: I have a 3 story townhouse with 2 houses on both sides. I am located 3 miles from NYC but am located in an area which is considered to be the suburbs. My router is on the ground/1st floor. I use my laptops on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
  
  After my upgrade to DIR-655, I see that the new router is NOT rebooting and my Inspiron 6000 stays connected. The E1405 would get about 14% on the 3rd floor.
  
  With my BitTorrent running/downloading, I test the following:
  When I surf the web, everything is fine and fast. 6Mbs/sec
  When I stream movie from one laptop to the other, I experience some jumpiness. I notice if I pop something in the microwave, I would get slowdown and crazy jumpy connection which causes the movie to hang. The cordless at 5.6GHz running is fine.
  I get 100% on the 1st floor since my router is there. 54Mbs (DI624 gave me 92%)
  I get about 48-64% on the 2nd floor. 36-54Mbs. (almost the same as the DI624)
  I get about 2-22% on the 3rd floor. 2-24Mbs.
  The above test was done with both internal laptop cards. The Inspiron 6000 is using the Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915. The E1405 is using the Wireless 1390 WLAN MiniCard.
  
  My wireless settings:
  WEP
  Channel 1
  SSID enable
  N and G mode only
  Firmware 1.04 (heard bad things about 1.05 and 1.1, so I will wait and see)
  
  Conclusion:
  There is an improvement compare to the DI-624 of course. But is it worth the $110+ at the moment? I am not too sure. I am thinking that I will wait until the N adapters gets to be about $40 and I will do a retest. I hope it gets better with full N. I see a 5% improvement on the 1st floor, a 0-5% improvement on the 2nd floor and a 0-200% improvement on the 3rd floor.
  Yes, you should buy it if you were experiencing issues b/f like me, but if you old router was working perfectly, why upgrade unless you are going full N.
  
  I gave it a 3 star because I was expecting a 6x more range and 300% speed improvement. But I dont see that.
  
  
  
  
• The Best Performing Router I've Owned
  By A23A3381EO6M07 on 2007-06-21
  Extremely impressed with this router's speed, range, and ease of use. My only complaint (like others) is with the software bundled with this item. It's already out of date, right out of the package, and upon installation, it will prompt you to "update to the new version, free", and that's fine, but what happens is the new version of the software is not compatible with the firmware preinstalled on the router. This fatal combination prevents the router from functioning. You will have to download a firmware update from the Manufacturer to get the unit working again. Not a difficult task, however technical support at D-link doesn't seem to know anything about the software that comes with their product, so I ended up speaking to the technical support team at the software company, who immediately knew what was wrong. Kind of a letdown for this scenario to occur right out of the box. Fortunately, it was easy to do, and the router returned to life, immediately.
  
  
• This little cutie COOKS
  By AAECV1E30NC8W on 2008-01-21
  It was high time to get network speeds up to Gigabit levels, and the need for speed fed my willingness to risk going with draft-level, pre-standard 802.11n tech. With two desktops and two laptops on a home-biz and home network, routing was critical. Age and traffic-level burned out my last, wired router from the L-word company. Two teenage daughters tortured the replacement wireless WRT-350N Linksys WRT350N Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link to death with incessant instant-messaging. To keep that router UP required thrice-daily re-starts. Tweaks inspired by the manual, FAQs and Forum did not definitively fix it. When two generations of firmware upgrades did not help, it became evident I needed another, real solution. TA-DA! In walks the D-Link DIR-655 D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router . BAM! It sets up in a trice, works right out of the box. It's working! Log-in to the router web interface and dig in for a few minutes. Create a secure password. Want security? ZOOM! Use the wizard to set-up respected WPA2. Clone a MAC Address? Push a radio-button. Apple user? No problem, since all of the setup wizards are resident on the router, and use the same web interface, it works the same across platforms. I was tempted by the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Gigabit) MB053LL/A , in fact, I run an older version with NO PROBLEMS. But the D-Link DIR-655 had four 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) W/LAN ports and cost less besides. It's performance ranked first among six n-draft routers, did great in mixed (b, g and n) environments and only fell to the middle of the pack over long ranges (according to reviews at C-NET and elsewhere). Users gave it high marks for satisfaction. (Users gave my L-word router the finger). So, this li'l white router the size of a paperback book, with its three antennas and blinking baby blues is so reliable and cute, I could just kiss it. And, kiss that L-word router good-bye.
  
  
• The ONLY Solid/Reliable Draft-n 2.0 Router
  By A366H8Q1V2PKKF on 2007-06-14
  Having tried the Linksys WRT350N and Netgear WNR854T - two competing gigabit etherner/Draft-N routers - I can truly say that the DIR-655 is by far the most reliable, solid device, that performs as advertised IMHO. It just worked for me. I miss the promise of USB Disk connectivity from the Linksys, but it never worked properly anyway (huge reliability issues). Plus the D-Link has a fantastic adaptive QoS implementation, ensuring my VoIP device works with almost no configuration. To be fair, the Netgear device had worked fine but died almost exactly 1 year after purchase, with Netgear refusing to help (it was pretty much cheaper to buy a new router) - poor reliability from the Netgear product!
  
  Highly recommended compared with Draft-N routers from the competition.
  
  
• Connection slow, troubleshooting and tech support poor
  By A4SNI7YO0PYC0 on 2008-02-28
  I bought this router in part because I had read in a few places that it worked well with the new laptop I had purchased, but also because of the many glowing reviews on places like Amazon.
  
  Installation was a breeze, but unfortunately my internet connection speed dropped by about 80% after installation, on both my desktop PC (wired to the router) and my new notebook. The internet connection was usable but noticeably slower. I tried EVERYTHING, including shutting off wireless capability in case of interference and adjusting every setting imaginable in the router online configuration, to no avail. And yet, as soon as I disconnected the router and connected my desktop PC back to my cable modem, the speeds were back to normal.
  
  D-Link tech support was of little help; they would suggest a minor tweak in the online configuration, tell me to reboot the router, then call them back if the problem persisted. We repeated that cycle a few times with no progress. I spent hours tweaking settings, troubleshooting, and researching online. Nothing.
  
  So now I have to figure out whether the particular router I was sent just happens to be defective and can be replaced, or if this brand of router doesn't "play nice" and I need to find a different one entirely. I'm no tech dummy but this has been a real chore and support from D-Link has been disappointing.
  
  I will update my rating at a later time if my experience with this product improves.
  
  
• Powerful control panel
  By A25J5T3IOBGSXQ on 2007-02-21
  I agree with the first reviewer in that it is hard to find reviews of this product anywhere online. After reading lukewarm reviews of other draft-n routers, I picked this one up on a whim, hoping for the best. I am extremely pleased. The other D-Link products I own are a mixed bag in terms of level of control in the firmware, with the DGL-4300 being leaps and bounds better than the DI-LB604. Luckily, the DIR-655 firmware is akin to the DGL-4300 in terms of control, features and flexibility. It's even a little snappier thanks to fewer graphics and has better Firefox compatibility.
  
  Setup was a breeze (if you know what you're doing, you don't need to insert the CD first as instructed by the unit -- just toss it) and though I haven't had it long connectivity has been stable for the past 24 hours. I have yet to try a Skype session, but the "intelligent QoS engine" promises improved call quality. Overall, I'm very satisfied.
  
  
• Excellent router
  By A2GMNN82OAQVIE on 2007-05-29
  I bought this router after buying a MacBook Pro which has built-in 802.11n capability (after buying the n "enabler" from Apple for $2). I wanted to take advantage of the fast wireless speed as well as the gigabit Ethernet interface on the MacBook Pro. Oddly, Apple's much more expensive Airport with draft n capability does not have a gigabit Ethernet interface, so the D-Link Extreme N seemed like a good choice as it had all I was looking for.
  
  This product did not disappoint. I got all of the speed I was looking for plus the extra range I needed for a difficult spot where I needed the signal to go through two cinderblock walls. It also gets a stronger signal to two floors above the router location. Configuration was easy and the router has been very stable for the several weeks I have been using it. I particularly like the detailed status and logging information.
  
  On the wireless side, I'm currently using the router in a mixed g and n setup. I had some reliable wireless b cards that I would have continued using, but there was a problem. Security is not a major concern in my location, so I would have continued using WEP except that it is not supported in the draft wireless n standard. I moved to some D-Link g cards that were on sale and they perform very well and I can now use both WPA and WPA2 simultaneously with this router. Mixing b with n would probably seriously degrade the n performance anyway. As it stands now, my wireless n performance is excellent where the signal strength is strong. My Internet download speed is typically close to 27 mbps on a wired connection and I get the same real throughput on the n wireless. Even g does not do that in a real Internet benchmark.
  
  The router comes with a cat5 cable which should not be used for a gigabit connection, so be sure to purchase any cat6 cables you need as I did. I also purchased an Intel gigabit Ethernet card for my Windows PC to enable fast transfers with the Mac.
  
  I upgraded the router firmware a few days ago and it works fine, but the only problem was that it would not load my saved configuration, so I had to input my custom settings again. This was an annoyance, but also a flaw that I saw with my old DI-624 router. There are likely to be more upgrades especially because the n spec has not been finalized.
  
  The wireless n works fine with the Mac. The other issue to note for Mac users is that the router's web-based configuration application does not seem to work with any of the browsers I have on my Mac, so hopefully you will have access to a Windows PC to do the setup. (Presumably a Parallels Windows PC on the Mac will work, but I have not tried that yet.)
  
  Bottom line, this is the best consumer router I have used.
  
  
• Best wireless router on the market.
  By A2P3V90FCAQ2LQ on 2007-11-06
  I first bought the Netgear RangeMax NEXT. Waste of money. I was getting 50% signal strength on my laptop from 10 feet away, with no intervening walls. With the D-Link, I get 99% signal under the same test.
  
  I have the router in an upstairs room, with several desktops in another upstairs room - plus a laptop, Xbox 360, and Wii connecting from downstairs. All get great signal strength. It never drops below 45%, and is enough to maintain a 54Mbps data rate using 802.11g cards. It's all about the signal strength, and the D-Link delivers.
  
  One slight downside is the admin console. It's fine for basic tasks, but things like assigning hostnames to MAC addresses could be more intuitive. I used to do this with a Linksys router, but with the D-Link the best I could manage was to assign fixed IP addresses to MAC addresses, and hostnames to the IP addresses. Still gets the job done, just not as cleanly.
  
  I highly recommend this product. Don't buy any other wireless router.
  
  
• Nothing Worked Easily ...in the End Wireless Connections Didn't Work
  By A2GOHNFBHUU3UI on 2008-01-05
  Nothing worked easily with this Router. I had set up 4 other wireless networks with Netgear and Linksys. I followed the instructions very precisely. Although the router connected to the Internet, it wouldn't pass the connection to the wire connected computer. After three calls to Dlink Support, they finally figured that I should change the default IP address of the Router...then it worked.
  
  Next I tried to connect laptops by wireless connection to the router. I was able to do so if there was no security on the network. But if I wanted to run WEP or WPA (which is what I wanted) it wouldn't make a complete connection...only a limited connection that wouldn't allow me to use the Internet on the laptops. After spending three hours with Dlink Support, the technician finally got frustrated because nothing she recommended worked. So she gave me a silly excuse that the Dlink notebook adaptor needed a firmware upgrade. It didn't...it had the latest firmware. By the way, the 655 came with firmware 1.02. I upgraded all the way to 1.11...but nothing could make this sucker work. I'm sure it connects flawlessly on many systems. But on mine nothing worked automatically. In the end I decided to return it. My system consisted of several Windows XP computers (all with SP2) and a Vista computer. The wired computer was an XP. I have a Siemens DSL modem and ATT DSL. I think I may have read a post somewhere that this router doesn't work with ATT DSL...so maybe that was it...don't know.
  
  Needless to say I went back to my trusty Linksys G router.
  
  
• Didn't work as advertised, returned
  By A18AIF4O3K35SI on 2007-08-07
  I have a DSL modem with an 802.11b Linksys box and two Macs connected wirelessly, one 802.11b and one 802.11n I work in the electronics/semiconductor industry and specialize in wired high speed connectivity.
  
  After reading the reviews I bought this D-Link Wireless N Router. I had nothing but problems with it
  
  - browser support for Safari is flaky. Couldn't set up wireless parameters with Safari Firefox works OK
  
  - Using open wireless security Macs would occasionally refuse to connect with error message
  
  - even when mac showed router connected via wireless, often could not open the setup page of router.
  
  - flaky connectivity when connected to internet, latency and performance worse than my 802.11b router.
  
  After playing with this thing for about 4 hours with multiple settings / channels / combinations of macs on an off to troubleshoot I gave up and returned it. I didn't even consider it worth bothering calling tech support as there were so many problems, and other reviewers have cited tech support as poor.
  
  I am going to try a Linksys 802.11n router.
  
  
  
• wow!
  By A35VOMDKKO3TOY on 2007-09-27
  This wireless is to replace my old burned out D-624 Dlink. This one is amazing, the connection range is longer and doesn't drop connection like the old one. Very happy with the purchase.
  
  
• D-LINK Xtreme versus NETGEAR RangeMax
  By AAAJYTZLSOZDA on 2007-12-19
  A low tech guy's comparison of two high tech wireless routers.
  ***********************************************
  
  No dropouts on either router. If you're getting dropouts, you or your neighbor may have a 2.4 Ghz cordless phone or a microwave oven thats interferring with the router's signal.
  
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Has accurate user reviews.
  D-LINK DIR655: Is overated on user reviews.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Normal speed 54 Mbps (802.11g PC). Up to 108 Mbps if you have a super G card in your remote PC.
  D-LINK DIR655: Normal speed with my 802.11g capable remote PC is 54 Mbps. Allows speed of 300 Mbps with a N speed card in your remote PC.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Has a standard signal strength. But there is an option to disable extended range.
  D-LINK DIR655: Has adjustable signal strength (low, med, high).
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: No external antennas. 7 internal.
  D-LINK DIR655: Has 3 external antennas. Removal.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Fancy looking blue lights in the round blue dome on the side of the unit. They indicate antenna activity. Light green indicator lights on the thin side of the unit to indicate power on, transmitting, which port connected, etc.
  D-LINK DIR655: Light blue indicator lights on the thin side of the unit to indicate power on, transmitting, which port connected, etc.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Claims easy setup. Setup was easy. Worked within 20 minutes.
  D-LINK DIR655: Claims easy setup. Installing it was easy but it still didn't work initially. Took about 2+ hours to get it working (I'm good with computers, but I'm not a techy super geek).
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Easy to change settings. Short update period. No reboot.
  D-LINK DIR655: Moderate to easy settings changes. Must save and reboot each time. Then log back in.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Annoying time out feature. Seems less than 1 minute - not adjustable.
  D-LINK DIR655: Annoying time out feature. Seemed longer than 2 minutes. Also not adjustable.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Short (cleared daily) activity log. Not customizable.
  D-LINK DIR655: Customizable activity log.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Allows user to set keyword and website URL block.
  D-LINK DIR655: URL block only. No keyword block.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Has WEP, WPA-PSK, and WPA2-PSK security options.
  D-LINK DIR655: Same
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Lots of geeky configurations.
  D-LINK DIR655: Same
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Limited to one schedule for every option.
  D-LINK DIR655: Allows different schedules for different events (e-mail activity logs, times to block wireless access, times to block web access, times to block specified URLS, etc)
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: The free 1 year parental protection service offer by a company called "Trend Micro" is no longer any good. I tried to turn the feature on and got - "No Longer Available...". Only option is to buy the 1, 2, or 3 year service (ranges $49 to $120). I'll stick to K9 Web Protection - its free but must be installed on each PC (google it and download it). NETGEAR's keyword block only works when the user tries to enter and send a keyword through a text box on a web page. Doesn't work on incoming web page text. Their URL block works OK. The website category filters and keyword filters in the parental protection software like K9 or the paid filtering services are a must if you have kids.
  D-LINK DIR655: No parental protection. No keyword blocking. Just URL blocking.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: Help - Nice blue side panel on user interface with details for each function on the current page.
  D-LINK DIR655: Help - Limited info on the active page. You must hit hyper links to get to detailed info which is on separate pages in the router's user interface.
  *********************************************
  
  NETGEAR WPN824v2: A keeper.
  D-LINK DIR655: Returned to store for refund.
  *********************************************
  
  
• Works fine with Mac OS X
  By A3131NCMSV2A77 on 2007-04-13
  I'd like to address the previous rant/review. It took 10 minutes for me to configure this router with my Powerbook G4 running Tiger 10.4.9 (fully patched) using Firefox 1.5. I didn't experience any issues. I also connected to the router interface with my Powermac G4 MDD running 10.4.9 and Firefox 1.5 without any issues. I browsed all the panes since I wanted to check out all the settings and options. I'm not a fan of Safari so I don't generally use it but I fired it up to test the interface. I was able to connect and browse the management interface without any problems. Mileage may vary, but I couldn't duplicate the reported errors.
  
  As for the general review, I'm happy with my purchase. I moved into a 3 story house last April and had been experiencing wireless connectivity issues with my Aluminum Powerbook and my old SMC wireless router located in my second floor office. I had limited signal strength on the first and third floors. There were a couple of 'sweet spots' where I could sometimes get 2-3 bars (roughly 25% signal strength)on either floor. I was ususally unable to get a strong enough signal to connect. I tried external antennas from various vendors and experienced the same problems. My new Xtreme D-Link DIR-655 (using only the built-in antennas) shows full bar strength throughout the entire house. Air Stumbler showed signal strengths between 50-85% throughout the entire house. I can even get a 70% signal strenght outside on our third floor deck.
  
  As I stated earlier, configuring the router out of the box only took 10 minutes. This included MAC address filtering, WPA2, SSID, changing IP settings, configuring DHCP, and all the associated reboots. I thought it was silly that each saved change required a system reboot but the boot process is quick so it isn't really that much of an issue. The interface is pretty intuitive. I didn't look at the manual since I would have had to load the CD and open up the PDF file (doesn't come with a printed maual). The router shipped with the latest firmware so I haven't gone through the update process yet. Once you have the router configured, your are able to save the settings to a file that can be used for future recovery.
  
  My only regret with this purchase is that I waited so long to upgrade my old SMC router. I'm not interested in the N functionality since I'm stuck with the Airport G card on my Powerbook. This is more expensive than the G protocol routers but the improved signal strength is worth the cost. The price is also more palatable considering the number of features that I haven't used yet (QoS, Port forwarding, etc.) I'd recommend Xtreme N to anyone hoping to improve signal strength issues. If you are serious about upgrading to the N protocol, you might want to wait a little longer to get a better read on when the standard will be established and to see if a firmware upgrade would bring the Xtreme N into compliance.
  
  
  
• Buyer Beware - different/ vague claims from D-Link
  By A1H4HMVBMQFUGR on 2007-06-21
  I just bought this router. I thought once I see the capability I will add more 802.11 n hardware. Right now I only have 802.11g devices. The manual claims two different wireless speeds. I had to spend half hour with support trying to find out which one is correct.
  
  Here is what the features section says RE wireless speed:
  
  Faster Wireless Networking - The DIR-655 provides up to 300Mbps* wireless connection with other 802.11n wireless clients. This capability allows users to participate in real-time activities online, such as video streaming, online gaming, and real-time audio. The performance of this 802.11n wireless router gives you the freedom of wireless networking at speeds 650% faster than 802.11g.
  
  Here is What the specification sections says about wireless speeds. Note the top value of 108 Mbps as opposed to 300 Mbps above.
  
  Wireless Signal Rates*
  * 108Mbps * 48Mbps
  * 54Mbps * 24Mbps
  * 36Mbps * 12Mbps
  
  after sounding vaery confused the tech reluctantly agreed to 108 Mbps as the router's top speed.
  
  To me it is a let down. and BTW D-Link's india support is pretty bad. They never seem to know much about thier own products.
  
  
  
• Tech Support didnt Make the Cut !!!!!
  By A1MKUDG36QEPJE on 2007-07-15
  the product was great but the WiFi would not connect tech support was a total waste they just told me to send it back which I did.the death of home technology products is tech support this is the biggest issue technology faces today there has to be a better way. dont buy this prodcut and maybe the company will make an effort to provide good support so little problems like this dont become huge ones. I will never use d-link again,that is the moral of this story.
  
  
• Nice Features - Poor Support
  By A1KY7ZJT9T7UYO on 2007-08-22
  I recently purchased this wireless router due to the positive reviews and I NEEDED the QoS support. I own a iMac G5. It took hours (over 5) of playing to get this working and their phone support people were of no help (after 30 minutes of walking me through the basic config they told me that the product was defective and for me to return it).
  
  What is VERY INTERESTING is that the router can see the iMac mac address but not the IP address. Also (from my work PC running Windows XP Pro) I can ping my work PC and my ISP from the router but I cannot ping my iMac.
  
  From my iMac I can ping my work PC and my ISP but not the router (I get the following message; ping sendto: Permission Denied).
  
  When I do a "Netstat" from the iMac I can see the routers IP address and its mac address.
  
  From Firefox on my iMac, I cannot access the router, which makes sense since I cannot ping it.
  
  What I had to do to get my iMac to work, I had to choose the "Manually" configure my IP address (under System Perfereces/Network/TCP/IP). I also had to manually configure the DNS Servers from my ISP in order to get my iMac to connect to the Internet. Not the easiest and cleanest way to get this device working.
  
  I tried keeping the fireware level the same as when it was purchased (version 1.02) and I tried upgrading it to version 1.05. The only change is that version 1.02 could see both my iMac IP address and mac address, where version 1.05 could only see the mac address.
  
  I would HIGHLY recommend that this company purchase a Mac computer or two and make sure their devices install and work straight forward as working with Microsoft Windows. If not, I can see more poor reviews and returned products in the near future.
  
  My son is in college and has a MacBook Pro and I am interested to see what I need to do to get it working when he comes home this weekend. Well he came home and his configured and connected without any problems. We are both running version 10.4.10 of Tiger. I guess it has something to do with my iMac being a G5 processor instead of Intel.
  
  
• Just awful
  By A101F8M8DPFOM9 on 2007-11-03
  D Link has the worst customer support you will ever experience. The product does not get along with my WLAN provider and very frustrating experience even trying to get my computer back up and running after it crashed it.
  
  
• Great Little Router with Good Horsepower
  By A1CRSUQ0JCJID8 on 2007-11-10
  I have been a regular customer of D-Link over the years and when you find something that works well you become a returning customer. When it came time to upgrade to wireless, I did the research of all the choices available and still selected my go-to company D-Link. I am glad I did. I am using wireless G and the range is about the same. I get two bars from basement to 2nd floor using D-Link PCMCIA adapters. Even though it is draft N it still works great for G.
  
  First, the setup on this is relatively simple, even for a novice. You insert the disk and the installation walks you through each step in the process with visual pictures with flashing parts highlighted to help guide you to what you need to do. If you follow the directions step by step you should have a flawless installation.
  
  Second, about updating the firmware, you should do this as part of the installation. It should be simple to do but understand that when you upgrade you will lose your router settings. D-Link has provided for this. Here is the recommended process:
  
  Go to dlink.com and go to support and downloads. Enter DIR then 655 in the box. When you hit enter it will list all of the updates with the most current on top. Select the top "Download Now" box and save the file to your hard drive. It will have the form of xxx.bin. Log into your router by using the network address 192.168.0.1 in your browser and hit enter. Hit enter again at login. Go to Tools, Firmware. In the Firmware Upgrade section it gives you the opportunity to save your settings first. Do this! Click on the link there and it will take you to Tools, System, and save your configuration settings. It will save a file called gateway_settings.gws to your hard drive. Note where the file gets saved so you can find it later. Hit the back button to go back to the firmware upgrade section. Hit the browse button in that section and point it to the xxx.bin file you downloaded earlier. Hit the upload button and wait for it to finish. You will have to login to your router again when finished. Go to Tools, System and hit the browse button at "load from local hard drive" to restore configuration. Point it to the .gws file previously saved. You will have to reboot the router when finished. That's it! No more complaining about problems.....
  
  
  
  
• Don't buy this if you are running Vista.
  By A2ETV19QV15GKH on 2007-12-07
  I was excited to get a better router to replace an older, weaker one and found this one to be among the highest ratings on c-net so I bought it. 12 hours later, 6 with d-link's tech support, which hung up on me twice and 6 wrestling with it myself I gave up. The computer connects to the internet fine with just the cable modem, but add this in the mix and although the computer can communicate with the router, it can no longer connect to the internet. The tech insisted it was my computer even though it works fine with the internet as long as the router isn't attached. I suspect it is a Vista/Internet 7 problem even though this router insists it is supposed to work well with Vista. In short, if you have a computer running Vista, don't buy this, and if you have a problem with d-link, just return the product; their tech support requires you to wait for an hour and a half even though they said it was about a twenty minute wait and when you finally get somebody, they do the simplest fixes possible and then blame it on something else.
  
  

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