D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Dualband Draft 802.11n Gaming Router Reviews

• Some things to know before you choose a dlink router

  
  By A1ST1337RUR4R4 on 2008-03-23
  The following will likely save you a couple of hours of research...
  
  The DIR-655 is single-band (2.4GHz).
  
  The DGL-4500 is dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz), however it only uses one band at a time. You choose which band, manually, in the configuration. It doesn't choose the best band in real-time, or anything like that.
  
  The DIR-855 is dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and uses both bands at the same time.
  
  

• Happy with a few nitpicks

  
  By A2J8DE8R94ZB02 on 2008-01-05
  I bought this router almost immediately after it came out and have had it running for about 90 days at the time of this writing. I have it hooked up wirelessly (G) to my Xbox 360 for Xbox live, wirelessly (N) with my MacBook Pro, use it over gigabit ethernet with two other PCs in my house, and have it hooked up to an HP all in one over ethernet. It has worked without problem with all of these devices.
  
  I set it up to use mixed G and N modes and I am seeing very good speeds with the Xbox (about 52 Mbps) and the Macbook Pro (about 117 Mbps). I can easily see about 8 neighbors networks and have multiple cordless phones in the house, so with this router running in mixed G / N mode I think that these speeds are perfectly acceptable.
  
  I have no longer noticed any slowdowns when my wife decides to surf the internet while I'm playing Xbox Live. It seems as though the router's automatic "Gamefuel" QoS technology is correctly prioritizing the Xbox traffic over my wife's internet surfing. I didn't have to set up anything special. I just let the router do automatic configuration of the Xbox via UPNP (no manual port forwarding, etc).
  
  Configuration-wise it is really pretty simple. I had it up and running pretty quickly. However, I would strongly recommend that the first thing you do with this router is go to the D-Link web site and get the latest firmware before doing any configuration (assuming the firmware is out of date).
  
  Nitpicks:
  
  - If you upgrade the firmware, you have to manually export the router configuration to file, upload the new firmware, and then import the saved configuration after the firmware update. Otherwise, you'll lose your settings. It works fine, but is a little annoying since my Linksys used to save setting automatically for firmware upgrades.
  
  -The web based configuration interface is definitely functional, but it looks rather out of date.
  
  - A number of the settings changes require a total reboot of the router and the reboot is definitely slower than it has been on some other routers I've owned.
  
  - The router is dual band, but not simultaneously dual band. You have to choose which band you want to use.
  
  Bottom line:
  
  - I'm happy. I'd buy it again. It works fine with a Mac, a Windows box, a network All-In-One printer, and my Xbox.
  
  

• The best router I've ever owned! Works with everything! Great web-based interface.

  
  By A2KXZU9O2XVUS2 on 2008-02-14
  This router has solved all my home networking woes and I've had a lot of them. Granted, it's fairly complicated for a home network in that there are many devices connected both wired and wirelessly from various macs and PCs, home theater receiver, music server, network printers, network storage drives, game consoles (ps3, xbox, wii), etc. In the past I've used a combination of various routers to make things work properly. From different versions of Apple airport (express, extreme, extreme "N") to various Belkin and Linkysys models, even the supposedly foolproof WRT54G model.
  
  The problem with the Apple airport models has been their inability to allow open NAT for Xbox Live gaming, not to mention the playstation network. I love Airport networks and their integration with OS X and all its cool file/music/drive/printer sharing and networking features but I've always had to combine an extra router to handle the non-Apple side of things. The D-Link DGL-4500 is the first router I've had that plays nice with everything on the network. It just works. It works with Apple-based networks, it provides Open NAT for Xbox Live, it works with PS3 (with some minor tweaks), and it works with just about any challenge I throw at it. Music and video streaming, latency-sensitive online gaming, you name it.
  
  The Xtreme N gaming router is the jack of all trades. It does it all and looks great to boot. The OLED display looks sharp, has access to basic functions and status on the unit itself (a nice touch), and setup was a snap. It basically worked with everything right out of the box without much customization. The only change I made was to set the PS3 in DMZ in order to get from NAT type 3 to type 2. But Xbox 360 had open NAT out of the box. My favorite part about the DGL-4500 is the web-based interface. Although it's not exactly simplified, it is very flexible and well organized. If you have a basic understanding of designing networks, this user interface is everything you could ever ask for. The web-based interface on my previous Linksys and Belkin were all cryptic by comparison. The only thing better is Apple's own Airport utility application, but you can't win 'em all.
  
  A small nitpick I have with the router is the bright blue power LED that shines like a beacon in a dark room. While the OLED display is just as bright, at least it shuts off after a few seconds. The power LED stays on all the time and is quite annoying if you have it setup in the bedroom, bookshelf, or on your home theater cabinet. There is no way to turn it off or turn it down. Cutting a circular piece of duct tape and taping it over solves the problem quite easily.
  
  Although I purchased this router at an attractive price of $175, it still seems pricey for a router. I do think it's worth every penny considering that an Apple Airport Extreme "N" costs as much brand new but isn't nearly as capable or compatible. Highly recommend if you want a comprehensive, do-it-all, compatible-with-all, high-speed 802.11n router.
  
  

• Best router I've ever owned

  
  By A3P9FNZMIHRT8X on 2008-01-06
  I've owned this router for a few months now, and it totally transformed my home network. My previous router was a Linksys WRT54G running on DD-WRT firmware (a third party linux based firmware).
  
  setup was really easy, I just turned on the router, logged onto it and replaced all the settings with my personal settings (like wireless SSID name and ip address and such). You can set it to automatically choose either WPA or WPA2 depending on the abilities of your wireless card which I thought was a really nice touch.
  
  I have my macbook pro with wireless N, 2 ibm thinkpads with wireless G, my xbox connected by eithernet, my fileserver connected via gigabit eithernet, my desktop connected via gigabit ethernet, and a wireless printer via wireless G, all connected to the router and all of which run flawlessly. I can even stream HD off of my fileserver to my macbook over wireless N while I have bittorrent running on my fileserver and something downloading on my xbox without any problems.
  
  My 16 Mbit internet connection feels twice as fast now that I have a router that can actually keep up with it.
  
  
  
  

• a bit below expectations

  
  By A1ZOIMT6WNIFLH on 2008-05-05
  I purchased this to replace an aging linksys wrt54gx2 and to take advantage of N technology. I did my research and this router seemed to score very good in testing. I had very high expectations.
  
  In practice I do not see any real improvement in range versus wrt54gx2. This is based on a lot of my own unscientific comparison of where i could previously get strong signals, versus with the d-link 4500. Also I still can not get wireless back by my pool , about 50 feet away from house. (perhaps this is because i am broadcasting dgl-4500 in mixed mode as required using both n and 802.11 g clients). I also thought the displays looked cool, but in practice it take a lot of non-intuitive button pressing to navigate menu's and the display only stays lit for a few seconds , then you gotta start all over again. I don't even use it anymore (recommend going with Dlink DIR-655 without display and save cost of this feature) Lastly I was hoping for more frequent firmware updates. D-link is still on v 1.02 dated 11/07 . D-link had a beta release in January 2008 which made my router seriously unstable (disconnected every hour).
  
  On the positive dlink customer service has been superb -- helpful well written responses always within 24 hours. The throughput on my LAN also has also noticeably improved going from 10/100 to Giga speed.
  
  I wish I could give this product more then three stars but it was below expectations for the reasons cited above. Three stars is generous. (Or maybe my linksys wrt54gx2 really was that good)
  
  
• Not good enough
  By AVJL8MZ07K22K on 2008-05-01
  Ok, overall it's a good router, looks really good, easy to set up, but I wish I would knew one fact before I bought it. Even that it says it's a dual band, you can operate only one band at a time. Wireless b/g can only be operated at 2.4Ghz, so does a/n, but at 5Ghz no b/g support, only a/n. So if you set up for Wireless N, it works great with your PC, but if you have iPhone/Touch, or PS3 using wireless internet, only have b/g support you out of luck. So in my case, if I knew this before, I would rather paid more and bought DIR-855 model. For those that don't know 2.4Ghz band is slower, and in most cases over crowded.
  
  
• you get what you pay
  By A3619ABYNO6Y8F on 2008-01-14
  If you like the best current conection possible 300mbps this is your right choice. With my DLINK 4500 in wireless N you obtain 300mbps and the video fluid like the water.
  
  Of course you need to read the manual (i recommend to DLINK print a short instructions in paper) and start to learn about networks.
  
  The instructions to establish the router settings via online are complete but for a novice like me could be complicated.
  
  I think that DLINK could translate the manual in different languages because not all the buyers understand very well english.
  
  The device is simple but beautiful.
  
  
  
• Xtreme Gaming - no kidding!
  By A8HL1SNCKZN54 on 2008-02-01
  Our home network is pretty extensive, whole house, lots of connections, wired and wireless. We've gone through a few router types and all was fine until we added a 3rd Xbox to the system. No amount of configuring, tricks, tips or customer support from our old router manufacturer would allow us to run all 3 on Xbox Live with "Open Nat". Decided to try this router and it works perfectly!
  
  The set up took a few minutes, I wouldn't say it was hard but it wasn't a simple plug in and go, you need to read the instructions and knowing a little bit about your settings will certainly help. All in all it was only about 15 minutes before everything was up and running. The firmware upgrade is a little bit of a pain and I wish they could have made that easier.
  
  I don't find all the "display" bells and whistles of any really use to me. But the unit does what it claims and that was exactly what was needed here.
  
  Bottom line - if your household has multiple gamers along with the rest of the internet connected, network fixtures in our home networks these days, this is your router. 3 Xbox 360s all on xbox live simultaneously and all with open NAT - 'nuff said.
  
  
• Best Router That I've Ever Owned
  By A214MR39MLMPA4 on 2008-03-27
  This router is the fastest most reliable one on the market. I've tried every top router out there and this one beats them blind folded. Gaming on this router is awesome too because I experience "N0 LAG" at all. The wireless range is great too. It's worth every penny.
  
  
• Great Router
  By A2KIGSZJ802YQ9 on 2008-02-20
  I owned the 4300 gaming router before this one and loved it. The only reason I switched is because I had my modem on top of my old router and i guess it got too hot and friend on me. Then after getting the 4500 version I noticed that the interface is a lot easier to navigate and they are a lot of kewl new options. I get the same great range that I got before with the 4300 model. I dont have any wireless n items yet so I cant comment on that yet.
  
  
• Stay Away
  By A15CCSICAKR3H8 on 2008-06-24
  They released this as an upgrade to the previous gaming router, but as soon as it was released it was obsolete. DLINK decided to focus on other routers, and since has not updated the firmware to fix bugs. I would strongly discourage buy this item, since DLINK doesn't bother with it.
  
  
• Defective
  By AVC5ZZXMM4YYH on 2008-04-16
  Was highly anticipating a great product...paid 175 - too much for a router but figured you get what you pay for. Router arrived and the hardline access worked but could not get a signal from PC xp laptop, iphone, ninetendo ds, ps3 or apply imac, called support and spent 2 hours on the phone - went through entire sequence and nothing - finally they gave up and said return - must be a defective model you received. So by paying a premium for a router, wasting my whole evening, having to pack it back up and ship it off, and basically being let down - I have no wireless internet....they should do a better job checking products before shipping out the door - for a cheap router - ok expected but to pay high premium and for this to happen - unacceptable!
  
  
• Nice Router
  By A2FPOOQFDQSB6T on 2008-04-28
  I bought this router about two months ago and have not had any problems.
  The OLED screen is OK but not that important to me.
  The Good
  I set it up manually and with the auto setup and ways were quick and worked the first time. Easy to understand and good documentation.
  It has been very stable, no reboots and consistant signal quality.
  The signal at 2.4 GHz is about the same as my old router. I was using external antennas with my old router and have not hooked up external antennas with the new one yet. I do like the removable antenna option.
  I run a combination wireless and wired network and have no problems.
  The Bad
  Like the other reviews the blue LED is bright. Neat at first but it wears on you when the room is dark. I miss the port and traffic flow LEDs on the old router. I could look and see what was going on from a distance.
  When I bought the router there were no 5 GHz cards available at the time.
  After I bought the recomended cards I got them home and found out they were 2.4 GHz. I thought they supported both bands. The DWA-552 had a conflict with one of the computers I tried to put it in. I tried every trick I knew without success. I was never able to resolve the problem so I put it in another computer and it worked great. I ordered a USB adapter now that I will try in the stubborn computer. When I get the USB card I will try the 5 GHz band. If I could do it over again I would have bought the 855 but I am not sorry I bought the 4500. It is a nice router and getting cheaper every month. It does not hang like my old D Link WBR-2310 did.
  
  
  
• NAT problems?
  By A1PNFV5B8FU0XS on 2008-05-04
  Say no more with this router. I purchased this router for my gaming problems when I try to play Halo3 with my brothers w/our separate Xbox 360's (3) of them. When I plug n played it, set a few wireless settings so no leacher can get free net and walla! Too easy. And with Amazon's quick shipping and great pricing its a no brainer.
  
  
  
  
• good choice
  By AVUB6EXIPLT5Z on 2008-05-13
  This does what it says it can do and that is improve the speed of online gaming. easy setup and no down time
  
  
• 1st defective, 2nd okay so far.
  By AKR4AGMK1TZZR on 2008-05-19
  The first one I purchased worked fine.. for one weekend. After that, it would reboot itself every 2 minutes or so unless I had ALL network cables unplugged. Wireless was disabled, so there shouldnt have been any sort of 'interference' issue. Amazon was GREAT about sending a new unit and a link to print out a return shipping label, so it didn't cost anything to get a replacement, and the new one arrived very quick. The second one has been working flawlessly so far. I don't use the GAMEFUEL or Wireless features on it, I really only purchased it for the gig LAN/WAN features as I'd like to speed up my LAN for file copying, and speed up the WAN as the old 10 meg wasn't cutting it anymore since my connection is now 15 meg. I also purchased it so I'd have the opportunity to expand if I found a reason to actually use wireless. I give a thumbs down to D-Links technical support though -- 5 days to respond?! They basically ignored the information I had provided in my emails and were giving me basic "dummy" suggestions on what to try.
  
  
• Great Router
  By A28QGAP6EHMNE3 on 2008-04-12
  This is an awesome product and it looks great.I have had it for a little over a month and it hasn't given me a problem yet and helps out with my xbox 360 to where I get minimum lag. I love this and would recommend it to anyone looking for a router. The bad side to this product is the pricing though. Very high but for good quality and if you have the money, why not? Also my laptop has strong signal just about anywhere I go around my house.
  
  
• Sweet !
  By A3OXNGJNZRR54K on 2008-04-20
  Streamlined set-up and great performance both for speed and for security. Have 2 laptops, 1 desktop, 2 tivos, and an xbox360 all networked w/o any issues or speed hiccups. I upgraded from the Dlink 4300 and wanted an N network in my home. Performance is superb. Also purchased the 855 to compare. Essentially the same performance, as they have the same chipset. Deciding factor for me was simply the color and LED display on the 4500 over the 855.
  
  
• Stay away x2
  By AZUP45Z0PP0FQ on 2008-07-23
  All I can say is look at when it came out and go the the support page and look how long it has been since dstink released a update. I also had issues with Vista to Vista copies failing and this fixed it. MS blames the router.
  "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled"
  Some say try restricted first.
  "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted"
  
  I suspect SPI is corrupting DL's also.
  
  I realize many ppl like this router but based on the lack of firmware support you might want to watch it for updates or move on.
  
  
  
• Works for my Slingbox and 360!!!
  By A26A33EZ6057MT on 2008-07-25
  I bought this at a "big box" retailer that had a sale on it along with a $20 store credit. I don't have as many computers running on my network as some other reviewers do here. But, I do put my routers through a lot, I run a Slingbox Pro, ATT Tilt, Xbox 360, TiVo, network webcam, 2 computers (vista/xp), and I also run Hamachi VPN. The set up was easy, I just had to change the IP address to match up with my previous Linksys router. I copied all my pervious settings (WEP and SSID) so all my wireless clients would connect w/out re-setting them. My 360 connects fine and shows that NAT is open, I set the QoS for my Sling and 360 to always get priority. Both my Sligbox and 360 connect via AirLink powerline ethernet adapters, the router didn't have a problem recognizing them immediately and assigning an IP address to the 360. I use the WISH features to make sure my laptop is always getting the best upload it can. I love being able to go to the webpage of the router, see what is connected wirelessly and also see what the signal strength is. Another great feature I found was I could assign an IP address in the router to a specific client w/out having to do a static IP. This was great for my 360 because it ALWAYS gets the same IP address and makes it easy to use items like QoS.
  
  My only complaint would be that the signal isn't as strong to my laptop as my previous Linksys router (2nd floor). I still get good upload/download speeds though. I don't have any "N" cards or gigabit NIC's in my network so I can't tell you how those work, but overall it's a great product.
  
  

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