D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N QoS 4-Port Gigabit Switch Simultaneous Dual Band Draft 802.11n Router (White)

List Price: $266.08 Discount Price: $129.99

Features:

• Intelligent QoS technology prioritizes Internet traffic as well as wired and wireless network traffic
• Xtreme N technology allows for farther home coverage
• Secure your wireless network using advanced WPA or WPA2 encryption
• Supports Good Neighbor Policy--will not interfere with other wireless networks
• Backward compatible with 802.11g and 802.11a devices including game consoles and digital media players

Customer Reviews:

Dir-825 OK - Setup Not [Posted on 2008-12-08]
I had some setup problems as I entered my static IP address incorrectly via their wizard and the setup software just terminated with a non-useful error message.

When I setup the modem in manual mode .. it went pretty smooth and all seem to work as advertised.

Recommended if you need the HD capabilities [Posted on 2008-12-09]
If you're just looking for a simple router and don't need the wireless HD capabilities this one might be a bit of overkill. Setup is incredibly simple. Just drop in the disk and it walks you through it, even allowing for the option of setting up mulitple routers. In comparing the performance of this DLink router to my previous Linksys router (WRT54G Wireless-G) I don't see much difference. Speed seems to be comparable on both, and the signal is only slightly stronger from the DLink router.

My biggest complaint would be with the networking software that comes with it. It promises that you can print through other computers on the network and that you can monitor website usage (sites visited, time spent, etc.). Unfortunately, it's only a trial version and to access these nifty features you need to sign up and pay extra for this service - something I didn't find out until after I'd installed it and started getting e-mails encouraging me to sign up.

Good router that gives you a true dual band option. [Posted on 2008-12-15]
The set up of this router was frustrating at first as the set up CD I received was defective and did not work. I had to set it up manually through D-Link router's IP address. Setting up manually was easy as the screens are self explanatory.

I have been using Linksys and D-Link routers for some years and have had better connectivity with D-Link. The signal strength of the D-Link 2.4 GHz is better than the Linksys 2.4 Ghz for the same spots. A big advantage is that the router does not get disconnected often like the 3 Linksys routers I've used, I have 2 laptops on XP and one Mac system running on this router as well as 2 wireless printers.

I like Linksys routers for easier set up and user friendly interface, they also have better troubleshooting wizards. Netgear routers vary in performance based on model. Many people don't like D-Link as set up is sometimes complicated and they expect all customers to understand networking basics, but in the last few years I've had the least problems when I used D-Link routers.

This router allows you to set up 2 SSIDs - one for the 2.4 GHz and another for 5 GHz allowing you to choose which network you would like to use for your device. Having a dual band allows for faster downloads using both networks by 2 different devices. Overall, I am happy with the performance of this router.

DLink products do not live up to expectations [Posted on 2008-12-17]
I bought the Dlink 655 router, had problems with it, called Dlink support, 2nd level support, 3rd level support, couldnt figure out why the IP addresses for my computer were outside the range specified in the Dlin 6555 router, so they told me to return it. So, I thought, what the heck,I will try the Dlink 825 dual ban router, dual ban USB adapter, was even worse than the 655. I attempted to contact Dlink support, got hanged up 3x before even talking to Dlink, then sent 3 emails, no response despite their website saying they will respond within 24-48hours. Anyways, DLink support is a joke. So, what did I end up doing? I returned the Dlink 825 because it was just too slow, slower than my Dlink G DI-634 router and bought and got another Dlink 655 model. I did get this to work, on my own, pretty well. I did have problems with the Vonage Motorola phone adapter changing the network IP addresses Dlink support new nothing about, so I ended up hard coding all my devices. It works, and rather quickly. But I will never ever buy another Dlink product again, just because the Dlink support is almost nonexistent.

Dlink DIR 825 and Dlink DAP 1522 combination [Posted on 2008-12-20]
First off, some very good reviews so far on this product.

1) DIR 825 installation was very good, I did it a couple times and each time I was able to get it to automatically pick up the settings from my previous Dlink 4300 gaming router. The only trouble I ever had with that router was due to a conflict with 2.4 Ghz cordless phones and that was remedied by going to DECT 6.0 phones.

2) My reason for purchasing this combination

o I wanted to be able to use 2.4 ghz for wireless N or G clients anywhere in the house.
o I wanted a router that would support Gigabit Ethernet ports including jumbo frames for file backups ... my PC network card is a Dlink Gig card that supports jumbo frames as well as does the Netgear Readynas Duo. Jumbo frame support is not mentioned in the DIR 825 specs, but the Smallnetbuilder site review stated that it did work.
o I wanted a dual 2.4/5 ghz router to be able to stream video on the 5 ghz 802.11n band to a 802.11n bridge on another floor while simultaneously using the 2.4 ghz band for 802.11g or n clients.

The router has met all my expectations, 2.4 ghz 802.11n connections have been solid at 48 to 54 mpbs with 100 % signal level, but this was not the band that I was most concerned about. See more below.

I also have no problems on Internet speed tests with wireless running, getting 29/2.4 mbps to the fastest sites.

Dlink DAP 1522 802.11n wireless bridge
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The other goal I had was to stream video content from the DIR 825 to a DAP 1522 wireless bridge via 5 Ghz. The wireless bridge on a different floor can also serve up to 4 wired Gigabit connections (ie Blu Ray, Internet appliances, etc).

The path to the 1522 has to go at least 70 feet changing floors and going down different halways including a 90 degree turn. So, I was very concerned about what signal level I would get. I am now getting signal levels between 60 and 70 % with sync speeds listed generally at 162 Mbps between the router and bridge. I have yet to determine if that really indicates a max transfer speed of 80 Mbps or higher, but it certainly meets my expectations and requirements for streaming.
I also did ping tests and saw no more than 1 ms round trip times, this was much better than a Ethernet Powerline adapter I tried where pings were very inconsistent (not good for video streaming, ok for audio streaming).

Tweaking for best speeds
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The DIR 825 sits up above other devices and away from speakers. I believe speeds are reduced when you turn on WPA, so the security on my network is based on MAC filtering where only internal equipment (wireless PC, appliances, NAS, Ethernet printers are allowed to use the router).

After these tweaks, the measured wireless speeds between the router and bridge at 5 ghz doubled.

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