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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 142 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"WPA setup is tricky but possible in Windows XP"
Pros: connection seems to be strong and reliable
Cons: WPA setup is not easy -- some of it is Windows XP trouble, but gets dumped on the router
Summary: After getting this, the first thing I did was upgrade the firmware so there would be no issues. With no encryption the router was fine and connected to my new Dell 6000 laptop. I idly changed encryption to WEP and then decided right away that I would choose something -- anything -- else. (WEP is crackable so is not recommended). Guess what: Issue # 1: The router will not accept any of the other options if WEP has been selected first. You have to reset the router back to factory defaults and re-do all of your settings. OK, so then I selected WPA and entered a passphrase. Issue # 2: It took some research to determine that Windows XP's WPA-TKIP is WPA and their WPA-AES is WPA2. Confusing? Sure, and the router built in documentation is not current, so there is no help on how to set up WPA. However, MS also loses marks for not differentiating between WPA and WPA2 clearly. So here is what happened next: Windows would not connect until I first plugged in the Ethernet cable for a couple of seconds, and then I could unplug and wander around. Not very convenient. So after trying and trying and not getting an encrypted connection right away (Windows could only make a "limited" connection to the router, meaning basically no connection) I finally had to call D-Link technical support. The guy I talked to was friendly but not technical; he wasn't sure about the stuff I outlined above. Fortunately he had a supervisor he could ask. After changing the passphrase once more we managed to get a connection. Half an hour later, I was back to the same problem of limited connectivity. So after trying a few things myself I called tech support a few days later. Issue # 3 (actually probably a Windows problem): they determined that Windows was not getting an IP or DNS server address so was connected but had no one to talk to. In Control Panel | Network Connections | my wireless connection | Properties | Internet Protocol | Properties I had to use IP address 192.168.0.99, Preferred DNS server 192.168.0.1 (i.e. the router, which switches in my IP provider) and Alternate DNS server 4.2.2.2 (in case my IP provider is down). One more note for anyone struggling with a Windows setup on any router: if you hide your SSID in the router, apparently Windows will not try to connect to it even if you make it your preferred router. It's what I consider a bug, but what they claim is intentional. Maybe all of that will help someone. As far as quality goes, everything seems good. But set up can be more user friendly.
Where to buy
AirPlus G DI-524 2.4 GHz Wireless Router with 4-Port Switch:
$62.00
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$62.00 | Yes |
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