D-Link DI-524 AirPlus G router user reviews

Pros Works well with pppoe if upgraded to 1.11 firmware , fast , easy to use

Cons With previous firmware 1.03 and 1.05 it no work

Summary I have had this router for at least a year now and it was always diconecting me from my isp.

I tried both firmware 1.03 and firmware 1.05 but they never held the conection. I never used wireless but always wires since in the basement where my dad uses his computer is a old SMC Baricade router which only he used.

But after the upgrade to 1.11 firmware which was recently released it should work the way it`s supposed to.

Wireless can be turned off and the gui is easy for anyone to use. Even a non computer fanatic could even use it!

The only thing is I never need to use support since I never had problems with this.

I`ll say this is one of the best routers available , so get it now!

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.

Pros Purchased the 624 during the holiday for just $39 after rebate. It took two months to receive the rebate, but it did finally arrive.

Cons Losses connection with Verizon, east coast DSL service frequently. Had the unit replaced after spending many nights on the phone with tech support. I paid the shipping back to them - approx. $15. D-link has a no refund policy, they will only replace it

Pros So long as you downgrade to the 1.03 firmware it works great.

Cons If yours comes with firmware 1.05 prepare for an absolutely terrible wireless connection. No range at all and will repeatedly stop routing packets for you until you disconnect and reconnect. After I downgraded the firmware to 1.03 I get great connection