D-Link Xtreme N Storage Router DIR-685 user reviews

4.5 stars

"SOLID Build! Showstopping looks! Worth every dime!" on March 20, 2011 by Little Poppy

Pros: -Easy Set-up
-Very well built
-Great Security Options
-24-7 Bitorrent active
-Web Hosting
-Useful photo frame for periodic glance apps
-Handy NAS Storage
-Handy USB Shareports serve as a print server and any other USB device server
-Great Network

Cons: -Cost
-Finicky wireless Storage access
-QoS doesn't seem to give that BUMP that I was expecting
-Advertises uo to 1tb storage yet no 1tb drives will fit as of this writing
-Photo Frame a tad to small to serve as a constaintly accessed/viewed HUD
-Onl

Summary: I have been using this router for almost a year now with no mechanical issues. I do not have the Photo frame activated 24-7 however, it sleeps after 5 minutes after it is awakened by PC Bootup. It is Very Solidly build, very dense, brick like feel, not hollow (at least after you install the Hard Drive). It feels as though every cm of internal space is filled with solid components. Just Heavy Solid Black Piano fish goodness.

This is a great looking and performing Router. Aside from your Monitor, it will be the centerpiece of your desktop or shelf or wherever you wire it up. That can either be a benefit or a distraction. But the DIR-685 is such a polarizing router that any Tech heads that come to your abode will either love it or hate it. If they hate it, it is either because they can't afford one, or they are Apple geeks who have one of Apple's Wireless Storage Router offerings.

This thing blows the doors of the Apple Storage 1TB that I had previously by the way, and doesn't get nearly as hot, though it doesn't stream from it's NAS nearly as fast. Much easier to find a space for as well since it has has a vertical stand that fits flush to the bottom and protrudes out the back slightly tilting the 685 just so

685 Performs extremely well grabbing and delivery data to my wired/wireless devices. As I said above, it is much faster than the Apple Wireless N, as well as every Linksys, Belkin, and Netgear I have owned, and I have had various N models from each. It's single band is not an issue and outperforms all of the dual band N routers I have used and like the Apple Storage router, it uses no antennas! Just on N performance and build, the 685 is almost worth the duckets

Storage- As for the primary draw for this Router, it is slow, probably due to the EXT3 format D-Link forces on you, but I guess the upside is no fragmenting, or so that is what I'm told. It is usefull for storing Music Files, backing up your hard drive, and archiving files of all types to retrieve to your local hard drive when needed. Your better off pulling an archived Media file local than trying to stream it straight from the router's NAS. So storagewise, it's hit and miss. And for some inexplicable reason, on my netbooks, I see the NAS Drive sometimes when I logon, other times, the 685 makes me map the drive, yet other times, it won't even let me see the drive to map . . when I just had it mapped and accessed 20 minutes earlier from the same netbook. Probably some security feature I unknowingly enabled which leads me to . .

Security, which is top notch. Every available option can be found, firewall, anti-phishing, etc , albeit casual users may not understand them and end up locking themselves out of their own router requiring reset. It is an intimidating amount of choices, or so it seems from how D-link lays it out there. Anyway, you'll sleep well knowing that the neighbors 14 yr old isn't using your connection to play XBOX live or surf porn on your dime. And if someone does manage it, the Frame has a Status HUD option that tells you all the traffic going in/out as well as how many users are logged on to your network and their mac address. One of the best uses for the next features of the router . .

The Photo frame is too small to use to slideshow family photos unless it is right beside your Screen, but when used as a once-glance for frame-it or RSS or the aformentioned Status/network traffic screen, it provides maybe the first true network/information dashboard independent of your PC that I have seen, and a darn good one!

The Bittorrent thing is kind of spooky, I don't do that kind of thing, hear it is pretty efficient and works 24-7 independant of your PC even when your PC is off, but the thought of traffic coming I/O my router when I'm elsewhere . . .well . . .that's just too much to bear.

I have a PS3 connecting to the 685 which gives erratic performace results. I have tried the QoS, but see very little BUMP, and even what I do see may be attributed to wishful thinks, like imagining a progess bar moved out of the corner of your eye. Not sure if the bottle neck is at the PS3 (G Device) or at the 685 delivering/receiving the data, and also not sure if the 360 has the same erratic results, fast as Cat-5 one moment, slow as Wireless B the next. I will consult with D-Link to optimize this device when it becomes an unbearable issue.

The USB ports are very good for sharing printers or any other USB device. In fact, you could jack in a External USB drive of any size (2 TB maybe) and share storage over the network, albeit it would only be usefull for archiving and storage, streaming would be almost impossible, as least in my experience.

All in all, if it were stolen or severly damaged, on my dime, I might wait for the next Dual band iteration. But if my insurance would give me a check of equal value, I'd buy another.

The Best Home/Office Router I have used, and I have used a lot from every conceivable manufacture, Linksys, Belkin, Netgear. If you got the $ to burn, don't think twice. This is a solidly built router