americanbear's Full Review: D-Link AirPlus G DI-524 Wireless Router - Wireless...
What Is a Wireless Router?
New to the wireless revolution? It promises us everything we could want - Internet and network access anywhere, anytime. The reality isn't so good. Wireless hotspots are only found indoors. No riding the bus reading your email on your Pocket PC or PalmOS handheld. You can use wireless in many public places(unfortunately, some, such as Starbucks, you pay for the privilege - but Krispy Kreme doesn't charge a dime. McDonald's does. Most local coffee shops don't. One more reason to support local businesses :) ). But WHAT ABOUT THe HOME? After all, we spend more time in our homes than any other place (except, perhaps, our offices but that's unfortunate).
A wireless router corrects that. Just get yourself a shiny new cable or DSL connection, plug in a wireless router, and away you go! Everything you need, port-level network address translation (so more than one computer can use it), basic firewall functions (to protect you), and a wireless radio all in one tiny box.
What sets the DI-524 apart from it's competition?
One feature and one alone sets the D-Link apart from it's competitor's on the marketplace - it's dirt cheap. As low as $15 *with a USB wireless card* after rebate they can be found. That's it. The D-Link doesn't have exceptional range. It doesn't outperform the others. It's certainly not more compatible. And D-Link absolutely does not have better support than the rest. Nope, it's gotta be the price that sells this unit!
And I'll be honest, for the price, I say - for the price, this is not a terrible device. Every day wireless routers are becoming more of a commodity item. But they're not there yet, and the technical support backing a product needs to be taken into consideration. Several issues with this D-Link unit prove we're not yet to where we can classify wireless routers as a "buy whatever is cheapest" device.
Multiple Different Products All - DI-524
Also note that, like many wireless routers from D-Link and other vendors, there are multiple products with the same model number (I've found this with other devices as well, such as this Zenith(LG) DVD/VCR Combo. This practice is one of my personal "pet peeves" of the electronics industry, as unless you're buying in the store and can look on the product label (and know what to look for), you don't know exactly what you're buying. There are four versions of the DI-524 that I am aware of - revisions A, C, D, and E. There are also minor changes within the revisions. I have revisions A2 and A3 - they're mostly identical, but they use a different voltage power supply so something was changed there.
Version C adds WPA2 and Nintendo DS support, I don't know about D and E. While not illegal as long as all meet the advertised specs, the whole different revisions with different features thing is just ridiculous. Companies should learn to use different model numbers when features change! Of course, that'd hurt sales of the old product stock...
Let's get on with the review then, shall we? (OOBE)
Out-Of-Box Experience is an important feature of any product, and like most wireless routers it's pretty darn easy. Plug cable/DSL modem into "WAN" port, plug computers into "LAN" ports (or connect wirelessly with two clicks) and you're good to go! For almost all cable modem users, that's really all there is to it. DSL users need to go to 192.168.0.1 and using "admin" as a username and no password, login and change their WAN connection type to PPPoE and add their username and password. Some cable modem users may need to find the "clone MAC address" feature but that's unlikely. Cable modem users are usually authenticated by the MAC of the cable modem itself... not the attached device.
What About Security?
I can here it now, that I just gave bad advice saying that is it. But it is. To get it working, that's all you need to do. But it's completely insecure, anyone can use your connection! Worse, anyone can login and lock YOU out of your connection just to cause you trouble. Some form of security is essential for all users except perhaps those creating a public hotspot, but they too (and perhaps more) need to at least password protect the config pages. No matter what security method or methods you choose, they're all very easy to configure at the address above.
Except, in some cases, the setup pages aren't fully cross-browser compatible. I couldn't get them all to work in Safari or Firefox, but Opera was fine with them all. Fortunately, Opera is free now - you may need it to setup this router's security. www.opera.com if you find your browser of choice has trouble with the setup pages.
This router supports MAC filtering (insecure, but a mild deterrent - what I use because I'm not too worried. There's so many WIDE OPEN networks around me that the freeloaders will use them instead!), WEP (insecure, slightly more secure than MAC filtering. Demonstrated crack using widely available tools in three minutes), and WPA (mostly secure provided a strong passphrase (not just one word) is used).
Revision C adds WPA2, which uses AES encryption instead of TKIP. This meets the 802.11i spec as well as some government/military requirements, but unfortunately is less compatible due to the processing power required to decrypt it.
Where's the compatibility issues you mention?
Other than the fact that I need to use Opera to setup security on the router, revision A isn't compatible with the Nintendo DS. Presumably this is because the DS uses only the original 802.11 rates of 1 and 2 mbps, and this router doesn't like that. If you lock the Tx rate on the router to 2 mbps, the problem is fixed but it slows your network to a crawl - about 1mbps TOTAL available bandwidth shared between everything. Not really usable, and certainly a waste when you pay for a far faster broadband connection!
Revision C is DS compatible, but I don't know about the security config issues.
Performance
This unit does an acceptable job passing traffic for average Internet use, but it slows down and has issues with large amounts of traffic, and seems unlikely to meet the needs of P2P downloaders and serious online gamers (of which, I am neither).
Range
On one of my units, the Rev. A2, the range is more or less average for a consumer router - enough to cover a medium sized house reasonably well if intelligently located. On the A3, it's absolutely horrid - one room coverage. I tracked this down (eventually) as an antenna defect - read about it here:
A Technical Support Nightmare
While it's basic and easy enough, you has better pray that you find no need to contact technical support. On an A3 router I setup, the range was pathetic. After messing with it to no success, I called support. 25 minutes on hold led me absolutely NOWHERE. Nada. Nothing. the guy appeared to knew little about how wireless routers even work, and demonstrated so by having me do things I told him I had already done (such as change the channel and preamble type) and he rudely said "JUST DO IT!" Then, after that, of course, did not work, he had me start playing with settings that were *completely unrelated to the device's wireless radio* Then he transferred me to "Tier 2" technical support. 25 minutes of hold later, I got a very nice lady who agreed the unit was defective and should be RMA'd. But she said I'd need to send in the receipt with it. I don't have it anymore, or have no clue where it is. The device has a 3 year warranty and a manufacturing date of Sept 22nd 2005! It couldn't be out of warranty.
Some research revealed that the warranty explicitly states that proof of purchase is required *unless* the product is registered. So, I registered the unit online and I emailed support. Who told me to *get this* - call or *email* support! That was just *insulting* as it was what I'd just done. In other words, he was too lazy to bother responding.
I've wrote a complaint letter through a leading feedback site, replied to the latest guy with a piece of my mind on his attitude, and emailed them back demanding a complimentary replacement antenna with no hassle (I discovered through swapping it that the unit's antenna, is, in fact, the defective part - likely a connector problem). I also pointed out that I'm in the market for 5 APs and I'd already decided on the DWL-G700AP units but it's not too late to change my mind. We'll see what they say. All I can say is that D-Link products must be thought of as disposable unless you want a huge hassle. Therefore, I'd never buy any of their more expensive enterprise class products.
Conclusion
A reasonable enough cheap little router/AP combo. Multiple revisions with different features and varying compatibility, Nintendo DS compatibility issues on the Rev. A, cross browser compatibility issues, terrible tech support, and a warranty that's not well back from what I can see = a product that should be bought only if very inexpensive and viewed as disposable.
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