|
reviews shortcuts
|
D-Link DI-524 Wireless Router
Quick Index:
Introduction D-Link was founded in 1986, and since then has catered to both consumer and SOHO users. D-Link is already a well known name in the home networking market, however in the past D-Link products have been considered inferior to those of their competitors such as Linksys (Cisco) and Netgear (Bay Networks). Recently this stigma has begun to disappear with D-Link taking a large portion of the home and SOHO markets. The D-Link DI-524 is one of the company's new series of Wireless-G routers, offering transfer speeds of up to 54Mbps and WPA encryption.
In the Box - D-Link Users Manual and Software CD
Specifications Standards Security Modulation Technology VPN Pass Through/Multi-Sessions Device Management Advanced Firewall Features Wireless Operating Range** Wireless Frequency Range Wireless Transmit Power External Antenna Type Operating Temperature LEDs Dimensions Warranty Extra Features The DI-524 supports the PPTP WAN addressing scheme (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, a new technology for creating Virtual Private Networks VPNs) which is a nice non-standard feature.
The Review I am writing this review after using the product for approximately 2 months. I will start with an examination of the user interface and configuration options:
As you can see this model offers the standard Wizard feature offered by D-Link.
Certain DSL providers in Canada such as Telus restrict the connection to a single computers MAC address. The clone MAC address feature on this router is extremely useful to users who have an ISP with this policy as it will save you a phone call to their Customer Service department. The next screen presented by the wizard is the wireless SSID (Service Set Identifier the public name of your wireless network) configuration page. Here you can set the SSID and channel of the device.
After this configuration you are prompted to set up encryption, and can enter a WEP encryption key to secure your wireless network.
This concludes the wizard setup and should satisfy most home users; however, for those of us that like to set up every little detail there are a few more pages of advanced configuration. I will start with the advanced tab.
Here you are presented with basic virtual server configuration, which is used to give WAN users access to LAN services. The next pane is the Application tab where simple port forwarding rules can be set for applications that need multiple connections.
You can configure port ranges to be allowed or disallowed for a range of IP addresses, and also dictate traffic source and destination. Another useful feature is the option to limit traffic based on time of day if for instance you wish to block all Bittorrent ports overnight. The DI-524 offers standard DMZ configuration, however it does offer an interesting panel for changing wireless performance settings:
A number of interesting settings can be changed fron this page, but I will only focus on antenna power, as the remaining features are beyond my needs and knowledge to explain appropriately. You can set the antenna power to 100, 50, 25, or 12.5%. This is useful for users who are concerned with broadcasting inside an apartment building and wish to limit the range of the device. Under the Tools tab the user is presented with the option to change the password, set up remote management, and upgrade the firmware. Another feature that has been included in this product and is becoming more popular is the ability to save or load configuration settings on your computer from the System pane. Finally back under the home tab you can access wireless settings. Here you can enable or disable WEP and WPA encryption, (Note that WPA cannot be enabled from the wizard with the current firmware) set the SSID, and set up a WEP key or configure WPA radius servers. That concludes the interface portion of the review, now on to some numbers. I tested internet throughput both with and without the router, and as you can see, the difference is negligible:
I highly recommend enabling WEP despite the speed decrease it poses (please see Tom Bouncer Blakelys review of the SMC 7004AWBR as he evaluates these differences).
Conclusion D-Link has put out a solid product in the DI-524. In the time I have used it I have had to reboot it once during heavy file transfer. The configuration options are more than adequate for your average user and the product is extremely easy to configure. Selling for under $50.00 I have to recommend this router as a great performer for its price. It offers remarkable stability compared to other products I have owned and with a solid management interface it is a safe choice for the less technically inclined. Rating: 9 out of 10
1
User Reviews/Comments:
rate:
avg:
by
Forg - 2009-12-08 17:47
Can somebodi help me? I connect the computer and D-Link DI 524, open the web browser, enter the url http://192.168.0.1, but I the browser won't open a set up menu of the router. Please, help me.
Enter command prompt (Windows button > Run/Search > type: command ), then type:
ipconfig Look for your "IP Address" and the "Gateway IP"... The Gateway IP address should be your router. If you then type that IP into the address bar of your web browser, you should be able to get to your router's admin interface.
Each port has own MAC address. WAN and LAN
Make sure your computer is connected to it via an ethernet cable. (You cannot use wireless to set up)
How can I increase the connectivity of DI 524 router without installing any more cables or extended antenna?
I have set up the router. But..I had disabled the encrypt temporary.
NOW--How do I EASILY turn it back on?
Hi, i have a strange situation. i am connected to internet via this router, signal is from motorola cable router.i have connection 20mbit, but through DI-524 it is always only 11-12 mbit via ethernet or wireless.ehat can be wrong?help please.V
I did purchase a D'link router, from the first day onwards i am facing issues, please don't prefer D'link product.
anybody tell me how i have to port forward in d link dir 524 wireless router thanks
Recently i purchased D'link DIR 524 wireless router, from the first day onwards i am facing issues, though after service it is causing issues.Please don't become victim for D'link routers, please don't buy them.
I have been using this router for about 5 years and have been very happy with the performance and ease of use. It is now starting to need to be re-booted weekly (hardware getting old?). Replacing it now, to upgrade to 5mhz, N protocol for multimedia, and WPA2. My conclusion: D-Link makes good products. Pricewise, they seem to no longer be the "economy brand" that they used to be.
had this router since around 2006. I have it connected through my pc/modem and have a wireless connection w/2 smart phones, a roku, blue ray player, tablet and a notebook as well as a magic jack or magic jack 2. Only issues I have ever had is that the ac plug burnt out once and I replaced that and it runs hot. I had to do a little tweaking after I moved as it seemed to have reset but that was all good. I did try to upgrade a couple of years back and whatever I got I returned the next day as I couldn't get any connection so I have stuck with this. I just updated my modem which was running at almost 10 years old and I already have some better things going on. I got a new router and will try that out to see if my speeds are better and less lag. I will keep it on hand as a stand by. I also think I got a refurbed one so it has paid for itself many times over. I had this in a 2 story condo on the 2nd floor and now it is on the 2nd floor of an apartment. I get about 1 bar as I get close to my unit so that it pretty good for connection length.
I want set up password for router but I am unable to do others are using my net. so always I have to switch off.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
