DI-514 (H/W ver.B1) Great WiFi Router for the price!!
Written: May 23 '04
Product Rating:
Ease of Installation:
Ease of Use:
Pros: After updating firmware this router has proven to be a full featured reliable router.
Cons: (Aug 2003)Didn't work well out of the box with my centrino tablet laptop!
The Bottom Line: If you want secure wifi, you'll need some tech savy to get it going! Great wifi router for the price. Get the latest firmware and you will not be dissapointed.
slakkur's Full Review: D-link DI-514 Wireless Router
Short story:
Pros:
After Updating to latest firmware this router has proven to be a full featured, highly reliable router. Well worth the 50 bucks I spent to purchase it!!
Cons:
Didn't work well out of the box with my centrino laptop! Required firmware update (router) and driver update (laptop) Before It became the truly stellar device it is now!
The Feature set is much better than my Linksys BFSR41 plain Jane 10/100 DSL/Broadband router.
Long Story:
I purchased the DLink DI-514 along with my fujitsu lifebook T3010 Tablet PC/Notebook back in August of 2003. My Tablet pc is based on the centrino chipset with built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 3B Mini PCI 802.11b wifi. Sorry I'm a Techie and thus required to say such stuff!! ;-)
When I first setup my router and tablet pc out of the box it worked fine. I then enabled the WEP Security feature and I was severely disappointed! I was getting intermittent dropped connections at less than 20 feet away!
There was no way I was going to run my WIFI open and unsecured. WEP encryption is the only way you can ensure that somebody down the street isn't grabbing your broadband and downloading illegal mp3's off kazaa on your network connection. The last thing I want is the RIAA slapping a lawsuit on me for the mis-deeds of some teenager down the street.
So after messing with XP Zero configuration wifi utility forever and with no results, I stumbled across Intel’s connection software. I disabled zero config and used the intel software and low and behold no dropped connections with WEP!!
Now I know this really doesn't have much to do with the router but I think it illustrates problems that one might have to deal with. It turns out that the initial drivers from Intel didn't get along with zero config and this router. Luckily I was able to get it up and running using Intel’s connection software.
Then about a month ago I ran across a Microsoft update for Zero Config (google this KB815485). It is for a new Security Encryption Scheme called WPA it is supposed to be much more secure than WEP. Unfortunately, WEP at 128 bit can be cracked by a determined hacker in about 1-3 weeks!! ha! but then again a bored teenager next door might really want access to my broadband. Who knows? lol.
In the KB815485 Article it said I would need to update my router, my driver for my zero config software. So I zipped over to Dlinks site to see if it had a firmware update for WPA! Sure enough not only did the firmware do wpa but included fixes for my centrino tablet pc!!! Wow I was psyched intel had also updated their drivers for my laptop that claimed to address disconnection problems as well.
So I downloaded and installed all this fun stuff and Now I'm surfing along on my WPA-SPK secured WIFI with a 64 Character Passphrase! No Dropped connections and infact better reception! Initially I could only get my laptop to connect at less than 100 feet away (more than adequate for me) but Now I can waltz down the street about a 100 paces (170 - 200 ft) and still maintain my connection and surf the web!!
I must say that at this point I love this router! It works Great and has tons of great features.
The Feature set is much better than my Linksys BFSR41 plain jane 10/100 router.
Among the features I love and use are:
Static DHCP - All the Benifits of DHCP while allowing Static IPs
WPA-SPK with simplified pass phrase (required firmware update) More Secure than WEP!
Virtual Server/ Port Forwarding!! great for making Voice Over IP work like a dream, p2p software like Kazaa, and Email FTP web, etc servers.
Special Application/ Port triggering: Open and close ports as needed, great for MS Net meeting and gaming support.
Filters:
IP -Use IP Filters to deny LAN IP addresses access to the Internet
URL Blocking
Block those URLs which contain certain keywords
Domain Blocking
Allow access to all web sites except "Blocked Domains"
Deny access to all web sites except "Permitted Domains"
MAC Filters
Use MAC address to allow or deny computers access to the network. Great security feature!
Share your Internet connection with built-in 4-Port switch Fully compatible with 802.11b networks Operating range of up to 328 feet indoors, up to 1,3...More at Amazon Marketplace
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