Rating: Summary: Audible ringing noise Review: Hey. I've got an apple airport card in my desktop dual g4. I plugged the router into my roomates pc and bingo my mac recognized it. end of story. However, this thing emits a really high pitched ring that is annoying to my ears. I dunno if anyone else gets this or not, or if it just happens with all these things. Anyway, just beware.d
Rating: Summary: Could not be easier!!! Review: I selected the DI-624 router, DWL-G650 card bundle after reading the numerous reviews concerning the easy of setup and encryption options D-Link has. I had a basic understanding of how to set up a network but had never done so and was a little hesitant. I have been pleasantly surprised and how easy it all worked. You always hold your breath waiting for something to go wrong but it didn't here. I installed the DWL-G650 card first in my laptop and it was installed and ready to go in less than 5 minutes. The instructions are about as straight forward as you get. Insert the CD to install the drivers, put the card in and turn on the laptop. Windows will see the new equipment and complete the installation process. That's it! Next was the router that would have a direct Ethernet connection to my desktop. The DI-624 has 4 ports for a direct cable connection so I would not need a wireless card for the desktop. In the box were 2 cables to make the connection from my cable modem to the router and then the desktop computer. This was a nice surprise since I figured I would have to buy one and in fact had already done so. The steps to install this were just as easy as the laptop card. You unplug the modem and turn off the computer. Connect the modem to the router, the router to the computer. Turn on the modem, wait about 1 minute for the connection to be re-established, plug in the router, and turn on the desktop. From there you follow the Wizard to set up the network which takes 2-3 minutes and Voila' you're up and running. That's it!!! Total time was about 1 hour and only because I kept reading and re-reading the instructions, the actual work time was about 15 minutes total for both. The only hiccup I had was the laptop didn't have a connection initially even though it showed the card installed. I had left it running while setting up the router and after thinking about it for a minute wondering why it wasn't working I rebooted the laptop. It recognized the network and has worked great ever since. The direct cable connection with the desktop is at 100Mbps, the wireless connection is 54Mbps. There is not difference between uploads or downloads I can tell with either connection I am definitely happy with both items and would strongly recommend them.
Rating: Summary: Great Product/weak technical support Review: If you're comfortable setting up your own wireless network, this is an amazing product. Coupled with the DWL-G650, and updated software, this connection screams! However, if you're looking for techncial support, be advised that the outsource technicians don't know what they're talking about, and you'll most likely need to get to Tier II level support before you hit the jackpot of someone actually knowing something about the software/firmware/OS interface. If you have McAfee Firewall installed, you may need to reinstall a .dll to make this work.
Rating: Summary: Very poor quality product and almost non existing support Review: Buy only if you do not need to use it or if you have lots and lots of time to experiment with settings yourself: -Worst customer service ever. -Technical support telephone wait time is horribly long. -Router reboots every few hours, even when there is no traffic. -Router drops wireless connection about once per hour requiring that VPN links be re-established. -Router cannot configure any wireless channel but 6 -Wireless link Indicator LEDs on both ends don't behave as manuals describe, so aren't much help in troubleshooting. -Advanced features are not well described in the documentation and there are no samples to use. -Signal strength and quality is very inconsistent
Rating: Summary: It took a while to get setup but now seems worth the wait Review: Bought the DI-624 Router with the DWL-G650 Wireless card as a combo. When I first got it the router setup with ease but I couldn't get the Card to work at all on my Dell Inspiron 4000. After 6 hours or wrestling with it, finally had to do a system restore of my laptop to clean off what I had put on since it hung my system completely. After a few calls with Dlink and Dell mobile support, I downloaded the latest Bios for my Dell notebook which supports 32 bit computing (the card requires 32 bit) and tried it again. This time the Wireless card was recognized and worked but sporadically (used the Dlink configuration utility). When I restarted my machine, the router and card were talking to each other but I could not establish a connection again. Spoke with Dlink support (yes it takes quite a while on hold to finally get through to them but they were helpful) and they finally told me to use the Windows XP wireless zero config setup program. Wouldn't you know, it. Now it all works. With 108mbps throughput as well. I don't have a big apt but signal strength is excellent throughout. All I can say is be patient, wireless setup is not as straightforward as any of the mfrs. say and for all the Dell notebook users out there, make sure you have your BIOs updated to the latest or you might pull your hair out like I did. Hope this helps all the other non-techies out there.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing News: Latest revisions are not very stable Review: OK. I was very careful and made sure that I bought only the latest revisions of the DI-624 (H/W C2 and F/W 2.28) and the companion DWL-G650 (H/W C1 and F/W 3.00). I downloaded an upgrade to the -G650 even so. I view this as a system and frame my remarks thus. Also, I used to have a Netgear 114P firewall/router/print server which, after a couple of firmware upgrades, was rock solid until it simply died. I expect similar performance from the Dlink stuff. So, the review: The system was easy to install and configure if you consider a 'default' system as truly 'configured'. For anything else, the setup parameters aren't well defined and they are not grouped together in logical places. The manual is of little help in setting up the advanced features of the firewall: it has lots of pictures but few examples. The system has been on-line for three weeks now. Throughput isn't bad and it doesn't seem to slow down my Cable Modem connection with its firewall activity one bit. But there are a few too many 'issues' for such a highly-touted consumer product: -Router reboots at intervals ranging from twice per hour to once every 5 days, even when there is no (known)traffic. The last reboot can be seen in the log file, but reboots clear the log so the number of reboots since last viewing can't be known for sure. All internet connections drop for a time during a reboot. This can play havoc with a VPN connection (or, I would think, gaming!). -Router seems to reboot when it encounters certain inbound traffic. Online Firewall test web sites can illustrate this. I assumed that a firewall would itself withstand the very attacks it guards against? -Wireless card must be manually connected using the Dlink utility every time laptop is booted up. Although the card indicates that it has established a link, one doesn't exist! -"108 Mbit" link is not indicated very often when Dynamic mode is selected. -Dlink email tech support refers all but the most elemental question to their phone support lines.... where the waiting can be an eternity. Their are some nice reviews about the DI-624 in print. But search the web and you can find many complaints similar to mine about the '624. The D-Link DI-624 and DWL-G650 really need further maturing (a couple more firmware revisions?) before they can be recommended.
Rating: Summary: A very happy wireless user Review: I just purchased the three items from D-link to start my home network (DI-624, DWL-G650, and DFE-530TX+) I was able to get the system up and running within 30 minutes. I was very please with the Quick start manuals and the Web interface to configure the router. Also, I've check the firewall security and it's fairly good (there is a problem with port 113 not being totally stealth but the web site has a configuration change fix that.) I was able to successfully load the firmware and driver changes to bring the network up to 108Mbits. The only issues that I've had is getting the WPA to work. From reading articles on-line, I may need an XP service patch to fix this problem. Otherwise, I've been very pleased with this product and the easy at which I was able to setup my network, connect the internet, and configure the MAC filtering and firewall.
Rating: Summary: No WPA support = subpar security Review: Although this router supports WEP, it does not support WPA, such as the Linksys WRT54G. This makes the security not as tight and may be a showstopper if you are concerned about hackers. However, the router web screens are really intutive and great. Setting up servers behind this is a snap as well. Good range, but you have to find the right channel as it seems overly susceptible to other wireless networks.
Rating: Summary: Once again, D Link puts out crap! Review: As I write this I am ONCE AGAIN on hold with D link tech / customer support for well over 2 hours. I have spent many DAYS now on the phone with them, yes shame on me for not returning this stuff in the first place but I already had several machines with Dlink cards on my network so I foolishly thought that by sticking with the same company things would work well. WRONG! I have worked in IT for years and configured networks for 10's of thousands, trust me, I know how to do this. This is just one of 4 new D Link products that I have purchased over the last 2 weeks. With out boring any one with the details suffice it to say that OUT OF THE BOX 2 of their products have been DOA. Router and an Access Point. Also 2 PCI cards that were completely incompatible with 2 of my systems. Then there is the false advertising plastered all over their boxes. Upgrade to 108Mbps with a free firmware download. Well when you go to the site it says not yet available for my revision. Then you talk to tech (brain dead) support and they tell you that Dlink will NEVER be writing new firmware for this product. DON'T BE FOOLED! Then there is the endless hold for an RMA, worthless tech support, even at level 2, and worthless non existent customer service. Stay away, do NOT buy their products unless you have a thing for endless frustration. I would return all of these products in total if it didn't mean having my network down for days. I will be replacing all of these products as soon as possible though. Go with another company.
Rating: Summary: Go with another brand Review: I purchased the DI-624 w/ the DWL-G650 PCMCIA card. I did this mainly on the fact of the reviews and that it will do 108mpbs wireless. The router CONSTANTLY emits this high pitched tone. I checked the web for more info and apparently i'm not the only one. It's a design flaw with the Rev. C. model. I called D-Link technical support and between that gimp clearing his throat and coughing in my ears all he had to say was that it makes this noise while it's broadcasting a wireless signal. So I turned off wireless access, and it still makes the same noise. I felt this odd because the HUGE WAP's I have installed at work (that cover an area of 300+ yards) are completely silent. Skip this product if you can and definately buy outside the D-Link product line. Between my experience with this product and D-Link technical support, I will never buy any D-Link item ever again. As many other people have mentioned, i've very weary about the positive reviews on this item. Whether they are actully customers or D-Link employees killing spare time.
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