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D-Link DI-704P 4-Port 10BT/100BTX Broadband Gateway w/Print Server

D-Link DI-704P 4-Port 10BT/100BTX Broadband Gateway w/Print Server

List Price: $79.99
Your Price: $79.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Setup in less than 20 minutes and forget !!
Review: Great piece of equipment !!

The documentation could be written a little more clearly, but I believe all the information is there to get connected.
For me, setup took less than twenty minutes.
I've had one print problem with it in 3 months. All I had to do was launch the administration website and reboot the switch.
The only minor consitent problem I've had is with the Epson status monitor, not working correctly.
I VPN to work and have had no problems with connectivity through the firewall.

The box just sits there, quietly doing its job. What more do you need?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works great w/PPPoE
Review: Had a Belkin, couldn't keep its connections alive (would not survive power failure and VERY hard to get going again). Bought this one, quick/easy setup and it works. Haven't tried the print server feature yet.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible router
Review: I bought this becuase by pc was acting up to get ip address from my isp. Now I use to share the internet & for my hoem networking. The printer port works great & I am very happy with it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS!!
Review: I bought this primarily because it had a printer server as well as a router for the internet. I am now returning it after spending all day trying to get it to work. I had two lengthy calls with D-Link's technical support who could not guide me on how to get it working properly. I have wasted enough time and will stay with my Linksys router. Although it does not have the print server at least it works very well.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS!!
Review: I bought this primarily because it had a printer server as well as a router for the internet. I am now returning it after spending all day trying to get it to work. I had two lengthy calls with D-Link's technical support who could not guide me on how to get it working properly. I have wasted enough time and will stay with my Linksys router. Although it does not have the print server at least it works very well.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice Router for Cable/DSL ... needs improved documenation
Review: I compared the Linksys, Netgear and D-Link products ... and bought the D-Link 704-P because it had the lowest price. Given my experience ... I would do the same again. I might tell a non-technical person to stay away from this but from what I've heard the other products that compete with this one are not that much better in terms of their documentation and ease of use. I'm a Computer Consultant, very familiar with networking, securiy, TCP/IP, etc. Overall I've been happy ... however there are some areas that need improvement, mostly around documentation.

DOCUMENTATION/SUPPORT - The Quick Reference Guide (the only written documentation) needs some work. It is not very intuitive and I think difficult to understand for a non-technical person. The User Guide (on the CD or Website) goes one step further ... but still leaves me starving for more technical details. Their support web site doesn't help much more than the User Guide to answer my questions. I haven't tried to call their tech support yet as my router is working fine and I only have questions to satisfy my curiosity at this point.

ROUTER/SWITCH - This works fine. I basically plugged it in to my cable modem (AOL Cable Service provided by Road Runner) and it worked fine. I didn't have to clone the MAC address although that functionality is available if needed. DSL (PPPoE) compatibility is also available. The 10/100 LED for each port, shows if you have a 10mbit or a 100mbit connection (if it's lit you have 100mbit, if it's not lit you have a 10mbit). I haven't found this documented anywhere clearly, but verified after experimenting.

PRINT SERVER - My multifunction printer is not compatible .. no big deal for me. Check the compatibility list (on their website) before buying if this is important to you.

SECURITY - No security system is 100% fool-proof, however that is no excuse for not having security. If you have Cablemodem/DSL and no other security, get a Router with NAT or at least some firewall software to protect your PC. The NAT feature on this router requires no configuration ... most people don't even need to understand it. It provides a good base level of security although I recommend using something like Zone Alarm (free download off web) as well. The combination of those two things should provide sufficient security for most people, assuming you have a clean system to start (i.e. no viruses or trojan horses). It would be nice if this router had some logging capability both to provide auditability (for better security) and also to aid troubleshooting those applications that require complex TCP/IP connections. What I really wanted was a Router with NAT, Stateful Inspection and Intrusion Detection .. but I couldn't justify spending another $100 for that.

RELIABILITY - No problems (keep in mind this is my only experience with D-Link and I've only had the device for about 1 month).

DESIGN - Nice design, aesthetically pleasing. No moving parts, just keep it away from heat and any interference.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tech support was awesome
Review: I didn't have much luck the first time around. This is my first router and I have no idea what to do with it. I tried following the instructions, but I still couldn't make the router work with my DSL and I was ready to send the product back to Frys and buy a simple hub instead.

But I called tech support the next day and these guys were great. The first one helped me solve my connection issue. I called again since I couldn't get my Mac to work on the router and the second tech support specialist was most patient and helpful.

Now everything works and I'm one happy customer. I didn't have to go through a maze of phone options before being ROUTED to the right person, I didn't have to wait long before I get to speak to someone and both guys I spoke to very professional, friendly and very patient.

So for all those router newbies out there like me, this product works great and if you need tech support, you know you can rely on them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Router
Review: I just purchased my D-Link DI-704P rounter from Amazon and I have to say I love it. Installing the hardware is very easy and setting the unit up is easy as well following the instructions provided. This also comes with a print server (which I don't use since I only have 1 PC that I want to print from) which is handy if you have multiple PC's and only one printer. The LED display on the front of the untit shows activity that happens over the WAN (outside the router), the LAN (the PC's connected to the router) as well as the 10/100 indicators for each of the four ports. With a router hub, you can connect over 200 PC's to this unit.

The only negative I've found is that when I use Peer-2-Peer (P2P) software like Limewire or KaZaA, I can download but when others download from me, it doesn't take long for the PC to stop communicating with the router. I've tried many things to set my PC outside of the hardware firewall, but with limited success. While I don't like that I can't share my files with others, I do like the fact that my PC is fairly secure! And since I could download to my heart's content, I guess I can't complain.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this purchase!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: I originally purchased this unit because of its Print Server capabilities. The 1st one I bought, must have been returned by someone because the password was not what the default should have been. The reset button on the unit would not reset the factory settings as documented either. I called Tech Support and was on hold for ONE AND A HALF HOURS!!! Finally, the tech showed me how to reset the password (holding the reset button in, while unplugging the unit, waiting 20 seconds, plugging it back in, ALL THE WHILE holding the reset button in with a pencil, then releasing it). After that ordeal, I was able to get the PrintServer portion working, but it would not connect to my ISP (Bellsouth FastAccess). After several attempts, I finally exchanged that unit for an identical one, which did connect to my ISP on the 1st try. THIS time though, the PrintServer portion would only work 1 out of 5 times and that was after rebooting the unit and my PCs!!! I re-installed the D-Link DI-704 model which doesn't have the PrintServer and this one works like a charm (I've had it for a year now). It also has an on/off switch which is handy for when you need to restart it, you don't have to unplug anything, just flick the switch. As for the printing, it is MUCH more reliable to just hook the printer straight into your server which is always running, and share it. From the client machine, just select network printer and point to the server and it works 100% of the time. But the D-Link 704P was just not reliable enough for me.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good router & print server for cable modem.
Review: I purchased a refurbished model for around [$$$] and everything was in perfect order. The old admin password had already been removed so there was no problem accessing configuration.

The D-Link DI-704P is very easy to hook up. I especially like the idea of having all the wiring in back and the LED's in front. As far as documentation; it is all included on the cd in pdf format. I suppose this keeps the cost down.

Getting things up and running took about half an hour, mostly because of one small undocumented glitch. It just would not connect. The problem was easily solved after reviewing the FAQ's on D-Link's web site. All I had to do was run winipcfg and release the current settings, then renew. After that just power down everything (computer, router, cablemodem). Then power the cablemodem back up and let it cycle through its procedures; power on the router; then the computer. All works perfect.

One of the main reason for choosing this unit was the print server feature. The software installed flawlessly, and reconfiguring my printer to direct it towards the D-Link print server was easy (HP DeskJet 420). Printing functions normally, so now my computer does not have to be on 24/7 to act as the print server.

I rate this product 5 stars for value and performance, but minus one star because the faq answer should have been included in the original documentation. So maybe a 4 1/2 star rating is more appropriate.


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