Well, I contacted Amazon yesterday and linked them to this thread for the details of what's wrong with my unit, and they promptly sent me a replacement overnight shipping without even asking, to boot and I just set it up. NICE!
I know that you strongly suggested getting a new one, but I'm unemployed and it would be a burden to shell out more, so I just let them exchange it for another refurb, and we'll see how that goes. (I very well may end-up going with a new one before this is all over.)
This one came with firmware 2.04, so it was a little newer than my first one with 2.00. I promptly updated to 2.07 with the proper procedure described in my earlier post. Is my hardware version at B1 the latest & greatest with the currently still-live shipping DIR-655? It's highly recommended that people use what is loaded on the router before upgrading. Routers usally work ot of the box and what they come loaded with. It's not always necessary to load the latest and greatest as they might introduce other problems or not fix anything at all. I always recommend that people try the router first for a while and see how it works before concidering updating. The most recent version is v2.10 however we believe there is a bug in it dealing with Guest Zone. So I don't recommend anyone use it at this time.
So far I haven't had any trouble with the WLAN LED.
But the Internet LED still stays solid blue like my first box, whereas it blinked under firmware 2.00 on my first box when the corresponding light on my cable modem blinked, and the user manual says it's supposed to. You said that your recollection is that yours blinks; are you sure? If they're going to change this kind of thing, they ought to include it among the other changes in the firmware revision list, especially for something that departs from what the user manual says. (But I actually like it better this way.) I'll re-check my routers behavior this weekend and report back. I downgraded to to the v2.10 issue to v2.07 so I an confirm what I see for you.
The DNS reservations work now, but I think I've picked-up on a pattern not mentioned in the documentation. After setting DNS reservations and rebooting the router, it apparently tries to preserve the existing IP address for a given device notwithstanding the reservation. Only after the client device itself is rebooted is the reservation honored. Does that sound right to you? Are you talking about DHCP reservations? DNS is completely different.
Something new I don't understand: I had to set two separate Network Filters for my computer reflecting its two separate MAC addresses for hard-wired Ethernet and AirPort. Ditto for DNS Reservations: a separate IP address for the different Ethernet and Wi-Fi MAC addresses. But I didn't have to do those two settings with two separate MAC addresses last time. Both just worked with single settings. I don't get it. Each actual network device connection will have separate MAC addresses. On my Mac Book Pro, I have LAN and WiFi, each one has a different MAC address. When I do a IP Reservation, I have to reserve for 2 separate IPs for each MAC address. Thus each rule or filter you use, can or might be used for each MAC address entry. Not sure how your devices are configured. Also could have been a issue that you though was correct behavior with the old 655 which wasn't probably working correctly so now that you have a good working one, the behavior may have changed and it just looks different.
Two more things I don't understand:
Why do I have to "fool" my ISP into thinking the router's MAC address is the same as my computer's by first plugging my computer directly into the cable modem and acquiring a DHCP IP address, before quickly swapping the router into the cable modem and clicking the "Clone Your PC's MAC Address" button in the Internet Setup? I don't have to do that with my old AirPort Extreme base station; "It Just Works."Some ISP Call for MAC assignments and recognition. Usally most don't and only are concerned with the ISP modem connection and it's MAC address. Everything else behind the modem they usually don't care about. I would ask your ISP if there is a MAC Clone requirement for there ISP system or should the ISP modem and external router be all DHCP. Mine is and don't need to Mac Clone. I did experience this at my fathers place in KY with his ISP.
To get Wi-Fi working (I kept getting "invalid password" in my client), why do I have to go into the router's:
Setup > Wireless Settings > Wireless Network Setup Wizard
...and click the "Wireless Connection Setup Wizard" button, then choose "Manually assign a network key" (since I otherwise configure manually)? My question is, why doesn't this setting appear among the manual settings? It's confusing because my natural expectation is that if I choose not to use a wizard, then all settings should be among the manual settings. I only use the manual settings when setting up a router. Usually the wizard will work and sets up the basic funtion and you should be able to give a new SSID name and PW. I always use the following for manual settings. Try single mode Mixed G and N?
Channel Width set for Auto 20/40Mhz or try 20Mhz only.
Setting a manual channel to a open or unused channel. 1, 6 or 11. 11 for single mode N if the channel is clear.
Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto.