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[Hard Harry]

Hey Guys,

Long time no see. Moving to a new house (through 2 blizzards...yeaaa) and need a temporary router to set up so internet can be active at both houses at the same time. Money is tight because of the move, so looking for something in the 40-60$ range, since it will only be a temp. and/or backup. I was looking at the DIR-850L for 45$ and DIR-860L for 50$. Anyone have a preference? I notice the reviews are better for the DIR-850L even though it is a older model. Any ideas why? Do they both use the older style (IMO better) firmware?

[FurryNutz]

There two versions, A has the old UI, B has the new UI.

The 860 has been marked EOL, the 850 still going however not sure how much longer.

I don't know if there both broadcom based. I believe the 860 is mediatek based and supported by OpenWRT.

[Hard Harry]

Just to have something to compare, I have been using these wiki articles: DIR-850L A1 and DIR-860L A1. The one I may buy is this Amazon for ~36$ I think it's a A1, any idea how to tell?

Similar memory and wireless configuration. CPU is a bit lower, but I prefer that for thermal reasons. Lower heat=longer life. WAG D-link used the DIR-850L as a template for the DIR-860L, changing the chipset from Realtek to Broadcom to get the "Smartbeam" feature. This makes me prefer the DIR-850L. The one thing keeping me from pulling the trigger are the internal antennas. Do any Dlink routers with external antenna use the old UI?

[FurryNutz]

Last model router with the old UI was the DIR-866L. Internal antenna.
Newer model routers have external antennas with new UI. Started with DIR-880L.

How big of a place do you have. Some internal antennas do just fine in a 2000sq ft place. Depending on building materials.

I've been using my DGL-4500 and DIR-857 with a DIR-890L AP connected to it.