Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Reinvented]

It's a ploy by DLink and Nintendo to get us to buy the DSi 

Well, that wouldn't make any sense either...because the DS can ONLY use WEP and connect to a "B" network..

Please get your facts straight before posting.

[ttmcmurry]

Code: [Select]

9. Removed 802.11b

What does that mean?!?

That gives me a mixed bag of feelings.  I've never used B mode on the 655 or 625 before that.  At the same time I'm not exactly thrilled about removing it.  There are plenty of devices out there (PSP, DS) that don't support G or N at all; for that reason alone it's a very bad decision to remove B - whoever in product development made this decision should revise their thinking, pull this firmware release, and reinstate 802.11b.

On another note, doesn't G & N use 802.11b as a carrier for negotiation & authentication?  

I understand the need for more secure and faster operating products, but there has to be a better way to do this than alienate potentially 50 million PSP users worldwide?

[smapdi]

Well, that wouldn't make any sense either...because the DS can ONLY use WEP and connect to a "B" network..

Please get your facts straight before posting.

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc/en_na/ds/routerInfo.jsp

I may have been wrong about DSi being 802.11g but I KNOW that WPA is supported on it.

How does that humble pie taste? I bet it's delicious

[EddieZ]

"Removed 802.11b"

Is it some kind of joke ?! It's not the first time D-Link "fixes" something by removing it. But removing 802.11B?!!! D-LINK SUCKS! 

Somebody's got to be the first...the forced 802.11b compliancy restricts G/N capabilities (regulations!). Some of you have encountered that issue (friendly neighbour restrictions etc) already. Other than removing 802.11b there is just no way around that Wifi alliance regulation!

If the ancient 802.11b is being kept alive this will obstruct future N developments/performance. Progress can only be made when the old is out of the way. If they had to wait until all 802.11b devices were gone we would still be waiting in 20 years. It's a cruel world out there... 

[ttmcmurry]

If they had to wait until all 802.11b devices were gone we would still be waiting in 20 years. It's a cruel world out there... 

EddieZ - I normally agree with everything you say, but at this juncture I sincerely have to disagree.  If I upgrade my router and owned a PSP, and found I can no longer connect it to my PS3 or the internet, I would be highly pissed.  There isn't a magic upgrade to make PSPs G-compatible, and if D-Link is serious about enforcing that change, it will piss off their customers more than anything. 

D-Link had it right when the user could choose b/g/n, b/g, g/n, or b, g, or n only modes.  I have to refer again to my other post; IIRC, N & G still use a b-channel carrier to negotiate a connection & authentication.  I don't think there's a way to fully turn B off.  They must be denying access to B clients and only accepting G and/or N. 

What would be great is if there was someone reading this forum who knows a lot more than I do about 802.11 to confirm this. 

[EddieZ]

You can always disagree and I do understand that it sucks if you have a PS3 and you now need to buy a €30 'G' AP or €10 switch to connect the game console (so there is a way...).

I am not into the "802.11 technicalities" so let's wait for the board mod to reply to this one. 802.11g uses carrier frequency bands that are around 11b's 2.4GHz primary carrier frequency (802.11g being a kind of hybrid between 802.11a and 802.11b), but this does not imply that they are dependent or g being dependent on b. They just share the same technique.

I do know that when active together B reduces G speeds with ~21% and lots of 802.11b have issues talking to a g or n device.

[lotacus]

I don't mind so much that they are removing it, but I know others in the house will since there is both a PSP and a DS. If I had upgraded I know that maybe not now, but some time in the future, I would have to end up using the siemens as a 802.11b access point, which would still defeat the purpose of dlink removing the B. Plus not everyone has the dir-655. In order for B to be done away with, some sort of aliance between all vendors would have to be formed and all firmware upgrades across competitors would eliminate B, and for B only AP's etc, would render them inoperable. Forcing everyone to upgrade.

I wonder if this means that the WiFi Aliance is close to finilizing the N specification since the dir-655 can be upgraded to it once it's finally out of draft. Which probably could be another reason why the firmware can't be downgraded; to ensure compiance with the 802.11n specification.

[EddieZ]

I don't mind so much that they are removing it, but I know others in the house will since there is both a PSP and a DS. If I had upgraded I know that maybe not now, but some time in the future, I would have to end up using the siemens as a 802.11b access point, which would still defeat the purpose of dlink removing the B. Plus not everyone has the dir-655. In order for B to be done away with, some sort of aliance between all vendors would have to be formed and all firmware upgrades across competitors would eliminate B, and for B only AP's etc, would render them inoperable. Forcing everyone to upgrade.

I wonder if this means that the WiFi Aliance is close to finilizing the N specification since the dir-655 can be upgraded to it once it's finally out of draft. Which probably could be another reason why the firmware can't be downgraded; to ensure compiance with the 802.11n specification.

According to the roadmap they should be ready for it in January 2010, with the final version in November 2009. (http://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm) Still a long way to go So there is a reasonable chance that the 655 will not ever be full 802.11n compliant, when looking at the EOL stage that is coming up.

I do know that the 'friendly neighbour' policy (towards b devices) from WA has caused a lot of dismal with manufacturers and users (because of the impact on performance). Removing this feature will hurt some users but will probably be the best thing to do to be as much n compliant as can be.

[smapdi]

According to wikipedia 802.11n is supposed to play nice with g and b devices:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11n#Backward_compatibility

Presence of 802.11b has always slowed g down so I don't see a reason why DLink would choose now to take b out.

As for 802.11a, that lives on the 5GHz frequency which has nothing to do with b or g and the DIR 655 does not talk on that band anyway.

[EddieZ]

Presence of 802.11b has always slowed g down so I don't see a reason why DLink would choose now to take b out.

If the presence of b hinders speed and performance on the newer protocols why not get rid of the factor that slows it down? Gotta happen someday, and being the first is not always the most popular decision.

[smapdi]

If the presence of b hinders speed and performance on the newer protocols why not get rid of the factor that slows it down? Gotta happen someday, and being the first is not always the most popular decision.

Here is the problem. If I put an 802.11b device on my G or N network, the slowdown is due to my requirements. I do not like a company dictating that 802.11b is too slow to be included especially when they supported the protocol on the same device 1 firmware revision earlier.

DLink is not Apple and should not be acting like them.

[hokey777]

Agreed.  Why take it out completly.  If it slows down my performance, AND I'M NOT USING b, then I should have the option to disable it.

[Johnnyboy!]

Well, that didn't take long.

Version 1.30 has been removed from Dlink's support site.  Glad I have experience with Dlink's firmware updates and chose not to upgrade!

I don't have any 802.11b hardware, but have been thinking of buying a Nintento DSi, so losing 802.11b is not an option I would request.

I think for my next router, I am going to make sure it can run Tomato or DD-WRT, at least I would have some options of firmware to chose from.

[hokey777]

   They should also remove SharePort 1.10 (4/14/2009).  It does not seem to work with DIR-655 Firmware 1.21.

[AWDL]

Yes, the 1.30 firmware has been removed. My thoughts are here:

http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=5069.0