Let me see if I've got this right--the hardware levels a2, a3, a4 represent physical changes in board pieces/parts and there is firmware that correspondsto these hardware levels?
I'm simply in the market for a new router and have found no one is particularly happy with their routers according to Amazon metrics. D-Link customers seem to be best compared to Belkin N+ (30% unhappy) and Cisco WRT310N (40% unhappy), but the D-link firmware discussions will be sufficient to stop me from buying until the noise stops.
Customer D-Link DIR-655
Rating Reviews % %+
1 440 56.6% 56.6%
2 143 18.4% 75.0%
3 57 7.3% 82.4%
4 38 4.9% 87.3%
5 99 12.7% 100.0%
Total 777 100.0%