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[xor42]

After testing both the A1 ans B1 revs of the DLink DIR-825, I've thrown in the towel.  I chose the 825 based on the excellent range and stability of my DGL-4300 "G" unit with external antennae.

I first bought/tried the DIR-825 Rev A1 but it had continual connection breaks every few minutes - so much so, I could not manage further testing. I eventually was able to get a refund from the retailer.

I then found/bought a DIR-825 Rev B1. It had less frequent drops (every hour, not minute) BUT found many other problems:
1. Weak signal. 4/5 bars at 15 feet on either 2.4 or 5.
2. Very fast signal fall of. Dead by 50-75 feet, line of sight. Not connectable from room above, 20 feet away.
3. Signals didn't show in Vista network list (0 bars if SSID hidden) whereas other WAP's do show with SSID hidden as "unnamed network". Strange.
4. Radios shut down sporadically and don't show again until the WAP is rebooted or reset.
5. Lower throughput than competition like WRT-610.
6. After many reconfigs, it remained consistently inconsistent.

I then got a Linksys WRT610 with its castrated antenna, no antenna jacks, and bimbo sculpted design. Range was better, good across my 2 story home. Signal was always visible.  No reboots needed after 1 week of continuous operation.  Throughput was also slightly better at 15': 70 vs 64 mbps.  At 100', no contest. The 825 was either dead or fluctuating. The 610 remained consistent.

So, I am reluctantly returning the DIR-825 and keeping the WRT-610 despite its bimbo looks, lack of external antenna jacks, and neutered antennae.

I truly hope D-Link eventually produces an "N" router that is at least as good as its older DGL-4300 "G" router which remains my gold standard and that it has "N" range performance that no one has delivered.

In general, I am greatly disappointed with the range of ALL "N" access points. None have the range that "diversity reception" is supposed to provide. So far, they all seem to be no better than my older "G" units. Oh, well.

Maybe the next geheration of products will be up to snuff. I just couldn't wait.

[dm33]

I'm debating between the DIR-825 and the Linksys WRT610n. It doesn't seem that Dlink monitors these forums so its just a place to complain about DLink products.

I just bought a DIR-825, rev B running 2.02NA. I can still return it with a restocking fee

After much trial and error I had QOS working pretty well. That was my primary reason for buying it. I'm running a large frame continuous backup clogging up my uplink. With my previous router, no machine could do anything on the network while the backup was going on. With QOS, I can now use VOIP with high quality and surf the web barely slowed down at all.

Despite a series of router crashes... I'm quite satisfied with it with one glaring exception...

My iPhone often comes up with an error about "incorrect wifi password", asking me to re-enter. I have not been able to sort this one out. I've tried just about every permutation of authentication scheme and cipher to no avail.

This is a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to try the Linksys WRT610n, but I don't really want to go through another 15% restocking fee unless I have to.

Does the 610 work well? How is the QOS on it?

Thanks

[Gadget]

DM,

If you don't get the information you're looking for here go back to the main D-link forum page (click the logo above left) then search for WRT610n.  There's no individual forum for that model but there are quite a few comments about it.  Maybe you'll find the input you're looking for or even someone who owns one.

Cheers

[xor42]

It doesn't seem that Dlink monitors these forums so its just a place to complain about DLink products. I just bought a DIR-825, rev B running 2.02NA. I can still return it with a restocking fee

I can only give credit to DLink for not (yet) having curtailed or censured the honest discussion of product problems and comparisons.  If they do read this forum, it only helps their development and evolution unlike those firms that choose to act ignorant and selfishly under the false aegis of "capitalism".

I'm willing to try the Linksys WRT610n, but I don't really want to go through another 15% restocking fee unless I have to.  Does the 610 work well? How is the QOS on it?

The WRT610n has a surprisingly complete QOS setup page:
1. QoS priority to Low, Normal, Medium or High
2. Apply QoS by to any of 40 preconfigured apps.
3. Or .. to a MAC address
4. Or .. to a Port(s)
5. Or .. to a IP address.
6. Disable NAK

Definitely up there in configurability.  I have not tested the feature, though.  With 70 mbps on 2.4 and 150 mbps on 5 Ghz, I have little need for QoS internally but I imagine it would help you with your WAN streaming.

Re restocking.  You can always get the 610, test it, and only return the 825 if the 610 proves better for you.  Just  a thought.

[dm33]

There's a Macrumors forum thread about this (http://forums.macrumors.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=737486) where the suggestion was to set the router to G only. I've tried that and my iPhone has still failed 4 times in the last 20 minutes.

I don't get it! That thread also reported problems with Linksys WRT160N router.

[BassMan]

There's a Macrumors forum thread about this (http://forums.macrumors.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=737486) where the suggestion was to set the router to G only. I've tried that and my iPhone has still failed 4 times in the last 20 minutes.

I don't get it! That thread also reported problems with Linksys WRT160N router.

I found the WRT160N was horrible for my me, based on my personal experience with it.  802.11G was useless with two laptops (Dell & Levono).  I returned the WRT160N, bought the DIR-825, and had great connectivity.  When I switched to a DWA-160 USB adapter, my connectivity was better still.

Very happy with my DIR-825 HW:B1 2.02.  Rock-solid, no issues with needing to reboot.

Note: I'm using mine with a Motorola SB5100.  I suspect *some* problems involve incompatibility with the broadband modem that people are using.

[andmalc]

A guy on my local Linux user group (Toronto) mailing list posted this review of the DIR-825 Rev B:

So two days ago, my WL-500gP suddenly decided to stop doing its job,
and after pwoer cycling it it no longer booted.

Reflashing it seemed to get it booting again, but not for long, and I
then discovered the WAN port had turned into a LAN port on the switch,
which meant the switch chip was no longer being configuring correctly.

So time for a new router.  After looking what was available at local
stores and researching them, I found out simultanious dual band routers
with 802.11n are actually getting affordable now, and some of them are
being worked on and will probably be supported by openwrt and the like
pretty soon.

So I bought a D-Link DIR-825 rev B1 with 2.02NA firmware (all nicely
labeled on the outside of the box.  Linksys could learn something here).
Very specificly NOT a rev A1 (which is apparently a piece of junk, with
totally different hardware and software inside).  The rev A uses an ubicom
CPU (300MHz proprietary RISC chip), while the rev B uses a 680MHz atheros
7161 MIPS 24k CPU.  The rev B runs linux (the A does not apparently).
So with a 680MHz CPU and 64MB ram it is quite decent performance.
So far I am impressed.  The signal strength for the various wifi enabled
machines in the house is much improved over the old router too.

I really like the guest wifi feature.  I now have it running as:

wifi5 - WPA2/AES 5GHz 802.11 a/n

wifi24 - WPA2/AES 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n

wifi24ds - WEP 128bit 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g guest (firewalled from the
other wifi and hence internet only access).  I run my Nintendo DS lite
on this now.  I never had it able to connect to the internet before
because it doesn't do WPA.

The only issues with the default settings are a couple of misfeatures.
The QoS support by default tries to measure the upstream bandwidth to
decide how to configure the QoS support.  This takes a while, isn't that
accurate and slows down boot time by a noticeable amount.  I turned
that off and set my 1Mbit upstream speed manually.  Boot time is now
much better and nicer.  The second misfeature, is a capcha at the login
screen in addition to the password.  That is totally stupid, not even
a well done capcha, and I turned that off too.  Everything else is great.
Well the blue LEDs for the ports and power and such are awfully bright.
I made mine face the wall for now. Apparently blue means working and
amber means not yet working on this thing rather than red/green.

So I would certainly recommend the DIR0825 rev B for anyone that wants
the everything in one and at the same time wifi router.  Once openwrt
and such hopefully one day runs on it, it will just get better.

I also like the fact that the first thing you see when you open up the
box, is a printed copy of the GPL along with an offer of getting a disc
with the GPL parts of the code by writing them or sending an email.
You can also download it from the website ofcourse.  The CD with the
windows software also has a note on the back for Mac and Linux (both
listed explicitly) users telling them where on the CD to find the
documentation files.

[groovomata]

For Linux users the main issue with this router is that "shareport" only give access to usb storage for Windows and Mac.

[brewmaster808]

I agree with all the above. I have the rev A1, now a door stop, waste of money, and time. Level 3 tech cannot help you out with most problems cause of the engineering of bad firmware, this product should of never been sold on the market. The worst thing I not been able to even find a third party firmware which might fix the product. I don't think Dlink will ever make a firmware to make this work, cause they already have sold it and cost to get a working firmware, if I am wrong why has it not happen yet.

[FurryNutz]

What is wrong with yours? Maybe you can let us know whats doing on? Might be able to help you out. These routers work very well. Usually they dont due to user configurations or external environment conditions.

[BassMan]

While Linksys/Cisco certainly make some good units (and some less-so), I've actually had good luck with the DIR-825.  I bought it to replace a Linksys (something 160, as I recall) which didn't work for me, and I returned.

I have the HW:B1, and have had virtually no problems, including with firmware upgrades.

I do turn-off the automagic DNS and QoS stuff, but am not doing anything fancy.  I don't do any "online gaming" or "VOIP", if that matters.