| D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router |
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Model: DIR-655
Brand: D-Link
Manufacturer: D-Link
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 305
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Delivers up to 14x faster speeds* and 6x farther range* than 802.11g means Greater Coverage for Your Entire Home or Office
Ideal for streaming HD video or streaming multiple applications simultaneously
Intelligent QoS technology prioritizes both wired and wireless Internet traffic to enable enhanced gaming and phone calling (VoIP) experience
Gigabit Ports for Incredible Wired Network Speeds
Dual active firewall protection (SPI & NAT) helps block malicious attacks on networks from the Internet. |
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| Description: |
Create a wireless network to share high-speed Internet access with computers, game consoles, or media players from greater distances in your home or office. Using D-Link Xteme-N wireless products makes it really easy!
The D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router is a draft 802.11n compliant device that delivers up to 14x faster speeds and 6x farther range than 802.11g while staying backward compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b devices. Connect the Xtreme N Gigabit Router to a cable or DSL modem and provide high-speed Internet access to multiple computers, game consoles, and media players. Create a secure wireless network to share photos, files, music, videos, printers, and network storage.
With some routers, all wired and wireless traffic, including VoIP, Video Streaming, Online Gaming, and Web browsing are mixed together into a single data stream. By handling data this way, applications like video streaming could pause or delay. With D-Link's Intelligent QoS Technology, wired and wireless traffic is analyzed and separated into multiple data streams. These streams are then categorized by sensitivity to delay, so applications like VoIP, Video Streaming, and Online Gaming are given priority over Web browsing. This enables multiple applications to stream smoothly to your TV or PC. Delivering best-in-class performance, network security, and coverage, this router is the ideal centerpiece for your wireless network in the home or office. Backward compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b devices including game consoles and digital media players |
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| User Reviews (305 total): |
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New generation of wireless router, August 30, 2007
By user
The router works great for my home network with very stable connections for my VOiP phone and mutiple wireless laptops.
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Another Great D-Link product, August 23, 2007
By user (Kentucky)
My family has been buying D-Link products for several years now. We have wired and wireless ethernet cards, routers, adapters and not a single one has ever been a disappointment. This router is no exception. I think the N-Draft technology is still a little pricey, but overall, this item lives up to the expectations I had for it. We got it out of the box, loaded the software, hooked it up, adjusted the settings, and our network was up and running. We are running all XP, by the way. No VISTA in this house. I also like the fact that this router has a USB port. If you like to put peripherals on a network with a flash drive, that feature is very handy. I once spent 3 hours on the phone with D-Link customer support because of my own ignorance at the time, and I have only good things to say about them from that experience. This router gives pretty good speeds, and now that I have put two Draft-N adapters on the network, I am realizing speeds ranging from 121 to 162. That is much better than 54, which I was consistently achieving with my old router and adapters. The integrity of the signal is much better also. I have not yet carried my laptop to the other end of the house, but if I did, I am sure I would have a much better signal than I had with my old router. In conclusion, I recommend this product to anyone who enjoys consistent connectivity and having good range with good speeds. Its ease of use is a bonus.
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Great Wireless Router, August 23, 2007
By user (Orlando,)
This router is the best I have used to date. There may be others that perform as well. However, if speed, reliability, and power to transmit a signal across the house are your requirements, then this router will do the job.
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Nice Features - Poor Support, August 22, 2007
By user (Atlanta, GA)
I recently purchased this wireless router due to the positive reviews and I NEEDED the QoS support. I own a iMac G5. It took hours (over 5) of playing to get this working and their phone support people were of no help (after 30 minutes of walking me through the basic config they told me that the product was defective and for me to return it).
What is VERY INTERESTING is that the router can see the iMac mac address but not the IP address. Also (from my work PC running Windows XP Pro) I can ping my work PC and my ISP from the router but I cannot ping my iMac.
From my iMac I can ping my work PC and my ISP but not the router (I get the following message; ping sendto: Permission Denied).
When I do a "Netstat" from the iMac I can see the routers IP address and its mac address.
From Firefox on my iMac, I cannot access the router, which makes sense since I cannot ping it.
What I had to do to get my iMac to work, I had to choose the "Manually" configure my IP address (under System Perfereces/Network/TCP/IP). I also had to manually configure the DNS Servers from my ISP in order to get my iMac to connect to the Internet. Not the easiest and cleanest way to get this device working.
I tried keeping the fireware level the same as when it was purchased (version 1.02) and I tried upgrading it to version 1.05. The only change is that version 1.02 could see both my iMac IP address and mac address, where version 1.05 could only see the mac address.
I would HIGHLY recommend that this company purchase a Mac computer or two and make sure their devices install and work straight forward as working with Microsoft Windows. If not, I can see more poor reviews and returned products in the near future.
My son is in college and has a MacBook Pro and I am interested to see what I need to do to get it working when he comes home this weekend. Well he came home and his configured and connected without any problems. We are both running version 10.4.10 of Tiger. I guess it has something to do with my iMac being a G5 processor instead of Intel.
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Super Fast & Reliable, but Tech Support Blows, August 19, 2007
By user (Brooklyn Park, MN)
WARNING, the following is true:
Wonderful Router once you get it setup. I had issues with my router because of a computer issue I later figured out myself, so I gave D-Link a call (actually 2 calls). Neither time were they able to resolve my issue. They basically told me to power cycle, and reset a bazillion times. That didn't work. The first person told me to turn off the modem for 45 minutes, then said good bye. Connection didn't work after the 45 minutes. On the 2nd call, the guy told me I had either a bad modem or router which clearly was not the case, then hung up on me when he couldn't resolve my problem. I was absolutely furious and I knew I would take 45 minutes to get through again just to complain, so I didn't.
NOW comes the good part. I ended up connecting my laptop to the modem and router. I simple ran the CD and ran into an internet connectivity issue, cycled the modem, and walla, it worked. I got my first taste of wireless N internet, and the best part is I outsmarted those retarted, so called tech support guru's. Overall, the connection is extremely fast, downloads are fast, multimedia (video streaming) is amesome, and the range is amazing. The only thing I worry about now is the neighbors piggybacking on me. Oh well, I guess I just have to make my network password protected.
HINT: If you want always reliable products and exellent tech support, Belkin is awesome. I shoulda complained to D-Link already.
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So Far So Good!....., August 17, 2007
By user (Murray, KY)
Bought this router a couple of weeks ago and have had nothing but success out of it. Set up was fairly easy (always have a few minor problems), range was increased, and speed was vastly increased! I have read reviews of people having trouble with Network Magic and this router but I myself luckily have had no problems and it works fine. Network Magic just makes everything easy to maintain which is the only reason I use it. Over all the DIR-655 is worth the upgrade if your looking for increased speed, range and no mysterious connection drops.
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Not worth upgrading from DGL-4300, August 12, 2007
By user (South Florida, USA)
I have the DGL-4300 and thought I'd try the DIR-655 to take advantage of the wireless-n built into my new Macbook Pro. Turns out, the DGL-4300 has a 100% signal strength and consistent 54mbps whereas the DIR-655 from the same distance (about 50ft and two walls) only managed about 65% and 58mbps at best.
My recommendation... keep your DGL-4300.
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AMAZING, August 8, 2007
By user
Amazing probably does not describe this router:
1. Easy SETUP: After reading some of the reviews that claimed extensive expertise in Network Engineering I almost canceled my order. WRONG, the modem setup was 5 minutes long and simple.
2. SPEED: My laptop network speed increased from 54 Mbs to 130Mbs. 3x FASTER. Be careful as not all network adapters are N- compatible.
3. PRICE: Paid $110, not bad for this great router.
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excellent, solid product, August 8, 2007
By user
I ordered this router after two other failed attempts with other vendors products. It performed solidly out of the box and has easy to use wizards and other tools to properly configure security and the like.
I opted out of the wizards and used the manual configuration tools and was impressed by the variety of choices I can make. I hooked up my 4 different wirless devices that operate on various channels (b,g and n) and all of them worked perfectly. Wirless speed (especially on the n) is excellent from my Dell 9400 running an embedded Intel wireless card.
An update of the firmware from D-Link's site only added new features and functionality.
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Fast Router & Easy to Configure, August 7, 2007
By user (Delaware, USA)
Very fast router, great performance. The setup was very easy and the SW package that comes with it is very useful. It takes the complexity out of windows and home networking and allows you to check status of the network, share folders & printers, configure the router and a host of other features. Great router and one of the easiest I have ever configured.
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Didn't work as advertised, returned, August 7, 2007
By user (California)
I have a DSL modem with an 802.11b Linksys box and two Macs connected wirelessly, one 802.11b and one 802.11n I work in the electronics/semiconductor industry and specialize in wired high speed connectivity.
After reading the reviews I bought this D-Link Wireless N Router. I had nothing but problems with it
- browser support for Safari is flaky. Couldn't set up wireless parameters with Safari Firefox works OK
- Using open wireless security Macs would occasionally refuse to connect with error message
- even when mac showed router connected via wireless, often could not open the setup page of router.
- flaky connectivity when connected to internet, latency and performance worse than my 802.11b router.
After playing with this thing for about 4 hours with multiple settings / channels / combinations of macs on an off to troubleshoot I gave up and returned it. I didn't even consider it worth bothering calling tech support as there were so many problems, and other reviewers have cited tech support as poor.
I am going to try a Linksys 802.11n router.
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A diamond in the rough, August 6, 2007
By user (TX)
I have been using this router for about the past 5 months and have not lost connectivity once. I am a heavy user of bittorrent and I also use VPN to access my work through-which I transfer quite a lot of data. I upgraded from a WRT-54G v3 (before linksys nerfed the router in v5), so that was thought to be a pretty decent router for the money, but I am more impressed with the reliability and features of this one.
I am not using the QoS features, but I am using dynamic dns, static IP and port forwarding. This router has been working flawlessly.
The reason I wrote this review is because I realized the other day that it's been months and I haven't had one router problem, so I figured people should know.
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Tough XP Home installation., August 5, 2007
By user
I'm in IT and I've installed a few networks, so I'm not a novice. This installation took 4 frustating days. Hopefully I can save someone some heartache. The Network Magic software was no help. D-Link support helped me configure things first time thru the http://192.168.0.1/ interface and they got my Internet connection to work, but they could not solve my wireless connectivity issues, even after several phone calls and talking to several support staff. If you are trying to connect wirelessly thru an older PC, find newer drivers for your built in wireless network adapters. Both of my Toshiba laptops had the same 80211b wireless network adapter drivers installed, but one version of the driver was 6 months newer than the other. When I copied the newer driver to the oldest PC, things worked fine. After messing around with Network Magic software for 4 days, I realized it added NO value, and un-installed it. I had to then re-install my printer, re-share it thru Windows, and everything works now. I'm on day 4 and things are finally working. Wireless connectivity and printer sharing. It doesn't go easy, but it does go. The info I found online before buying encouraged me enough to make this purchase. I thought it would be an easy installation. Not so. 3 stars for now, because of what I've been through. On the good side, our wireless connections have gone from weak and good on our old router to very good and excellent now on this router. The jury is still out though, because I'm only on day 4. Very good wireless connections now on both laptops on my home network. If things stay good, I would probably upgrade this review to 4 stars. Still stinging from the installation pain.
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Very pleased with my purchase thusfar, August 4, 2007
By user (Ventura, CA)
Allright, this is the 3rd router i've installed. I'm using this to replace my old Linksys router. Installing this router is not as easy to install as my Aunt's Netgear WPN824 (which will put out 108mbps with excellent range). However the install isn't too tough and is comparable in interface to the old Linksys. Once i have this thing up and running it is great! When used in conjunction with the D-Link Xtreme N Notebook Adapter (DWA-652) ( I HIGHLY recommend the card as it gives exceptional range) i'm getting 300mbps speed on the fence of my property from 150feet away through multiple walls. In case i need to stream video on my fence for some reason. This equipment is probably overkill for the purposes the setup, however with 4 people using 5 computers in the household we need all the help we can get and it looks likely this router will provide for that and then some for at least the next few years. ALSO: INSTALL THE FIRMWARE UPDATES for the router over the internet while doing your initial setup! the firmware that comes with the router will be outdated.... Hope this provides some help for people. Good Luck !
Lastly: It's kind of pretty to look at and anybody who bitches about the blue lights being bright. Use a little electrical tape cut size, It's not that hard people!
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Works well, good compatibility... not sure about color scheme, July 30, 2007
By user (Austin, TX USA)
I have this hooked up to my cable modem with a VOIP box (Linksys SPA-2102) and three routers behind it (DGL-4100 gaming router, 2 Airlink Mimo XR AR-525ws). It seems reliable and the VOIP box worked well behind it for both incoming and outgoing calls. It handles P2P traffic well, unlike the Linksys SPA-2102, which rebooted itself frequently under Azureus traffic when I had it in front of the DIR-655 as the primary cable router.
Wirelessly it works well with my old 802.11g Airlink Mimo XR USB adapter at 54mbps, using WPA2-PSK, AES, without SSID broadcast. I don't have a wireless N adapter to try with it yet though.
The management UI looks like an improved version of the DGL-4100; thankfully they dropped the useless Flash header. It's as simple or as powerful as you want it to be. I was able to set up static DHCP leases and put the DGL-4100 in the DMZ without any difficulty.
Cosmetically, the white casing is a change; would go well for people with Ipods or Macs, it sort of clashes with my other black and grey gear though. The blue lights on this are an improvement over the ones on the DGL-4100, which would blind you if the were pointed at you; these have plastic over them so they're a little better. I prefer the blue to the usual dull green LEDs though.
There's USB port on this, I think it's for some sort of automatic wireless setup but I haven't used it or looked in the manual to see what it's really for.
All in all, a good product. I was thinking about waiting for the DIR-855, which will be dual band (2.4 and 5.8ghz), but on reflection decided to use the 2.4ghz for networking and the 5.8ghz for phones as I do now.
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GREAT PRODUCT EASY TO INSTALL, July 30, 2007
By user (vermont)
I know nothing about computers and i got this item, plug it and no problems what so ever. Excellent product
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D-Link Pre-N Router, July 29, 2007
By user (Arizona)
I love this router!! I did have a hard time initially setting the router up but once that was done it has worked wonderfully! I know have fast and reliable Internet service. Would recommend this router to everyone.
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Works with Mac Book Pro - don't use Network Magic, July 28, 2007
By user (Texas USA)
Works with a Mac Book Pro! I wanted an n-series router for speed and because I kept loosing connection on my Linksys. I have 5 PC's, a Mac Book Pro and I am a big apple fan. However, I chose the D-Link DIR-655. I got the speed and I have good, solid connections.
I love the blue lights; they go well with my Vonage box. I used a Dymo labeler to label the lights; D-Link didn't.
Don't install Network Magic!!! This is why I rated it a 4 instead of a 5. It is pretty, but you don't need it; the browser interface works fine. Network Magic magically send my PC (PC is on LAN, Mac Book Pro is wireless) into a loop so tight I couldn't do anything. Task Manager couldn't kill it. Finally went to Sysinternals, installed ProcExp and even it couldn't kill it, but I was able to set the dispatch priority to 4 (idle). This slowed the 100% CPU loop down enough I could get to system restore. I restored WinXP SP2 to an earlier time and got rid of Network Magic. See an earlier review about "One BIG negative about this software (Network Magic) is that it takes over all print sharing and folder sharing from Windows XP."
Gigabit LAN router (don't forget Cat-6 for Gigabit, not Cat-5 that comes with router). Apple Airport does not have Gigbit LAN.
Stealth ports. Unsolicited messages from the internet are not acknowledged. Hackers pinging random IP addresses won't get a response from you and won't know you are there. Apple Airport is not stealth, but sends replies so the hackers know you are there.
USB port is apparently only for config backup to a thumb drive. (although you can save these on your PC hard drive and do not have to use a thumb drive) No disk or printer support. Apple Airport supports disk and printers on a USB port.
I also find the router log VERY interesting. Found an intruder on my system until I realized it was my Vonage box which I had forgotten about. It works so well I don't think about it. Found many, many probes from China, Korea, etc. that D-Link denied.
Don't upgrade firmware unless you have too. Version 1.04 did not work well with the Mac Book Pro (MBP). I went back to 1.02. Version 1.02 works fine with MBP Firefox, MBP Safari, MBP Parallels IE7 and MBP Parallels Firefox. Firmware upgrade from 1.02 to 1.04 to get draft 2.0 support was straight forward and easy from the manufacturer's site. However, don't mess this up or you can "brick" the router. Going back to 1.02 from 1.04 was easy too, especially with the D-Link System Save and Restore Settings to and from my PC hard drive. I'll give Apple a little more time to get up to 802.11n draft 2.0.
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Great router - but software on signal-receiving computer matters!, July 26, 2007
By user
The good news with this router is that I've never had better range or signal strength. The bad news is that I spent almost a full day trying to figure out why my connection would die every few minutes. The culprit: not the router at all! Eventually I thought to check the log file (should have realized there was one sooner), and saw this message: " ...disconnected for reason: Received Deauthentication." That told me that my computer was telling the router to drop the connection! I updated the wireless driver (Intel) on my computer, and the problem was solved! Why this problem only showed up with the new router, I don't know. Perhaps my old wireless router simply didn't respond to such requests? In any case, the take home message: if you have problems with frequent disconnects with this router, it's probably not the router's fault!
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Great Router, July 19, 2007
By user (Philadelphia, PA)
Although not the cheapest router and probably not as good as the Apple version, I have been very happy. I have 2 macs and a PC and they all connected with little effort. The professional reviews which state that this is difficult to use are nuts.
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