D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router
Product Review | October 2, 2008 9:28 am
Alright, I am a Network Administrator for three to six buildings at any given time. For the most part, the buildings run without incident. For some reason, however, I can manage six buildings but not my home netowrk: Since I got high-speed Internet service I have gone through no less than three routers. My first, a cheap-o no-name wireless-B router from Wal-Mart. That one died after about a year, and the wireless never really works at all. The next was a Belkin Wireless-G: I paid thirty bucks for it and got a good six months out of it, until the WAN port on it died. Finally I sprung for the LinkSys WRT-54G, you know the coup de grace of home wireless routers. That one lasted me a year and a half, until it too died.
I was rather happy with the WRT-54G, so I picked up the WRT-54GL from Newegg for fifty dollars after a mail-in rebate. This router was exactly the same as the WRT-54G, but its firmware was flashable with Linux, giving an advanced user many more options to customize the network. It worked without complaint; the usual reset here and there, but for the most part no problems. Add Xbox Live into the mix, however, and some configuration needed to be done.
Now I don't mind configuring my network device; I would anyway. However, it would be really nice if I plugged something in and it worked. But I digress. Anyway, after some port forwarding, Xbox Live seemed to work. Then, I couldn't hear a few people every once in a while. That was a pain, so I added my 360 to the router's DMZ. That worked fine for a while. Then my Internet started getting spotty; I couldn't stay in games, I couldn't hear certain people, the works. Even though my NAT was reading OPEN, I was having some problems. After much jeering and taunts; my connection being made fun of and referred to as "not very hardcare", I had had it. A fateful night where I could not get through one match of FlatOut: UC with my friend without me getting disconnected, and something needed to be done.
I figured it was my modem, even though a direct Coax cable was run to it. So I went out and bought a cable repeater. Hooked it up, and my connection was solid from the modem. Play on the router, a little better, but still some problems. About a week after that, my uncle picked up a 360 for himself. Connect both 360s to my router, and it just flipped out. At this point, I had had it. Doing a lot of research and reading thousands of reviews and comments online, I went out and got a D-Link router; well, not just a D-Link router, THE D-Link Router! The DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router!
First off, the one thing that everyone is going to notice about this router: The price. At 200 dollars at a retail store, its nothing to just pick up on a whim. It can be found for a few dollars cheaper (Newegg has had it as low as $150 after rebate), but you don't really want to wait if you are having problems. I'm pretty cheap, but I sucked it up and picked this one up after all the problems I was having. The router features Wireless N technology, which probably adds to the price just a bit. I didn't really need the N, but it was the only one available. What makes this a "Gaming Router", for the most part, is D-Link's proprietary "Gamer Fuel" technology, which acts as a dynamic QoS system; prioritizing gaming traffic over any other type of network traffic. I can wait an extra second or two to load my website, but I don't want to be falling through the ground in ShadowRun! Getting it home, I unboxed this baby and marveled at its glory.
It sports three antennas for wireless, a four port Gigabit switch and a WAN port. It has a sleek glossy black finish that fit in really well with my almost all-black home-theater set up (Damn you Wii, release a black edition console!). It also boasts an external screen on the router itself, along with two buttons, which I felt was pretty fancy, but didn't realize the usefulness of it right then. The other thing I noticed was that it only had one light on the front; a soft blue power light. This thing is in my bedroom, and while the old router didn't bother me too much, it was nice to have a solid cool-blue light instead of five or six flashing green or amber lights.
Set up was an absolute breeze. Of course it came with the obligatory CD saying to run that first and all that, which I discard right away. I was up and online in under five minutes with this router. I simply replaced my LinkSys, powered everything off, and then plugged it all back in. Up and running. The configuration screen of this router was immense, but I was happy that I didn't have to really play in it to get the router up and working. Finally, something that truly was "Plug and Play". After going through the motions of changing the Admin password and setting up wireless security, I was good to go. Wired computer in my room: Fine. Now for wireless.
My wireless signal was solid throughout my house; the farthest computer, downstairs and on the other side of the house, had a full signal. The router is wireless N, but that did not mean much to me as I do not have any wireless N NICs, strictly G. One problem I did have while trying to connect to the router wirelessly from Windows XP systems was that XP couldn't seem to determine the wireless security; instead of popping up asking me for the network access key, it defaulted to thinking the router would provide the key automatically. It may be a security feature, I believe, but it was a little annoying having to go into the Network Connections property and specifying the network security and then typing the key in from there. Once connected, however, worked without incident.
Alright, so that is all well and good: all four computers online. But what about the 360? Swallowing hard, I powered on my black beauty. Once it booted to the dashboard, I immediately went over to do a network test (my 360 has auto-sign in disabled, so I did not connect to Live automatically). Ran the tests, all clear: Open NAT without any type of port forwarding or additional router configuration. Amazing! Well I didn't get too excited; after all, the old router showed an Open NAT as well, but it was still laggy. Plus, what about the other 360?
Leaving my 360 on, I signed into Live and went to power on my uncle's. Turning his on, it booted up and signed into Live. Good sign; I went over and ran the network tests. To my amazement, everything passed and the NAT was Open!!! Two 360s, connected to the same router, both with an Open NAT, without additional configuration?! Absolutely astounding. Alright, so even that wasn't the real test. I had my uncle boot up Battlefield: BC and join a multiplayer match, as I went back and booted up ShadowRun. Two hours later, we had both been playing without incident; not an instance of lag, slow down or conflict. Later that night, we both played ShadowRun with a huge party of people; there were some instances where people complained of lag, but we didn't experience any of it. I knew then, I had found my soul mate: The DGL-4500
The router has worked great; it needed its first reset ever after about six months. What was amazing was that the screen on the front of the router actually stated "Network Disconnected: Please Reset". Reseting things, it popped up saying "Internet Okay". Deciding to actually play with this screen, I used the two black buttons on the router to cycle through menu options. It allowed me to see what IPs were connected to my network, what my external IP address from Comcast was, and it even gave me real time information about my upload and download speed.
The DGL-4500 is dual-band, meaning that it can broadcast wireless signals on 2.4GHz or the 5GHz spectrum, but it cannot do both at the same time. Like I said, this fact did not bother me, but I have seen less expensive N routers that can broadcast on both, so for the money it was surprising not to see this feature. The high cost will also put many gamers off to the device: Why drop $200 on a router, when I can buy like three brand new games for that?! While the price is a bit steep, I have not once regretted dropping the money on this. Coupled with a Circuit City Credit Card promotion, I got 10% off the price and no interest for 90 days.
Also keep in mind that this router is pretty future-proof as far as where technology is right now: It supports Wireless N for wireless speeds advertised at up to 300Gbps, an integrated Gigabit switch connecting at 1000Gbps, and a Gigabit WAN port. It also has a feature known as "Sharepoint Technology", which allows you to connect a USB device to the router and share it out to your network. I have not played with this feature yet, but I have the perfect USB external HD to use as a network storage device. The GamerFuel QoS technology is the icing on the cake: For a basic to even a moderate user setting up QoS rules can be confusing, and a pain in the ass if nothing else. This router does it all for you, dynamically. I can be in a Guitar Hero: Aerosmith match, getting beat, while bittorrenting Aerosmith's entire discography, all without lag!
If you are having network problems, have multiple 360s that you just cannot seem to get configured correctly, or are tired of having your routers die on you, then give some consideration to the DGL-4500. Keep in mind that this router cannot increase the speed of your Internet connection; that is determined by your ISP and cannot be changed. It will, however, make network transfer speeds faster, is easily set up without configuration, and for the power user there are tons and tons of options in the Configuration menu to play with until your heart's content. Now instead of hearing taunts and jeers about my connection, I get made fun for buying a 200 dollar router, and I am okay with that
I was rather happy with the WRT-54G, so I picked up the WRT-54GL from Newegg for fifty dollars after a mail-in rebate. This router was exactly the same as the WRT-54G, but its firmware was flashable with Linux, giving an advanced user many more options to customize the network. It worked without complaint; the usual reset here and there, but for the most part no problems. Add Xbox Live into the mix, however, and some configuration needed to be done.
Now I don't mind configuring my network device; I would anyway. However, it would be really nice if I plugged something in and it worked. But I digress. Anyway, after some port forwarding, Xbox Live seemed to work. Then, I couldn't hear a few people every once in a while. That was a pain, so I added my 360 to the router's DMZ. That worked fine for a while. Then my Internet started getting spotty; I couldn't stay in games, I couldn't hear certain people, the works. Even though my NAT was reading OPEN, I was having some problems. After much jeering and taunts; my connection being made fun of and referred to as "not very hardcare", I had had it. A fateful night where I could not get through one match of FlatOut: UC with my friend without me getting disconnected, and something needed to be done.
I figured it was my modem, even though a direct Coax cable was run to it. So I went out and bought a cable repeater. Hooked it up, and my connection was solid from the modem. Play on the router, a little better, but still some problems. About a week after that, my uncle picked up a 360 for himself. Connect both 360s to my router, and it just flipped out. At this point, I had had it. Doing a lot of research and reading thousands of reviews and comments online, I went out and got a D-Link router; well, not just a D-Link router, THE D-Link Router! The DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router!
First off, the one thing that everyone is going to notice about this router: The price. At 200 dollars at a retail store, its nothing to just pick up on a whim. It can be found for a few dollars cheaper (Newegg has had it as low as $150 after rebate), but you don't really want to wait if you are having problems. I'm pretty cheap, but I sucked it up and picked this one up after all the problems I was having. The router features Wireless N technology, which probably adds to the price just a bit. I didn't really need the N, but it was the only one available. What makes this a "Gaming Router", for the most part, is D-Link's proprietary "Gamer Fuel" technology, which acts as a dynamic QoS system; prioritizing gaming traffic over any other type of network traffic. I can wait an extra second or two to load my website, but I don't want to be falling through the ground in ShadowRun! Getting it home, I unboxed this baby and marveled at its glory.
It sports three antennas for wireless, a four port Gigabit switch and a WAN port. It has a sleek glossy black finish that fit in really well with my almost all-black home-theater set up (Damn you Wii, release a black edition console!). It also boasts an external screen on the router itself, along with two buttons, which I felt was pretty fancy, but didn't realize the usefulness of it right then. The other thing I noticed was that it only had one light on the front; a soft blue power light. This thing is in my bedroom, and while the old router didn't bother me too much, it was nice to have a solid cool-blue light instead of five or six flashing green or amber lights.
Set up was an absolute breeze. Of course it came with the obligatory CD saying to run that first and all that, which I discard right away. I was up and online in under five minutes with this router. I simply replaced my LinkSys, powered everything off, and then plugged it all back in. Up and running. The configuration screen of this router was immense, but I was happy that I didn't have to really play in it to get the router up and working. Finally, something that truly was "Plug and Play". After going through the motions of changing the Admin password and setting up wireless security, I was good to go. Wired computer in my room: Fine. Now for wireless.
My wireless signal was solid throughout my house; the farthest computer, downstairs and on the other side of the house, had a full signal. The router is wireless N, but that did not mean much to me as I do not have any wireless N NICs, strictly G. One problem I did have while trying to connect to the router wirelessly from Windows XP systems was that XP couldn't seem to determine the wireless security; instead of popping up asking me for the network access key, it defaulted to thinking the router would provide the key automatically. It may be a security feature, I believe, but it was a little annoying having to go into the Network Connections property and specifying the network security and then typing the key in from there. Once connected, however, worked without incident.
Alright, so that is all well and good: all four computers online. But what about the 360? Swallowing hard, I powered on my black beauty. Once it booted to the dashboard, I immediately went over to do a network test (my 360 has auto-sign in disabled, so I did not connect to Live automatically). Ran the tests, all clear: Open NAT without any type of port forwarding or additional router configuration. Amazing! Well I didn't get too excited; after all, the old router showed an Open NAT as well, but it was still laggy. Plus, what about the other 360?
Leaving my 360 on, I signed into Live and went to power on my uncle's. Turning his on, it booted up and signed into Live. Good sign; I went over and ran the network tests. To my amazement, everything passed and the NAT was Open!!! Two 360s, connected to the same router, both with an Open NAT, without additional configuration?! Absolutely astounding. Alright, so even that wasn't the real test. I had my uncle boot up Battlefield: BC and join a multiplayer match, as I went back and booted up ShadowRun. Two hours later, we had both been playing without incident; not an instance of lag, slow down or conflict. Later that night, we both played ShadowRun with a huge party of people; there were some instances where people complained of lag, but we didn't experience any of it. I knew then, I had found my soul mate: The DGL-4500
The router has worked great; it needed its first reset ever after about six months. What was amazing was that the screen on the front of the router actually stated "Network Disconnected: Please Reset". Reseting things, it popped up saying "Internet Okay". Deciding to actually play with this screen, I used the two black buttons on the router to cycle through menu options. It allowed me to see what IPs were connected to my network, what my external IP address from Comcast was, and it even gave me real time information about my upload and download speed.
The DGL-4500 is dual-band, meaning that it can broadcast wireless signals on 2.4GHz or the 5GHz spectrum, but it cannot do both at the same time. Like I said, this fact did not bother me, but I have seen less expensive N routers that can broadcast on both, so for the money it was surprising not to see this feature. The high cost will also put many gamers off to the device: Why drop $200 on a router, when I can buy like three brand new games for that?! While the price is a bit steep, I have not once regretted dropping the money on this. Coupled with a Circuit City Credit Card promotion, I got 10% off the price and no interest for 90 days.
Also keep in mind that this router is pretty future-proof as far as where technology is right now: It supports Wireless N for wireless speeds advertised at up to 300Gbps, an integrated Gigabit switch connecting at 1000Gbps, and a Gigabit WAN port. It also has a feature known as "Sharepoint Technology", which allows you to connect a USB device to the router and share it out to your network. I have not played with this feature yet, but I have the perfect USB external HD to use as a network storage device. The GamerFuel QoS technology is the icing on the cake: For a basic to even a moderate user setting up QoS rules can be confusing, and a pain in the ass if nothing else. This router does it all for you, dynamically. I can be in a Guitar Hero: Aerosmith match, getting beat, while bittorrenting Aerosmith's entire discography, all without lag!
If you are having network problems, have multiple 360s that you just cannot seem to get configured correctly, or are tired of having your routers die on you, then give some consideration to the DGL-4500. Keep in mind that this router cannot increase the speed of your Internet connection; that is determined by your ISP and cannot be changed. It will, however, make network transfer speeds faster, is easily set up without configuration, and for the power user there are tons and tons of options in the Configuration menu to play with until your heart's content. Now instead of hearing taunts and jeers about my connection, I get made fun for buying a 200 dollar router, and I am okay with that
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