 *Update* check out this posting. I do NOT recommend this router.
I’m sitting here now with a new D-Link DI-524 on my desk. I ordered this to replace my venerable WRT54G. The WRT54G is generally a well regarded wireless router but if you search my blog for “WRT54G” you’ll see some of the interesting issues I’ve faced with it over the past couple of years. I’ll shortly be configuring the D-Link. My hope is that I’ll be able to re-enable WEP and 802.11g wireless communications. My primary motivation for replacing my existing router is that it seems to periodically “stall” which can be very irritating. Not only does your web surfing grind to a halt, but any VPN connections your are maintaining drop like hot potatos. Most of the time it seems resetting the WRT54G has resolved these outages but I have my suspicions about my Comcast Motorola modem and the Vonage Linksys RT31P2. I’m not an expert on networks so there are probably plenty of tools out there that could help me accurately determine where the failure lies when I have problems, but the wireless encryption issue helped push the WRT54G to the head of the list. It was very difficult to decide on a replacement router. Reading the reviews on CNet and other sources yielded no obviously superior products out there. They ALL seem to have their issues. The up and coming “N” standard has some appeal, but I don’t have a lot of faith that the “Pre-N” offerings would conform to the standards without a lot of monkeying about. Not only does the router need to be upgraded but also any wireless cards would need to be flashed or somehow updated too. One thing that seems very obvious to me is that the lay-user doesn’t stand a chance if they wish to purchase one of these devices and really be safe. For instance, my WRT54G allows you to use WAP as well as WEP encryption schemes, but the associated Linksys wireless drivers do not implement WAP on my laptop and Desktop. WEP can only be implemented using the 1st of the 4 possible keys generated from the passphrase on one of my devices (I *think* the other device will allow me to use other than the first one). I’m sure the D-Link will have its share of quirks so I’ll post a quick review of how it compares with the WRT54G when I install it. But I have high hopes that its particular quirks will be for things that I don’t need or care about.
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