D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router Review:Draft 2.0 arrives

[Kel]

When smallnetbuilder last updated and tested the DIR 655 it was with firmware version 1.03/1.04 - D-link just released version 1.20. Anyone have any perspective on the differences - is the mixed STA performance better now? Is security mode throughput impacted less? Just curious. I do not own this product but am thinking about buying it.

Thanks

 

[thiggins]

Haven't tested the new firmware. In general, I would not expect either mixed n/g or WEP/WPA-TKIP performance to improve, however. I just haven't seen the chip manufacturers working on these issues.

 

[Kel]

Tim - not knowing much about this issue - is this more of a hardware issue than firmware?

 

[thiggins]

Tim - not knowing much about this issue - is this more of a hardware issue than firmware?

Some of each, probably. Depends on how much of the MAC is in hardware and how much in soft/firmware.

 

[epsilonx]

[Article link]
I read the review regarding the Dlink DIR-655 router and was wondering what exactly does "Throughput tends to vary greatly over time" under CONS refer to? Does this mean the wired LAN-WAN and WAN-LAN throughput will deviate from the tested ~232Mbps throughput greatly? Or does this refer to its wireless throughput performance? My biggest concern is its wired speed performance. Wireless I am not too worried about, but I want to make sure that when I get Verizon FIOS 20/20 tier, this router can tear through the fiber at maximum speeds for all of my 4 wired comps simultaneously (one mass torrent box, 3 gaming comps).

 

[thiggins]

Sorry. That Con refers to the wireless throughput. I'll edit the article to reflect that.
Routing performance is nice and steady. See the IxChariot plot here.

 

[jakman]

Wireless N adapters with DIR-655

Tim,

New member as of today after searching for reviews via google.

Wondering if you had a preference or experience with either USB or desktop adapters with the DIR-655. I've read a review on the DWA-552 that suggests Vista support/performance weak. I am using XP Pro however with no immediate plans to upgrade.

Also, if you have a USB adapter preference I would appreciate that as well.

Thanks,

Jakman

 

[jakman]

p.s.

My biggest concern is distance/range performance since the pc is in the basement and router will be one floor up.

 

[thiggins]

Welcome jakman!

Wireless performance in the review was done with the D-Link DWA-652 Cardbus card.
I have never used PCI-based adapters.

The DWA-160 didn't perform well when I used it with the DIR-855. I ended up using the NETGEAR WNDA3100. (Both are dual-band).

I think that Cardbus adapters will perform a bit better than USB because they use 3 antennas (I think in a 2T3R configuration). USB adapters are 2T2R devices.

 

[jakman]

Tim,

Your thoughts on the D-Link ANT24-0230 Xtreme N 2.4GHz Antenna if router is upstairs and pc with DIR-655 is against basement wall?

Jakman

 

[thiggins]

There is no gain specified, so you should assume that it has no additional gain.

The only advantage is that it gets the antennas up from behind the PC and low and gives you some flexibility in placement.

What are you expecting for speed and what applications are you going to be running?

 

[Testo]

Did you had any router reset under heavy load?

I'm currently trying to evaluate which router is better at avoiding automatic resets. I'm guessing between dgl-4500 and the dir-655. So far one article mention that the dgl-4500 might reset under heavy load.

That issue (automatic reset) is top priority for me.

Thank you!

 

[thiggins]

Did you had any router reset under heavy load?

I can't remember the last time (if ever) I had a wired or wireless router reset on me under load.

The IxChariot tests that I run, send data as fast as the router can handle it. But I only run tests for 1 minute at a time. I don't do any extended time testing.

 

[Testo]

Thank you for your reply.

I would like to be able to say the same thing

"I can't remember the last time (if ever) I had a wired or wireless router reset on me under load."

My current routeur and previous one randomly disconnect me from the wan (internet) but the lan remain ok each time for each computers connected to it. Either I have to wait some time for the router to reconnect or I unplug the power cable for a few seconds and plug it back in to reset it manually.

I was told that the "cpu" inside the router is too cheap and that I would need to better router.

It can happen a few times time in a month but as much as a few times per day. I do not download any torrent, p2p, movies etc. The connection only serve me to play online games and browsing the web for works.

 

[tipstir]

DIR-655 CPU: 270-275MHz more than enough handle under load with P2P, video/audio streaming to 7x network media players, 2x wired servers, 2x wired desktop, 4x wireless laptops, 3x wireless access points, 4x printers, viewing youtube stuff an etc.. Mine is always under stress..

 

[geogecko]

DIR-655 bandwidth issues

I'm having trouble with getting this router to perform to what I think it should be performing at.

I have the DIR-655 connected to the internet via a cable modem. The only wired connection on the LAN is a WRT54G, which provides WiFi-G support for portable devices and an older ethernet extender (Buffalo). The DIR-655 is the DHCP server.

The 655 is setup as WiFi-N only, with WPA2 Only encryption, with an AES key. The wireless clients are a DAP-1555, and a DWA-160 (Rev A). I have tried both 20MHz and 40MHz channel widths, with the same results.

I am using a program called iperf.exe to check the bandwidth between my study PC (DWA-160) and my living room PC (Ethernet to DAP-1555). I get between 9 and 19Mbits/s averages.

The problem with this, is that 19Mbits/s is barely enough bandwidth to run a single HD show over the network (without overhead considered, roughly 18Mbits/s is needed).

My study PC is about 10 feet from the 665 (same room), and the living room PC is about 50 feet away from the 655, through 2 interior walls.

Are there any particular settings that could possibly be causing the low performance?

 

[jdabbs]

I'd try to rule out range as a factor by testing again with the 1555 closer to the router.

 

[thiggins]

I assume that there is no 11g traffic while you are running the test?
What channels do you have the 655 and WRT54G set to?

Also, follow jdabbs' suggestion.

 

[geogecko]

Thanks for the replys. I will have to test with the 1555 closer, but that will take a while to setup.

No 11g traffic, at least, on my network.

The WRT54G is on channel 11, and the DIR-655 is on auto channel scan, but is currently on channel 9, with a secondary of 5, at least, with auto 20/40 turned on.

 

[thiggins]

Force the 655 to Channel 1. That will keep it safely out of the WRT54G's way.