Help replacing a DGL-4300

[DarkScythe]

Hello,

I found your site via posters over at HardForum/Anandtech, and I've been doing a lot of research on the site; it's been extremely helpful.

However, I'm kind of stuck right now, and would like to ask for some help in making a decision.

My D-link DGL-4300 died a couple weeks ago, and I need to replace it. As I was busy at the time, I fell back on a temporary solution of hooking up an old Cisco 10/100 switch in front of my DSL modem/router. (I used to run the modem in bridge mode.)

Anyway, since I was looking to upgrade, I figured I'd go for "the best", which seemed like a high capacity, simultaneous dual-band, 3x3 N router (since 4x4 don't seem to be out) but since reviewing this site, it seems that's not very feasible either.

I came down to the WNDR-3700, Cisco E3000, and various dlink's including the D-link DIR-855. Unfortunately, it seems there were problems (deal breakers for me) with every single one of them. It mostly came down to the features in the firmware, so I looked at the configuration emulators for dlink and DD-WRT, as well as Trendnet (which seems to be a blue-colored clone of dlink) and I also went over to a friend's house to look at his Netgear WNDR3700, and a Tomato router.

I suppose I'm too used to dlink now, since I enjoyed its extensive logging abilities, where everything else seems to have very basic logging functionality, so I don't think I'd be happy with any of them right now.

Particularly, I don't know if D-link has managed to fix their firmware issue where their routers (notably the DGL-4500) would slow to a crawl and require a reboot every couple days.

If this has been fixed though, Should i bother going for the DIR-855?
If not, it seems the next best option is just to buy something cheap and wait for better N routers. In this case, I have found both a secondhand DGL-4300 and DIR-655 Rev A4 for cheap.

My main issue now is while the DGL-4300 would be a direct replacement, I also wanted something that could handle torrents a bit better, and looked into simultaneous connections. I also game a lot, but my brother downloads torrents pretty much 24/7, and I occasionally torrent as well.
This led me to the DIR-655 which seems well received, but then I noticed there were a billion revisions.. A1, A2, A3, A4, B1(?), and B2(?) I have no idea what to look for. Are there any major problems with any of them, or should I just jump on that cheap A4 version? As a note, the DIR-655 and DGL-4300 I've found are the same price.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[johnnyfoofee]

Hello,

I found your site via posters over at HardForum/Anandtech, and I've been doing a lot of research on the site; it's been extremely helpful.

However, I'm kind of stuck right now, and would like to ask for some help in making a decision.

My D-link DGL-4300 died a couple weeks ago, and I need to replace it. As I was busy at the time, I fell back on a temporary solution of hooking up an old Cisco 10/100 switch in front of my DSL modem/router. (I used to run the modem in bridge mode.)

Anyway, since I was looking to upgrade, I figured I'd go for "the best", which seemed like a high capacity, simultaneous dual-band, 3x3 N router (since 4x4 don't seem to be out) but since reviewing this site, it seems that's not very feasible either.

I came down to the WNDR-3700, Cisco E3000, and various dlink's including the D-link DIR-855. Unfortunately, it seems there were problems (deal breakers for me) with every single one of them. It mostly came down to the features in the firmware, so I looked at the configuration emulators for dlink and DD-WRT, as well as Trendnet (which seems to be a blue-colored clone of dlink) and I also went over to a friend's house to look at his Netgear WNDR3700, and a Tomato router.

I suppose I'm too used to dlink now, since I enjoyed its extensive logging abilities, where everything else seems to have very basic logging functionality, so I don't think I'd be happy with any of them right now.

Particularly, I don't know if D-link has managed to fix their firmware issue where their routers (notably the DGL-4500) would slow to a crawl and require a reboot every couple days.

If this has been fixed though, Should i bother going for the DIR-855?
If not, it seems the next best option is just to buy something cheap and wait for better N routers. In this case, I have found both a secondhand DGL-4300 and DIR-655 Rev A4 for cheap.

My main issue now is while the DGL-4300 would be a direct replacement, I also wanted something that could handle torrents a bit better, and looked into simultaneous connections. I also game a lot, but my brother downloads torrents pretty much 24/7, and I occasionally torrent as well.
This led me to the DIR-655 which seems well received, but then I noticed there were a billion revisions.. A1, A2, A3, A4, B1(?), and B2(?) I have no idea what to look for. Are there any major problems with any of them, or should I just jump on that cheap A4 version? As a note, the DIR-655 and DGL-4300 I've found are the same price.

Thank you for any advice.

i have the netgear wndr-3700 which i use for gaming (cod2/4} and have had no problems-but if you need a dgl-4300 -i have a new never used one u can have for $50.00

 

[DarkScythe]

Thanks for the offer.

I decided to go with the DIR-655 though. I'm not sure if it was the best idea, but I wanted something that was at least somewhat more powerful than the DGL-4300. I'm going to try out firmware v1.34NA on it, since there don't seem to be any horror stories out about it.

Anyway, one thing I thought about was transplanting the antenna from my old DGL-4300 onto my DIR-655. It seems to fit, but is this a good idea? I figured it'd be nice to use it, since it's much stronger than the standard antennas provided by the 655, even though I only have one. I'm not sure if this mismatch would cause any major problems though. I also do not know if the antenna will cause any problems attempting to use N.

If it's completely fine to use though, is there an optimal place to install it, or can I just put it in any slot? If the router sits horizontally, it seems pretty straightforward to put it in the middle spot, but I'll have mine standing vertical, and I'm not sure if it should stay in that middle spot, or if I can move it to the "top" spot, which would be the right-most spot when horizontal.

 

[thiggins]

Changing one antenna to 5 dBi vs. the 2 dBi standard antennas won't really improve performance.

 

[DarkScythe]

Thank you for your response.

I'm not expecting it to improve performance in that my transfer rates would suddenly improve, but with the antenna being 3dBi more powerful should that not affect range, or at least connection stability? (I'm aiming more for the latter.) According to Cisco, 3dB also results in a doubling of power, so the total output of the router goes from 6dBi to 9dBi. That said, I have to admit I'm still unclear on how everything really affects each other. This site has been extremely helpful but there are still things I'm struggling to understand.

I would have to think that a better/more powerful antenna should do something though. However, if it causes any detriment or is incompatible with 11n (currently disabled as I've set it to G only; N is for a future upgrade) then I won't have any issue with removing the antenna. However, if it does not cause any problems, works fine, or slightly improves something then I'll try and see if I can use it. As it is, the DGL-4300 is dead, so the antenna would go to waste.

I tried it briefly last night with my laptop running inSSIDer for a while. While my area has shot up to 25 other networks, my network was showing as -20dB with the router literally next to the laptop. I'm not sure if that's really strong or not.

 

[thiggins]

Upgrading a single antenna on the router might slightly improve performance if you are running in G mode. But N mode uses multiple antennas and changing one antenna to higher gain isn't going to provide improved performance.

The only way to know for sure is to try it, which it sounds like you have.

Don't get too hung up worrying about exact signal level numbers. In the end, it's the performance that counts, which will only be revealed by doing before and after site surveys.

 

[DaveMcLain]

I have a DIR-655 that I've been using as a wireless AP for the last 8 months or so and I've found it to have excellent wireless range and performance when compared to other things I've tested in the same location including WGR-614 and WRT54G stock and high gain. I'm using it with the stock antennas so I'd be very curious to see how much of a difference you see with some higher gain antennas.