Super gigaport router marred only by blinding LEDs

=== Overview ===

We bought the DLink DLG-4300 after our Internet connections began to fail a lot and our VOIP phone calls began to have a lot of drop outs. We thought it was the cable company but it turned out that they are only responsible for about 20% of the problem. It turned out that our 2-year old DLink DI-624 router was behaving erratically, slowing down, and dropped connections. Our equipment runs 24x7x365 so most consumer gear burns up after 2 years. Netgear has been the worst for us in that regard.

We tried the low-cost and popular WRT54G Linksys router but it failed to support our Dell 802.11g laptops in WEP mode (as has all previous Linksys units we have tried) and amazingly still did not support DHCP reservations (static DHCP). Netgear units also do not support this. So we did more research, returned the Linksys, and spent 3 times more for the newer "GamerLounge" DLink DGL-4300.

Although the DLG-4300's collateral, packaging, and chassis labeling speaks in terms of gaming, it is really just a powerful router with a higher speed CPU, 4 gigabit wired ports, Turbo-G mode, DLink's outstanding configuration panels, DHCP reservations, and simple QoS rules that prioritize packet types known to require streaming with low latency such as for VOIP, gaming, etc. You just have to ignore all the silly gaming references on the unit, configuration screens, and fliers to appreciate its many advanced qualities.

=== Main Unit ===

The unit is all black and much smaller and thinner than the DI-624 we were replacing. It has the usual LED's which are bright blue. However, as everyone else has reported, they are truly VERY BRIGHT. With the room lights off, they easily illuminate the opposite wall of the room in dancing blue light. We thought this was a showstopper since we are very sensitive to bad lighting but we simply turned the unit so the LED's didn't hit our eyes and moved it slightly behind an adjacent object on the shelf where it sits. Problem solved.

When placed in horizontal position the unit seemed to run a bit hot but after we stood it vertically, it now runs like other similar devices (moderately warm).

The antenna that comes with the unit is a longish 5db high gain model that connects to the right rear side of the unit and inspires confidence that it will increase range (it did). When the unit is stood vertically on its left edge, the antenna stands tall and clear which increases its effectiveness by not being blocked by the unit or the cables feeding it.

=== Supplier and Pricing ===

We couldn't wait for Internet deals and wanted an easy return policy so we bought the unit for a standard $149 price at a local Best Buy. Their 30 day easy return policy eased the pain. It's currently available for around $120 on the net.

=== Package Contents ===

o Main unit
o AC Power cable with 5V converter brick
o Plastic brackets to stand vertically
o Ethernet cable
o Antenna (separate 5db gain whip gain that screws on)
o CD and Installation guide.

=== Set Up ===

Although the unit comes with quick set up fold-out and a set up wizard within it web interface but we find wizards don’t suit our more complex SOHO network. The quick start fold-out was also problematic as it assumes a virgin installation which is confusing when replacing a router in an existing configuration. However, the placement of a router is now so generic that the fold-out was really needed. You just connect it as expected between your local network equipment and your DSL or Cable modem then reboot your DSL/Cable modem, the DGL-4300, then your network devices allowing each reboot to complete first. We then accessed the web interface at the usual 192.168.0.1 address to finish the configuration. Colleagues of ours report that the wizard worked nicely for them in naked networks without an existing router and had no major problems.

In addition to the set up wizard, the unit's web control panel provides DLink’s usual set of comprehensive options and was easy for us to use - especially since it follows DLink's previous interfaces. We skipped around and set our desired custom options. We then added DHCP reservations for all our equipment so we could force their IP address to remain the same at all times. This is CRUCIAL for network connected printers since the drivers in each PC expect the printers to be at a fixed address. It is unfathomable that the Linksys and Netgear units we tried do not provide this necessary capability!

Other options deftly handle all the currently popular forms of wireless security including WEP and WPA; MAC address filtering; and SSID suppression. So we set the unit to suppress SSID broadcasts, added a WEP password, and limited connections only to the specific MAC addresses of our wireless devices.

The unit also provides the expected features of a Stateful Inspection Firewall (SPI) and Network Address Translation (NAT). SPI is now included in most higher end SOHO routers and allows more precise firewall control based on the direction and the initiator of the traffic – hence “stateful”. NAT is mandatory and present in all modern routers. Simply put, NAT allows all devices on your local network to appear as the same address to the outside world.

If your needs are simple, set up time is quick at about 15-30 minutes. If your needs are more complex like ours with lot of security settings and assurance testing, then it's about 2 hours for setup. This is FAST compared to other units where days can be spent ironing out glitches. We've had ZERO glitches with this unit so far.

For virgin networks, the wizard is fast and simple to use. Before we had to configure the more advanced functions for our unusual and complex needs, the unit was up and running in minutes and accessing the Internet.

=== Operation and Performance ===

Since we set it up, the unit has worked better than expected and has been working 7x24 for 1 month without a single glitch. Our first performance impressions are as follows:

o LAN drop outs and problems ceased immediately and haven't recurred in the month we've had the unit.

o The backups of a workstation over our local network to a backup PC improved by 20-50% and no longer crashed. Previously, our backups would often fail with "network errors" and trash our back ups.

o Internet response improved significantly but is mitigated by our ongoing problems with our Comcast cable connection.

o PC-to-PC file sharing improved DRAMATICALLY! Previously, copying a gigabyte would stall, run very slowly, or crash entirely. We now have no stalls or crashes and large transfers are 3-5 times faster! And that is with older 100 mbps network cards in 2 of our 3 PC’s. Only one has a gigabit card. We can’t wait to see how well it works when all our PC’s have gigabit cards!

o Wireless range and strength increased significantly. With our previous DI-624 router and a matching Turbo-G PC Card in our laptop, the signal would link at 108 mbps but be listed as Poor-Good just 60 feet away through 2 thin walls with actual throughput about 5-25 mbps. With the DLG-4300 and the same PC Card, the signal also links at 108 mbps but with strength shown as Good-Excellent and about 30-45 mbps of throughput. Judging by these results and that Turbo mode is notorious for reducing range, it suggests that the range with non-Turbo cards could be as good or better.

o Links with our Dell 802.11g laptops have been error free - including when in VPN pass-through mode to some business partners sites. We always had problems of varying degrees with Netgear and Linksys units when trying to connect our Dell 802.11g laptops (old and new) with WEP security enabled.

o Comcast connection problems notwithstanding, our VOIP calls are now 100% glitch free with better quality, no dropouts, and the ability to use our computers while talking on the phone. For VOIP service, we use a DLink ATT VOIP adapter that sits BEHIND our router (not in front of it) because we found it lacked the smarts to prioritize traffic and would crash our Internet data traffic when set up to provide good VOIP quality. That is, it only provides fixed bandwidth allocation, not dynamic adjustment as needed.

o As for gaming, we CANNOT speak to this as we have yet to figure out how others have any time to do such things after work, bills, family, medical, daily planning, home repairing, the news, watching our IRA's shrink, and sleeping {sad laugh}. Seriously, we can surmise that since QoS is DEFINITELY working on our VOIP calls, it would also benefit games that require streaming and are sensitive to packet latency. The effect would be more pronounced with games that have a lot of action and require smooth, continuous streaming of animation updates. Some gripe that they see no difference in their gaming with this router. That is NORMAL in most cases. The unit does not and cannot increase the speed of your graphics card, PC, ISP connection, ISP network, or the Internet. Quality-of-Service (QoS) prioritization ONLY helps when you have two or more IP traffic flows competing for the same bandwidth such as when downloading files and accessing email while also trying to have a VOIP call and/or playing an online game. In those scenarios, the download would be given less priority in favor of the VOIP and gaming transactions. The DLink's collateral also suggests that its QoS feature only works for inbound transactions. That fits most scenarios since one usually fights for local bandwidth when concurrently doing downloads, getting email, and fetching web pages.

Please note that QoS in the DGL4300 is of limited scope in that it refers only to the handling of inbound traffic within the router. In the commercial networking world, QoS refers to how *all* devices along a transmission path attempt to prioritize traffic based on predetermined rules to optimize VOIP, video, and other streaming protocols.

Overall, our experience with this unit is simply great. The high speed processor coupled with gigabit ports provides a platform that minimizes or eliminates any bottlenecks on the local network side of the unit.

Once set up, it's a piece of cake (high calorie, low fat) to use!

=== Downsides ===

Apart from the LED's, we found no major downsides regarding performance or reliability. The super bright blue LED's will be an issue if you cannot turn or block the unit or if it is placed in a recreation area where the house lights are dimmed. It would just be too distracting. In our case, the unit is in our home office on a shelf above our computers so we simply turned it sideways to circumvent the issue. When we kill all the lights at night, the LED's are still strong enough to caste a flickering blue light about the room.

Another minor drawback is that although the unit's configuration interface has more features than most other routers (DLink, Linksys, Netgear, etc), the titling of the tabs can be confusing and requires some head scratching. For example, an technically experienced user would expect the "Firewall" tab to access things like firewall rules. However, since this unit is aimed at gaming enthusiasts, the "Firewall" tab brings you to a panel for turning on the DMZ to allow inbound Internet traffic to reach a PC. The real firewall features are split among several other less intuitively named tabs such as “Routing”, “Gamefuel”, “Inbound Filter”, etc. You can see the marketing effort to appeal to the gaming community. But take heart. The control is there. It’s just scrambled a little.

The unit's higher price and overly bright LED's detract from an otherwise outstanding value but, considering you get a leading edge 4-port gigabit switch that, as a separate device, could cost as much as the entire unit, it's still a good value.

=== Conclusion ===

The unit is a good value, an outstanding performer, provides 4 gigabit ports, static DHCP addresses, and solved a number of local network performance and connectivity issues. If you can tame the LED's by placement or covering and don’t mind it’s mildly confusing configuration panels, we highly recommend this unit.

Although the quick start fold out instructions could be a bit clearer and the web interface a bit less convoluted, we haven't seen any that are better. As such, we rated the setup 4.5 so we gave it 5 stars. Similarly, its excellent operation is flawed only by it bright LED's so we rated operation as 4.6 and gave it 5 stars.

=== Manufacturer's Site ===

www.DLink.com