Wireless Problems

It is absolutely, not a reassuring feeling, when you purchase a brand new tech product and you open the box only to see a sheet of paper that says in bold:

If you experience problems setting up your new router, please refer to the included CD’s support guide before calling tech support.

To put the summation of this entire review very simply: The D-LINK Wireless G router WBR-1310 works decently enough as a cheap solution for Wireless routing – but, it is a cheap product being sold at a high price – a clone of countless other Chinese-made wireless routers that suffers from poor tech support - that happens to be considerably difficult for a lay person to install.

Before I tell you about this router, let me first tell you about my situation. I recently purchased a brand new Hewlett Packard Notebook computer.
http://www.epinions.com/content_285890023044
Now, I am no newcomer to router installation or Windows XP programming. I’ve been using PC’s for 10 years and I know my way around the systems fairly well. My other router was a WESTELL 327w – a wireless gateway - that I got for $15 from Verizon when I purchased DSL.
A gateway is a wireless router which is built into a cable/dsl modem. The beauty of this is, that the software, firmware and hardware required to link the router to the modem is combined all into a single package. In less than 10 minutes, you can simply connect this one piece to your network and you will be up and running.

The problem with any add-on router is that you need to fiddle around with cables and settings to get it up and running. Because the existing setup is normally not ready for it to be added. Unlike USB devices, these routers are not Plug & Play (auto installing/adjusting) which means you really need to tweak system settings to get it up to speed.

The only reason I purchased this $59 router was because Circuit City ran a sale on it, claiming you could send in rebates for it which would give you $50 back – meaning my total would be $9.

Out of the box- you get the D-Link wireless router with a vertical mounting stand, a power cord for it, a blue colored Ethernet Cable, a software CD and the aforementioned problem card.
There is no manual besides the documents stored on the CD.


The steps of installation are as follows:

#1 You need to put the software CD into the PC.

#2 The software does not automatically tell you this but, you need to connect your computer to the internet before you can run the software. This is because the D-Link requires that you activate your main Cable/DSL modem FIRST and then switch the Ethernet plugs from the Modem to the router and then to the computer.
this part right here, got me confused and I sat there for 30 minutes trying to figure out what went wrong

#3 You click INSTALL NOW so the computer will begin to install the software for the router. At this point the computer verifies you are connected to the internet.

#4 You are prompted by a flash video to remove the Ethernet cable from the computer and insert it into the WAN port of the router.

#5 You are instructed to insert an Ethernet cable from your computer to port #1 on the router.

#6 You are instructed to plug the AC adaptor into the router.

#7 As soon as the router turns on, you click next and the computer searches for it. If things went ok, the computer installs the software and configures the router automatically. However, if there is any type of error – be it in your connecting of the wires – you must restart the whole computer in order to try again…the computer cannot simply delete the newly installed software and retry without the reboot.


#8 Once (and if) you get completely connected, you must choose a name for your network (example: My Home LAN). Be very careful with your spelling however, because once you enter the name and push continue, you can’t change it.


#9 After you’ve entered your ID tag, you can begin adding wireless products to the network by simply asking them to “find available wireless networks”. Everything from the laptops to the Sony PSP or Playstation 3 with its Wifi can do this right away…

…unfortunately, that is a very big problem.
The D-Link software, being designed to quickly get you up and running through a point and click flash image, does not however, offer you a chance to secure your network through a password. That means that people who are in your immediate range will be able to connect to your wireless network. Though many tech enthusiasts know how to stop this, most new PC buyers do not. D-Link should have included simple point and click fields to allow you to set up network security.



THE RANGE of this D-Link model is equally unimpressive. I took my laptop a mere 50 feet away, downstairs to the second floor of my house and the connection speed rating claimed by Windows XP was 3/5 bars – or Good Not, Very Good or Excellent.
To put this into perspective, I used the Westel 327W Gateway on the top floor of my house – with my old laptop – and I was in the basement of my house, at least 100 feet away through 2 floors and at lest 5 walls with an
5/5 - EXCELLENT connection rating.

Further than 50 feet – outside in my backyard, the connection speed remained at 3/5 bars and the connection claimed a download speed of 18 MB/second, though I downloaded a 250 MB file and the transfer rate was only about 85 K/second.


As I mentioned before, D-Link is Chinese made. It is a Taiwanese company and many of the units are assembled in Shenzen China where they find themselves ripped off by other non-brand named companies like Golden Yip, and Dong Feng. Technical support for D-Link products is terrible as you will be subjected to computer assistant after computer assistant with their monotonous voices and their “Push 1 for…” ridiculousness. If you do get hold of tech support, as I did when I wanted to question them on security issues, you’ll most likely be routed to the Philippines.
What bothers me most of all is that tech support really isn’t needed to get up and running. What is needed is better installation software and more explanation of security features.

Instead of bothering to bash the router on how poorly I think it is designed: no off switch, an unresponsive reset button and cheap plastic feel, timeouts that cut you offline every now and then I will just say this: Do yourself a favor and go for a WIRELSS GATEWAY instead of a router. This will replace both your cable/Dsl modem and the router and give you less hassle and less wire clutter.

If you absolutely must get a router, choose a Linkys Wireless G or a Netgear Wimax - these award winning devices may cost more, but you will love them much more than this cheap ripoff.

Mine is about to end up on EBAY