D-link WBR-1310 Wireless Router

I received my dLink WBR-1310 router with the purchase of my new HP notebook from Circuit City in February 2008.  That should have been my first clue...if they have to give them away free then they are probably not worth the box they are packaged in!! 

Before I go any further, this router was used on devices that ran Vista, XP, MacOS, and our Wii.  The problems were not Vista related, as we experienced the same problems on all 3 operating systems, and not distance related, we experienced the same problems 2 feet away from router as we did 40 feet away.

The DLink-WBR1310 is a neat little black unit measuring approximately 5" x 3.5" and weighing about  6oz.  It has one adjustable antenna, 1 ethernet input port,  4 ethernet output ports, and an A/C adapter plug in in the back of the unit.  On the front of the unit, the corresponding lights are bright and easy to see.  The A/C adapter has an approx 4ft long cable.  The DLink WBR-1310 is packaged with a plastic stand so the unit can either lay flat, or stand on it's side....depends where you need to put it really, but this is a nice option.  The router software is of course included, but not much in the way of instructions - they are all on the disk...if you can get it to work!.  Included with my DLink WBR-1310 was Network Magic, a handy program to give you a snapshot of your wireless network, fix problems...etc. 

Technical details:
       Wireless compatibility: The router works with both the more up to date 802.11g and is backward compatible with 802.11b wireless devices...which in my case means it connected to both my new notebook, and to my husband's aging G3 iBook.  It also supports 802.3 and 802.3u devices. 
        Security:  both basic 64/128 WEP and more advanced WPA encryption.  That pretty much supports older wireless devices..again like my husband's G3 iBook, and newer wireless devices, such as my notebook, my son's G4 iBook, Wii, etc. 
The router also includes a built in firewall, MAC address filtering and parental control features.  I never figured out the parental control features, that is pretty much taken care of by my ISP.  The firewall did not interfere with my Windows firewall.

My experience:
This was our first foray into wireless networking, so a few more instructions would have really helped.  It took me almost 2 days of frustration to finally get the router working with both a wired PC and a wireless notebook.  As our PC was having power problems, I had to set up my notebook as the hub for a while...you can't set up the network wirelessly though, you have to have a wired connection for the hub. 

The software:
It is fairly intuitive, and takes you though the whole setup process fairly easily.  However, if you have any problems, the solutions are online, and if you can't connect to the internet, those help solutions are useless, unless you can use someone elses unlocked network!!  Some basic troubleshooting tips and instructions in the box would have made the whole ordeal so much easier...althought to be fair...my ISP modem was the cause of a few of the setup problems.

Adding devices to the network:
With the included Network Magic software, adding devices can be quite easy.  In the tasks screen, I can simply click on "Add device" and then follow the instructions.  For WEP devices, I had to use hexidecimal access code, and for WPA, a simple password. 

Daily use:
Since February 18th 2008, I have had to reset the router on average twice a day, every day because it has disconnected from the network or gone offline.  Occasionally this can be accomplished from the Network Hub, but more often than not, it required a complete power cycle of the router which can only be done manually. Almost without fail, whenever my notebook goes to sleep, when I wake it up, the router has gone offline again and needs to be cycled to get the network working again.   I use my notebook away from home too on other wifi networks, and have never had trouble staying connected to other networks, even when my notebook sleeps.

Network Security:
Much of the network security excryption setup needed to be done online for some reason.  I'm not at all tech savvy, so I've no idea why this was the case, or if I was taking unnecessary steps.  When I figured out what worked, I tried to replicate those steps every time I had a problem.  The online security settings were supposed to be reflected by the Network Magic status screen...however, although my WEP/WPA network encryption was enabled, on my Network Magic screen, it showed up as disabled.  I called DLink tech support about this, and they told me that my network showed up as encryption enabled online, so not to worry about what Network Magic showed.  I was able to lock and unlock my network from the Network Magic screen without having to go online to do so. 

Although advertised for use in small houses or apartments, the range of the DLink WBR-1310 router is pretty good.  Over the summer we moved into a much bigger house, and used our wireless devices two stories away from the router with no problems...even after the flimsy antenna on the back of the router broke.

Summary:
Ease of setup and compatibility with both older and new wireless devices did not make up for the terrible service the router gave.  The constant resetting and cycling the router when it dropped offline was ridiculous.  We tried Customer Service, but they really were not able to provide any information that was helpful in fixing the problem.  We finally got so frustrated trying to set up a new network yesterday, that we just disconnected the DLink router and went and bought a new one....Linksys this time.  Setup was so easy and quick...although because it was a much newer product, we had to configure both the router and all our wireless devices to work  with WEP encryption...because the G3 iBook does not work with much newer WPA2 encryption, even though the rest of our devices do. 

Always check what standard connection and excryption your wireless devices will support BEFORE buying that new router - it will save you time, headaches and money. 

UPDATE:  I just have to report that since I replaced the DLink router with the Linksys router.....I have not had to cycle the router, or repair the connection.  When the notebook sleeps and then wakes up, the internet connection is right back online almost instantly.  This has been the case with all my devices, with all their different operating systems.