Do not purchase this item, you will regret it.

Netgear has a sexier package--slightly smaller and more rounded but its is offset by having a HUGE, heavy brick of an AC Power Adaptor that weighs what seems like about four times the weight of the router. Netgear had about ten feet more range than the other two, but I actually travel with my wireless router and the huge adaptor doesn't compare well to D-links.

The SMC has the worst software of the bunch. The one I'm using is a couple years old though so maybe they fixed that up in the newer versions. This router has a parallel printer port which I like alot so I use this one at home. Its range is the same as the D-link. Speed is slightly slower.

In the end D-Link is clearly my favorite and the one I would recommend to anyone (unless they need a printer server).

But if you are the type who think they know everything and don't take time to read instructions OR if you are not comfortable with computers, go with another brand because updating the latest firmware may not be for you.

Signal strength fluctuates around 65% to 50% at 50 feet (my bedroom to the living room). Can't really notice a drop off in performance but maybe if I had a larger apartment :p

Its an all around good cable router which allows me to check my email and surf the web without having to buy 100ft of Cat 5 cable.

The range of this router/Access point isn't what I expected either. I can get a signal in 3 rooms down the hall from my "office" and still be able to get a good 2Mbps throughput, and since my DSL is only 1.5Mbps down I am still faster than my Internet connection, thus noticing no difference in surf speed.

I like everything about this thing. 256 WEP is a nice thing to have along with your blazing 802.11b+ speeds. I also have the easy capability to open certain ports in the firewall so I can play games securely. I like playing games and so do other family members so this was an important issue when picking out a router.

As far as setting it up goes, this was rather painless. I've needed help before from my more technically inclined friends, but this comes with actually hepful instructions and is fairly straight forward. It took me a while to figure out certain terms, but then realized what they ment after a while.

I've configured this and my laptop to work wirelessly with 256-bit WEP encryption and I've been running just fine since then. I have signal in almost every room in my home, but my garage is too far away from the office, so that doesn't get a solid conenction. I might buy a repeater to help extend the range.

Three months ago (May 2003), I decided to go wireless and upgrade my aging Netgear RT314 router. I have a
large one bedroom apartment that doubles as an office and I wanted to be able to use my laptop with a
wireless card at my bedroom desk as well as the dining room table and while relaxing on the living room
couch. I also wanted to be able to connect my graphics workstation and Linux file server with Cat5 cables.
In addition, friends and associates stop over with their laptops and I wanted them to be able to
connect to the network.

I have had mixed results with Linksys products and I narrowed my choice down to the Netgear MR814
and the D-Link DI-614+. Both products are very good, but I wound up going with D-Link because with a
rebate it cost less than the MR814, offered 256 bit WEP, and the DI-614+ looked better in my apartment
than the MR814.

So far, so good. I have been using the DI-614+ for more than three months without any problems. I have never had to call tech support. I had initially set up the DI-614+ for Verizon DSL and just switched over to the faster, Optimum Online Cable service and I had no problems changing over to Cable from DSL. The connection wizard makes it very easy. There are times when I have had five people connected to the router and no problems.

I would recommend the DI-614+ to most home and small office users. As I have pointed out, it is very easy to configure and runs very well on its own. However, I should also note that I have yet to do anything complicated with the DI-614+ like setting up a VPN or using NAT. I do plan to use these services and I will let you know how it works out.

The next day I couldn't get a signal at all. I tried rebooting the router and the computer. No luck. It would pick up a signal for about five seconds and then drop it. Then I disconnected/unplugged the 2.4GHz cordless that was on the same desk as the router. Voila! I got a signal with the link quality at 99%, and the signal strength at 70%. However, apparently that is not nearly as good as a 33.6k modem, as it took both Yahoo! and espn.com about 4-5 minutes to load up. Each. So, I took the router and NIC back. What was the point of that?

I think that this router does exactly what it is billed to do. I also think that it would work great if it only had to go through one wall or floor. Two was too much. The equipment worked perfectly fine. My problem was that the technology just isn't good enough yet. At least, not without an external antenna.

I'm waiting for the prices to drop on the 802.11g stuff.

1. Router's DHCP kept issuing duplicate IP addresses to multile clients. rebooting/releasing the addresses on the clients did not seem to help.

2. Performance was good only within the same room. Moving a laptop about 40-50 feet away caused the throughput to drop significantly (1 MPS rate) and, at about 50 feet, no data could get thru. In my kids room, 1 floor above, approximately 25 feet away, the old Intel cards could get ~30K BPs (30K bytes/sec). Dlink, despite 15X theretical speed improvement, at best got about 50K, and, as I moved the laptop just a few feet, I could not connect at all.
3. AirPlus utility showing Signal Strength and Link Quality is pretty much useless. This may be related to the previous issue, but at 98% link quality and 70% signal strength, the system would no longer work. One would expect that 98% and 70% should be good enough to work.

4. After rebooting the router, the PC with the USB card (also rebooted after the router was bounced) began to drop connection and reconnect every few seconds, rendering it useless. Seems like yet another firmware problem,. Tried new firmware - no help.

5. Tech support took 1 hour to get thru; was not of much help, other than say that the router is 'defective' and I should get it exchanged. I find this ('defective unit') highly doubtfull, as it operates perfectely fine within the same room, and the DHCP problem sounds like a firmware problem, which means that changing the unit would not do much good.

The bottom line is that the system does not seem to work beyond about 10-20 feet, or accross more than 1 wall/ceiling. At these distances, I am better of with a wired system. For obvious reasons, the whole package went back to the store.

The D-Link DI-614+ has since worked like a charm. Easy to setup. No dropped connections. Seems like it works fine with my Centrino.

Now being the type just like all of you that was looking for price...Waiting for my DSL Modem to arrive from Earthlink, I bought the unit, and was sort of puzzled by the lack of information or minor directions, until I found the entire works of it on the CD in pdf form. I never once got around to reading any of it, mostly spending my time routing an ethernet cable to and from the modem to a HP Pavilion Desktop in one of the bedrooms. It would end up that I would never have to!

For my computer, I just recently bought a HP ze5375us with wireless modem, so the lack of wiring was going to be welcomed.

After hooking up the Netopia DSL modem, I went and utilized the notebook to get it all working while attached to an ethernet cable. When finished, I plugged the desktop in through the router, and after some minor network assistance from Earthlink, it too was up and running. But then it was time for the big test! Hooking-up the D-Link Air Plus DI-614+ could have been done blind. I rebooted my notebook, and went into Network connections and clicked on the Wireless Aerial Network, it immedietely prompted that it had an excellent signal; I clicked on Internet Explorer and in a flash my home page opened up!

Amazing!

While I have yet to have to deal with their customer service, other then call them when I was considering buying it, just to ask a few dummy questions, they were stern, but helpful. Definitely NO PROBLEM! I have run into much worse talking to others.

I'm going to give it 5 star right now, but will report back if needed. So far, it seems to be the most effortless perephial I have ever bought. That alone has to stand for something!

August 6, 2003-The unit is working better then ever. Never had it reboot or shut down as mentioned in other reviews.
Congrats D Link! Your product is 5 stars in my book! I would recommend it to anyone, especially beginners in the wonderful world of WIFI.

September 1, 2003-The unit has yet to lock or crash as previously reviewed by others. This unit has been plugged-in and working as specified since the day I installed it!

either way I downloaded the latest firmware and everything has been solid for the past month or so. i am happy with my d-link router and appreciate the upgrades they provide.