Setup was easy, range is sufficient for us-- A two story 1890's home make into an office, and most of the network problems eased into oblivion.

I thought we were having a problem last week but it turned out to be a Siemens Wireless Network connector in its last throes.

When it comes time to replace this router I'll probably go for a D-Link again.

The only reason for a rating of 3 (and not 5) is that it is not compatible with newer DLINK products like the 900AP+... so if you think you might have to extend your wireless range in future, consider another product.

The only thing I'm unhappy with is the wireless range which is FAR less than the advertised 35-100 meters (indoor). Anywhere between 15-25 meters, the speed dropped to the minimum 1 Mbps. Any further, it's good luck trying to pick up the signal.

I bought this wireless router and NIC on Nov. 29, 2002 and the first problem to show itself was when you tried to use WEP encryption. If you used WEP then the DI-713p would hang up (lock up) and this would cause you to loose your connection. To restore your connection you'd have to power cycle the router. This was definitely not good and to add to the annoyance every time you power cycled the DI-713p the printer would spit out one sheet of paper with a little bit of random text printed.

I contacted D-Link's trouble shooting center (via email), but their response seemed unrelated to my complaint. I replied to their response and never heard from them again. So much for automated support!

However, I got past this discovering that not using any encryption seemed to resolve this problem and I found that the DI-713p used with the DWL-650 NIC worked very well with decent range, throughout our large house and just outside the house as well. The built in print server worked great and I really like that feature! To add some security to my wireless network I enabled a MAC filter so that the MAC address of my NIC would be the only wireless connection allowed. With MAC filtering on, I had excellent, and trouble free, performance up until Dec. 10, 2002 when the NIC just quit working. When the NIC failed I noticed that if you turned the NIC off for a while (let it cool down) and then turned it back on it would work for a few minutes and then fade way until it wasn't working anymore (even with the NIC sitting inches from the access point - the DI-713p). How disappointing!

Luckily, I was able to return both items for a full refund (not counting shipping costs). I don't know what to say at this point. I really enjoyed this setup for the brief time that it worked and the print server was absolutely great. The non-wireless portion of the router still works, but I bought this router for its wireless feature.

Next, I gambled that if there was some production issue with earlier models then they would be resolved in a relatively short time. After returning the DI-713p and DWL-650 I decided to order directly from the manufacture (at a higher cost). I got the DI-714p with the DWL-650+ and found that these two units to work beautifully (although range is slightly less). I've run the DI-714p and DWL-650+ continuously for two weeks using 128-bit encryption and MAC filtering with very little trouble (I had to reboot the router twice during 336 hours of continuous operation - this is acceptable to me).

My only explanation regarding my experience with my previous wireless router (DI-713p and DWL-650) was that I had an earlier version that had manufacturing problems.

In the meantime I tried to upgrade to the lastest firmware from my laptop using the wireless connection: VERY BAD IDEA. I basically fried the unit.

However customer service was good. I got a replacement (after a couple of weeks shipping and waiting) at no cost.

I am using it with VPN and have had no problem (all problems so far were VPN issues)...

First off, I have XP on pc and XP pro on laptop.
I am tech savvy enough to connect a home network and resolve most issues on my own.

With that said.. at first the wireless card worked well with laptop and router seemed to be configured just fine for host pc (wired to router). It was plug and play at first - XP makes it easy that way. Then... the laptop couldnt see the pc - only the internet. Then the pc couldnt see the internet or even the diagnostic tool for the router located in a browser and typing in the default 192.168.0.1 network address. Then.. XP kept telling me a network cable had become disconnected every 20-30 seconds followed instantly by it telling me connection was obtained? I played with the pc's hardware by removing one of the two NICs and then moving them around within the pc. I upgraded the firmware for the router at the suggestion of customer service. i manually reset the router to its original settings per their advice. i powered everything up in proper sequence as directed. only step I didnt take was to throw the router at the wall. By the way - I found out that my apt wall is probably made up of steel and concrete - 10 feet away from the router base, through the closet wall, the signal strength of the wireless card was only 2 out of 5 lines. I cant quantify that further since the wireless card utility that is supposed to load on the pc to check the strength - did not load at all (cust service told me i could download it from the net.. whaaa???)

Customer service agreed that its most likely defective and to return unit. But how can that be, the dummy light on the unit (M2 light) telling you its a defective unit, didnt come on?? Oh the internal struggles within me - 'I can fix this, it has now turned into a quest..,' vs. 'Why am I wasting my time with this toy?..'

After 4 hours and 3 customer service calls -its going back. i will pay a little more and get a Linksys. Too many bad customer reviews ... to make me think its a fluke.