D-Link DIR-655 issues

i just got this after being a lifetime linksys user and it says connected and lets me get to the url address router settings but still says no internet activity. i had to go back to my old linksys to get back on here to inquire.

i'd also like to know what options i need to choose for the fastest possible connection. i was using WPA2 on the linksys but can't find the option on here. i'm on windows 7 on a toshiba A505-S6020.

edit: i got it working and i'm clocking 13mbps. anyone write out a guide to this?

 

If you want my recommendation, take it back.

That router has a history of being a pain in the neck for people. It's 2 years old and only now become as reliable as most Netgear and Linksys are from the start. Worst router I ever used and I have used quite a lot of them.

They work pretty good when they work, but I much prefer my Linksys and Netgears.

 

When I saw this thread I deliberately left it unanswered- it was designed for leslieann
Anyway- I second what she wrote- this router is plagued by firmware bugs and D-Link is not really interested in making it work properly. Either that or they simply cannot- I don't know which is worse.
If you can return it and think of Linksys or Netgear, may be Asus is you are prepared to ditch the factory firmware right away.

 

I have the DIR-655 and haven't had any issues with it. However, I have revision A1 and 1.21 firmware. The newer ones suck pretty bad.

 

same here no issue here with my 655

 

Well, great, I had ordered one of these a couple of days ago.

Fingers: crossed.

 

For what it's worth, I also have not encountered any particularly deal breaking issues with this router on firmware version 1.34A. My biggest issue was locating SharePort Utility 3.0, which is no where near as accessible for download as it certainly should be.

I will admit, however, that the router configuration setup is not as intuitive as most users would prefer. Luckily, I had some experience working on a D-Link DIR-825, which certainly aided the experience. While other routers may perform equally or better, and likely with a more intuitive interface, this router performs sufficiently well - when properly configured - that one should not expect to feel any buyer's remorse.

Anecdotal experience aside, which others who have owned the device longer can more confidently assess, let me direct focus back to your original question(s). First, can you provide the specific wireless adapter you plan to use with your most active computer? This is an important aspect for taking advantage of the 300 mbps N-band wireless speed, if applicable.

As for some initial steps, let me briefly try my hand at this.

Step 1: Log in to Your Router
- Select 'Admin' as the "user name"
- Fill in your password and press the "Log In" button

Step 2: Access Your Wireless Settings
- Click on the "Setup" tab on the top navigation menu
- Click the "Wireless Settings" tab on the left-hand subnavigation menu
- Press the "Manual Wireless Network Setup" button

Step 3: Configure Your Wireless Settings
- Verify that wireless broadcasting is enabled with a check under the "Enable Wireless" setting
- Type in a "Wireless Network Name" (SSID) of your preference
- For "802.11 Mode", ensure that you choose a mixed mode with either 'Mixed 802.11n, 802.11g, and 802.11b' or 'Mixed 802.11n and 802.11g'
- Leave the default settings for "Enable Auto Channel Scan", "Wireless Channel", and "Transmission Rate"
- For "Channel Width", select 'Auto 20/40 MHz'
- For "Visibility Status", select the option of your preference.

Step 4: Configure Your Wireless Security Mode
- Under the "Security Mode" option, select 'WPA-Personal'
- For "WPA Mode", select the option of your preference. I personally chose 'Auto (WPA or WPA2)'
- For "Cipher Type", select 'AES'
- Leave the default setting for the "Group Key Update Interval" setting (mine is set to 3600)
- Fill out your desired network password for the "Pre-Shared Key" setting
- Save all of your settings.

Step 5: Configure Your Wireless 802.11n Network for a 300 mbps Signal (Optional)
This step is applicable for wireless adapters that support this link speed, such as the Intel 5300/6300 Ultimate-N wireless adapters.
- Go to the "Network and Sharing Center" in Windows Vista/7
- On the left-hand navigation menu, select "Change adapter settings"
- Right-click on the active Wireless Network Connection and select 'Properties'
- Press the "Configure" button
- Go to the "Advanced" tab
- Under the '802.11n Channel Width for band 2.4' property, change the value to 'Auto'
- Save the settings by pressing the "OK" button, and you should now be configured for 300 mbps link speed.

This is the exact process I used for optimal wireless performance in my household, and it should produce similar results. Network configuration is not really my forte, so the settings I have suggested do not necessarily represent the general consensus on wireless configuration for this router. If I have written anything inaccurate or incorrect, then I am certainly open to any suggestions or constructive criticism.

As a final note, the only issue I have really encountered with this router is the SharePort. Occasionally, I have to perform a soft reset on the device for my computer to properly identify a printer connected to the router, which typically occurs after a session of sleep or hibernation. A slight inconvenience, but an apparent issue nonetheless.

 

Okay to quantify what I said earlier...

Few problems I had...
Keep in mind I did not have the first or even second model, but I did get mine not that long after the model debuted.

Shareport, was not even enabled at the time I bought it. It required an update before you could even use it, it wasn't finished even when they had revised the model more than once. It was advertised in a way that made it sound like a cheap NAS alternative, so very wrong. I should have returned it right away but I had faith they would fix it and it did run fast when working, so I held out hope.

When we did get that working, we found many usb items would not work, and would infact crash the usb side, and sometimes the entire router. I personally thought it was a power management issue. No idea if they fixed this, but at this point I basically let D-Link have it after finding how pointless Shareport truly was. It's handy if you want a remote webcam or printer, but that's about it, forget "sharing".

I also had huge fluctuations in signal. I could stand 30 feet from the router and watch my speed go from 300 to 2 and back to 300, without moving, or even touching anything. In a bid to fix the power issues with the drives and power fluctuations I replaced the power brick with a molex connector and hooked it to a PPC power supply, this gave it unlimited amps (more than it could ever use). This did little for the usb port, but did improve signal strength, showing the power brick was under powered. It didn't fix the fluctuations entirely though, it just made them less extreme.

At this point D-link focussed more on uptime...
D-Link had loads of trouble here, after a year and a half, customers helped track down the problem. Yes a year and a half. It then took D-Link almost 6 months to fix the problem.

Oddly, some older pre-Shareport firmware worked great. Customers repeatedly asked D-Link to re-release the older firmware however D-Link had locked out the possibility of reverting to old firmware. At one point it got so bad that D-link was allowing customers to swap out for older versions of the router with the older firmware. Why? Because customers were measuring uptime in minutes. Remember this was a product that had been out for well over a year at this point and still not running stable.

In fixing it so they removed bridging, something many had bought that model specifically for. D-Link said that since it was a hassle and not a listed feature, they felt they could remove it. In other words, screw you. Bridging was NOT causing the stability issue.


Over the year I tried using this router, I watched as forum user after forum user posted threads there saying "I fixed it!", only to see they had replaced their router, I finally broke down and replaced it as well. I probably actually only had used mine for 3 months total during that year due to the problems I had with it. It has now sat for the last 6 months while my Linksys ran without a single hickup doing everything I wanted right from the start.


Also during this time I started seeing other D-Link routers I installed failing after about a year. They would suddenly just become unstable, ports would fail, just failures all around. I refuse to install D-Link routers in offices anymore. They aren't worth the money and hassle for my customers. I think over a period of a year I removed every D-link router I had installed the previous year. I suspect it was under powered, just as the 655 is, this causes capacitors to become over worked and begin to fail. Eventually leading to entire failure of the unit (some Netgear suffer from this).

Even if they fixed the stability, why would I want to bother?



I didn't experience these but I saw the fallout, so the details may be off.
In another screw you moment, at one point D-Link decided that customers no longer needed 802.11b. No warning, just that when you upgraded firmware, suddenly you had no more wireless B. D-Link did it as an "experiment" claiming that by removing B they could improve G performance, which was true, but they should have warned people.

Another firmware update brought another sneaky change. If you mistyped an address it re-routed you to a D-Link page with ads for their products. This was done as a lawsuit was moving through courts when Network Solutions tried doing similar.


Basically, I no longer have any faith in them.

 

Wow, what a story. You definitely had many trials and tribulations to overcome with this product. I have only owned the DIR-655 for a month or so, and I imagine that it's one of the newer units. I certainly have been able to capitalize on the months of effort and waiting that other customers had to spend with the problems inherent to the firmware available at the time.

Only time will tell if I encounter any issues myself, but so far, the router is working quite well. SharePort still has some issues, but if I understand correctly, D-Link has basically given up on this product. Thus, the final firmware is 1.34NA. I have noticed that my signal is not always consistent, but I primarily use my computer upstairs, which has given me issues with most 802.11g routers in the past. Therefore, this is still a nice step up for me.

I am considering leaving this router behind with my parents when I finally get a real job and move into a place of my own.

@leslieann: Do you have any recommendations for a better router? Or, considering my basic needs for a reliable connection and decent coverage, is the DIR-655 sufficient? I honestly haven't had many issues, short of an unintuitive configuration interface and a connection that tends to hover around 117 to 130 mbps, when it is configured for 300 mbps. Given the range, I suspect this is mostly normal, though I admittedly was hoping for better.

 

Pretty simple, buy a Linksys e2000 or better or comparable Netgear, you should be very happy. Personally, I have the Linksys WRT610Nv2, which is pretty much the same as the e3000, it's flawless, I love it. The current king is the Netgear WNDR3700. While it doesn't have quite as much history to it, I would probably get it if I was buying today. Expect tos pend about $100 for the lower models, $150 for the better ones.



Getting 300 out of the 655 is possible, there used to be a guide on D-Links forums about how to do it, however when they did the great purge it may have been lost. If you think that forum has a lot of posts, keep in mind, it was once 3-4 times that size, that is how many people were having problems with it.

IF it had good firmware (open it up to the DD-WRT and Open-WRT guys), I swear it could be a great little box, it does great in tests. Unfortunately D-Link doesn't have the manpower, and Shareport is handled by an external company, tieing their hands even more. This is why I insist on my new routers being able to have aftermarket firmware, even if I don't use it (currently I am using Linksys firmware), it's an insurance policy, plus most routers capable of aftermarket firmware tend to be better routers anyhow.

If you want to stabilize the 655 some, put a larger power pack, either 12volts 3amp or use a molex and connect it to a nearby computer like I did.

 

The more I read of Leslie, the more unsure I'm getting. Hopefully I'm one of the lucky ones with a nice, stable unit.

 

Sorry, I don't mean to cause doubts, if you have it and it's working, use it till it dies, why not. It works right?

 

It's about two days out from my house in some UPS center.

Ah, don't worry. There were supposed issues with my laptop, as well, and nothing ever happened to it.

I will, though,see if there are any handy PSUs I could use. Any recommendations? (By PSU, I mean a standalone adapter, not a desktop PSU, since I have no desktop)

 

I hooked mine to my server that was next to it.
Any desktop PSU would work, try it and see if you even need it.

 

Hmm. Received it and installed it. WPA2, AES cipher, max transmit, G and N bands (since other people in the building still have G), QoS off, Extra Wireless Protection off.

After some fiddling with the positioning of the antennae and the router itself, the D-Link utility is telling me I'm getting 100% signal strength, but my connection is not quiet reaching full speed, peaking at 240mbps. (I was able to get 300mbps, or so Windows said, on my old Netgear WNR2000). Weird.

Any way to get back those missing 60mbps? I don't have a desktop handy, so I can't do Leslie's PSU splicing, so I'm wondering if getting a longer Cat5e cable and moving the router even closer would do anything. Or maybe a stronger power brick is anyone has any recommendations.

And except for the not-quite-300mbps signal, it's been working fine for its first couple of hours.


EDIT: I reenabled QoS, and now my uploads/downloads between my DNS-321 and my laptop are going at nearly 6mbps with spikes up to 7mbps here and there. (The WNR2000 was able to get, at best 5.5mbps). In tentatively happy with it. Let's see if that lasts.

 

Windows signal strength indicator is a VERY rough estimate. Download InSSIDer if you want to see what is going on. Check channel clutter.

Also, the antenna is actually semi directional on the 655.they point towards the font of the unit, but I don't remember if they are oriented best for vertical or horizontal. Also, remember the unit is under powered which can be just another reason for you loss of 60mbps, but also, this was one of the first N units on the market.

Your higher transfer rate tells me you are getting a better signal/transfer regardless of what Windows tells you.