D-Link Cloud Router (DIR-605L), Wireless N300, mydlink Cloud Services D-Link Cloud Router (DIR-605L), Wireless N300, mydlink Cloud Services

Pros: Works and was cheap.. Good customer support..

Cons: None yet...

Other Thoughts: good router took longer to set up do to the fact that the firmware loaded when i received it was corrupted, called tech support and they walked me right through a reset and a upgrade to the newest firmware... would recommend and would buy again...

Pros: It was cheap!

Cons: I was unable to setup multiple (5) DIR-605L's as AP's that allowed roaming. The mycloud had no functionality besides a reboot button. Finally I gave up and called support. The first time they put me on hold forever. So i called back. The second time, the guy asked me to put the same address on the wan and lan side (this isn't possible on any router, ever) and shortly after I was hung up on. The 3rd time I spoke to customer support explaining my issues including the 2 previous calls, was transferred to tech support, asked if they could call me back... I'm still waiting for that call 8 hours later. I'm starting to think they aren't going to call me.

Other Thoughts: Consider buying from ANY other vendor.

Pros: I've been using this router since March (solid month). The set up was fairly easy and straightforward. The online interface is pretty easy to use. I'm coming from a buffalo router with ddwrt so I've gotten used to that, so it did take a few minutes to find all the options that I wanted to use.

Assigning static IP's for computers / printers is easy one you find the right menu. VPN passthrough works well.

Now I've never had a 'cloud' router before and to be perfectly honest I think it is kinda useless. The only thing that I really like about it is the android (and iOS) app that lets me reset the router from the second floor where my computer is. One less flight of stairs :)

Overall this is a decent little router, it lacks many of the options of the better routers, but that is to be expected. I haven't really been seeing consistent speeds with this router, and that will bring us to the cons.....

Cons: The speeds that this router can push are less than impressive for me. On my buffalo router with ddwrt I was easily pushing 30-35mbps consistently throughout the day and night. On this D-Link i'm lucky if I get 20mbps during the day.

I've also been having to reset the router constantly. The speed drops to a crawl (if I even have internet at all) and I will have to reboot the router. Now this should be a fairly simple thing to do right... wrong. About 1/2 times I have to go downstairs and unplug it for about 5 minutes and then plug it in. For some reason, sometimes when it reconnects with the modem, It cannot "find" the internet. And I mean that literally, a D-Link page comes up when you open a browser and says "oops cannot connect". It is an incredibly aggravating series of events. I feel like I shouldn't have to reset my router every other day. And that's why I'm giving it three eggs

Other Thoughts: Its a decent overall router, But at 59.99 there are too many issues with the firmware.

Pros: *CONTINUOUS REVIEW FROM PROS TO CONS TO OTHER THOUGHTS*

Unpackaging

The router comes in a standard box w/ the router antenna cables power cord approximately 3’ Ethernet cable. The router is enclosed in a plastic bag w/ a red label advising of the importance of securing wifi networks from unauthorized access.

The router itself is pretty small a little bigger than my wallet. One thing I noticed off the bat was that the 4 ethernet ports are 10/100 speed & do not have gigabit support i.e. 10/100/1000 speed. This would be a limitation that would lead me NOT to buy this router in the first place. The price of gigabit capable routers (w/out looking at other features) in relation to this router is simply a $10+ difference. It has your standard indicator lights for power internet wifi & 4 LAN ports.

Installation

I had a lot of trouble installing the router with my modem (which has a built in wifi router) Model -Motorola SBG6580. See the online post here: [http://fascinated.fm/post/2379188731/getting-a-motorola-sbg6580-into-bridge-mode-on]; these settings did not work for me and I gave up on trying to install it after several days of attempts. I installed it on a Verizon modem which also had a wifi router built in but this one worked and the install was pretty easy.

D-Link Cloud Service

Once I had internet up & running I went to the main router settings page and configured the my dlink account to use with the iPhone app which is called mydlink Lite not to be confused with mydlink Cloud. Make sure you visit mydlink.com before you try to log in using your iPhone because registering on the computer will be a little easier than on the iPhone.

Under Router Status I get the model name the SSID that I chose for the wifi signal the IP address of the device I am using to access the page (i.e. my laptop) the gateway address (LAN IP) & the number of devices connected which I have as 5.

For some reason it lists my laptop as two separate devices w/ the same name but different MAC addresses presumably wifi MAC & ethernet MAC yet I don't have the ethernet cable plugged in for several hours & it still shows it. Similarly my friends laptop was plugged in to the network & it shows it as a device yet he is long gone. That's 3 total devices listed the other 2 are my BB & iPhone.

There's a reboot option at the top right of the page allowing you to remotely reset your router instead of unplugging it & plugging it back in & to the left of the information I mentioned above is a upstream & downstream; Im guessing its an OVERALL counter of how much info was transferred in terms of size. There's also a refresh key under the stats. Finally there's another list of connected devices labeled the SUSPECT list i.e. suspicious devices that don't seem to "belong" on your network. I'm not sure exactly how the router determines what is suspect & what is not but it looks like a cool feature to have.

Cons: Next to all the connected devices I mentioned theres an iPhone style switch that allows you to block the internet connection to that device despite it knowing the password to the wifi signal etc. To try it I blocked both laptop connections & tried to use the internet w/ the ethernet cable connected AFTER I blocked both. Clicking the switch to block by itself did not prevent me from using the internet. I guess I have to save the settings somehow first although there was no save button - maybe reboot?

Another cool setting is the notifications & there are settings which allow you to be notified via email when either of the following occurs: (a) a new device connects to your router (b) a device FAILS to connect to your router & (c) new firmware is available. C is checked on by default. I checked A & B as well.

Theres an option to enable remote web access. After going through everything I clicked Save settings on the bottom & had to do the obligatory reboot. The wifi signal reconnected but told me I had no internet access. Similarly my iPhone lost its wifi connection. After a few minutes more though it reconnected properly on my laptop & I had to go back into settings on my iPhone to reconnect it. Strange. Ill note that the installationmanual etc is very well written and a good reference to use in general.

When I got to the end of the setup portion of the manual it mentioned the app name & instructed to download the dlink lite app as opposed to the dlink Cloud app; I found this confusing as the box made a big deal out of the word "Cloud." I plugged in the info I used for mydlink.com; the iPhone did have the option to create the account there too. Once I logged in I instantly saw a picture of my router w/ the Model # next to it & a green check mark to the right presumably to indicate that it has been set up or is currently working. I clicked the router & it told me the upload & download; no refresh button but if you press on it it updates. I then played w/ it again & realized that pressing on it RESETS the counter not refreshes.

Next theres connected Devices. I tap that & it shows my iphone BB & laptop ONLY; 3 devices total which is correct. Next is an event notification setting page for which everything is off even though I had saved it previously on the actual website mydlink.com (not the app). I turned everything on. Upon turning on the first it prompted me for an email address TYPE default being GMAIL (other options being hotmail 126 139 163 QQ sina sohu sogou/other) & the email address & password. I wasnt comfortable giving dlink my email info so I didnt enable it.

The next part of the main app is a section labeled Internet which shows the IP address under it & the fact that remote web access is off. Click it to see the Internet IP address & actually toggle remote web access on or off. The last part of the main app is labeled LAN & shows the gateway info & gives the option of disabling wifi & editing security setting

Other Thoughts: I went ahead & turned WIFI off on my iPhone & tried logging in to the dlink Lite app. When I went back to the app after going to 3G it took a few seconds longer to log in but it did work. I clicked it & was actually able to see all the settings but it did not update the number of connected devices to 2 despite me not being on 3G w/ wifi off even after clicking that part to see if it updates. On the top right of that section there's a refresh symbol so I clicked that to see if that would do it - it still failed to update which bothers me because if you are really away & you want to know if someone is using a device on your network you have to necessarily assume that they must have used the device on your network in the past & not necessarily now. When you refresh it the screen goes dim & shows a black square & a quasi-hourglass saying that it is "connecting" - yet after repeated clicks to refresh it fails to state that only 2 devices my blackberry & my laptop are in fact connected.

I will mention that I found the dlink router settings page at 192.168.1.1 or http://dlinkrouter to be a bit voluminous & confusing. Linksys & motorola routers that I use happen to be a lot simpler & easy on the eyes. This one was harder to use & was not easy on the eyes.

All in all for a budget router this one does have some appealing features. I can see this being a family router where parents w/ several children want to prevent their children from accessing the internet during a set time (via block option) or turning it off at night. The ideas employed are to me pretty novel & interesting but they are just not fully there when it comes to actually being directly on target w/ up to the second information about who's on the network & who's off. Instead it provides you w/ information about who WAS on the network. The lack of gigabit ethernet ports alone would have prevented me from buying this router.

Range

I left the router in the living room of the house & watched my BB’s wifi signal indicator as I walked outside the house. I fully lost range at 60 feet away not counting change in height as I had to go down about 10 steps to leave the house & go halfway in the street. I lost signal halfway across the street away from the house. The signal went down from 4 – 3 bars about 20 feet away at the door to the house. Immediately OUTSIDE the door about 2 – 3 ft further w/ both a door & metal storm door closed I got 2 bars. Another 20 feet away it became 1 bar & I lost signal into the street about 20 ft more further. Not bad.

I also went upstairs & my BB had 3 – 4 bars throughout the entire 2nd FL & had 2 bars in portions of the house closer to the front door of the house (vertically). Not bad. Using my BB’s browser I was able to load YouTube videos w/ no problem.

Overall 3 out of 5 for this router based on my preferences & experiences w/ it.

Pros: Fairly cheap for the features it provides, the wireless connection is very fast when paired with other wireless N devices.
The connect button is a cool feature. How many times have you been over at a friends house, and when you inquire about a wifi password, the respond by digging through papers for 20 minutes? Well this router features a connect button! You may simply press the connect button on the router rather than entering the password on the connecting device. It is very convenient, especially if you don't feel comfortable actually giving your wireless password out.
The network monitoring app is also a nice touch.
Setting up the router looks like it would be a breeze for the average network configuration, but....

Cons: While the set up wizard looks like it should work great, and did at first, did not quite get there with my set up. This is most likely because I have another wireless router on the network. Not only did both routers have DHCP, which was causing conflicts, but they also both shared the same default IP address. I was able to correct this by disabling DHCP on this router and also changing the default access IP address. After doing that, this router worked like a charm!
Also docked for not having gigabit LAN ports. Those should be considered standard nowadays.

Other Thoughts: I am using this router in a fairly complex network consisting of this router, another router, and a gigabit switch, Okay it's not that complex but more so than the average home network.
Anyway, after setup I immediately noticed that devices connected wirelessly to this router seemed to have a much faster internet connection than devices connected to the older router. They are both wireless N, however this router definitely has a more reliable connection.
I have connected to this device with multiple laptops, a tablet, and and Xbox 360 all with zero issues and goof performance. Overall I recommend this router for a basic home network.

Pros: I received that router and have been testing this in my 3000 sq ft home. I have been using it for about a week now and have no problems with it dropping connection or routing all of my equipment. I have 3 hardwired PCs, a 1 GB switch that is connected to a HDHomerun Prime and 1 other PC, and several wireless PCs and devices. All work with this router. The speed compared to my Linksys E3000 is similar. I have noticed no real differences, except the range is a little less in the farthest points of my house than the E3000.

Cons: Range is not as good as my current router, but in a smaller house it should be fine.

Other Thoughts: The installation process is very straight forward. Simply follow the quick installation guide to set it up. The configuration is also a breeze, simply input the router IP address and you can configure it through the various options available. I set mine up to be automatic for IP. I also followed the onscreen prompts (set up wizard) to set up my wireless network including its security. There is also a section to set up mydlink. I already had an account for the cameras I have installed throughout my house. From then on I was up and running. I encountered no problems setting up and configuring the router.
I don’t have an Apple/Android product in which I could try the mydlink app that are free that are supposed to allow configuration options, so I cannot comment on how those work.
Overall, for the price point I think this is a very good buy and worth the investment in a solid router that will work with many PCs/wireless devices.

Pros: It's cheap and gets the job done without many issues.
Great for anyone who uses the internet casually.

Extremely easy set-up. I recommend ignoring the older reviews that complain about difficult set up. D-Link has released a new firmware that makes it's "Easy Setup" feature much more reliable and easy to use. Setting this router up with a new modem was a matter of plugging the Ethernet cable into my desktop, logging in through my ISP and following the "Internet connection setup wizard” . I encountered no errors and took about five minutes. Nice simplistic easy-to-use UI.

There is an app you can download on your android/iphone that lets you manage your network and it also sends you push notifications if it thinks someone is trying to hack into your network.

Wireless works great for my small apartment. I've read about signal strength issues in larger homes so I would recommend this router to anyone living in a small home and looking for a simple and cheap router.

Cons: Occasionally internet is slow or non-responsive with mobile devices.

I've also had the power go out and had to reset the router a couple of times for internet to work properly again.

Plugging in my xbox via ethernet cable required me to reset the router before Internet connection worked.

Other Thoughts: This router is designed for casual internet users. It's simple, small, and cheap. I would recommend this router to the anyone that's just looking for wifi.

I would not recommend this router to people with larger than average homes or anyone that requires extremely fast internet speeds.

This router is cheap and simple and designed for people who want their online experience to be simple and casual.

Pros: Cost. Relativity small and good sized external antenna. Plenty of standard features for the average user. Nice range. Cloud features all work well. iPhone app is nice and clean and all features worked well.

Cons: Hard to call some things a con when you are getting what is advertised and what you are paying for. So they will go in other thoughts.

Other Thoughts: Overall this is a good router so far. For the price.

I received this as a review piece and I will not be using it as my full time router. The range is there but the lack of gigabit support, USB ports for hard drives, N300 speeds, and no guest network will keep it from being my main. It's pretty small so I will use it as a travel router or when I need one in a pinch.

I question the "cloud" implementation here though. For a bottom of the line spec (N300, 10/100) the cloud features seem odd. You can monitor your network, make a few basic settings changes, kick specific devices at will, and reboot. It all worked flawlessly via iPhone and Android as well as in the browser. I just think that if someone knew enough to know about and have a need for these features, they would be buying a higher spec router (i.e. N900/Gigabit/USB ports/etc.). Any router these days allows full remote admin via browser so you can do all this stuff remotely anyway just without the nicer clean interface, which this does have. I would expect "cloud" would have some kind of file share/sync type/client access features. It does not but also does not claim to.

So again. A good low cost, low spec router with better then average range and easy setup. I just have a feeling that people who buy this will never use the cloud features but will be happy anyway.

Pros: This is a great router for those who are starting out setting up their first or second network. It offers a lot of utilities that help you keep your network safe and secure.

Some of the neat features of this router are:
-Has awesome range due to its big antenna.
-Has an iOS/Android apps to help you monitor who is on your network and also what goes on in your network.
-Sets Up real easy. I got it setup within 5 minutes.

The apps for your phones or tablets are great for offering you great visibility of the inner workings of your network with an easy to use GUI. With it:
-See who is on your network
-See previous sites visited (great for parental control)
-View the download/upload speeds*
*Small issue with this...see Cons

Also, if you don't have a tablet or smart phone with the available app, you can still visit D-Link's website.

Speeds are great for web surfing and watching videos on youtube and other video sharing websites without much of any lag. I tested the speeds on my router and got close to what my ISP says I should be getting using internet speed test.

Cons: This is a great router for those only using it for web surfing and video watching, but not that great for gaming and large file downloads.

One thing when I received this product, I learned it already had a firmware update...luckily D-Link updated it for me, but for those buying new, I am sure you will be forced to do the update.

The apps may be nice, but need just a little fine tuning. I kindof hate how I have to click the download/upload usage to get it to refresh. I would like it to be an almost live.

D-Link's website requires Java and takes awhile to load your router's info. Also, you have to refresh the page to see the Download/Upload usage.

Another issue, why no Gigabit ports on the back? It would have been nice since I usually have my desktop right next to my router.

Other Thoughts: In the end, it still is a nice router for those who don't do much over the internet. It offers great ways to monitor your network, but needs a bit of upgrading to make it perfect. Me being a gamer, I require a bit more in my dependability in my network.

I have other D-Link products that I have used in the past and have always had a great experience with them. I love how D-Link integrates them all to monitor them all in one app (or online). If D-Link can just fix some of the small issues I pointed out, they would have a great product line.

Pros: Solid performance, inexpensive, and no major complaints.

-Shipped with a CAT 5E ethernet cable
-Big antennas
-Uses public software (GNU license)
-Free shipping
-My D-Link DIR-655 is still great after 3.5 years, I feel confident in D-Link brand
-mydlink Lite app is pretty cool for remote monitoring of your home network
-Stealthy black and nice shape

I compared the speed of the DIR-605 to my three year old DIR-655. For a large file (0.985 GB), the DIR-605 took two minutes. My old router took three. For a transfer with 361 small files (0.990 GB), the DIR-605 took two minutes. Again, the old router took three. Its interesting that they're both N300 rated. The newer unit must have faster firmware and onboard chips.

In installed the "mydlink Lite" iPhone app to my iPad 2 and iPhone 4s. They both worked great. I can check my home network from anywhere my cell phone gets cellular signal! You can see which computers are online, and which sites are being visited. It would be a great parenting tool, as you can block and unblock access.

Cons: This kind of looks like a lot of cons, but I just wanted to note each minor annoyance. Its really a solid product.

-I wish it had gigabit wired ports
-mydlink service for the remote app requires email verification (I dislike sharing my email address)
-iPad app costs a dollar, but the iPhone app is free
-There is a giant "mydlink enabled" logo on the top of the otherwise awesome looking device
-I wish the remote app could let me access files on my PCs and other devices

I would get DNS errors on the router if I just plugged it in directly. I had to:
1- Unplug power from both router and modem
2- Plug in modem, wait a full minute
3- Plug in router, wait a full minute (then internet worked great forever!)

Other Thoughts: Got this router for free if I promised to give an honest review, through EggXpert program.

I like the big red sticker on the inner packaging reminding users to encrypt their wireless signal.

I don't like the big "mydlink enabled" logo on the top.

Do the big antennas actually help, or do they just look cool? I feel like if all it took was big antennas, they would have gotten big a long time ago. I think the speed improvement was likely more to do with improved chips and software in the router.