D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion Rechargeable Battery (DIR-506L) D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion Rechargeable Battery (DIR-506L)

Pros: Router Mode/Access Point Mode/Repeater Mode/Wi-Fi Hot Spot Mode/DNLA and portable on battery power! Size is a plus and makes convenient. This lil thing is amazing! I was able to set it up as an internet hotspot while connecting it to another wifi network to provide internet to my personal network. The dnla feature allows to sidestep the d-link app. I was able to upload from my phone to usb drive a while of having to figure it out. Best thing was I had my usb flash media reader working with a micro sd card. Both fat32 and ntfs worked but a large (9 gig) mp4 did not recognize- may be the usb though. Came loaded with latest firmware. Swivel stand is nifty. More options that I know what to do with!

Cons: software is a lil quirky and seems basic as far as cloud service goes. Wish it were intigrated with other app's share feature. I noticed that it needed to be rebooted often when changing usb drives. 1700MAH is none too impressive but seems to get the job done. Nothing severe enough to crack any eggs.

Other Thoughts: great alternative to the wi-di devices which are not up-gradable; plus usb drives are getting cheaper. Needed this after finding out that the OTG cable might not be available for my Nexus 4. I can see this thing coming in handy when going on trips or for use at the office. Purchased while as shell-shocker deal but could see being satisfied if purchased full price. I recommend using the browser-based setup over the QRS app.

Pros: - Pocket sized and battery powered!
- Battery life met expectations; I consistantly averaged just over 4 hours during use.
- Better then expected range despite the internal antenna and running on battery.
- Provides enough power on the usb port to charge a smart phone. (I only tested with Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4s)
- SharePort Mobile App makes sharing photos and files easy once you get things setup correctly.
- Can be used as a wireless hotspot.
- File transfer speeds over wireless were fast and steady.
- Web Interface will feel familiar if you've ever configured a router before.

Cons: - Over 4 weeks I experienced 2 seperate connection issues and a lockup requiring a reboot to regain functionality.
- Charges off USB cable which can be an issue if your battery is dead and don't have a device to charge it on.
- No internal storage included. (I'll address this further in "other thoughts"; see the *.)
- May be a bit hard to setup or get the most out of for the less tech savvy. (The usual manual, as of Nov-2012, is 126 pages long.)
- Plastic casing feels cheap.

Other Thoughts: You really need to know what you're getting with this product before buying. The SharePort Go Mobile feels like a jack-of-all trades in that it does a lot but that also led me to this question - Who really needs this?

Don't get me wrong, it does what it says it does but not nearly as well as the alternatives you probably already own. If you can figure out how to set this up and use it correctly then chances are you already:
- Have a smart phone you can setup as a hotspot.
- Own a router and probably won't find yourself in a position where you need one that runs on battery.
- Know how to share files from your phone.
- Have your pictures available on-line be it Facebook, some other social media website, or photo sharing service.

Now you're left with a router that can charge your smart phone assuming you don't have an extra cable or car charger.

* Since there's no internal storage you still need to plug in a usb storage device if you want to share files in a situation where you're not going from one device directly to another. With the exceptions of smart phones, it'd be easier just to plug said storage device directly into your laptop/desktop/etc.
Personally, for my Android phone, I have a $5 male micro usb to female usb adapter that I can plug in just about any usb storage device to and copy files to and from with no problems and nothing additional to setup. (Android users, you can get them here at Newegg!)

The problem isn't that it doesn't work well, it's that it targets too specific of an audience. And that audience, as stated above, probably already has a means to do what this does and you're essentially just creating an overlap.
The are only two situations I can see where the SharePort Go really comes in handy. First is if your phone doesn't work or you have bad service and you're somewhere that has internet access but no wi-fi. Just plug this in, connect with your laptop or smart phone, and you're good to go.
Second is if you want to throw some movies on a usb thumb/hard drive and stream them during a car trip to an iPad or smart phone.
Now ask yourself how often you're in that specific of a situation and if it justifies making the purchase.

The D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion looks really cool on paper, but in real world use it feels out of place and of limited usefulness UNLESS you are that very specific customer I mentioned above.

If you're hesitent to buy, go to D-Link's website and read through the user manual and see what you're getting into first.

If you do decide to purchase the SharePort Go Mobile I would recommend keeping the firmware up to date as I'm sure they will continue to improve the interface and stability.

Pros: Very portable design: smooth edges and light weight.
Strong wireless signal: Can easily access media files from an attached USB drive from out in my back yard and the DIR-506L is inside towards the front of the house.
Works good as a wireless broadcaster if you have no wireless modem.
Can charge certain wireless devices and share media with them.

Cons: Included "cloud storage" software seems to have no function. Never was able to access it.
Can only access certain media files from any attached storage. Most audio and video is inaccessible.
Can only access small flash media. HFS, NTFS, exFAT drives unrecognizable.

Other Thoughts: If you want a nice wireless signal from your hardline modem or want to easily share small amounts of certain types of media this would be a good idea.
I like the idea behind what this could offer but doesn't seem to be implemented very well.
For the price I believe it needs a little more then what it offers.

Pros: For an internal antenna, it has a really long range. I tested it in the 4th floor of an apartment building and it had a strong connection to the first floor of the next building over.
rechargeable battery is pretty useful.

Cons: The power LED seems to always be red when its charging reguardless of how much power it has, and it comes with a nice warning sticker that fits perfectly over the front of the device but will NEVER come off and covers the power LED... I really should prevent my OCD from getting the better of me in the future.
It took me a while to get used to the menu because I'm used to Linksys, but after a bit of playing with it, it wasn't too hard to figure out.
I gave up on attempting the Ipad app for this device, it requires the username and password, then a web address apparently. I typed the username and password right, but the web address was unchangeable when I attempted it and couldn't find the flash drive connected, although windows found it no problem.

Other Thoughts: Still have to supply it with internet, so you'll have to bring your laptop or something to make it act as a retransmitter, but after that it'll work fine. If they added a satellite chip or something in this so that it'll supply it's own internet, then it would be an incredible device. I guess if you travel a lot and carry more than one internet device with you, then this will probably be a really good device.

Pros: * Sleek design
* Long usb cable that "clicks" when plugged into device - a nice touch.
* Installed Shareport Mobile App for Android and for iOS - quick and easy with the QR code in the quick start guide - finally, someone is thinking!
* Streams multiple devices at once
* Rotating piece on bottom of device helps stand the device up.
* Photos and video can be uploaded to attached device with Shareport
* Lightweight and small form factor
* Works with USB Flash Drives and USB Portable Drives

Cons: * Software can be quirky. When you "favorite" a file, it actually downloads it to your mobile device. Not what I had in mind. No way to un-favorite a file.
* Software often crashes on Android device
* Can be slow to respond at times. Loading of hi-res photos can take more than a few seconds
* You must use the SharePort software.

Other Thoughts: * My main usage is from the perspective of a mobile device user in need of streaming files. For this purpose, the device is very good. This is truly useful on a train or airplane and/or when your device is full and you want a few movies to watch or music to listen to.
* Must remove back and insert battery - not hard to do. With device plugged in via USB, I was able to use the device right away.
* On my mobile device, started software and the device was immediately found.
* Easily view and hear movies, music, and photos.
* After turning on device, it takes a few minutes for the WiFi light to go "green" and broadcast a WiFi signal
* Battery life: Played a full length mp4 video file repeatedly. 2.5 hours when portable (mechanical, which draws more power) drive connected. Almost 6 hours with USB Flash Drive connected.
* Time to charge: about 3 hours
* Connected drive can be formatted with FAT32 or NTFS - Another reviewer wrote that it doesn't work with NTFS. I did not find that to be the case.

Pros: This D-Link router has some great promise, but there is still much to be desired before this could become a necessary gadget.

The unit is pocket size and survived a month of being thrown in a backpack and carried around. The unit has multiple ways of connecting your WiFi devices to the internet. It can plug in to an ethernet port and be an access point or you can configure it like a normal router. If you don't want to carry a network wire or hunt for a network jack, the device can also be setup as a repeater and simple amplify a WiFi network that already exists.

The file sharing aspect of it is very convenient. Simply plug in a storage device and you can access it from either the WiFi; or if configured properly, the files can be accessed from the network you are connecting the Go Mobile Companion to.

The batter life is great. I have charged it fully and been able to use it off and on over the past week without needing to re-charge it, and I have been using an external hard drive with it.

The range of the WiFi is nothing special, however it is sturdy and more than capable of handling the couple of devices I have connected to it so far.

Cons: The major drawbacks to this device is in the software it runs. It appears to be nothing more than the standard D-Link firmware that has been copied from one of their other routers and it has been very flakey for me. The unit has locked up once, become un-accessible and had to use the reset button to reset the device to factory defaults.

The main feature of this Go Mobile Companion is to allow sharing files and internet connections. The file sharing has much to be desired. The unit does not allow for access with Windows file sharing. In order to access the files, you need to use the web browser, or for Android the app. The media is indexed as soon as the device is plugged in and if it is plugged in while the unit is booting up, it will halt the bootup process and will not be usable until the media has been indexed. The device promotes an app for accessing the media on the USB drive which has crashed on my Droid X2 running Android 2.3.5 with almost every use. Transfer rates from a USB drive to my computer were about 2.3MB/s.

The functionality of the device to share an internet connection is functional, but not intuitive at all. You will need to configure the router for most uses. The exception is that if you always use the ethernet port to connect it to the internet, you will not need to change the settings. D-Link does have an android app for configuring the device, but it also crashes with every use. The device does not have any ability to automatically seek out any internet connection. This would have been a major bonus for this device.

The device does not come with many extras. There is no charger for the device, you are expected to charge it by plugging it in to your computer. There is no application you can install for accessing the files on the USB drive. The time it takes to start up the device with no USB drives attached is roughly a minute and a half, much to long to be conveniently used.

Other Thoughts: Overall, the device has many bugs and can be hard to use. The idea behind the device is great and I was hoping for more than I got. There is a chance that this would be worth buying in the future, but they will need to do a lot of work on the software this device is running. There are many more bugs that I have not listed here that have made this device difficult to use.

Pros: I can't think of any pros. I was unable to set it up, or use it. It kept crashing and freezing up. Was difficult to even connect to it via WIFI. Took multiple attempts and reboots of the router, just to access it.

Cons: Where to begin. Maybe I got a defective unit, but I was unable to do anything with this router. After many router reboots I was finally able to login to the router's user/setup interface. Any time I tried to change a setting the router would lock-up.

Many times my Asus netbook would connect to it via WIFI, but the connection would be unusable with a yellow flag from Windows XP. this would require yet another router reboot. Note that the router reboots take several minutes each time adding to the user frustration. I tried different browsers. They all kept freezing/locking up when connected to this router. I was unable to do even basic setup functions like changing the default password or time zone. The quick install guide that came with it was a joke. I downloaded the full manual for what is was worth. It skimped on details, such as how to perform a proper firmware update.

Other Thoughts: I downloaded and tried to apply the latest firmware upgrade, but the router says to only do this over a wired connection? This is a wireless device, no directions were supplied on how to do this over a wired connection? I attempted it anyway using WIFI and browsing to the update file on my laptop's desktop. When I clicked upgrade, the router just froze again. End of story. D-Link need to get with the program and offer automatic online firmware updates like their competition does. This router had a stone-age interface as far as modern N-based routers go.

This is a classic example of a product being brought to market before its technically ready for sale. This router behaved like an unfinished beta device. Obviously there are serious firmware flaws that need to be worked-out in this device before its ready for public sale. D-Link should recall these units and repair them before offering them to the public.

Other negatives include the lack of an included AC charger. Who is going to want to tie up their laptop USB port, or cell phone USB charger while traveling and being pressed for time? I can't imagine those little USB cube chargers that come with most modern cell phones cost that much, so why not include one D-Link?

Then there was the usual issue of the supplied cords being too short to do much with. The unit is so light that a standard network patch cable could easily pull it off of any surface you set it on. The flip out support stand was flimsy and not worth the trouble to use it.

If D-Link would like to supply a working unit, I would be glad to retest it, or if they can explain how to update the firmware on the present device, to get it working? I also used a paper clip to perform a reset, but that made no difference.

Pros: D-Link is a quality company that I look to for good functioning networking gear. It is one of four I consider when purchasing networking gear.

This product is well crafted, looks like quality.

The two eggs are because of the good idea, and good workmanship. The good idea is to have a portable router that does a number of things that a person on the road or off-site could use at a reasonable price and size. The good workmanship cause it looks like a professional piece of gear that is well made.

The third egg is cause it does work and will benefit those who buy with knowledge of its limitations.

It just lacks implementation of the ideas in a practical manner. Perhaps more on the road testing and brainstorming might be in order.

I really don't believe that there is any untruthful advertising on D-Links part, perhaps just wishful thinking on the part of consumers that it would do what they want and not just what it can in reality do.

The best thing about this product is that perhaps it will open the door to better implementations of this idea, maybe with D-link leading the way.

As long as a person knows what he is getting and the limitations of this device, and that it will not play every file they can find, but will play most of what people use usually, I would not detract from the price hunters desire to try it out, just read the specs very carefully and other reviewers experiences.

Cons: The only power source is a albeit powerful 1700mAH expensive replaceable battery only recharged through the USB 2.0 port. Takes about 3-4 hours, and lasts about the same amount of time when in use. There should be another perhaps wallwart AC adapter to charge the unit faster and more conveniently when in a hotel room or office.

It doesn't seem sensible to drain a laptops battery to power a power source for another portable device like smartphone.

An external antenna would be nice, however, I think I understand that would add to the cost and reduce portability of the unit, and it is not made to substitute for a regular permanent router, just enough to fill a room or two with access temporarily.

A CD should be included with either setup programs or at least easy instructions for average office people to use on the road. Seemed kinda tedious in setup.

I think a price in the fifties might be reasonable due to the cost of the battery mostly. This is not a cheap 600mAH battery, but a heftier and more expensive 1700mAH.

A faster USB 3.0 port would be in order.

Other Thoughts: There needs to be a simplification and standardization of the Wi-Fi networking impementations. More programs that automatically find each other and use a standard identification format that can be setup with minimal knowledge on the users part.

I know Apple will hold your hand, but PCs should be able to govern themselves with a more rigorous set of rules.

Pros: This is a fascinating little device, and if I did more traveling I would likely find it as useful as my phone itself. But even in a non mobile setting, it offers plenty of features. In addition to being a wireless router in compact form, it allows simplified access to a USB drive through an app, allowing you to stream media directly to your phone or tablet.

The device can even charge your phone from the USB port, which allows the unit to also perform like one of those rechargeable emergency chargers. Probably not as efficient as one as the router needs to be powered, but it's still a nice extra feature.

It's at least as fast as my regular home router, and handled all my test traffic with ease. At one point I had several laptops, a tablet, and a phone all streaming with no hiccups.

Cons: Lacks an AC power adapter, and must be charged/powered by USB. That means you need to either use up a port, or carry around a compatible charger. I used one from an old cell phone, but it would have been nice if one was included.

Connecting any type of storage adds a bunch of extra files to the drive, and there's a 500GB limitation on storage size. That's still a lot of media, but it seems like a strange limitation to have in this era of terabyte drives. Top cover is gloss plastic, which is always a bad idea on a mobile device as it will collect scratches quickly.

The vertical stand is kind of pointless, with as light as the unit is making it even more unstable is probably not the best idea.

I also had a few issues with the SharePort app crashing, but I can't be certain it was the app, it may have been my cheap Chinese tablet and low end smartphone at fault.

Other Thoughts: I think this device would be even more useful to the iPhone/iPad users since their internal storage is non upgradable, but even Android devices can benefit from the extra media space.

Pros: I like the design concept. This device is very useful as a repeater. Since repeaters usually work best when they are equally distant from the original WiFi point and the device they are trying to reach, you can move this repeater to different parts of the house to best suit your needs. It's also a neat way to add an extra level of security in public WiFi areas, essentially turning any unsecured WiFi into secured WiFi. Not many hotels rooms offer wired internet instead of WiFi, but I suppose that if you are in a bind and only have wired internet, you can create a WiFi network on the go. It can be used just like any other router/repeater, it's just very small and has a battery.

Cons: There is no AC power option, so to just leave it plugged into a wall, you'll need an AC-USB adapter. While the concept is neat, it has some serious design flaws. First of all, D-Link says that it's useful as a portable charger. While it's true that plugging a phone charger into the USB port where you would normally plug in media will charge the phone, it only has a 1700 mAh battery. My phone has 2500 mAh battery. See the problem with using as a portable charger? I would barely get any use out of it at all if I used it to charge my phone, and it probably wouldn't even come close to fully charging my phone. D-Link needs to at least double the battery capacity if they want to market this as a portable charging device. The next problem I had was with the setup. With any other router/repeater, I would go to the device IP, in this case 192.168.0.1, and enter the name and password that I want the network to have. Can't do that on this. When you connect to it, Windows 7 will bring up a box asking if you want to set it up. If you click it asks you to enter the PIN on the router, except the pin is not on the router. The PIN is in the settings. So you have to cancel, reconnect and this time click cancel-connect anyway. Then you go to 192.168.0.1. While you're there you can connect the router to an existing network, but the network the DIR-506L broadcasts will still be unsecured, and there is no option anywhere in the settings to change the network name or give it a password. You have to write down the PIN, tell your computer to forget the network and then reconnect to get the box to come up again, and this time enter the PIN you wrote down to change the network name and password. Why in the world D-Link didn't just put the option in the settings I will never understand. The firmware in general gave me a lot of trouble. Finally, the SharePort feature was just a nightmare. First of all, nothing you plug into the USB port can be simply accessed as a network drive. You have to go to 192.168.1.121:8080 in your web browser to access the content. Once you're there, you can't simply drag and drop files. You have to do everything through the SharePort interface they've created. I've figured out how to play/view files, and how to add new folders/files, but I haven't figured out how to save/retrieve files. This is just a dumb design. I should be able to map it as a network drive just like any other router with a USB port and storage, but nope. The SharePort app makes sense for iOS/Android devices, which don't have the same file exploration options as a computer, but on the Play Store, the DIR-506L isn't even listed as a compatible device. I downloaded it anyway, and it sort of works, but I still cannot figure out how to save files, nor can I figure out how to upload them. Documentation claims that there should be a "+" in the upper right corner to upload files, but it's not there.

Other Thoughts: I also had some connectivity issues when multiple devices were connected. When my laptop was connected, my phone kept getting booted. It made testing the device annoying. In conclusion, my review title says it all. It's a great concept, but D-Link needs to fix the SharePort software to make it easier to save and upload files, they need to fix the firmware, they need to make it so that I can change the network name and password from the device settings, they need to make it so that any storage device plugged into the USB port can be accessed as a network drive, so I don't have to use my web browser or their software to access the storage, and they need to at least double the battery capacity. It gets 3 eggs since it can still be pretty useful, and it's a great concept, but it needs work. Some simple firmware updates could make it a 4 egg product, and a larger battery would make it a 5 egg product. Good luck, D-Link.