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.

Overall Review: 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: The Dlink DIR-506L is a portable (battery powered) wireless Router, Repeater, and Access Point. It also acts as a Media Server for USB attached storage devices. 1. Easy setup, however some settings require a reboot, which take one minute each. I did need to "reset to factory defaults" (hold the reset button for 10 seconds with a paper clip) from time to time. Four basic Setup menus: [a] Internet Settings, [b] Wireless Settings, [c] Media Server, [d] Storage. Internet and Wireless have Wizards. [a] Internet: Step 1: Set your Password Step 2: Select your Time Zone Step 3: Configure your Internet Connection Step 4: Save Settings and Connect [b] Wireless: Step 1: Name your Wireless Network Step 2: Secure your Wireless Network Step 3: Set your Wireless Security Password [c] Media Server Here you name your media server, assign an IP address and port (default is 192.168.0.1:8181). [d] Storage: Here you create additional userid/passwords, assign Read vs. Read/Write access, etc. 2. Battery life is good, however I wish it came with an A/C adapter (e.g. powered USB wall plug). I recharged the 560L battery with my Laptop/Desktop USB port, and with my Phone charger (5.1 volt, 0.7 amp). The manual specifies 1 amp, so I was glad 0.7 amp worked. 3. Wireless range is adequate. Moving the 506L about 50 feet away (behind one wall) dropped the signal to 50%. 4. Performance of the Router is good. I ran the DIR-506L in all three modes (wired attachment to the Internet as both a Router and Access Point, and wireless attachment to the Internet as a Repeater).

Cons: 1. Performance of the Media Server is unacceptably slow. File transfer speed was fine (both download and upload). Changing menus was too slow (e.g. between Photos, Songs, Videos, and Documents). Rebooting the 506L, with a USB storage device attached, takes longer (the 506L appears to scan the storage on boot). 2. Media Server User Interface. The files in each category are listed as a single list. This is alright for searching, but tedious to scroll though. The USB storage can also be navigated in a "tree structure" however moving between the branches of the tree was too slow. I used a laptop and web browser to navigate the tree to verify the poor performance was the 506L. 3. Media Server storage does not scale. I was able to access files on a (tiny) 8GB thumb drive, however I was unable to do anything but wait, when I attached a 320 GB USB hard drive. It appeared the 506L was scanning the entire disk. 4. Media Server stores many "hidden" directories and files on your USB storage device. One copy of the .dlna directory (on the root of the disk) however the .shareport directories where all over the disk. Here are examples: .dlna files.db minidlna.log .shareport admin-document-dir admin-movie-dir admin-photo-dir dirs-admin dirs-mike lc-document-file-admin lc-movie-file-admin lc-music-file-admin lc-photo-file-admin ld-admin lf-admin spt-version

Overall Review: 1. No case or A/C adapter provided. The 506L comes with two cables (USB and Ethernet). To recharge the battery, you need a powered USB port. To use the Media Server, you need a USB storage device. I feel this "collection of parts" deserves a case. 2. Cell Phone battery recharging. I recharge my Cell Phone via the powered USB port on the 506L however the battery of the 506L drained before my phone was fully charged. The 506L must be powered on (consuming battery power) for this to work. 3. Wired Ethernet In, but no wired Ethernet Out. You can not just unplug a device from an existing network, plug-in the 506L, and plug the removed device into the 506L (no Ethernet Out).

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.

Overall Review: * 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: *The D-Link SharePort can be a great road companion because of its multi-functionality; however, on the road, it'll run out of gas as quickly as the Model T you're driving.* - The D-Link SharePort has a nice white finish to it. It is small, light, and therefore very portable, fitting into a pocket like a wallet would. There are three green indicator LEDs on it which glow or stay solid in certain events and one orange charge LED. The lights are easy on the eyes. There is a foldable stand on the bottom of the device, which can be flipped out, making the unit stand upright. Also, there is a USB 2.0 port, a LAN port, and a Mini-USB port. However, it lacks some other useful physical traits (see Cons). The Mini-USB port charges the device, either through a wall-socket USB or a computer. - In terms of wireless delivery, the D-Link SharePort offers it all, acting as a router--however limited--an AP, repeater, and a Hotspot. Its range is acceptable, considering no external antennas and its size. As a Hotspot, speeds are fine nearby. It can charge your mobile phone, but it's costly. Once the D-Link is up and running, a little tweaking in Wireless Settings (192.168.0.1) will permit it to behave in the manner you wish, as mentioned above. The D-Link settings page is rather straight-forward, and offers three security modes. - The SharePort, with its ability to give mobile devices access to media on a connected USB drive, is handy for storing multiple types of media on a high capacity drive; capacities that your mobile device cannot contain. It allows access to hundreds of movies or thousands of songs on your mobile device that is usually restricted to 16, 32 or 64GB, by having an USB drive of much higher capacity connected to it. An app downloaded in your App Store makes it so that you can stream these media files from the D-Link onto your device. The app is easy to use and free. Right out of the box, you can connect your external drive (NTFS can be used) full of media files to the D-Link to be read and played while connected to its wireless signal. The streaming quality is fine even though its streamed wirelessly. The SharePort feature gives plenty of range, and even 65ft away, with two walls in the way, video files played without incident. Also, the files can be played in any Media Player app you like best. Movies' audio / video sync is right on. - The SharePort reads MP4, MOV, and--unlike other reviewers said--also read AVI video files. But don't expect it to read any file thrown at it. It'll cover most of your music files; also, almost every picture file available. - A lot of the features are angled to on-the-go people and mobile device users. Like in a hotel, where only one ethernet cable comes from the wall, you can connect the D-Link and turn the signal wireless. Which makes it useful for devices tied to wireless. It can even repeat a secured wireless signal without the need of the password! Which might be the most useful features it provides.

Cons: - The lack of an AC adapter or wall wart charger is a disappointment. The battery lasts a mere four hours, and since the device is targeted toward travelers, who do not have time usually to charge something and require uninterrupted use, it falls short of accommodating the luxury of a full mobile solution. Only being able to be charged by a USB ties the user down to a computer or other USB adapter type. - It would be nice to have a USB 3.0 port so that the files on the attached USB drive could be read quicker. The SharePort takes at least four minutes to boot, and testing it with a just 65GB worth of files, it must take much longer to start with more storage. Also, if not one USB 3.0, there should be two 2.0s. - The router mode is quite useless. Using it as a full time router would be asinine considering the battery's short duration. It would have to be constantly charging for it to function as a dedicated router. And with no multiple Ethernet LAN connectivity to computers, the router mode is even more unimaginable. - Rubber feet are missing on the bottom of the device, so it slips and slides easily. With attached cables and movement, the device will fall often. - If using a laptop to connect to its SharePort feature, there is no method to browse the media files in folder view. You can stream them on a laptop by going under Network and clicking on DIR-506L. However, to view the files, you are bounded to a poor web file browser (to get there, type 192.168.1.17:8181 in the address bar). - After connecting a drive to the D-Link, a bunch of bloat files are placed on the drive. They don't take up much space, but rather clutters up your organization. - After trying for a couple of hours, I couldn't find a way to upload files to the attached USB drive on the D-Link, even though they advertise that you can. If it is possible, the option isn't easy to find or execute. - It lacks the capability to read MKV or MPG video files. - Though the Wifi HotSpot is a cool feature--and works well--after four devices are tied to it, bandwidth drops drastically. Also, the range is not strong enough to act as an AP or repeater. For this reason, D-Link should have included two optional, screw-on antennas. - Using the device to charge your phone isn't practical. Since it drains battery quickly, you are basically draining the SharePort to fill your phone up with juice. - The included manual is poorly put together with two simple staples. It explains very little, and the lack of a CD explaining the setup process will leave many consumers confused and wary. Often during the setup of the different modes, the D-Link page would freeze and not connect. This led to many redos. - It comes with only a one year warranty. At least two years would boost some confidence.

Overall Review: Though I believe D-Link had good intentions with this device, it falls short in too many categories. I think that if they would have focused more on three features instead of six and let another feature drop for the sake of it, the DIR-506L would be a better product. Its many properties and its ability to transform into what you want it to be makes it all that weaker. As another reviewer mentioned: when trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, specifics are sacrificed. I still think this could be useful to some people; although, there are products out there that are aimed at specific categories that this device includes in its tent but lacks in. I think many consumers will buy this only to be disappointed by one of its limited features.

Pros: Can be used as Router, access point and repeater. Creates a mobile Hotspot. 802.11n and 802.11g compliant. Rechargeable battery, WPA and WPA 2 encryption, WPS, Mobile app for Android and iphone (Shareport Mobile App), USB port for flash/external hard drives. Ethernet port allows connection to existing network, acts as external battery for cells phones and tablets. Swivel base acts as a stand. Great looking, small and compact. Free iOS and Android Apps. Dual antennas giving pretty good range.

Cons: No power brick, charging by USB only, less than 4 hours before battery died, Ethernet 10/100 only, USB 2.0 only and 500Gb attached drive limit. N speeds limited to 150mbps max. Documentation is not good and it can be confusing for inexperienced user. Android App buggy. Will not play my .avi or .iso video files from attached storage. Not as fast as wireless N router. No DMZ, guest zone or DHCP reservation in router mode. Initially not able to login in to mobile AP using http://dlinkrouterlogin.local but needed to use http://192.168.0.1 Slow to boot up.

Overall Review: Not really sure what to say about this device as it really is a niche product but has so much flexibility it could suit many people. Trouble is there are other devices that can do the same things for cheaper although this D Link Shareport is portable, battery powered, easy to use and can do them all. Where to start! Initially I connected the device to a wired port on my router using Ethernet, logging in was easy enough and setting up the router was also easy although each setting required the router to reboot which was time consuming. Once up and running it worked very well allowing me and four colleagues to connect to the router and share the same internet connection. We were also able to stream a movie that I had stored on the attached flash drive at the same time. One colleague had a laptop running Win 7, one an Android Phone and the others used an iPhone and iPad. All were able to simultaneously watch the movie without any noticeable stutter once the Android and iphone apps were installed. We also created documents and saved then to a shared file I created on the flash drive. I did test the speed of the D-Link network using my Lan Speed Test software and recorded write and read speeds of 23.92mbps and 23.68mbps in my office (12ft away from the mobile router). When connecting to my regular router at the same location I recorded write and read speeds of 37.29mbps and 42.88mbps. It was obvious that my home router was faster and it is N300 as opposed to N150 of the mobile router. This is definitely an interesting device. I am unable to place it in a specific pocket, however if you are a true road warrior and need to share an internet connection easily then this is a great device. The apps worked well enough as did the attached storage. I would have liked to connect my 2TB external HDD with all my media but was limited to 500gb only. I even managed to use this to power up my dead Nexus a couple of times while I was travelling last week. All in all I like this device, recommended for people on the move.

Pros: Compact router with good documentation (online), powered/charged by USB with USB Phone/device charger functionality, DLNA compliance (i.e. gives you the option of third party DLNA IOS/Android apps), excellent wireless range, decent battery life

Cons: D-Link SharePort app was problematic (see Other thoughts section), almost all configuration changes require a 1 min+ restart, couldn’t get the wireless repeater mode to work at all, no external toggle switch between modes (The similar DIR-505 has one)

Overall Review: I really wanted to like this device and, for the most part, I do. However, what the old saying says about a jack-of-all-trades applies here and, hence, my review title. It has a robust option set within the router functionality and I was able to get it all working, excepting one feature. I spent 2 hours trying to get the wireless repeater to work (including numerous restarts – mentioned in the Cons section) on my home network, where I know all of the settings in detail. I first followed the instructions in the manual (found online, 126 pages long) then I tried various settings going from my experience, having configured several wireless repeaters in the past. In those cases, the routers had DD-WRT firmware, so I was skeptical that D-Link’s stock firmware would work anyway, and my skepticism proved right. It would not ever fully connect to the local wireless network and, perhaps, a future firmware update will fix that issue (mine has the current firmware, v2.11). Once physically connected to the network, it works great in Router & AP Modes and I was able to get strong wireless signals (40-60Mbps) between it and my netbook, 45-50 feet away. The con of it lacking of an external toggle switch was because, in trying different settings, it would sometimes make it so the web configuration page was not available at the 192.168.0.1 or dlinkrouter.local addresses, even though it was on the local network and didn't have a conflicting IP address. In those cases, I had to re-set the device to factory settings and, after having that happen a few times, the system configuration backup/save tool became my friend. As for the SharePort functionality, it was a mixed bag for me. Testing from an 8GB USB flash drive that only had compatible/compliant files, I found that it did OK using the D-Link SharePort App. If that sounds like how you will use it, it will probably work fine for you. However, I have a large amount of mixed video content (avi, mkv, mpg, mp4) on a portable 1.5TB USB Hard Drive that is almost full. I didn’t figure that it would show/play the non-compliant files, but it also seemed to struggle with showing even the MP4 files I specifically navigated to. It would sometimes “time-out” when loading the listing and after several attempts, it would eventually show the files and play them. SharePort wasn’t my main focus for this device, so this wasn’t a huge problem for me, but I do like to know the capabilities of my gadgets. If you still unclear what I meant in the review title, page 42 of the PDF manual states that the SharePort/Media Server features are “only available in Router mode.” The gist of this is that sharing can only take place within the network this device creates, not the network that it is connected to and/or using for Internet. Even if you make this device’s LAN IP in the same 255.255.255.0 range as the network it is connected to, it cannot be seen by any devices except the ones that it assigns an IP address to.

Pros: When I first got this, the first thing I did was charge it up, and see how many devices I could stream content to at once. In the end I was actually limited to the amount of devices I had, which was 4. It streamed to them without hiccup. I figure you would prolly be able to connect 4 more devices easily. Battery life is excellent I was streaming to those 4 devices for 2 hours, and I think I could easily have gone 2 hours more. I was amazed when it was able to charge my phone for 4 hours, fully charging it, and then some. Using it as a wireless router connected to Ethernet was useful when I was staying in a hotel with just an ethernet line. It was plenty fast, but I feel limited by the hotel's internet speed. Wireless hotspot, I love this feature I have a internet usb stick thing, so I always have internet when most of my friends don't. I end up being forced to look everything up for everyone, checking their e-mail etc. But not anymore!

Cons: This thing isn't as portable as a cell phone, it honestly feels silly to carry this around in your pocket. The app is very slow, and only picks up on the fact that I am connected to the shareport about 1 third of the time. No internal storage, I can understand why this isn't included, but this would be a lot more portable if it was. I don't know about anybody else, but I have a serious problem of loosing USB flash drives, and relying on them to really use this product, feels dangerous to me. The device feels weak, I fear if it gets knocked off of a table that's the end of it. Back to the app which is required to easily use the cloud service of this device, I feel like it's missing some functionality, browsing picture is a pain, there should be thumbnails, and the ability to swipe to the next picture.

Overall Review: I used a Samsung Galaxy SII, a HTC one X and an acer iconia a 500. I also charged a LG Optimus V with the device. Setting up a hotspot can be confusing if you follow the instructions, as they don't really explain much. Make sure that you plug the device into your laptop, then connect to it with another thing like a phone or laptop, then log into the device (192.168.0.1) if you decide to give it an admin password make sure not to do anymore then 8 letters as you won't be able to type the full password into the log on page if you do more than that.

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.

Overall Review: 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.