D-Link DIR-625: Another Draft N Router comes up short
by Gary Key on September 20, 2006 2:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Networking
Quick Thoughts
Our original opinions about the Draft N products still stand. While the 10 and 40 foot throughput numbers are fairly impressive they do not live up to the marketing hype. Overall, the routers do not offer enough of an advantage over the current Pre-N MIMO products to warrant an upgrade. While the Pre-N Airgo based products contain proprietary technology and will never be upgradeable to 802.11n, they perform just as well or better than the current Draft N products whose manufacturers also cannot guarantee full compatibility with the eventual 802.11n standard.
We will complete the testing of additional Draft N routers from Buffalo, NetGear, and D-Link in the near future but do not expect to see any true differences in performance. We understand from NetGear their Marvell TopDog chipset products will have better overall throughput than their Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset based products but we doubt it is enough to make a real difference. Even though we have not finished our testing, we have to strongly recommend that users wait until 802.11n is ratified and approved.
However, for those users willing to take the Draft N plunge we would suggest getting the D-Link DIR-625 or Belkin N1 routers (along with the matching adaptor cards) based upon the Atheros XSpan chipset for distances under 80 feet. This is not entirely based upon absolute performance criteria although both routers had very consistent maximum and average throughput rates up to 80 feet. Instead, this is based on the user experience with both routers. The packaging, documentation, router management tools, and ease of use characteristics with both routers were exemplary for first time users while still providing information that advanced users would find beneficiary. Also, these two routers did not suffer the same "bad neighbor" effect we witnessed in our original testing of the Broadcom Intensi-fi equipped Linksys and NetGear Draft N routers. Overall, we would give the nod to Belkin for superior customer service but still stand by our recommendation to wait on the final 802.11n standard.
Our original opinions about the Draft N products still stand. While the 10 and 40 foot throughput numbers are fairly impressive they do not live up to the marketing hype. Overall, the routers do not offer enough of an advantage over the current Pre-N MIMO products to warrant an upgrade. While the Pre-N Airgo based products contain proprietary technology and will never be upgradeable to 802.11n, they perform just as well or better than the current Draft N products whose manufacturers also cannot guarantee full compatibility with the eventual 802.11n standard.
We will complete the testing of additional Draft N routers from Buffalo, NetGear, and D-Link in the near future but do not expect to see any true differences in performance. We understand from NetGear their Marvell TopDog chipset products will have better overall throughput than their Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset based products but we doubt it is enough to make a real difference. Even though we have not finished our testing, we have to strongly recommend that users wait until 802.11n is ratified and approved.
However, for those users willing to take the Draft N plunge we would suggest getting the D-Link DIR-625 or Belkin N1 routers (along with the matching adaptor cards) based upon the Atheros XSpan chipset for distances under 80 feet. This is not entirely based upon absolute performance criteria although both routers had very consistent maximum and average throughput rates up to 80 feet. Instead, this is based on the user experience with both routers. The packaging, documentation, router management tools, and ease of use characteristics with both routers were exemplary for first time users while still providing information that advanced users would find beneficiary. Also, these two routers did not suffer the same "bad neighbor" effect we witnessed in our original testing of the Broadcom Intensi-fi equipped Linksys and NetGear Draft N routers. Overall, we would give the nod to Belkin for superior customer service but still stand by our recommendation to wait on the final 802.11n standard.
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zyren - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
This review is pretty pointless considering the DIR-625 is an old router and the DIR-635 has been the successor of the 625 for a while now (with the atheros chip, if i am correct). I own the 635 and have been very pleased with it. Compared to my old g router, this is so much better. Why didnt they just review the 635?Gary Key - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
We have a review of the DI-635 coming up, however the DI-625 is still for sale and the price point has been moved down to $99 now. Considering the marketing and advertising on this router is still in full swing we thought it was appropriate to review it. Also, in preliminary testing we have found no real difference between the two routers in actual performance. The 120 foot capability of the DI-635 is improved by about 4%, the other ranges are equal or within 1%. :)Chadder007 - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
Im sticking with G for a long time it seems.....N doesn't offer anything extra that I need at home. Videos stream just fine on my G network.Myrandex - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
I have always been a fan of DLink. Their customer support has been nice whenever I have called in, and they actually speak english (not Englishian). Their DGL4300 is an amazing router as well, with integrated Gigabit networking and decent wireless performance (in 802.11g mode with laptop and pocket pc). It looks prety badass as well with the blue LEDs.PAPutzback - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
All I buy is DLINK. My DI-634 works great and my 16 port switch works great. But I won't buy another wireless router until they add gigabit ports. Why do they still limit to 10/100 speeds when even the cheapest MB are coming with gigabit NICsChadder007 - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
Thats what I would like to know.
nullpointerus - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
Have you followed the motherboard benchmarks? A motherboard gigabit NIC consumes tons of CPU time as the bandwidth increases. I assume there are additional cost and design issues for a gigabit router vs. a typical 10/100 Mbps part. My Linksys routers have a hard enough time not burning themselves through the desk just handling very light 10/100 Mbps traffic.yyrkoon - Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - link
They could slap in an Intel GbE processor, especially since the Intel NICs using this processor out perform other NICs of the same class. *shrug*I'm not even going to bother with another wireless router until Wi-Max hits the market personally . . .
mino - Thursday, September 21, 2006 - link
LOL, the problem is how to ROUTE such amount of traffic, not overheating NIC's...yyrkoon - Friday, September 22, 2006 - link
Perhaps, you were talking to the person above me ? In which case you should have replied to him, and not me :)