D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Selectable Dual Band Draft 802.11n Gaming Router

10 Review to this product

• 

  Myk
  January 6th, 2008 on 7:46 pm

  Rating

  I’ve owned this router for a few months now, and it totally transformed my home network. My previous router was a Linksys WRT54G running on DD-WRT firmware (a third party linux based firmware).

  setup was really easy, I just turned on the router, logged onto it and replaced all the settings with my personal settings (like wireless SSID name and ip address and such). You can set it to automatically choose either WPA or WPA2 depending on the abilities of your wireless card which I thought was a really nice touch.

  I have my macbook pro with wireless N, 2 ibm thinkpads with wireless G, my xbox connected by eithernet, my fileserver connected via gigabit eithernet, my desktop connected via gigabit ethernet, and a wireless printer via wireless G, all connected to the router and all of which run flawlessly. I can even stream HD off of my fileserver to my macbook over wireless N while I have bittorrent running on my fileserver and something downloading on my xbox without any problems.

  My 16 Mbit internet connection feels twice as fast now that I have a router that can actually keep up with it.
• 

  Alfredo Spath
  January 14th, 2008 on 8:12 pm

  Rating

  If you like the best current conection possible 300mbps this is your right choice. With my DLINK 4500 in wireless N you obtain 300mbps and the video fluid like the water.

  Of course you need to read the manual (i recommend to DLINK print a short instructions in paper) and start to learn about networks.

  The instructions to establish the router settings via online are complete but for a novice like me could be complicated.

  I think that DLINK could translate the manual in different languages because not all the buyers understand very well english.

  The device is simple but beautiful.
  
• 

  mlkri
  February 1st, 2008 on 11:42 am

  Rating

  Our home network is pretty extensive, whole house, lots of connections, wired and wireless. We’ve gone through a few router types and all was fine until we added a 3rd Xbox to the system. No amount of configuring, tricks, tips or customer support from our old router manufacturer would allow us to run all 3 on Xbox Live with “Open Nat”. Decided to try this router and it works perfectly!

  The set up took a few minutes, I wouldn’t say it was hard but it wasn’t a simple plug in and go, you need to read the instructions and knowing a little bit about your settings will certainly help. All in all it was only about 15 minutes before everything was up and running. The firmware upgrade is a little bit of a pain and I wish they could have made that easier.

  I don’t find all the “display” bells and whistles of any really use to me. But the unit does what it claims and that was exactly what was needed here.

  Bottom line – if your household has multiple gamers along with the rest of the internet connected, network fixtures in our home networks these days, this is your router. 3 Xbox 360s all on xbox live simultaneously and all with open NAT – ’nuff said.
• 

  Lars Milano
  February 14th, 2008 on 11:37 am

  Rating

  This router has solved all my home networking woes and I’ve had a lot of them. Granted, it’s fairly complicated for a home network in that there are many devices connected both wired and wirelessly from various macs and PCs, home theater receiver, music server, network printers, network storage drives, game consoles (ps3, xbox, wii), etc. In the past I’ve used a combination of various routers to make things work properly. From different versions of Apple airport (express, extreme, extreme “N”) to various Belkin and Linkysys models, even the supposedly foolproof WRT54G model.

  The problem with the Apple airport models has been their inability to allow open NAT for Xbox Live gaming, not to mention the playstation network. I love Airport networks and their integration with OS X and all its cool file/music/drive/printer sharing and networking features but I’ve always had to combine an extra router to handle the non-Apple side of things. The D-Link DGL-4500 is the first router I’ve had that plays nice with everything on the network. It just works. It works with Apple-based networks, it provides Open NAT for Xbox Live, it works with PS3 (with some minor tweaks), and it works with just about any challenge I throw at it. Music and video streaming, latency-sensitive online gaming, you name it.

  The Xtreme N gaming router is the jack of all trades. It does it all and looks great to boot. The OLED display looks sharp, has access to basic functions and status on the unit itself (a nice touch), and setup was a snap. It basically worked with everything right out of the box without much customization. The only change I made was to set the PS3 in DMZ in order to get from NAT type 3 to type 2. But Xbox 360 had open NAT out of the box. My favorite part about the DGL-4500 is the web-based interface. Although it’s not exactly simplified, it is very flexible and well organized. If you have a basic understanding of designing networks, this user interface is everything you could ever ask for. The web-based interface on my previous Linksys and Belkin were all cryptic by comparison. The only thing better is Apple’s own Airport utility application, but you can’t win ‘em all.

  A small nitpick I have with the router is the bright blue power LED that shines like a beacon in a dark room. While the OLED display is just as bright, at least it shuts off after a few seconds. The power LED stays on all the time and is quite annoying if you have it setup in the bedroom, bookshelf, or on your home theater cabinet. There is no way to turn it off or turn it down. Cutting a circular piece of duct tape and taping it over solves the problem quite easily.

  Although I purchased this router at an attractive price of $175, it still seems pricey for a router. I do think it’s worth every penny considering that an Apple Airport Extreme “N” costs as much brand new but isn’t nearly as capable or compatible. Highly recommend if you want a comprehensive, do-it-all, compatible-with-all, high-speed 802.11n router.
• 

  Randy Cortez
  March 27th, 2008 on 3:20 am

  Rating

  This router is the fastest most reliable one on the market. I’ve tried every top router out there and this one beats them blind folded. Gaming on this router is awesome too because I experience “N0 LAG” at all. The wireless range is great too. It’s worth every penny.
• 

  Aric T.
  August 2nd, 2008 on 8:05 pm

  Rating

  I am shocked at all the negative reviews about this product. Either some of you got duds, or you don’t know what you’re doing.

  This is a fabulous router. I recently upgraded from a Linksys WRT310N (which is a good router) to this for the dual-band and range/throughput improvement. It does all of that and more…I have never had better wireless coverage through my house, which is 3,500sq ft. It also streams HD video with ease, as well as having great performance transferring large files wirelessly across my network. I have this paired with a Hawking dish-style high-gain 802.11n adapter and I get 4-5 bars @ 270-300Mbps throughout the house, amazing!

  The only thing “negative” I would say about the router is the web-based setup screen. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you will probably be overwhelmed at the complexity and depth of all the options on this router. The Linksys equivalent is like a Cliff’s Notes version of this. I also think this is a tad overpriced…When you have new routers like the Linksys WRT610N priced at almost $40 less than a router almost a year old, that’s a little high.
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  T-Money
  September 11th, 2008 on 8:00 pm

  Rating

  The reviews have been all over the place on this router but not sure why. I am not an expert on routers or computers by any means but right out of the box the set up was easy and works great. I highly recommend this D-Link product to anyone from an extreme gamer or someone that just wants extended wireless internet access.

  As for the rebate, I hope D-Link follows through with me unlike it sounds for others that posted problems with them.
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  JEROME M. Malerich
  September 28th, 2008 on 4:14 pm

  Rating

  Have been a linksys person. Linksys routers are terrible for gaming and only mediocre in everything else. This Router is great for gaming and great for every other need. Have had no problems. Also, very easy to tweak settings of router with great help. Installation took 5 min.
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  R. Whelan
  February 2nd, 2009 on 10:46 am

  Rating

  I recently upgraded my home network using this router. I was interested in having a display on the router which I found very helpful. The speed of all my pc’s is fantastic and I get a good signal from one end of the house to the other. It was easy to setup and documentation was excellent (although electronic). I have a slingbox, Xbox, vonage physically attached and have 5 PC’s running wireless. Additionally, I have a TIVO and WII running wireless. All devices are compatible and haven’t had any issues. I haven’t had to adjust the router’s bandwidth for gaming since there haven’t been any issues with throughput. One of the wirelss PC’s is constantly on World of Warcrafts’ latest update. I have diffent vendor wirless cards in each of the PC. 2 PC’s run with a USB N from D-Link, one PC uses a Belkin pre-N, Toshiba Laptop uses the native card built in and I have a generic N card in the last PC. The Tivo uses a “G” Tivo network card.
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  Shop till I drop
  April 16th, 2009 on 3:49 pm

  Rating

  I purchased this router as my household outgrew our 7 year old Linksys router. Surfing the web had become as slow as cold molasses and we have a Broadband connection. Though I had no problem at all over the years with the Linksys router, after careful review on many sites, I decided to purchase this D-Link router. After reading some reviews of most ‘N’ routers, I was worried about dropped signals. Supposedly most N routers are indeed faster but are susceptable to dropping the signal often. I wound up reading many reviews of the D-Link router and was finally satisfied that I had found the one. This router is not only sleek but it has no problem handling my household’s wireless, as well as wired, needs. Now, we may not have the most technical home out there but we have the following connected at all times: 3 laptops, 1 desktop, 1 wireless printer, 1 wireless XBox Live, 1 Wii Network, and a home phone connection. This is all besides the occasional DS and Palm Pilot connection. I barely get a hiccup now much less a total disconnection. I’m very happy with my purchase.