D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router and Photo Frame, 2.5″ Drive Bay, 3.2″ LCD, Draft 11n

10 Review to this product

• 

  Nix Cadavre
  July 23rd, 2009 on 1:00 am

  Rating

  Where to begin? This product is just so many things at once, that it’s hard to be sure what parts are most important in a review! Perhaps the best thing to do is to first consider the D-Link DIR685 as a wireless router? Or perhaps as a NAS? Maybe as a digital photo frame? Or should I discuss the FrameChannel features?

  OK, first, as a router this is top-notch once you get it going. The LCD screen provides status, which is a nice feature, and as an 802.11n router, it’s faster than you’ll probably need. Connection can take some time, but the browser configuration panel is detailed, and really gives a lot of options; Many of which I may never need, but that just shows the range of use this thing has.

  Printer sharing on this is handled well via the SharePort utility. It installs easily and works as advertised. Very nice.

  As a NAS, or iTunes server, or any of the other uses related to the hard drive, it’s decent. Once configured, the hard drive is readily accessible. Unfortunately, the fan that cools the hard drive is exceptionally loud; I thought I had a first-generation Xbox 360 in my room again! It was so loud, in fact, that I opted to skip the internal hard drive and have gone with connecting a drive externally via SharePort. Still, mounting the drive inside is as easy as sliding it in, and the device automatically mounts and detects the drive, even asking if you’d like to format it.

  As a digital photo frame, this is a bit small. It works very well, but you do lose some detail in your photos on the 3.2″ LCD. I suppose it would be great for people who like a lot of family pictures in rotation, but for me it’s not a hugely-desired feature. Using the associated software, you can sync up with just about any social site or online photo repository; Facebook, Photobucket, Flikr, etc. They’re all here.

  Doing so requires setting up an account with FrameChannel, which is quite worth it. Once established, it will send data to your DIR685 that works similar to desktop widgets/gadgets. Weather, news, social networking, photos, stocks, or pretty much anything you’d want will cycle on the router’s screen, making it kind of like a “smart clock”. You can customize the timing, priority, and other details. It doesn’t seem to hinder the device or slow things down at all, and most of the Frame Channels look very nice on the screen.

  The device itself has plain controls, but the on-screen menu works for basic functions; settings, status displays, etc.

  Mine came with a small defect in the screen border, though. The rubber gasket around the screen was bent down at the top and covered part of the screen, requiring me to peel off the cover panel (not recommended) and reposition it. Everything went back together fine, but I shouldn’t have needed to do it in the first place, so I would urge D-Link to step up the quality control on the LCD screen.

  I should also note that the sticker on the back that is meant to prevent you from plugging things in before installing software is a real sticker and not a static-cling peel-away. It leaves gummy residue and peels off only with some effort. It’s a bad choice for the function it fulfills.

  These are minor complaints, of course; Hardware-wise, this is an awesome device. It’s definitely worth consideration if you’re looking for an advanced router, NAS, and digital photo frame.

  PRO:
  
  Great router! High speeds!
  
  Easy connection, if you know what you’re doing.
  
  Decent screen.
  
  FrameChannel works flawlessly, and is very useful.
  
  Controls are simple.
  
  Lots of advanced features.
  
  USB SharePorts work perfectly for printer & hard drive.

  CON:
  
  iTunes server/NAS works, but the hard drive fan is too loud.
  
  Quality control issues with LCD placement.
  
  Rear panel had a sticker which, when peeled, left gummy residue.
  
  LCD is a bit too small to be a perfect digital photo frame.

  FINAL VERDICT: A very cool device that fills several roles, and is certain to please those experienced with networking. Those who aren’t as skilled with networking may need to seek a little help with installation and set-up, however, and this will not replace a digital photo frame in your grandma’s living room. It’s a router first, and a good one. Consider the other stuff the whipped cream and cherry on top.
• 

  TheTerrorBeyond
  July 23rd, 2009 on 6:51 pm

  Rating

  EDITED 07/23/09: After using the router all day, I have noticed that the wireless connection speed to my laptop is not consistent like the router I was using prior to this one. The speed constantly changes and has gone from 54mbs to 11mbs repeatedly. The previous router did not do that. Perhaps it is a positioning problem, but this takes the router down one star. I cannot change the star rating on the review, but I consider this a 3-star router now.

  The D-Link DIR-685 is an excellent router that is extremely easy to set up for a novice, yet has enough advanced features to satisfy all but the most demanding experts.

  The basic setup on this router took me no more than 10 minutes, including cloning my MAC address and handshaking with my modem. It worked quickly and easily right out of the box and I was impressed with the ease of setup. I have had other routers with a much more cumbersome setup that would confuse a novice. This router should not cause any problems for anyone. There is a helpful “hints” section on the right side of the setup screen that will help with many questions.

  The display on the router is sharp and easy to read and you can view settings and status on the device itself.

  The FrameChannel feature is pretty neat, as you can set it up to display things such as local weather, news, pictures, etc. as separate frame channels. This is a really cool feature, as my router is now displaying local weather forecasts, news headlines, weather alerts, and pictures. You can set it up to connect with friends to share photos as well. I can see this being a feature that many people like.

  Installing a hard drive in the unit was absolutely painless. You take the drive, insert it into the slot, press down, and you are done. This can be done with the unit powered on or off. When the drive is inserted you will be prompted to format it. Install the software and you’re off. Excellent.

  For advanced applications, the router has the following features:

  1. Ability to set up 25 port forwarding rules.
  
  2. Ability to set up 25 application rules, including individual firewall rules.
  
  3. QoS setup to improve VOIP or streaming traffic.
  
  4. MAC filtering for up to 25 clients.
  
  5. Parental control rules to block or allow only specific sites.
  
  6. Ability to set up 50 individual firewall rules.
  
  7. DMZ setup for unrestricted access.
  
  8. Ability to set up 32 static IP routes.
  
  9. Guest zone setup for protected guest access.
  
  10. SharePort – allows you to share USB devices across your network. Printers, scanners, USB drives, etc. can be shared with anyone on the network!
  
  11. NAS (network attached storage) for storing files on an internal hard drive to share on the network.

  I can’t say enough good things about this router so far, as it is a snap to set up and has a lot of very powerful features. This router is a sure-fire winner!

  Overall rating: 3/5 – see edit note above.
• 

  J. Green
  August 7th, 2009 on 10:54 am

  Rating

  This is a pretty cool router – not only wireless connectivity but also with a hard drive (which is *not* included, please note!) that can be shared for storage and USB ports for sharing other devices. It also has the picture frame feature which is kind of a nice (if a bit odd) addition. But unfortunately, it’s not exactly plug & play.

  I’m not an IT guy but I got my MBA with an emphasis in Information Systems and I’ve handled the IT needs for small companies I’ve worked for (outsourcing the tougher stuff), but all that’s been a few years ago and I really haven’t needed to keep up on technology much since then. So, while I’m not an expert I probably know just enough to get myself into trouble. I’ve installed other wireless home routers (D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band and Linksys WRT54G) and they were almost plug & play. Unfortunately, this one didn’t go as smoothly.

  We have broadband access through our cable provider and it was difficult to get this router to work with it, but working through the setup process on the computer solved the initial connectivity problems. The picture frame is a nice extra feature, but the screen is so small that it seems almost pointless. The FrameChannel option makes good use of it, though, and you can subscribe to weather, news, comics, etc., as well as have your own photos cycling. The weather and photos were the only really worthwhile options to me, however, as the comics I selected ended up so small they couldn’t be read and the news wasn’t local (tons of options but nothing relevant to me). But at least it allows you to keep the router on top of the desk or otherwise out in the open, although it didn’t have as good of range as we had before (we placed the other routers *under* the desk and still got much better range).

  My biggest complaint is with staying connected to the internet. We continually had problems both on the desktop computer connected directly to the router as well as connecting wirelessly with the laptop – and sometimes one would work and the other wouldn’t. The internet would randomly drop off and later come back online, and the speed on the wireless connection was inconsistent – usually extremely fast but sometimes excruciatingly slow. I’m sure a much more savvy computer-person than myself could have figured out the problems but after my wife got angry I switched back to our D-Link DIR-825 router (only took 5 minutes after I found the right cords) and we haven’t had a problem since.

  So, if you consider yourself an advanced user with this kind of equipment (or know someone who *really* is) this probably isn’t a bad option. Otherwise, stick with something simpler.
• 

  Susan
  August 19th, 2009 on 6:50 pm

  Rating

  Unfortunately, not all of the blades are working. I think this is because I had to use this router as an access point. I have an AT&T 2wire modem/router, so this was the only option I had. It has been about three weeks since the rep at D-Link told me that the team who developed this router would contact me and see if we could resolve some of the issues. As of yet I have not heard from them. If I do, I will update this review.

  One of the issues is that I cannot connect to FrameChannel. The router tells me that the “network is unreachable”. Another issue is that I cannot get the bit torrent client to work. It will load the necessary folders in the NAS drive but will not connect. I’ve tried port forwarding on this router, and also the 2wire modem/router but so far no luck. The problem might be mine, because this is the first time I have ever experimented with port forwarding. For me these are two minor issues.

  Now for the good news on this router. Setting it up as an access point was a piece of cake. The PDF and the addendum that comes with this router are excellent. After setting it up as an access point, I manually set up the wireless portion of the router and connect to some of my PCs. One of the computers I use is a Eee 10 inch, and if you have one you know there are no restrictions to where you can go in your house. The conductivity was excellent wherever I went.

  For me though, the biggest benefit of this router is having a NAS box (other reviewers have mentioned that the 2.5″ SATA Hard Drive is NOT included). Again, using the addendum that came with the router, the setup for the NAS drive was easy. So now, I can share information with all my computers through the NAS drive. I also installed SharePoint just to make sure that it worked. And it does. I connected a portable external hard drive to the router.

  Though I am unable at the present time to use this router it as it was meant to be, it gave me the opportunity to have network storage for all my computers. That in itself is worth the price of the router. And as a bonus, I also have a picture frame. If the day comes when the 2wire modem/router quits, I will replace it with just a modem and be able to take full advantage of this router. I have to give this at least four stars for its ingenuity. If you were to buy the pieces separately in order to have what this router has, I think you would be above the asking price, or at least close to it.
• 

  L. T. Beasimer
  September 24th, 2009 on 6:35 pm

  Rating

  As a database administrator and programmer, I tend to enjoy tech toys. I have a D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router sitting on my desk, and was excited to be offered the D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router as a more visually appealing and versatile router.

  The D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router offers high speed wired and wireless n connections. Wireless connections can be managed by zones including guest connections. Unlike most routers, the DIR-685 includes network-attached storage (NAS) capabilities and a digital picture frame.

  The initial set-up was simple to complete, however testing revealed the network didn’t set up correctly. My PC can connect directly to the network, but cannot access any wireless networked devices even though I can ping them. I called customer support, only to be given the run around by people who didn’t understand my problem. I asked my other half who is more familiar with networking to speak with customer service. This is when they admitted they didn’t understand the problem and escalated to a specialist who would call back later. When the specialist called, the result was basically since I can ping the devices it’s not a router problem. So I’m stuck with a network which doesn’t work properly and have no clue how to fix.

  The router frequently freezes up and drops connections. Freezing is obvious thanks to the digital picture frame as the images just stop rotating. It is not uncommon for me to unplug the router three times a week or more to unfreeze. Meanwhile there is no telling when this unstable router will drop a connection. Since the router sits on my desk, it’s easy enough to disconnect and reconnect the network cable, but I’m tired of listening to my other half’s constant valid complaints.

  The digital frame is a nice touch; however it is way too small. For proper viewing the router would need to be pretty close to the viewer. This may cause a conflict between viewing and placing the router in an appropriate spot for wireless connectivity. Anyplace with too much distance makes the photos too small to distinguish.

  I really enjoy using the frame channel with the digital photo frame. Setting up an account at the frame channel website was simple. I was able to sign up for news, weather, sports, stocks, and magazine sites as well as images from my facebook friends.

  With the digital picture frame, the router includes an intuitive menu selection for showing stats and settings. The NAS drive (hard drive not included) was also simple to install and put to use.

  As a techno-geek I was excited to try out this router. However my network isn’t working properly, while D-Link customer service was unwilling to help resolve the problem. The router freezes and drops connections regularly. If I weren’t having connectivity and freezing issues, I’d be willing to invest more time determining the networking issue. This problem is huge for a router and overshadows the digital picture frame and NAS system. This router has potential to be a fun versatile device, but I cannot recommend purchasing an expensive product which fails at its primary purpose.

  PROS:
  
  Frame channel
  
  Intuitive on-board menu display
  
  NAS (network-attached storage) system

  CONS:
  
  Never got it to work properly
  
  Customer service not helpful
  
  Digital frame too small
  
  Regularly freezes and drops connections
• 

  *rose*
  September 30th, 2009 on 10:41 am

  Rating

  Setup went pretty smooth. No problems there.

  Works very well. My favorite feature is the ability to store files on it which then I can share with any computer at home. I had gotten into the horrible state of having multiple copies of photos and files on all my computers and some files and photos were only on the ‘small laptop’, while others were only on the ‘big laptop’, or on the ‘old laptop’ etc. It got to be a mess of endless copies of files and a big confusion for me.

  I was able to fix that situation by using this Storage Router. I was using a wireless router anyway, so why not take advantage of a product that handled my wireless AND helped me with storage? Perfect. And now I can access my files from all my computers.

  The internal hard drive (2.5″ SATA) doesn’t come with this product, but those can be picked up for a very inexpensive price.

  My next project with this is to play with the FTP server so that I can access my files from work, my sister’s house or anywhere.

  I had mentioned that setup was smooth. And it was. But, it did take me some time. I’m not a ‘brain’ about computers so I really need to take my time and read through things to get these kind of items to work for me. I just don’t want anyone reading this to think it was just plug and play….it took me some time. But, I’m very happy with the results.

  The color LCD screen on the router is just a bonus feature. Nice, but not really a big deal for me. It’s a little small (3.2″) but it is nice to see photos scrolling through.
• 

  B. Braithwaite
  January 12th, 2010 on 11:54 am

  Rating

  The DIR-685 is numerous products in one compact router. I like the router’s capabilities, ease of setup and configuration as well as it’s range and speed. It uses all the latest innovations to allow it to compete against the best routers on the market. The compartment for a hard drive and the USB ports allowed me to set up my printer without having to use an additional wireless print server and now I have additional storage within the unit. I’m excited to figure out what to plug into the other USB port so it can be used on the wireless network. Because of these multiple uses, it saves so much space! These are the practical uses and then there are the fun things that can be done with the LCD screen. The applications are fun and useful. It’s a small screen but I didn’t get it for the LCD and at the cost for it’s practical uses the screen and it’s applications are a fun bonus!
• 

  C. Remes
  March 28th, 2010 on 7:59 pm

  Rating

  Solid little box that delivers tremendous performance in a very tiny and cheap package. I have this unit connected to a 60Mb metro-ethernet circuit (gigabit hand-off from the carrier). During testing when the carrier had rate limits disabled I was able to push this box to download at a rate of 500Mb and upload at 400Mb (using the default 1500 byte MTU). On LAN-to-LAN transfers it also performs extremely well.

  Hang a few gigabit switches off of this unit and you have yourself a nice little router for a SOHO. I highly recommend this product.
• 

  Nathaniel MacIver
  March 31st, 2010 on 12:32 pm

  Rating

  Pros: Reliable, photo frame/ framechannel feature, Shareport, network scheduling, guest zone, WPS setup functions. Attractive design. Compact and easy to keep in a living room

  Cons: Terrible touchscreen, Not a dual-channel radio router, not worth $300 MSRP. I was able to buy this from amazon new at half price, and I suggest you do the same.

  I bought this router to replace an old/loud/overheating wireless G netgear MR814, and I was not disappointed. The router has served my 2 laptops, 1 desktop, and 2 mobile devices without a fuss once its been set up. Out living room is about half the size of a normal living room, so the small digital frame is still very visible even from the other side of the room.

  Overall, I love the design direction that D-Link took with the DIR-685, and I hope more routers will follow the idea in the future.
• 

  Sanjiv Jain
  April 29th, 2010 on 3:59 pm

  Rating

  I bought this product hoping to replace my current ADSL modem/router by one device that also adds USB network devices, and a Network storage. But due to my ignorance, I realise that this does not replace the DSL modem! Pity, I still have to keep two devices ON all the time.