Staples: D-Link DI-514 Wireless-B 2.4GHz (802.11b) Router < $10!!!

[netrat]

Sorry if this is a repost or any of that sort. I was browsing around staples.ca, looking up wireless routers as I'm planning to upgrade to a G. I was looking for a reasonable price to sell my B router, but I stumbled across this.

Ontario ONLY.
Wireless B router for $9.97.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

Seems like an awesome price for a beginner's wireless connectivity.

[ynchu]

I have bad experience with this router, three in a row actually.

Check out amazon.com, amazon.ca, people either say it's ok, or it does not work at all.

I wonder if it's actually QA related problems. For mine, they'd drop connections within 5 minutes, wired or wireless. Doesn't matter what firmware I upgrade or downgrade to, still won't work after 5 minutes.

I can ping it with small packets, then it'll disconnect. I can ping it with maximum sized packets allowed by Windows, then it'll disconnect faster. Then of course, I am speaking from my personal experience.

[terranaj98]

Sorry if this is a repost or any of that sort. I was browsing around staples.ca, looking up wireless routers as I'm planning to upgrade to a G. I was looking for a reasonable price to sell my B router, but I stumbled across this.

Ontario ONLY.
Wireless B router for $9.97.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

Seems like an awesome price for a beginner's wireless connectivity.

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!! lol
its how they get back @ us for NCIX deals LOL

[CdTriX]

There are some things you need to know about this device. I deal with them everyday.....

If you decide to get one i'll give you some FREE tech support and save my friends a few extra calls to take from you guys =)

Basic setup:

Modem goes to the WAN port
Computers go to the LAN port

Lights that need to be on:

Power, WAN, WLAN, LAN ports ( if computers are plugged into them )

Internet setup:

Cable internet = Dynamic IP address.. CLONE YOUR MAC ADDRESS on the computer that was registered with the ISP then powercycle the modem first wait till the lights finish blinking and then plug in the router

DSL internet = PPPoE put in the username and password that they gave you in order to connect to the internet

Wireless:

PLEASE CHANGE THE SSID AND THE CHANNEL i can't stress this enough.. Windows will not pick up more then 2 networks with the same SSID. Therefore, if you and your neighbor have D-Link routers named default.. you cannot connect to either of them because windows does not know which one to connect to.

Avg range on a D-Link router is 25 ft.. YMMV past that depending on cordless phones, walls, material of walls, wireless card

this is a 802.11B standard device which means maximum theoretically throughput is 11 mbps. YMMV depending on distance and interference

Do not call technical support if you do not have a D-Link wireless card because they will not support other computer manufactured wireless cards...

here's a tip on how to do it:

make sure your WLAN card is enabled.. Compaq, HP, Toshibas, etc etc come with physical switches/buttons to enable your wireless card.. make sure this is turned on..

Windows XP:

SP 1
bottom right near the clock there are 2 computers that says wireless network connections...right click and select view availible networks and then click on your SSID and then connect

SP 2
Same as above but instead of 2 computers you get 1 computer with waves coming from it

No SP
Upgrade to SP 1 or 2

Windows 2k and older
yourr gonna have to refer to the WLAN card manufacture in order to get you connected

Windows 98 FE
Does not work... upgrade to Second Edition.

Encryption:

Enable WEP for just basic deterent. If you want more security enable MAC filtering. When MAC filtering.. enable the computer that your working on FIRST before you add other computers.. obviously if you add the other computer first you won't be able to connect with the one your working on

Hopefully this help you guys a little bit.. save my friends on the canadian queues a little bit of pressure =)

Personal opinion: i'd get the 624.. simply because it's a better router.. does more, has more features.. may not be as stable as the 524.. but it runs better with the 2.50 firmware. The 524 isn't bad if you want just 54mbps whereas the 624 if you have an atheros super g card or D-Link card then you can get 108mbps ( like i said before, theoretical throughput, YMMV )

[v00d00]

Oos

[Arrow]

OOS in Vancouver of course.

[sentinel]

Pardon me CdTriX, but did you just use the words 'stable' and 'DI-524' in the same sentence?!? ROFLMAO!!! (Revision C hardware may have gotten better, but Rev. A firmware is a disgusting, painful mess!)

Other than that, thanks for the informative post! I'm sure it will be very helpful to newbies.

EDIT: O...M...G...!!! I just noticed that they released a new version of the 524 firmware lest month after so many months of the horrors and inatequicies of 1.03 and 1.05. Any idea if that fixes the major problems?

EDIT 2: WAHOOOO!! Google says it does make it all better!!! Now I won't have to toss mine out and I can feel better about selling them!!! .

(Sorry for this ranting.)

[CdTriX]

the 624 is stable if you get the right one... i have one my self.. firmware 2.50 works awesome... tried the new 2.53 and it crashes every other second.. soo 2.50 it is

the 524... if you get the C rev then your lucky.. the A2 fw 1.11 just came out... sooo you can try it... but no gurantees.. haven't had any complains or issues or even call backs with 1.11 soo it's all good so far

[wisc]

oos