If you've been considering stepping up to a dual-band router but were scared off by high prices, D-Link feels your pain. Its new RangeBooster N Dual Band Router (DIR-628) is available online for less than $100, making it the least expensive dual-band model we've ever tested. But this is no bland, featureless router; not only is the DIR-628 the fastest 2.4GHz or 5GHz router we've tested, but it also has all the high-end features one would expect from a unit that costs twice as much. The only real drawback is it doesn't broadcast two separate networks simultaneously like Linksys's WRT610N, but you can run it in a 2.4GHz mixed mode that works with 802.11b, g, and n adapters.
The DIR-628 is a thin, all-black unit that looks similar to its big brother, the DGL-4500, but without all the bells and whistles, and with one fewer antenna. It's a rather vanilla design, but at this price point, that's no surprise.
Getting the DIR-628 up and running was a snap. In fact, of all the wireless-network setup routines we've endured, D-Link's is easily the best. The setup wizard was flawless and very easy to follow, allowing us to replace our old router easily. At the end of the process, after we'd named our network and chosen our security level—Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) are the options—the wizard saved all of our settings to a file on the desktop. Then it gave us a chance to install a free version of Network Magic, a great network-management program for people who are new to the wireless game.
Once setup is complete, you handle administration via a browser utility. Though we prefer a program like the one Linksys uses with its routers, the D-Link tools are easy to handle and provide wizards for almost everything, if you don't want to configure your settings manually. In addition to basic controls, there's a Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall with Network Address Translation (NAT), port forwarding, VPN pass-through, Media Access Control (MAC) filtering, and much more. You can also choose whether you want the router to broadcast at 2.4GHz or 5GHz—but it has to be one or the other (one of the DIR-628's few drawbacks). Most people will be happy using the mixed 802.11b/g/n mode in the 2.4GHz channel, but if you want faster file transfers, you should step up to 5GHz. You can also choose a custom channel, which is handy when dealing with interference from neighbors' networks. You can tell the router to use a standard 20MHz channel or to go into 20/40 mode, where it will automatically use two 20MHz channels if it can for increased performance.
Speaking of speed, the DIR-628 certainly delivers—and then some. D-Link's routers have always been fast, but the DIR-628 is the fastest router we've ever tested, at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz: an amazing accomplishment for a budget-oriented machine. It was even faster than the Belkin N1 Vision and the D-Link DGL-4500, the previous speed champs.
We tested the network signal at distances of 50 and 100 feet at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and the numbers were impressive in every scenario. We started with 5GHz. At 50 feet, we transferred a 100MB file in 17 seconds and a 500MB file in 1 minute and 22 seconds. For comparison, the Linksys WRT610N transferred the same files in 49 seconds and 3 minutes and 5 seconds, respectively. At 100 feet, the DIR-628 transferred the 100MB file in just 20 seconds and the 500MB file in 1 minute and 40 seconds. The Linksys router took 1 minute and 10 seconds and 4 minutes and 11 seconds, respectively, to transfer the same file—so we're not talking about a small discrepancy here. The DIR-628's 5GHz range didn't extend beyond 100 feet, but that's typical.
The router's performance stayed strong at 2.4GHz. At 50 feet from the access point, we transferred 100MB in 28 seconds and 500MB in 2 minutes and 6 seconds; the Linksys required 47 seconds and 3 minutes and 12 seconds, respectively. At 100 feet, the DIR-628 needed just 42 seconds for 100MB and 2 minutes and 57 seconds for 500MB, respectively. We were also able to stream media all the way out to about 175 feet—so far away from the access point we couldn't even see our apartment.
Still, the router had a few flaws. It sports a USB port for Windows Connect Now, but it doesn't offer print-server capabilities, Gigabit Ethernet ports, or the ability to add USB storage to the network. There's also no good reason to use Windows Connect Now, because the router supports the newer Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS).
Despite those drawbacks, the D-Link DIR-628 exceeded our expectations. We're not sure what is more surprising—the fact that this dual-band router costs so little or that it's much faster than routers that cost twice as much. Regardless, it's easily one of the best routers we've ever tested both in terms of speed and range, and we highly recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade. In fact, you should probably go buy one now, before D-Link wises up and jacks up the price.
author by : Josh Norem
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