I've had the DIR-857 for about two weeks now, and am getting rather frustrated with it. I received the router the day after the firmware update was released (1.01), and upgraded before I did anything. For the most part, the router is set up on default settings. I have the wireless set up with a personal password vs. generated key, but that's about it for custom settings. I ran the set up wizard and only tweaked the auto-detect for connection type to cable (ISP is Time Warner Cable).
On to the problems. I have two hardwired devices (one PC, and my xBox), which don't have any issues. The wireless is where I randomly encounter problems. My iPad II connects fine and hasn't had any interrupted connection. However, my fiancee's laptop (running on XP SP3) has had a lot of intermittent connections. It detects the network fine, and attempts to obtain an IP, but end up with limited/no connection. Her Kindle Fire is doing the same. I reflashed the Firmware last night, and rebooted all devices, including the router. I powered everything down, powered on the router and waited till it was fully booted and running before I turned any other device on. Same as it's been, my iPad was fine, her kindle connected fine, but her laptop did not. Signal strength is great (full bars). Any suggestions? Is the 5G wireless causing issues? Is there a way to turn it off if it is (i couldn't find a way to do it)?