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Author Topic: Furry's DIR-865L Review  (Read 17054 times)

FurryNutz

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Furry's DIR-865L Review
« on: January 07, 2013, 09:11:49 AM »

So after playing with the new router for a while and leaving it be over the holidays. I can back and wanted to give some feedback on this router.

1. Fairly easy to set up initially using an iPhone 4S and DLinks QRS app.

2. Router comes with preset security passwords set on both WiFi radios which is printed on a neat wallet sized card. Don't loose this card. You'll need it if you do a factory reset and want Wifi connections, however wired LAN access to routers web page is still Admin and a blank password. :o

3. Completed router set up using Manual web page UI as I could not set it up due to other clients being on the internet. Made a new SSID and PW and set WPA2 only and AES only. Left the WiFi modes set to default which is mixed ALL on both radios. Please see my sticky post about the various UI screens for the router at the top of the forum.

4. Left all other settings default.

5. Noticed that SPI was not enabled out of the box. I've left it OFF while testing. Seems to improve some Internet performance. SPI probably should be enabled or could be disabled however I don't think my network is at risk being in the sub burbs where I live.  ::) Recommended setting is SPI ON. I've been testing this out on other routers too.

6. Only capable WiFi adapter in the house of connecting faster than 300Mb is a 3rd party adapter that was only available last year and at the time. So 450Mb max'd speeds are seen on the 865L and 857. Speeds are very nice. I see that DLink has released the DWA-182 A/C wireless adapter that will go nicely with this router. I don't have one yet.  ::)

7. Range is very good as well. Placed router central to my house in the living room and had very good connections 10-20 feet away in bedrooms and offices.

8. Most devices I have, I was able to connect up all 9 WiFi devices all at once and had good connections and seamless Internet usage.

9. Streamed a BD movie from my file server using wired LAN to my Boxee box. No hiccups. I usually don't have a router in the mix between my file server and boxee box.

10. Registered for MyDLink.com and connected. MyDlink is fairly basic management. Shows router and WiFi status. You can disable some features of the router and send a reboot if needed. Can see what devices are connected. Don't see much on file storage or keeping files in the Cloud though.  :-\

11. My 2TB WD MY BOOK 2008 connects and works with SharePort v4. However it's officially supported. Mac OSX Shareport fails to connect properly. DLink only seems to officially support USB drives no bigger than 500Gb. My 250Gb no name drive works well. Storage features allow for local and remote WAN access when set up and using HTTP WAN IP addressing for remote access. User configurable access list for custom access and user account management.

12. QoS engine is similar to the DIR-645 in having either Strict or Weighted options. This engine isn't seen in most other DIR series routers. Works very well and seems a bit easier to set up and use. For gaming it works very well for one gaming console. However, testing 2 xbox consoles recently is proving to be difficult as either one or the other xbox exhibits Moderate NAT status in games. Configuration of the router and QoS engine is on going and will post result of configuring multiple game consoles for complete OPEN NAT statues. I haven't been able to figure it out yet. So I put my DIR-857 back online until then.  ;D

13. Only has two front status LEDs, Internet and Power. Internet blinks Amber or Orange while trying to establish a connection to the ISP Modem/Service. Green when fully connected. Has a On/OFF switch in back rather than just un-pluging the router as in older models. Nice to see this.

14. Not external antenna or connectors so this router has all internal antenna. So if your looking to add on or add to this router, external antennae, you'll need to find a different router for that.

15. As mentioned in the Web UI sticky, there is a Disable NAT feature on this router to turn it into an AP. I haven't had a chance to test this however not sure if this means to make it a wired AP or wireless AP. I don't think it supports wireless AP since I don't see any means of making a wireless (bridged) connection to other SSIDs. The description of the feature is pretty vague and presume it's only meant to work as a wired AP. I see that on page 43 of the user manual gives information about fully bridging this router (wirelessly) to another router. I'll try this out soon and see.  ::)
Update: So I tested this out that which was out lined on page 43 of the user manual. Seems the this router can be wirelessly bridged. Very easy steps to follow and works:
Setup/Internet/Manual:


After 865L reboots and you log into 192.168.0.50 Setup/Wireless/Manual:

This is a screen capture of the 865L wirelessly bridged to my Airport Extreme on 2.4Ghz.  ;D

16. VPN seems good however my roommate access VPN at a remote site and believe it's a passive VPN. I've never had to configure for any VPN on any of my routers i've tested. So not sure if more active VPNs and how they will work with this router. I presume they should for the most part.

17. NAT EndPoint Filtering is available on this model. I've noticed that some other DIR series routers do not have this option, i.e. DIR-857, 815 and a few others. I prefer to have this feature and the ability to configure it.

18. Router temperatures are around 90-100F during normal use. Haven't seen any hotter temps. It stands vertically so seems to get enough air flow.

19. I don't have IPv6 support with my ISP yet so I presume IPv6 would be working. One of these days.  :-\

20. Internet session information based on connected devices. Has a link to open a list of the selected device to display the session networking information for that specific device instead of having one big list with all devices listed. Very nice.

21. I don't know if this router support WOL or Looback. I don't use them at all. Any one wanting to know more about these should phone contact DLink support and ask. My experience along with other users is that DLink as removed these from there home routers.

22. Notice after unplugging the power adapter in that there is a quick slide out connector for easy of swapping out a 110v U.S. power plug for possibly a EU 220v power plug. Nifty plug on a slide the with a press of a locking button, the plug connector slids off the main power adapter and is read for a different plug. Power adapter is rated at 12v@3A up from 12v@2A for most other DIR series routers.




Overall, this is a really good router. Very stable and performs well. Aside some minor configuration with gaming that i'll dig into more, this is a recommended router for users interested in good performance, Storage, Dual WiFi support, user friendly features any future needs.

DIR-865L Rev A1 FW v1.01 Out of the box. Has not been upgraded. Yet.  ;D
« Last Edit: August 12, 2013, 11:19:10 AM by FurryNutz »
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Cable: 1Gb/50Mb>NetGear CM1200>DIR-882>HP 24pt Gb Switch. COVR-1202/2202/3902,DIR-2660/80,3xDGL-4500s,DIR-LX1870,857,835,827,815,890L,880L,868L,836L,810L,685,657,3x655s,645,628,601,DNR-202L,DNS-345,DCS-933L,936L,960L and 8000LH.

FurryNutz

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Re: Furry's DIR-865L Review
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2014, 10:21:16 AM »

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Cable: 1Gb/50Mb>NetGear CM1200>DIR-882>HP 24pt Gb Switch. COVR-1202/2202/3902,DIR-2660/80,3xDGL-4500s,DIR-LX1870,857,835,827,815,890L,880L,868L,836L,810L,685,657,3x655s,645,628,601,DNR-202L,DNS-345,DCS-933L,936L,960L and 8000LH.