Review: D-Link Wireless N 900 Mbps Home Cloud App-Enabled Dual-Band Gigabit Router (DIR-855L)

• July 21, 2013
• James Skemp
• review

Very nice, save the short power cord

While I just replaced my router with a MediaLink router (since I wanted wireless N), when Amazon Vine offered this D-Link router I figured I would give it a try, since I had noticed issues with my laptop losing wireless and my tablet experiencing extreme drops.

I've now used this product for about 3 weeks and can honestly say I'm on the fence about whether I like this or my previous router more.

First off, after ordering this product I was expecting that the router would be warm when running, and that it would have annoying lights. I have experienced neither of these. The router doesn't feel warm at all, despite it being 70s-80s in my apartment, depending upon the day. There are also two lights, which let off my less light than any of my other networking equipment.

In fact, the only issues I have with the hardware is that the power cord is a little too short. It would have been nice if it had one or two more feet, since right now it's pretty tight sitting on top of a nice CD case, with the surge protector on the floor, right next to the case.

I also found the Web interface to be a little frustrating, as I'm more of an advanced user, and the settings I wanted to tweak were buried within options on pages, instead of having their own page. I did like the feel of the interface when I had to apply settings/restart the router; it's probably the nicest I've used.

This supports both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, and I'm actually using my Samsung Galaxy S4 to connect to the 5GHz band, and have experienced no issues.

My laptop, Nexus 7, and Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 all use the 2.4GHz band. Compared to the MediaLink router I was using before the pings (according to SpeedTest.net) is just a bit slower. Download seems a tiny bit faster, and upload seems to be the same.

The range actually seems better in my apartment than my MediaLink, but I have had issues with my Xbox 360 being unable to connect at times (doesn't get an IP address). When it happens it does so right after I start it, and powering the console off and back on has always resolved the issue. Since it's getting older, I think it might be that.

I used a wired connection with my desktop machine, and while I didn't jot down the speeds, they too were pretty consistent with what I was getting with my previous router.

I have not yet used the functionality to plug in a USB drive to share files, but may in the future, and will update this review if I do so.

Overall, after the first couple days I was expecting that I'd hook my MediaLink back up, but now I'm not so sure. If anything, the D-Link Wireless N 900 Mbps Home Cloud App-Enabled Dual-Band Gigabit Router (DIR-855L) may become my primary, with my MediaLink as a backup or extender.

4 stars merely because I would have been perfectly happy with my MediaLink, which costs much less than this does, and the power cord needs a couple more feet.

• review