Category: Router Reviews

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:26

Supplier    BT
Model of device    HomeHub
Suitable for     ADSL only (BT ISP's)
Date of test    18/07/2007
Firmware delivered with    6.2.2.6
Firmware tested    6.2.2.6
ADSL Firmware    N/A
Wireless    Yes (B,G)
Ethernet Ports    2 * (100Mb) 2 * USB

Pre-Face

The BT HomeHub, you’ve seen the adverts, you’ve seen the phone (which I won’t be reviewing), you’ve probably even seen comments saying it’s the worst router ever!

Its not, its actually quite good. There are a few issues with it, but nothing major. Remember folks, this router will only work with BT ISP’s, you can’t use it on Freedom2surf, Talk Talk, Zen and all the rest. (not officially anyway)

The Router

Its very light, almost weightless, and feel’s… well.. pretty cheap to be honest. 19cm across and 22cm high. The ad's show it proudly standing on your kitchen/coffee table. I don't think so!  2 Ethernet ports, 2 USB ports and the usual green LED’s at the front indication LAN/WAN/Wireless activity and a small directional aerial.

Setting it all up

The whole idea behind the Homehub is, simplicity. To cut down on support calls, BT have made the “getting online” part as simple as possible. If you’re on BT Total Broadband all you have to do is literally “plug it in”.

There’s no username/password to configure, it’s already pre-configured with a general username/password and uses your phone number to establish who you actually are. If your with another BT ISP you may have to configure your username/password details (BTClick etc)

Web Interface/Features

Don’t I recognize these menus? Yes, the HomeHub is essentially a rebranded Thomson/Speedtouch 7G with some menu tweaks and additional for VoIP (the phone you can get with the HomeHub).

And because it’s very similar to a Speedtouch its quite easy to get around. There’s only a few menus to look at in general user mode, the status of the router, uptime etc etc. If you go into the advanced section, that’s where you can get to grips with the more meaty options.

UPnP    Yes
DHCP    Yes
DHCP Address Reservation    Yes
WEP    Yes
WPA-PSK[TKIP]    Yes
WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA-802.1x     No
Wireless Access List    Yes
WDS    Yes
Firewall    Yes
Dynamic DNS    Yes
Support for two or more Xbox With an OPEN Nat    Yes

Wireless Speeds

Here’s a set of tests I carried out:-

• Equipment used: BT HomeHub
• Laptop with Netgear WN11B Wireless card
• Qcheck Performance testing software

All the tests were carried out with the router configured with WPA-PSK configured

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) < 1m 20Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 6m 20Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 8m 20Mbps

NAT

As we know a good NAT status of Open is all important for Xbox live. I'm glad to say its Open out the box, so there's no issues there. **

This router will support two or more Xboxes with a NAT of Open.

** Some people do seem to have issues with NAT on this router, I've never suffered it though. If you do, please look at my guide here.

The Quirks!

Ok, so there are some funnies with this router I’ll admit. Some have been fixed since the move to firmware version 6.2.2.6, some are still outstanding.

I think the whole idea of the Homehub (especially when paired with the VoIP Phone) is that it’s designed to be left on, all the time. I’m sure that’s the idea in principal, but in practice, it doesn’t work.

I find I have to reboot mine every few days, which is no big deal, but might be to others. I find that sometimes the devices connected to the Homehub just loose connectivity. Not to the hub itself, but DNS just seems to stop working, you can’t browse the internet anymore, or even browse to the HomeHub menu (192.168.1.254). A quick reboot sorts that out, ok not so quick, it takes about 5mins to come back up to a working state.

The second issue I’ve found is with regards to DHCP. If I power up the HomeHub at the same time as my PC. My PC is ready and asking for an IP Address from the Hub before the Hub is ready. Which results in the PC not getting an address. It just seems that the Hub is very slow to actually get to a position where it’s ready to hand out addresses, when compared to other routers.

Again, this is easily overcome; I just use a static IP Address on my main PC. And by the time I want to use my laptop or Xbox the Hub is already working so I just leave those two devices on auto and they work fine.

The third issue is NAT. Which I’ve not personally had a problem with, but I find that others do have. Some people complain that they get a strict NAT with the HomeHub. What is strange is that, we are all using the same version of firmware, but some people get different NAT results. I’ve not once had a strict NAT. For those that do suffer NAT issues I have a guide to work around this on the main site here. But personally I’ve never had to use it myself.

Summary

Sounds like a lot of issues doesn’t there?

There isn’t though really. I’m sure all three can be fixed in firmware and probably have by the time you read this. And if you can pick one of these cheap on eBay like I did for £25 they are a bargain.

The Unofficial Guide To Live Rating

6.5/10

Category: Router Reviews

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:18

Supplier    NETGEAR
Model of device    DG834N
Suitable for     ADSL only
Date of test    16/05/2007
Firmware delivered with    V1.01.06
Firmware tested    V1.01.06
ADSL Firmware    A2pB021.d19e
Wireless    Yes (B,G, Pre-N)
Ethernet Ports    4 * (100Mb)

Pre-Face

Since 802.11n was announced there’s been a flurry of routers all running versions of Pre-N wireless. Things have started to settle down now and although “N” has still to be ratified, we are starting to see some good routers appear.

I’m a massive fan of the Netgear DG834G, its still my favourite router. So I was thrilled when the friendly people at Netgear agreed to loan me a DG834N to try out for a few weeks. (Thank you Noiseworks!)

I’m not a professional reviewer or tester, but I know routers, I know what features I like, how easy they should be to use and I know what you want from a router for xbox live and general home use.

So, with that in mind, here’s my review of this piece of kit. Also, do not take the wireless speeds as gospel these were tested with conditions particular to my home, so you may see better results, you may see worse.

The Router

Well its bigger than the DG834G, its about the size of the BT HomeHub, its 17cm wide 21.5cm high and pretty thin.

A nice stylish white that wouldn’t look out of place next to your iPod. 4 Ethernet ports and the usual green LED’s at the front indication LAN/WAN/Wireless activity. No external aerials, there’s two built inside.

Setting it all up

The great thing I like about setting up Netgear is, you virtually don’t have to, they are ridiculously easy to get going.

Even without using the Setup CD it took me 5mins to get connected in fact it took me longer to unbox that it did to actually configure to go online.

Simply connect the router to your ADSL filter, ethernet cable to the PC, the other end to the router, type 192.168.0.1 into your web browser, log in with admin & password run the setup wizard, enter your ISP username/password and your done. In its most basic form your online. Crazy!

Plug in your Xbox via ethernet, run the Xbox live test. NAT is Open. And your gaming. That will be enough for some people, but, there’s obviously more this router is capable of.

Web Interface/Features

The web interface hasn’t change much if at all since the DG834G, but that’s no bad thing, as the 834G’s was fine, simple, well set out, easy to use. It just does what its supposed to do. You don’t have to read the manual to find the feature you want, just browse through the various menus until you find it.

UPnP    Yes
DHCP    Yes
DHCP Address Reservation    Yes
WEP    In G&B Mode
WPA-PSK[TKIP]    Yes
WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA-802.1x     Yes
Wireless Access List    Yes
WDS    No
Firewall    Yes (SPI)
Dynamic DNS    Yes
Support for two or more Xbox With an OPEN Nat    No

Pre-N

Pre-N or Draft N is a manufacturers take on what they believe will go into the 802.11n standard when its finally ratified. What this means is, some of the features of the Pre-N device may or may not be compatible with other 802.11n products when they are released.

Wireless Speeds

I think the main reason for you wanting to buy this router is for one or more of the following:-

• Your in the market for a new router and Wireless G is getting older now, so you looking for a future proof(ish) purchase
• You need fast wireless transfer speeds between devices
• You want to stream video/music at high speeds

Now, when you seen Pre-N advertised you hear of speeds like 270-300Mbps. Please… don’t expect that. Those are potential speeds of “N”, you wont reach them.

But don’t let that put you off this is a FAST wireless router. Here’s a set of tests I carried out:-

• Equipment used: Netgear DG834N
• Laptop with Netgear WN11B Wireless card
• Qcheck Performance testing software

All the tests were carried out with the router configured with WPA-PSK configured, using the Wireless Channel mode of Auto and the “Up to 270Mb” setting.

File Transfer Rate (802.11n) < 1m 68Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.11n) > 6m 53Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.11n) > 8m 40Mbps

They are impressive transfer rates, compare those results to the ones below, which are using a normal 54Mb Wireless G card in the same laptop talking to the same router.

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) < 1m 20Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 6m 20Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 8m 20Mbps

I'd also heard that in general when using higher wireless speeds, routers would slow down their wireless speeds to cater for the slowest users, this isn't Netgear specific I'd heard it about many routers. So, let's say your 300Mb Wireless router is running at top speed, and you fire up a Wireless B (11Mb) client, everything slows down to Wireless B speeds (11Mb).

I tried this out with the DG834N and it didn't slow down at all. I could be surfing away on a Wireless B laptop and transferring data at over 50Mbps on a Wireless G laptop. Great stuff!

Wireless Range

I’ll be honest I personally didn’t really notice much difference in range than my Wireless G setup. That might be just down to my house.

NAT

As we know a good NAT status of Open is all important for Xbox live. I'm glad to say its Open out the box, so there's no issues there. However, this router will not support two or more Xboxes with a NAT of Open.

Summary

One of the best routers just got faster. Simple to use, great for Xbox live and general use. Another great router from Netgear.

The Unofficial Guide To Live Rating

7/10

Category: Router Reviews

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:03

Supplier    DLINK
Model of device DSL-2640B (DKT-710)
Suitable for     ADSL
Date of test    13/11/2007
Firmware delivered with    V3.06
Firmware tested    V3.06
ADSL Firmware    N/A
Wireless    Yes (B,G)
Ethernet Ports    4 * (10/100Mb)

Pre-Face

Ok I admit it, I got a bit giddy when I saw this router on sale. First of all I was amazed by the incredibly low price, around £45 for a Wireless router with ADSL modem built in? ok so wireless G has been around for a while now, but still this is a very competitively priced router. But I was mainly excited because of the last Dlink router I reviewd, the DIR-655.

The DIR-655 allows two or more xbox to be connected and both have an Open NAT, which is so crucial for Xbox gaming. Open NAT out of the box for one Xbox is a must, for two xboxes its just a rarity especially for ADSL routers as you can see here

So I'm thinking... when manufacturers write their firmware, they usually decide on a standard and tweak accordingly for the router, so what if the DSL-2640B has some of the great features of its more expensive brother for a crazy price?

Guess what - It does!

The Router

It’s pretty small and quiet, it lays horizontal, it’s not got the “iPod” look of the Netgear DG834N or the Homehub, but its a nice looking router and wouldn’t look out of place next to your other tech kit. Same styling as the DIR-655 but its mainly black and only has the one aerial, which is standard for most Wireless G router.

4 (100Mbps) Ethernet ports and green LED’s at the front indicate LAN/WAN/Wireless activity. 1 external directional aerial, that can be unscrewed and replaced by something different if you so wish.

Setting it all up

A breeze to set-up, connect the ethernet cable to your PC and the other end to one of the four ethernet ports of the routers, browse to http://192.168.1.1

When prompted, enter admin admin for the username/password. Click the "Setup Wizard"

At this point you'll be asked for the following details:-

• Change your router password (if you want)
• Which country you live in
• Which ISP you use
• What your ISP username/password is

And that's it, save the settings, the router reboots and your on the internet. Plug in the Xbox and your on Xbox live with an Open NAT out of the box.

Web Interface/Features

The web interface may look a bit complex, but it’s not, to be honest there’s very little most people would want to change from the word go. There’s setup wizard to get you online and another wizard to secure your wireless, or you can manually change the settings yourself if you wish.

But there’s some other nice little features you might want to play with, like the parental controls if you want to restrict access to certain websites or certain traffic (gaming, p2p, chat) at certain times of day.

Built in NTP (Network Time Protocol) ensures the routers date/time is always set correctly, there’s plenty of logging features available if you want to log what is happening on your router.

It has a great firewall built in that you can just leave at the defaults or tweak as necessary and also has some other nice protection features such as:-

• DOS and Portscan Protection
• SYN attack
• FIN/URG/PSH attack
• Ping Attack
• Xmas Tree attack
• TCP reset attack
• Null scanning attack
• Ping of Death attack
• SYN/RST SYN/FIN attack

Here's a list of the other main features:-

UPnP    Yes
DHCP    Yes
DHCP Address Reservation    Yes
WEP    Yes
WPA-PSK[TKIP]    Yes
WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA-802.1x    Yes
Wireless Access List    Not at present
WDS    No
Firewall    Yes (SPI)
Dynamic DNS    Yes
QoS - LAN    Yes
QoS - Wireless    Yes
Support for two or more Xbox With an OPEN Nat    Yes

QoS (Quality of Service)

QoS – Quality of Service. Most people don’t know what it is or even care. But these days, more and more people are doing more and more with their routers at home. Making internet voice calls, streaming video, downloading large files, emailing etc etc.

Most home routers don’t care what your using. They will just send out data onto the internet on a “first come first served” basis. Which means, if you’ve a busy house with a few users all using the same internet connection, there can be a bit of a bun fight!

One user could be downloading torrents and using quite a lot of bandwidth, if someone else wanted to use the internet to make a phone call (Skype etc) they could find that the call is “choppy” and the voice is breaking up. Or if someone wanted to play on Gears of War online, it could be laggy because of the torrents downloading.

Unlike its bigger brother (DIR-655) if you want to enable QoS you need to put some work in to identify what ports your application uses (xbox live for example) and enter them into the QoS setup. There is QoS for the LAN and WLAN (Wireless Network).

We now have a guide for enabling QOS for your Xbox here

Wireless Speeds

In terms of wireless G speeds its pretty much the same performance as other routers really. Here’s a set of tests I carried out:-

Equipment used: Dlink DSL-2640B

Laptop with Wireless G card

Qcheck Performance testing software

All the tests were carried out with the router configured with WPA-PSK configured, using the Wireless Channel mode of Auto.

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) < 1m 23Mb

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 6m 18-20Mb

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 8m 18-20Mb

NAT

As we know a good NAT status of Open is all important for Xbox live. I'm glad to say its Open out the box, so there's no issues there. This router will also support two or more Xboxes with a NAT of Open, no config changes needed, so we now have another ADSL router capable of supporting multiple xboxes and this one won't hurt your wallet.

Summary

I won’t hide the fact that I’ve been a long time supporter of Netgear routers and for a good reason.

Prior to today, if anyone asked me what router I’d recommend to an ADSL customer for Xbox Live, it would be the Netgear DG834G, it’s a great router.

Today that changes, it’s now the DLINK DSL-2640B. The Dlink wins in the following areas:-

• Even easier to use
• Price (amazing)
• Open NAT for multiple Xbox (combine that with the price and well.. it’s a no brainer)
• Featureset, it has a better feature set than the Netgear (QoS etc)
• As daft as it sounds, its also got a power button, something that's sadly missing on a lot of routers

2009 Update

Since reviewing the router I have now purchased one myself and I'm pleased to say that running Firmware Version EU_4.00 a great router has got even better.

MAC Address filtering is now an option for wireless. You can even run multiple wireless networks (SSID's) at the same time, so you can run up to 4 additional Guest networks so if you have visitors that require internet access you can give them access without having to give out your encryption details.

There's a ton of other features are well like SRA (Seamless Rate Adaption) which means if your ISP changes the connection rate of your router (which can happen) it will seamlessly adapt to the new speed without disconnecting like most other routers.

And even more in-depth configuration settings for QoS.

Please Note:- The Dlink DSL-2640B is being phased out please buy its successor the DSL-2640R

The Unofficial Guide To Live Rating

8.8/10

Category: Router Reviews

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:09

Supplier    DLINK
Model of device    DIR-655
Suitable for Cable/DSL (requires a modem)
Date of test    23/07/2007
Firmware delivered with    V1.03
Firmware tested    V1.03
ADSL Firmware    N/A
Wireless    Yes (B,G, Pre-N)
Ethernet Ports    4 * (10/100/1000Mb)

Pre-Face

Since 802.11n was announced there’s been a flurry of routers all running versions of Pre-N wireless. Things have started to settle down now and although “N” has still to be ratified we are starting to see some good routers appear.

I’ve not personally used Dlink kit before, but have helped many people get online with their own. My honest opinion of Dlink based on feedback is that the low-mid end routers are “ok”, and the high end router like the Gamefuel/Gamerlounge are fantastic.

Throughout the evaluation of this router I have been using a Dlink DSL-320T ADSL Ethernet modem to connect the DIR-655 to my ADSL line, so all ISP username/password information is configured on the modem, not the router.

The Router

It’s pretty small and quiet, it lays horizontal, it’s not got the “iPod” look of the Netgear DG834N or the Homehub, but its certainly not ugly and wouldn’t look out of place next to your other tech kit.

4 Gig (1000Mbps) Ethernet ports and blue LED’s at the front indication LAN/WAN/Wireless activity. 3 external directional aerials, that can be unscrewed and replaced by something different if you so wish.

Setting it all up

As this is a cable broadband router (no modem built in) setup is virtually non-existent. Take the Ethernet cable from your Cable/ADSL modem, plug it into the WAN port of the DIR-655. Power up the router, then wait for a minute.

Plug in your PC, your on the internet
Plug in your Xbox, your on Xbox live, run the Xbox live test, NAT is Open

That’s it, job done.

There’s a wealth of options waiting for you inside the menu’s. As a minimum, if you are using wireless I would recommend implementing wireless security. But don’t worry, they’ve even made easy to do.

There's also the usual setup CD, which again makes life very easy. Insert the CD, plug in the ethernet cable from your PC to the router. Answer a few questions and your on-line, you can also configure wireless using the setup CD.

Web Interface/Features

The web interface looks pretty complicated (192.168.0.1) , but it’s not so bad. It’s just that there’s so much can you do with the router some might be a bit overwhelmed by it all. But that said, there’s not much need for a manual, you can navigate to everything you need to get to easy enough. Common tasks like setting up your Internet connection (if applicable) or Wireless can be done via the easy to use wizard, or manually if you wish.

There’s so many features, where do I start?? Its fair to say, that if there’s a feature you’d like or a feature you’d like to tweak the DIR-655 has it.

Want it to email you automatically when a new version of firmware comes out? – No problem.

Want to restrict access to certain websites or certain traffic (gaming, p2p, chat) at certain times of day? – No problem

Tweak the power of the wireless antennas? – No problem

I think you get the idea, there’s a wealth of options available and even more to tweak to your hearts content if you so wish. But, don’t worry there’s also plenty of wizards available to lend a hand with some of the more common tasks that do daunt some people

I won’t bother going into techno-babble on some of the features, I’ll just try to give you a summary of some of the more important ones:-

Streamengine

Please Note: The DIR-655 firmware and QoS menu has changed since this review, if you would like to know how to configure QoS for your Xbox for this router please look here

QoS – Quality of Service. Most people don’t know what it is or even care. But these days, more and more people are doing more and more with their routers at home. Making internet voice calls, streaming video, downloading large files, emailing etc etc.

Most home routers don’t care what your using. They will just send out data onto the internet on a “first come first served” basis. Which means, if you’ve a busy house with a few users all using the same internet connection, there can be a bit of a bun fight!

One user could be downloading torrents and using quite a lot of bandwidth, if someone else wanted to use the internet to make a phone call (Skype etc) they could find that the call is “choppy” and the voice is breaking up. Or if someone wanted to play on Gears of War online, it could be laggy because of the torrents downloading.

Streamengine sorts this out, it will decide which traffic should go out onto the internet first, voice, video and gaming are important as they don’t like delays as it’s noticeable, so they go first. Any other traffic like, emails, web surfing, torrents etc etc go later, as your not bothered (nor will you notice) if there’s a few second delay with those types of applications.

WISH

Dlink have had a system like Streamengine used on the Gamefuel routers, so it’s not new, what is new is WISH.

Up until now, wireless has been a free for all. If your wireless laptop is downloading large emails, torrents, basically anything that taxes the bandwidth and your wireless 360 is trying to play on Xbox live… well the Xbox will suffer. Not with WISH. WISH is another Quality of Service function that specifically looks at the Wireless traffic. If it detects that voice (Internet phone calls), video (Streaming video or HD Material) or gaming (Xbox live etc) it will tag that data as “important” and ensure it gets to its destination before your emails, torrents etc. Ensuring a smooth voice, video, gaming experience.

Also, when it detects other Wireless G/B networks in the area its considerate enough not to stomp all over them by reducing the radio spectrum, aaaah how sweet!

UPnP    Yes
DHCP    Yes
DHCP Address Reservation    Yes
WEP    Yes
WPA-PSK[TKIP]    Yes
WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA2-PSK [AES]    Yes
WPA-802.1x     Yes
Wireless Access List    Yes
WDS    No
Firewall    Yes (SPI)
Dynamic DNS    Yes
QoS - WAN    Yes
QoS - Wireless    Yes
Support for two or more Xbox With an OPEN Nat    Yes

Pre-N

Pre-N or Draft N is a manufacturers take on what they believe will go into the 802.11n standard when its finally ratified. What this means is, some of the features of the Pre-N device may or may not be compatible with other 802.11n products when they are released.

Wireless Speeds

I think the main reason for you wanting to buy this router is for one or more of the following:-

• Your in the market for a new router and Wireless G is getting older now, so you looking for a future proof(ish) purchase
• You need fast wireless transfer speeds between devices
• You want to stream video/music at high speeds

Now, when you seen Pre-N advertised you hear of speeds like 270-300Mbps. Please… don’t expect that. Those are potential speeds of “N”, you wont reach them.

But don’t let that put you off this is a FAST wireless router. Here’s a set of tests I carried out:-

• Equipment used: Dlink DIR-655
• Laptop with Netgear WN11B Wireless card
• Qcheck Performance testing software

All the tests were carried out with the router configured with WPA-PSK configured, using the Wireless Channel mode of Auto.

File Transfer Rate (802.11n) < 1m 33-39Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.11n) > 6m 33-39Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.11n) > 8m 24-30Mbps

The transfer rates were not as good as I expected to be honest, but this might be as I was using a Netgear Draft N card with a Dlink Draft N router.

Next time I’ll ask for a card to match the router! So, please don’t take too much notice of the speeds above as I’ve read of figures of 112Mbps at around 10 feet. So, don’t worry too much about that side of things

File Transfer Rate (802.54g) < 1m 18-22Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 6m 18-22Mbps
File Transfer Rate (802.54g) > 8m 18-22Mbps

Wireless Range

I’ll be honest I personally didn’t really notice much difference in range than my Wireless G setup. That might be just down to my house.

Wired Speeds LAN

Usually home routers come with 4 Ethernet 10/100Mbps ports, the DIR-655 comes with 4 Ethernet 10/100/1000Mbps ports.

Gig ports come in real handy when doing some large data transfers between PC’s with Gig network cards. For some reason my Realtek Family Gigabit Ethernet Card would not do a 1000Mbps, it would only connect at 100Mb, I tried everything, new drivers, forcing it to connect at 1Gb, nothing would work. One of my laptops connected at 1Gb straight away, so it must be the card on my PC, cheap!

Wired Speeds WAN

This section will be of interest to cable users (NTL/Virgin and other ISP’s that use cable rather than ADSL).

Until now cable speeds in the UK haven’t been very fast, 2Mb, 4Mb, then we went up to 10Mb. All of the current routers out there could cope with these speeds. Now Virgin Media have introduced 20Mb cable in the UK. And a lot of people are complaining saying they are not seeing any increase in speed after the upgrade. But when they connect direct to the cable modem the speed is fine. It’s all down to their router, and the fact that it cannot route the packets fast enough. Some people can only get a transfer speed of 1MB/s when on a 20Mbps connection they should be achieving 2MB/s.

With this in mind I decided to test the speed of the WAN port on the DIR-655. It’s actually got a 10/100/1000Mbps port, so physically it’s ready, but what about horsepower? Can it actually shift data that fast between the two ports. Remember this isn’t like two PC’s talking on a switch, the router has to look at each packet to decide where to route it, if there’s a firewall rule applied, apply NAT etc etc, lots of stuff. And all of that requires processing power.

I simulated the “internet” in my lab (won’t bore you with the details) and using QCheck the transfer speed was rated at 93Mbps. I transferred a 1Gb file in my simulation and it took 2mins 20seconds to download, that’s fast!

I clocked it at downloading 7.17MB/sec. So basically if Virgin offered a 70Mbps internet service, this router can take it. Maybe it could go even faster, but I don’t have enough Gig Ethernet cards to test it any further. Anyway its fast….

QoS Testing

Please Note: The DIR-655 firmware and QoS menu has changed since this review, if you would like to know how to configure QoS for your Xbox for this router please look here

So this Quality of Service, Streamengine stuff, sounds amazing, but does it actually work in practice and is it hard to setup? Yes it does work and it’s not hard to setup

Here’s how I tested it. Whilst using the Dlink with the QoS engine turned on I hosted a game on CoD3 and about 8 or so people joined. Everything was running fine, then I set off a huge download to max out my download bandwidth and an equally huge upload. You’ll have to take it from me that the PC was gobbling up as much bandwidth both ways as it could.

Nothing changed on CoD3, no visible lag, no-one disconnected, we just carried on playing for an hour or so as if nothing had ever happened, and my downloads and uploads just ticked away.

I then tried the same test on my regular router that has no QoS (BT HomeHub), as soon as I started the huge upload, it booted everyone out of the game. And if I looked for games to join none would show up at all unless I stopped the upload.

So it works at treat! And I didn’t have to configure anything just tick the QoS engine box. And I could see in the status logs that it was marking Xbox live traffic as a higher priority than my other traffic. I really like it…

NAT

As we know a good NAT status of Open is all important for Xbox live. I'm glad to say its Open out the box, so there's no issues there. This router will also support two or more Xboxes with a NAT of Open, no config changes needed.

Summary

A superb router and a worthy buy for anyone. It’s a router for:-

The Power User – Who like to play and tinker and do things their own way and have lots of features

The Average User – Who just want to play and get setup with the minimum of fuss, you want to plug it in and it works and don’t have to configure anything, or if you do, you want a wizard to take care of the technical details.

What I’m getting at, it’s a router for all, they’ve managed to combine a whole host of features and tweakability into the router without alienating the more average user, as there's some great wizards that help you setup wireless security and take the pain out of it all.

The main problem I had with this router was the fact that I had to send it back!

The Unofficial Guide To Live Rating

9/10

2011 Update

Unfortunately it seems there are some compatibility issues with this router and the Official Wireless N Adapter (External) in that it cannot connect in N mode, only G, please see this article for more information.

Category: Cable Customers

Written by Administrator

Monday, 10 May 2010 14:49

If you are a Cable customer with a Cable modem, or a Fibre to the Cabinet/Premises customer I would suggest that you have a look at the Microsoft list you will find below my personal recommendations, that may or may not have gone through Microsoft Testing (by Microsoft not by this site) Where a router is Microsoft Xbox Live Certified I have made this clear.

I can personally recommend the following manufacturers for Broadband Ethernet routers for Cable Customers/Fibre to the Cabinet/Premises customers (e.g Virgin/Comcast/BT Infinity etc)

• Netgear
• Belkin
• DLink

I can recommend them because I have been using their products for years at work and at home and they have a solid reputation and great support services.

Need to support two or more Xboxes?

If you have a specific requirement to use more than one Xbox on your network please look here

Highly Recommended

• Name    Billion BiPAC 7800N
• Ethernet Ports    4 (1Gb)
• Wireless    Yes (N,G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    No
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

This is one of the most feature packed routers out there for the price. It can be used for ADSL, Fibre to the Cabinet, Cable.

If used for ADSL you can tweak the Signal to Noise Ratio to get more speed out of your connection and fine tune between speed and stability.

It works with multiple Xboxes with an Open NAT out of the box with firmware 1.06d and above.

Supports IPv6 and Quality of Service

Can be used for ADSL, FTTC and Cable customers as it has two WAN ports, one for ADSL one for connectivity to an Ethernet modem

Its not the cheapest router out there but you certainly get what you pay for.

• Name    Dlink DIR-300/301 Wireless G Router (Also known as DKT-110 when bundled with wireless PC adapter)
• Ethernet Ports    4
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    Yes

• Name    Netgear WGR614 v6 or v8 54Mbps Broadband Wireless Router
• Ethernet Ports    4
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    Yes
• Notes    Avoid v6 & 7 if wanting to use the Nintendo DS for on-line gaming

 

 

 

• Name    Netgear WGT624 v3 108Mbps Super G Broadband Wireless Router
• Ethernet Ports    4
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    Yes

• Name    Belkin F5D7231uk4 High Speed Wireless G Router
• Ethernet Ports    4
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

 

 

 

 

• Name    Dlink DGL-4300 108Mbps Wireless Gaming router
• Ethernet Ports    4
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    No (but was previously, quite an old router now)

• Name    Dlink DIR-655 Extreme "N" Gigabit Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (1Gb)
• Wireless    Yes
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Yes
• Microsoft Live Certified    Yes

Looking for Xbox Live Certified Firmware for your router?

If you have a Dlink router look here

If you have a Netgear router look here or our own firmware download section

PLEASE NOTE: If you purchase a wireless router, you MUST secure your wireless network, otherwise you possibly expose yourself to identify fraud!

See this section for more details.

Routers to avoid!

It's rare to see the bigger name brands have issues with Xbox live. But here are a list of broadband routers I would avoid at the time of writing.

Please aware firmware updates may solve any issues, so always try the latest version of firmware.

Belkin 4-Port Router F5D5231-4

Issue:- Connection drops after 5 mins of xbox gaming/chatting. Marketplace downloads appear fine. No new firmware updates available as of (03/02/2007)

Category: ADSL Customers

Written by Administrator

Monday, 10 May 2010 14:01

The official Microsoft list does not have any ADSL Routers listed that can be purchased in the UK. Therefore, please see my recommendations at the bottom of the page. none of the routers below have gone through the Microsoft Certified testing.

But the ones I recommend I have used or have had feedback on from lots of Xbox Live users (the biggest testing ground of all)

There are many many more routers that work with Xbox Live that are not on the official list.

My advice is impartial and based on my experience of a wide range of routers and also years of feedback from people who have had issues with certain brands via e-mail and Xbox forums.

I would avoid cheaper brands as you may find that you save yourself £20 but end up with a lot of hassle and problems and possibly not even get the set-up working. And.. have little support if it goes wrong.

I can personally recommend the following manufacturers for ADSL Ethernet routers for ADSL Customers (BT, AOL, Tiscali etc etc)

• Netgear
• Belkin
• Dlink

I can recommend them because I have been using their products for years at work and at home and they have a solid reputation and great support services.

Need to support two or more Xboxes?

If you have a specific requirement to use more than one Xbox on your network please look here

Highly Recommended

• Name    Billion BiPAC 7800N
• Ethernet Ports    4 (1Gb)
• Wireless    Yes (N,G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    No
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

This is one of the most feature packed routers out there for the price. It can be used for ADSL, Fibre to the Cabinet, Cable.

If used for ADSL you can tweak the Signal to Noise Ratio to get more speed out of your connection and fine tune between speed and stability.

It works with multiple Xboxes with an Open NAT out of the box with firmware 1.06d and above.

Supports IPv6 and Quality of Service

Can be used for ADSL, FTTC and Cable customers as it has two WAN ports, one for ADSL one for connectivity to an Ethernet modem

Its not the cheapest router out there but you certainly get what you pay for.

• Name    BT Home Hub 3
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb) 1 (1Gb)
• Wireless    Yes (N,G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    No
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

Only works with BT ISP's

The new version of the BT Home Hub with smart wireless technology to ensure you maintain the best wireless signal.

Features power saving mode to turn off wireless at times of your chosing and access control

Also  has a USB port to share a printer or to be used as networked media storage

Can be used for ADSL and FTTC customers as it has two WAN ports, one for ADSL one for connectivity to a VSDL modem

The Unofficial Guide To Live Router of Choice

• Name    D-link DSL-2640B ADSL2+ Wireless-G Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb)
• Wireless    Yes (G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Yes
• Microsoft Live Certified    Yes

A bargain at the price jam packed full of features and multiple Xbox support, you can still find these routers on eBay

Some users with PS3's have noted they have problems running the Xbox and PS3/PSN at the same time, this is easily resolved by setting up Port Triggering for the PSN ports. Contact me via the forum for details.

Please note The DSL-2640B is being phased out and the DSL-2640R is replacing it, it is essentially the same router and offers the same features and supports multiple Xboxes with an Open NAT

The Unofficial Guide To Live Router of Choice

• Name    D-link DSL-2640R ADSL2+ Wireless-G Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb)
• Wireless    Yes (G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    No
• Microsoft Live Certified    No
• Notes    Please note The DSL-2640R is the replacement for the now discontinued DSL-2640B

• Name    D-link DSL-2740B ADSL2+ Wireless-N Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb)
• Wireless    Yes (N,G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    No
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

• Name    Netgear DG834G V2 thru V5 54MB Wireless ADSL Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb)
• Wireless    Yes (G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    No
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    No
• Notes    v4 of this router has Xbox Live issues when using firmware 5.03.14 or 5.01.14

• Name    Belkin F5D7633-4A 125Mb Wireless ADSL Router
• Ethernet Ports    4 (100Mb)
• Wireless    Yes (G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Not at present
• Microsoft Live Certified    No

• Name    BT Home Hub
• Ethernet Ports    2 (100Mb) & 2 USB
• Wireless    Yes (G,B)
• Supports 2 Xbox (NAT)    Yes
• Reviewed    Yes
• Microsoft Live Certified    No
• Notes    Works with BT ISP's only

Category: System Link

Written by Administrator

Friday, 07 May 2010 15:27

A System link up is great fun. If you have quite a few mates with Xboxes, and somewhere you house a few tv’s, it can be much more fun than Xbox live.

System Link with the Original Xbox

To connect two Xboxes together you need a crossover cable. Which are available from Maplins or any good electrical retailer.

If you want to connect up more than two Xboxes you will need a Hub, Switch or a Router.

If you don't already have a router, consider buying one and using that for a system link, to get more value out of your purchase.

Or if you have no plans to buy a router go for a Switch as you will get better performance than a Hub. Any 10/100mb switch will do, just get one with as many ports as you have Xboxes you are wishing to connect. They come normally come in 4, 5, 6, 8 and 16 port configurations.

Or if you already have a router with enough ethernet ports, just use that. You don't need to connect it to the internet for it to work for a system link.

The cables you need to connect to the hub/switch/router from your Xbox are standard patch cables and NOT the crossover cables variety.

It’s easy to tell a crossover cable from a straight. Hold up both ends of the cable so you can see the coloured cables inside. If they are exactly the same colours in each pin out then it’s a straight through cable. If some of the colours are reversed it’s a crossover cable

System Link with the Xbox 360

As above really, except for if you are linking two 360's together. You only need a straight through cable, a crossover is not needed. You can also use the Official Wireless Adapters to connect

System Link with the Original Xbox and Xbox 360

Yes it works fine. As long as the game is backward compatible (e.g. Halo) it will work. Again, if you are linking the Xbox to the Xbox 360 a straight through cable will work fine, no crossover needed.

You may already have the kit you need!

If you have a 4 port router, you can use that to system link your Xboxes, no need for a hub/switch as the router should have one built in.

Wireless System Link?

The Official Xbox 360 Wireless adapters also allow you to system link to each other, just like using a cable but wireless. In fact you can connect up to 4 Xboxes using the official adapters without the need for a wireless router, they can all talk in what is called "ad-hoc" mode. See this article for more information.

Troubleshooting

The most common problem with System link is with regards to game updates from Xbox live. Both consoles need to be running the same version of the game. Some games are updated via Xbox live. If one person has the update but the other doesn't, it wont work.

You need to get both consoles up to the latest patch version of the game. Or you could remove the updates from the console that has been on Xbox live.

Category: Other Equipment

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:40

Intro

Cragga LFC one of our resident forum members has put together some details on his own experience with Homeplugs on Xbox Live.

Homeplugs

If you are considering Homeplugs please read the below carefully as I have a set of Homeplugs myself and had a few issues with them early on. The problems where down to my setup nothing else. After buying the Homeplugs I had no lag issues but connection issues which I was trying to blame mainly on the xbox servers due to what happened over Christmas.

Considering Homeplugs in your house due to the layout of your home and wireless is no good because the connection strength is poor.

Well here are a few considerations to bare in mind before purchasing any homeplugs.

• Do you have a spare Ethernet port in the back of your router? 
• ADSL or Cable Router required – wireless or non wireless 
• Do you have a spare WALL plug socket near your router?
• Will a cable reach the homeplug from the socket in the wall to the router?
• Do you have a spare WALL plug socket in the room for your Xbox360? 
• Will a cable fit from the Homeplug in the wall to the Xbox 360

You need at least 2 Homeplugs

• 1 Homeplug connects to your router 
• 1 Homeplug to go into your room

Setup 2 - ADSL Wireless Router

Supported homeplugs for Xbox Live

Solwise Fla85, Fla85W, Fla200
VeseNet FlaVes85, FlaVes85-3

More information; http://www.homeplugs.co.uk/acatalog/XBOX_360.html

Below is a set of instructions to follow in order to get Homeplugs up and running in your home without having any issues. The reason for creating this thread is due to the fact that I have Homeplugs and think they are fantastic but I myself had issues when getting them. I noticed a massive difference when using them – i.e. no lag but I did get a lot of connection interrupts – especially on cod4.

If you are a cod4 lover and don’t want any lag or connected related issues here are a few tips for you;

• The Homeplugs work a lot better when plugged directly into the wall socket
• Try not to plug the Homeplug into a socket extension
• Plugging a Homeplug into a SURGE PROTECTOR is a BIG NO NO
• Surge protectors within your house will need replacing and this eliminates the possibilities of connection problems

I had a surge protected extension socket in the wall plug socket next to my Homeplug and I got connection issues. I bought a new Homeplug (FlaVes85-3v2) to use with my xbox and pc. As soon as I got it I plugged it in and worked great but I got a lot of limited connectivity problems but then it would regain connection. It was very strange. That strange I doubted how reliable the Homeplugs were. Even on my old Homeplug I got connection interrupts on my Xbox but thought it was the Xbox’s side. Due to the surge protected socket extension this was not helping the connection at all as it was directly next to the Homeplug. Not once did I ever imagine it was that. I was told not too plug a Homeplug into a surge protected extension socket, but never thought the socket extension could impact the Homeplug being next to it.

If you follow the above you will have no issues when using the Homeplugs.

Encryption

When you buy a set of Homeplugs a cd is provided that you should install in order to secure the Homeplugs from anybody else outside connecting to them.
Install the cd on the pc where the Homeplug connects to the pc

• The software will connect to the Homeplug that connects to the router from the wall socket of the pc.
• It will show you the other Homeplug it has connected to.
• Type in the password where it says enter password.
• (Password can be found on the back of the Homeplug - ****-****-****-****)
• ((The password you are tying in is the password on the back of the homeplug that will be connected to the xbox))

Contact

If your problems are not related to the above please contact me via the forum and I will try my best to help you out as I do have a few contacts who work for Solwise and at Homeplugs.co.uk.

The service that Solwise provide and Homeplugs.co.uk is amazing, it is quick and extremely helpful in order to eliminate your issues.

References

All the above information is taken from my own experiences with Homeplugs and helpful information I have been passed down. I would therefore like to share my findings with others who are having difficulty with Homeplugs.

The information relating to the supported Homeplugs can be found – www.homeplugs.co.uk

Category: Other Equipment

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 11 May 2010 10:37

Homeplugs

Homeplugs/Powerline adapters are a great alternative to using wireless for Xbox Live. Not only are they quite cost effective these days they are also highly recommended for those that may have wireless distance/interference issues.

The makes and models we recommend below are recommended as we know they work well with Xbox Live but also the Xbox 360 Media Centre/Extender which some other brands do not.

Here's a great insight into Homeplugs from one of our forum members.Cragga LFCs Homeplugs Experience

Recommended Homeplugs

Solwise 14Mb Homeplug (pair needed)

Great for:-

• Xbox Live
• Streaming Music

Solwise 85Mb Homeplug Pair

Great for:-

• Xbox Live
• Streaming Music
• Streaming Standard Definition video
• Streaming High Definition video (dependant on your house wiring 200Mb AV recommended)

Solwise Homeplug AV Pair (200Mb)

Great for:-

• Xbox Live
• Streaming Music
• Streaming Standard Definition video
• Streaming High Definition video

VeseNET Homeplug 85Mb (pair needed)

Great for:-

• Xbox Live
• Streaming Music
• Streaming Standard Definition video
• Streaming High Definition video (dependant on your house wiring)

VeseNET Homeplug 85Mb 3Port (pair needed)

Great for:-

• Xbox Live
• Streaming Music
• Streaming Standard Definition video
• Streaming High Definition video (dependant on your house wiring)