AirLink 101 Router (AR670W)

[Rockhound1]

I have done a search through Google for reviews of this router (AR670W) and have struck out. This is an 802.11n Draft 2.0 router. Is anyone on this forum using this router or have experience with this router. I am looking for an inexpensive router to provide basic networking service (i.e. wireless Internet). This router is $20 at Frys and looks like it might fit the bill, but I am a little nervous about buying it since I can't find any reviews.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

I'll take the linked to Router Flashed with DD-WRT* over any Draft_N and especially over an Airlink.

However if you need Wireless for simple work in close proximity the Airlink would do too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833320023

P.S. The days of reviews done with concerning piece of Plastic and silicon that it is out there is Gone few years ago.

* What is DD-WRT?

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/ind...hat_is_%22DD-WRT%22%3F

 

[tw1164]

I just bought the ASUS WL-520gU from newegg this morning. The one Verizon gave me is a POS.

 

[ccbadd]

The AR670W is using the RALink chipset and a lot of work is being done right now by the DD-WRT team to get it supported. The Airlink router is a good router for most peoples needs and I do have one running. It does not need to be rebooted every couple of days like some of the bigger brand names and provides good coverage. I would use it for G clients any day. When DD-WRT support is completed, it will be WAY better then that ASUS router.

 

[JackMDS]

RALINK makes nice Wireless Radios/Chipsets and are good about their drivers.

Problem is that AirLink is sloppy about their QA.

So if One is lucky, his device works well. :thumbsup:

However many people are not so lucky. :thumbsdown:

 

[ccbadd]

I agree with you about Airlink QC, but I have seen the QC problems from every consumer router manufacturer right now including Asus. Both Netgear and Linksys is a crap shoot as to whether they will support their hardware past the next clearance, and Dlink's seem to depend on the version numbers rather then the model number. I personally believe the RALink Draft N stuff is the most reliable Draft N stuff out there.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: ccbadd
I agree with you about Airlink QC, but I have seen the QC problems from every consumer router manufacturer right now including Asus.

This is very true, but it is Not All or None, the difference is in the percentage.

Some Vendors employ higher probability than others to "Dish" you "c**p".

 

[Rockhound1]

From the responses, it would seem this router has the potential to provide the basic networking capabilities that I am looking for. I guess I will roll the dice and see if I get a good one. For $20, it is worth a shot.

I will report back and let you know if I get lucky with regards to the quality issue.

BTW, I have purchased two D-Link wireless routers in the past. One worked great (and is still in service) and one crapped out rather quickly.

It is interesting. I figured with the Airlink priced this low, there would be a lot of people purchasing them which would in turn result in more feedback regarding their performance on the Web. There just does not seem to be much chatter about the performance of these routers.

 

[Rockhound1]

UPDATE:

I set up a basic network using the AirLink 101 (AR670W). The router is connected directly (i.e., hard wired) to a desktop computer running Vista (32-bit). The Vista machine immediately recognized the network connection and after the click of a button, it was connected to the Internet. I didn't have to look at the Quick Installation Guide or have to install any software. Done.

To configure the wireless settings on the router, I accessed the router through the Web browser at 192.168.1.1 and set the SSID and the security.

I was done in less than 2 minutes from the time it was plugged in and connected to the desktop computer.

There were no issues with the connection between the desktop and the Internet. Everything was as speedy is if connected directly to the modem. I tested the wireless connection using my Asus EEE 4G (WindowsXP operating system). The router is set up in a two-story house, approximately 3,800 square feet in size. I received a signal strength ranging from "very good" to "excellent" throughout the house. The Internet "felt" snappy in all parts of the house.

As you can see from this post, I was a little hesitant buying this router since research on the Web did not find any reviews of this particular router and the low price (the saying "you get what you pay for" kept reverberating in my head). There was also the question of quality associated with AirLink 101 products. However, based on my recent experience with this router, I would have to say I am pleased with its performance.

I know that it is too early to make any final judgements regarding this router, but based on my current experience, I could recommend this router to anyone interested in setting up a simple wired/wireless network in your home. Something to share the Internet through. If something should happen to change my mind/recommendation, I will either update this post of post a new thread detailing my experience.

:beer:

 

[Morro]

I have the same router and I have a lot of problems (Actually 2) with it:

1) It didn't want to get IP from my ISP. DHCP client was not working properly. My 3 (may be 4) years old SOYO never had problems with it.. After several restarts, firmware update and a reset it started working. I think router reset was the last thing that made it work, for some unknown reason it was much more effective than unplugging the power cord.

2) After a week it stopped forwarding DNS responses to the client computers (or relaying DNS requests to the outside server?). Computers in local network cannot resolve internet dns names unless I manually type in outside DNS server in IP protocol properties. Usually restarting the router helps for some time but it is really annoying. I didn't see any other user complaining about the same problem so I guess I'm lucky.

Again, you might get a working one. The basic functions are there and 3rd party firmware is going to come out soon. I've heard some people had issues with port forwarding, but not all the people need it and probably it will work better in future firmware releases.

 

[dejawalt]

I bought one of these and it has a very strange problem - I can't connect to microsoft.com!

I switch back to my old IP Cop router and all is fine again. I got ahold of AirLink101 support (no easy task) and they recommended that I exchange it. The new one acts exactly the same way.

That said, the setup was easy and everything else seems to work fine; banking, email, VPN and all other web sites I have tried.

I paid $20 at Fry's, it's currently working great as a 4-port hub/802.11 b/g/n access point behind my trust IP Cop box.

Anybody else have a similar experience?

 

[kevnich2]

My suggestion is either the Asus from Jack's link or the Asus WL500G Premium V2 for better wireless. You won't find a decent stable N router right now.

 

[pdo]

Airlink AR430W on sale at Fry's for $15 flash with DD-WRT kicks ass. The AR430W flash with DD-WRT performs better than my Linksys WRT300N V1.1 with DD-WRT

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: pdo
Airlink AR430W on sale at Fry's for $15 flash with DD-WRT kicks ass. The AR430W flash with DD-WRT performs better than my Linksys WRT300N V1.1 with DD-WRT

I wasn't aware that the AR430W was DDWRT compatible. If so, I'd say go with this one then.

 

[rudraksh]

Hi Folks,

I bought Airlink AR670W router from frys. I am now having trouble connecting to my desktop using remote desktop. Prior to this, I was connected to NetGear and Linksys routers. Both of them allowed me to connect seamlessly to my desktop using Remote Desktop.

Any ideas is appreciated.

Rudraksh

 

[Engineer]

Anyone want to send the AR670W to the DD-WRT folks in Germany (for free) with the promise to return a working copy of DD-WRT for it within one week? :shocked:

 

[sieler]

I've got the same problem with my AR670W that Morro has: after a bit of use,
DNS stops working for one or more computers.

Right now, one Mac, one PC, one iPhone are working fine, and one PC is failing.
(Both working PC and failing PC are direct-connect to the Airlink, the other two
are WiFi.)

I did notice one thing: the DHCP status page on the Airlink says the failing PC
is the fifth connection (the working PC shows up twice for some reason) ...
which might be a clue. The last time this happened, I cycled power on the
Airlink and things worked fine for a day or so.

On the failing PC, I can ping outside my LAN if I use IP address ... but DNS
isn't working. "ipconfig" and "network connection" don't mention a DNS server
on either good or failing PCs. If I change TCP/IP properties on failing machine
to use specified DNS server, it works fine. If I change it back to ask for a DNS
server, it fails.

Annoying

Stan

 

[tech geek]

UPDATE:

I set up a basic network using the AirLink 101 (AR670W). The router is connected directly (i.e., hard wired) to a desktop computer running Vista (32-bit). The Vista machine immediately recognized the network connection and after the click of a button, it was connected to the Internet. I didn't have to look at the Quick Installation Guide or have to install any software. Done.

To configure the wireless settings on the router, I accessed the router through the Web browser at 192.168.1.1 and set the SSID and the security.

I was done in less than 2 minutes from the time it was plugged in and connected to the desktop computer.

There were no issues with the connection between the desktop and the Internet. Everything was as speedy is if connected directly to the modem. I tested the wireless connection using my Asus EEE 4G (WindowsXP operating system). The router is set up in a two-story house, approximately 3,800 square feet in size. I received a signal strength ranging from "very good" to "excellent" throughout the house. The Internet "felt" snappy in all parts of the house.

As you can see from this post, I was a little hesitant buying this router since research on the Web did not find any reviews of this particular router and the low price (the saying "you get what you pay for" kept reverberating in my head). There was also the question of quality associated with AirLink 101 products. However, based on my recent experience with this router, I would have to say I am pleased with its performance.

I know that it is too early to make any final judgements regarding this router, but based on my current experience, I could recommend this router to anyone interested in setting up a simple wired/wireless network in your home. Something to share the Internet through. If something should happen to change my mind/recommendation, I will either update this post of post a new thread detailing my experience.

:beer


And the airlink will do better then that put it on channel 10 or 11

 

[jlazzaro]

your post is 8 months late, and the recommended non-overlapping 2.4Ghz channels are 1, 6, and 11.

welcome to AT...

 

[naty99]

I bought one of these and it has a very strange problem - I can't connect to microsoft.com!

I switch back to my old IP Cop router and all is fine again. I got ahold of AirLink101 support (no easy task) and they recommended that I exchange it. The new one acts exactly the same way.

That said, the setup was easy and everything else seems to work fine; banking, email, VPN and all other web sites I have tried.

I paid $20 at Fry's, it's currently working great as a 4-port hub/802.11 b/g/n access point behind my trust IP Cop box.

Anybody else have a similar experience?

i am having the same trouble, can't connect to microsoft.com nor msn.com.
i was having trouble, web pages wouldn't load, even tho it will ping, so i changed the router ip address, apperently my modem was modem/router.
this thread helped me understand and solve the problem so thank you guys.

 

[MyLeftNut]

So what was the problem with web pages (microsoft/msn) not loading when using this router? Was it a conflict caused by the modem being set to router mode?