Dlink DIR 655 vs newer offerings

[gplracer]

My DIR 655 does not seem quiet as reliable as it was in the past. How much better are the newer wireless routers?

 

[smitbret]

My DIR 655 does not seem quiet as reliable as it was in the past. How much better are the newer wireless routers?

That all depends on what you expect. I have never had the DIR-655 but I did have the DIR-825 for about 3 years. When it started to need occasional reboots I replaced it with this:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Arche...UTF8&qid=1442001106&sr=1-1&keywords=archer+c7

I instantly got a range improvement of about 30-40%.

However, it also adds things that you may or may not find useful. Your current router is a good, single-band router that only has 2.4GHz wireless. If that has worked fine for you and you don't think you will need to add dual-band or wireless AC support in the next 2-3 years then I would recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...667&cm_re=netgear_2020-_-33-122-667-_-Product
The only performance difference would be the wired ethernet ports are Gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) on the D-Link and the Netgear is just Fast Ethernet (10/100). Most people won't notice the difference.

If you need dual-band and/or want Gigabit ports but don't have or conceive of having any add'l AC devices:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WD...p/B008RV51EE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

I have used all three of these regularly and they are my opinion of the best values in routers right now. There are other really good routers with even more features on them for more money. Asus makes great routers and NetGear's Nighthawk routers are also excellent.

If you have been getting along fine with the DIR-655 until now, I can't imagine you will need anything more expensive than the ones I listed.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It depends on why your DIR655 is "unreliable."

If you have to reboot it a lot, it may be overheating due to age, in which case any new router will be fine. Same if your cat peed on it or something.

On the other hand, if it's locking up when under heavy load from a number of users (BitTorrent, say) then a new router that is similar in terms of RAM/CPU would probably suffer the same kinds of problems.

If you're just having WiFi range issues, a new router with big honking antennae and radio will help your client devices "see" the router's wifi signal better, but it won't help those same devices punch a signal back to the router. So, depending on what the limiting factor is, you might not see any improvement at all in wifi reception.

The Smallnetbuilder review of the DIR-655 makes it sound like it was a pretty awesome router back in the day. That said, technology marches on and a new midrange to high end home router will probably be a more capable piece of hardware.

The danger as a shopper is that there are going to be any number of low-end routers you can get that won't even be as good as your old one.

Personally, I think an Asus RT-N66U would be a good move.

 

[fuzzymath10]

Could also be the power supply. Those are usually mediocre and cheap.

I have a DIR-615 running in my parents' home. It's nothing special, but it's enough for their 25/2 internet. Its original AC adapter died so I'm using the adapter from an older dlink product which had the same one.

Lowering the transmit power may help if your devices remain in range.

Probably not worth it on an old router, but I also bought some thermal cement and used it to glue some video card memory chip heatsinks to the bare components which generally get very hot which can slowly ruin them. Some even modded my model of router to have a fan.

 

[gplracer]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[rchunter]

I've got a couple of d-link 655's that I use as access points now around my property. Bought a newer (Asus rt-n16) for my main router that I can run tomato on. Mind you, my "new" router is still old by today's standards but it works good for me. Being able to run tomato on it is nice.