Review Despite an early charge, powerline networking has suffered something of a stall over the past few years. The stuff is still shifting off the shelves, but we haven’t seen much in the way of improvements in the technology.
D-Link’s DHP-303: no change over the years but the model number?
Back in 2007, we were graced with 200Mb/s adaptors that provided a more reliable alternative to wireless when streaming HD video. Since then very little has changed and there’s still no sign of the 400Mb/s adaptors that the rival HomePlug and UPA groups have been shouting about the past year or so.
So when we heard D-Link had some new adaptors for us, we had our fingers crossed in the hope they would be the first to sport a 400Mb/s chip. Sadly, they don’t. Instead, the DHP-303 units are very similar – both visually and on paper – to D-Link’s DHP-300 adaptors from a couple of years back.
Before we go any further, it’s best to clear up D-Link’s somewhat bizarre naming convention. In what can only be seen as an effort to confuse, it calls the starter kit – as reviewed here – the DHP-303, although the individual adaptors are known as DHP-302s. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Ah, convergence, that buzzword of the 1990s – so often promising a lot, but delivering little. Evidently, D-Link is toying with the convergence concept with the neatly packaged Xtreme N DIR-685. This four-port Gigabit router features 802.11n Wi-Fi, a 3.2in LCD panel – billed as a digital photo frame – and Nas functionality too. It certainly looks the part, but does it deliver on its promise?
D-Link’s Xtreme N DIR-685
There have been fully featured routers before – the Zyxel P660HWP with its Wi-Fi, four Ethernet ports, ADSL modem and Homeplug all-in-one springs to mind – but few undertake as much as the DIR-685.
Indeed, D-Link has got it spot on with the DIR-685’s design. Rigid black plastic, varying between textured and polished on the front face, with no ungainly antennae pointing out. Heck, if it wasn’t for the ports around the back and the slightly-too-small LCD panel, onlookers would think it was nothing but a digital photo frame. Read the rest of this entry »
