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By Kelly Lu (kellylu@onepc.net) - May 2, 2001

Infobox

What? DI-713 Product Page Who? D-Link Home Page How much? $299 USD (Est. Street) D-Link Online Store

The personal computer has been with us for quite some time now. Because of this, a lot of people, after upgrading or buying multiple computers, are left with multiple computers lying around their homes. Now, the most obvious and beneficial thing to do is to network them together and do some file, print and Internet sharing with them. Doing so allows users to, for example, print to the computer in the den, get that Word document from the computer in the bedroom and, of course, play a few rounds of multiplayer games--all without taking a single step. Plus, now that more and more people are being hooked up to the Internet using broadband connections such as DSL and Cable, networking allows users to share a single Internet connection with minimal hassle or noticeable speed loss.

Unfortunately, networking your computers around the house isn't for the faint of heart--especially when the computers are scattered around the house in different rooms, each separated by-gasp, eek, scream-walls, ceilings and floors. Now, not only do you have to deal with the headaches of having to deal with Windows' networking facilities, but also the addition of having to drill holes all over the place to host those nasty network cables. That's why, a few weeks ago, we introduced to you some neat networking gear from D-Link's Air line of products--the DWL-120 (for USB) and DWL-500 (for PCI) network adapters. What's so special about these adapters is that they run completely wireless, allowing the user to basically plug it into any computer and instantly be on the network without having to deal with towing a cable around. What's different with these devices, however, is that, unlike the networking gear in the past that only allowed a maximum of 2Mbps, the D-Link Air series of products utilize the IEEE 802.11b standard, which allows for a maximum of 11Mbps. If you haven't read the review that I'm talking about here, I suggest you do so here, as I will be referring to it throughout this review.

Today, we take a look at another product in D-Link's arsenal of wireless products: the DI-713. D-Link dubs this product as a "Wireless Home DSL/Cable Router plus Switch." (Whew! That's a mouthful!) Like its name suggest, the DI-713 is a router to share your Internet connection, a switch to connect your computers together and a wireless access point so that your IEEE 802.11b wireless adapters, such as the DWL-120 and DWL-500, can both use your cabled network and also the Internet that is being shared--all rolled up into one neat package. Pretty neat eh? Obviously, this product is aimed at those who either already a network set up and would like to add some extra computers using wireless technology alongside their existing wired network, or for those who wish to set up a network and don't wish to spend a whole pile of cash on wireless network adapters for every computer but would rather set up a cheaper wired network alongside some wireless network adapters for the laptops.

Standards: IEEE 802.3 10Base-T Ethernet IEEE 802.11b Wireless LAN, Wi-Fi Compatible IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet ANSI/IEEE 802.3 NWay auto-negotiation Protocols Supported: TCP/IP NAT DHCP UDP PPPoE Virtual Server VPN Support: PPTP Management: Web-Based Ports: 1 x 10 Base-T WAN 3 x NWay 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet LAN 1 x RS-232 (DB-9) LED’s: WAN Activity LAN Activity M1 M2 Link/Act. (Link / Activity) 10/100 Wireless Connection Wireless Link

Access Point Frequency Band: 2.4 ~ 2.4835 GHz (subject to local regulation) Access Point Number of Channel: USA & Canada: 11 Access Point Frequency Range: 5 Mbps Access Point Transmit Power: Nominal Temp Range: 14dBm TYP Access Point Data Rate: 11 Mbps & 5.5 Mbps CCK 2 Mbps & 1Mbps DQPSK Access Point Security: 40-bit WEP Encryption Access Point Antenna: External 0dbi dipole Access Point Media Access Control: CSMA/CA with ACK Access Point Operating Range: Open Space: 100 – 300m Indoor: 50 – 100m

Basically, the DI-713 is just a home router, like the SMC Barricade that we reviewed earlier, on steroids. Unlike the SMC Barricade, however, is the fact that it also has a built-in wireless access point so that wireless adapters can both access the Internet connection that's being shared and also the computers that are connected through the built-in switch. You can read about the differences between Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure mode wireless networks here if you missed it. The access point is IEEE 802.11b compliant, which means that all other IEEE 802.11b-compliant wireless networking device, such as those in D-Link's Air series of products, will work with the DI-713.

Built right into the DI-713 is a 3-port 10/100Mbps switch for connecting your computers directly into the router. We addressed the benefits that a switch has over a hub way back in our review of the Linksys Switched 10/100 Network in a Box quite a while back. To briefly summarize it, a switch is able to transfer data through only the needed ports, freeing the other ports for communication between other computers, while a hub will just transfer data through all the ports, therefore creating a traffic jam in the hub if other computers wish to transfer data as well. The 3-port switch in the DI-713 will work with 10BaseT and 100BaseTX networks and is able to adjust to the correct setting automatically. Unfortunately, although the 3-ports for plugging in 3 computers should be enough for a lot of people, there are also others, like myself, who will find that 3-ports will not be enough. Luckily, you can link other hubs and switches from the DI-713 if you find that the 3-ports are not enough for you-which, of course, will require some money for buying that extra hub or switch.

Finally, the third major feature of the DI-713, of course, is its built-in hardware router. Providing hardware NAT (Network Address Translation), it allows the user to share an Internet connection between multiple computers (the maximum should be about 253 computers--a limit of the TCP/IP protocol--and more is possible using advanced networking techniques). A quick look at the spec sheets above tells us that the DI-713 includes both a WAN port for connecting to a broadband connection such as your DSL or cable line, and also a serial port for those who use external analogue modems. It's good to see that D-Link has included support for regular modem users as it shows that they recognize that not everyone is lucky enough to have broadband. Now, of course, the viability of this feature is another thing, since sharing a 56K modem connection between even two computers will be unbearable for most.

Also built-in is a hardware firewall, which acts to protect all users behind the firewall from external threats such as hackers and probes. It allows for port blocking and redirecting as well as packet filtering for maximum security and flexibility at the same time for computers behind the DI-713. To top everything off, it includes a DHCP server which allows for the dynamic configuration of up to 252 computers to connect to the network and the Internet automatically. Using a DHCP server means that users won't have to manually type in their network configuration settings, such as their IP address, gateway, DNS, etc., as everything will be automatically assigned to them by the DI-713.

A diagram to showing ideal application for the DI-713.

As you can see, the DI-713 is clearly chocked full of features.

Inside the DI-713's box, one will find the DI-713 itself, a product CD, two CAT-5 cables, a power adapter, a user's manual and a neat little "Getting Started" poster. It's good to see that D-Link includes two CAT-5 cables so that users can get started with their two computers immediately. Also, the "Getting Started" poster is surely unique as it steers away from the conventional 4-page looks-like-it-was-made-last-minute getting started guides from most other products. It is also very useful in that it gives the user some important instructions such as the device's default IP address (so that you can access it to configure it) and, for new users, it also outlines how to go about setting up Windows' network configuration for your network.

The manual was also very well-written and can guide the user through setting up the hardware aspect of the DI-713 and also outlines the different configuration screens that one can find in its web interface. Missing, however, is a troubleshooting section that would have helped users if they ran into common problems.

The DI-713 itself is a dark grey, long and flat device that'll take up quite a bit of space on your desk. Like the Barricade, the DI-713 has its ports at the front, which means that your network cables will take up more desk space than if they were hanging off from the back and from the side of the desk. Also at the front are the status LED's. This, I like, since having them at the front makes it easier to see them than having them at the top, like the Barricade does.

At the rear are two rotating antennas for communication with IEEE 802.11b wireless network adapters. Also at the rear is the COM port for plugging in your analog modem--if you don't have a broadband connection-and a power switch.

Installation and Setup
Installation of the hardware aspect was a snap. Plug in the power cord, plug in the necessary Ethernet cables and flick on the power switch.

Setting up the device so that it'll work with my network was slightly more complicated. The DI-713 was set default to a local IP address of 192.168.0.1. This is what I had for my primary computer, so I had to go in and change the IP address of my primary computer to something else before I could configure the DI-713. Not much of a problem, but it was simply a hassle. After that was all done, I just typed in the IP address of the DI-713 into my browser and was greeted with the configuration screen. Quickly checking the getting started poster for the default password, I was now able to configure the device.

What struck me first, however, was the striking resemblance between the configuration screens for the DI-713 and the Barricade. It's almost as if they made the same configuration programs and just changed the color schemes for them! Thus, it was easy to work around the configuration since I was already used to using it with the Barricade.

With so many different types of Internet connections that this thing can use, I think it's best if I outlined some of the methods that the DI-713 can use to connect to the Internet. Available is are settings for static IP address and dynamic IP address for users of broadband connections such as cable and DSL, PPP over Ethernet (for your "special ISP" with "special needs") and, finally, dial-up for users of analog modem or ISDN.

After the basic Internet information was configured and I set the IP address of the DI-713 to something other than 192.168.0.1, I was ready to get my computers on my Ethernet network on the 'net! This is extremely simple with the DI-713's DHCP server, as now all I had to do was set everything on my Windows machines to automatic and wham! We've got Internet!

For the wireless computers, all I had to do was set some very simple settings on the DI-713 and also on my wireless network adapters so that they match (allowing them to find each other). Once that was done, everything was functioning perfectly: both my wired and wireless computers had access to the Internet and they could even see each other, courtesy of the built-in wireless access point, so I could, for example, conduct file sharing between wired and wireless computers. Very cool!

So now that I've got everything set up, I decided to explore around a bit and see what else this baby can do. First up is the virtual server screen, where one can specify ports to forward so that you can run servers on computers behind the DI-713's firewall. This is very easy, as everything is all graphical. There are even presets for common servers such as HTTP, FTP, Telnet and SMTP that one can choose. The only problem, though, that I see with configuring this is that there are only 20 slots to work with. I'm sure that with a small network, there shouldn't be much of a problem, but with large networks and multiple servers, this could become a problem as you might need to open up more than 20 different ports. To help relieve this problem, there's a setting called the DMZ host that one can use. This means that if a computer is set as a DMZ host the firewall will leave a hole for all the ports on that computer, making it as if it was virtually directly connected to the Internet. This is perfect for those who have a "server" computer, as, instead of opening each port up manually, one can simply set it so that it is a DMZ host.

Another one of the "advanced" settings is the control for special applications. When a computer is behind a firewall, it's a known fact that some programs won't work properly because the firewall is blocking the port(s) that they need. These programs might include multiplayer games, Internet phone programs, etc. To solve this, the DI-713 allows the user to input these special applications so that the firewall will still allow them to use the ports that they need. Unfortunately, though, there are only 4 (!) slots for these settings, so you should use them sparingly. I, myself, have never had to use them, even for my multiplayer gaming, but it is a known fact that some applications and games will require you to use up one of these slots for them to work properly.

At an estimated street price of $299 USD, this thing isn't cheap--in fact, it's not even remotely close to being cheap; however, you have to consider how many different devices that it can replace: it will act as a switch for your network, a router for your Internet connection and even as a wireless access point. Plus, there are all those little things, such as the built in DHCP server, that adds more to its value. Unfortunately, though, because of its high price, the DI-713 isn't a toy for everyone. In terms of features and functionality, I don't see a single flaw in it--it's just a matter of whether you need it or not. That is, if you do have a wireless network alongside a wired network, then this thing will be perfect for you to share your Internet connection between all of them--it's as simple as that!

Pros Wireless Access Point, Switch and Router rolled into one Very easy to set up Built-in hardware firewall DHCP server is quite handy Cons 3-port switch might not be enough for some users (-0.5) Very steep price (-1)

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