D-Link DIR-655 Review  Up until recently, I was using a D-Link DI-624 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless router with some success in a large (928 sq. ft.)two-bedroom apartment. I found though, that I needed to have the router in a vertical position to get a good signal just on the other side of the wall from where it was situated. I felt I needed something more powerful so I could use my laptop in any area of my apartment without dropping the connection.
Recently I purchased the DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit router based on the fact that it was one of the first routers that was designed for Vista. Unfortunately, my Dell Inspiron does not have a draft N wireless card, but an Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG card, so I cannot comment on how it performs with the N standard (more about this below). Nevertheless, I do have some good things to say about the router itself. Set-up Set-up was neither quick nor easy, at least in my case. I had no existing wired connection to the router (which I should have had for initial setup), so I eventually came to the realization that I had to manually setup the wireless radio myself. This was easy enough, since I was familiar with the settings I needed to change so that my two laptops could connect. I just had to type the router's IP address (192.168.0.1) in Internet Explorer and, after logging in, I was looking at the router's configuration screen. Once I made the necessary changes and rebooted the router, I was connecting wirelessly to the 'Net. Performance I found that the 655 had a more 'persistent' (for lack of a better word) wireless connection than the 624. Streaming video is smoother as is music (from online radio broadcasts). Before I disconnected the 624, I ran some speed tests over at Speedtest.net with both a wired and wireless connection (click the thumbnails to enlarge): 
One can see the definite difference here between a wired (top) connection and wireless one (bottom). Now for the 655's performance, both wired (top) and wireless (bottom): 
Practically identical! At least I was getting some 'bang for my buck'! Next, I purchased a D-Link Wireless N PCMCIA card for my Dell, but I didn't realize that the Dell has no PCMCIA slot, just an ExpressCard slot. D'oh! I was hoping to test out the faster connection speed of draft N, but it was not to be in this instance. One other thing I did to improve the connection was to move the router away from my 2.4GHz cordless phone. Previously, I had the wireless router and phone base only a few feet apart at most. I also have the 655 about four feet off the ground, which is about the same height as my laptop when I am sitting on the other side of the wall from where it is located. Having the router too high causes the signal to pass through more wall, having to travel diagonally instead of straight through. These tips and more are mentioned in the PDF file on the setup CD. Features This router has a USB port on the back to connect a USB key that would contain wireless settings. It would have been nice if this USB port would allow a printer to be connected so it could be shared over the network, or even an external hard drive. A printed manual would have been nice too, rather than the PDF file on the CD. One nice feature is that an actual icon of the DIR-655 appears in the Vista network map (click to enlarge): 
Conclusion Despite the fact that I cannot fully test all the features of this router (particularly the new draft N standard), I quite like it and I believe it was worth the upgrade from the D-Link 624 Wireless router. I especially recommend this router for users of Windows Vista. Update, March 27th: The new network card is installed and working great! I'm connecting to the network at almost 5X the speed of the original G card. | 
