SmallNetBuilder

Routing Features

The 4500's feature set is similar to that of its other D-Link Ubicom-based routers including the DGL-4300 [reviewed] and DIR-655 [reviewed]. You can use D-Link's online emulator to explore the entire admin interface. I'll just hit some of the main features.

Figure 6: Status Screen

NOTE: The emulator is still at firmware version 1.00, while this review is based on the version 1.02 firmware.

• WAN Support - Types handled include Static, Dynamic, PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP and BigPond. All modes support MAC address spoofing and setting MTU.
  
  
• Firewall - In addition to being quite speedy, the 4500's router firewall is pretty full-featured. All port forwarding and filtering features can be scheduled, with schedules applied on a rule-by-rule basis. Single port, port range and triggered port range forwarding methods are all there.
  
  
• MAC address filtering applies to both wired and wireless clients with allow and deny options and a pick list of DHCP clients to help speed building the filters.
  
  
• Access Controls have been improved from when I looked at them on the DIR-655. You now get a "wizard" that steps you through the options. You define Access Control rules for each machine separately and can block all or some web access and/or just log web access. You still can't copy rules to ease the pain of setup, but you can define a rule for all machines that don't have a specific policy set.
  
  
• The Website Filter feature can now be set to allow or deny sites and works in conjunction with the Access Controls as the "block some" option. I found the interface to be a little funky due to an inconsistent use of the "Save Settings" button. You have to click the Save Settings button to get a website filter to go away after you click its little trash can. But you don't have to click Save Settings when you add a filter.
  
  I also found that you can bypass a filter by using the site's IP address. This is a step backward from the DIR-655, which properly blocked sites using either IP address or domain name.
  
  
• If you want to block more than just web access, you can also set up filters in the Access Controls to block access to specific IP addresses and/or ports. You also can filter all inbound traffic for eight IP address ranges.
  
  
• Firewall Settings provide a range of options that allow detailed control of traffic flow through the router. There are options here that I've never seen on routers in this class, such as "NAT Endpoint Filtering" and "Anti-Spoof Checking". You also can disable the SPI part of the firewall and pass-throughs for PTP, IPsec, RTSP and SIP traffic.
  
  
• Up to 32 static routes can be entered
  
  
• Dynamic DNS clients - Clients for various Dyndns.org options and D-Link's DLinkDDNS.com service (also provided by Dyndns.org) are supported.
  
  
• Logging and Reporting - Log messages are clearly written in plain English, with separate categories and levels. You can now change the "What To View" and "View Level" settings without rebooting or losing the log info.
  
  Logging to a syslog server is supported and the emailed alerts and logs feature allows you to set the SMTP server and user and password authentication. It took me awhile to get this to work, but it finally did. Things would have been easier had there been a "test mail" button.
  
  
• Secure remote access - Optional HTTPS admin access is supported by the 4500 and you can apply the Inbound Filters.