Cheap Draft 802.11n Router Roundup

New to the Charts: D-Link DIR-625 RangeBooster N Router

The D-Link DIR-625 has been added to the Router and Wireless Charts. The DIR-625 is one step up from D-Link's entry-level draft 802.11n DIR-615.

The 625 is also a two-antenna design (2T2R) with a four port 10/100 switch. But it has a different Ubicom processor that yields 100 Mbps wire-speed unidirectional routing throughput and 144 Mbps of total simultaneous up/downlink throughput. It also maxed out our Maximum Simultaneous Connections test at 200 connections.

New to the Charts: D-Link DIR-615 Wireless-N Router

The D-Link DIR-615 has been added to the Router Charts and will be added to the Wireless Charts shortly. This is D-Link's least-expensive draft 802.11n router.

D-Link DIR-855 Episode 43: It's not dead... it's just restin'!

Latest word, direct from D-Link, is that the troubled dual-band draft 11n router has not been discontinued, as previously rumored. After first encountering problems in initial shipments that caused D-Link to recall and replace those faulty units, the restocking of retail shelves is now delayed "due to a component" (not being available).

D-Link has no firm date for the resumption of shipments.But they said they would update us when they do.

The DIR-855 Saga Continues

At the rate D-Link is going, it might as well put a bullet in this product and move on. The company hasn't even fully recovered from its recall of the product for an assembly error. And now the much-delayed dual-band draft 11n router seems to have disappeared from web retailers' shelves.

A Pricegrabber search returns a "no sellers listed for this product" and the product has disappeared completely from NewEgg.

We've asked D-Link for comment and will post an update when we hear back.

D-Link adds 16, 24 port switches to "green" lineup

D-Link today announced the expansion of its "Green Ethernet" switch line with the addition of 16 and 24 port unmanaged gigabit models.

New hardware revisions of the DGS-1016D 16-port and DGS-1024 24-port unmanaged gigabit switches now support the same power-saving features introduced on the DGS-2205 and DGS-2208 5 and 8 port switches last October.

D-Link revs managed security service

D-Link yesterday introduced a new version of its managed security service.

The SecureSpot 2.0 Managed Security Service will initially be integrated with the DIR-625 Draft 802.11n router, with additional products to be added later.

D-Link recalls DIR-855 for assembly error

D-Link is in the process of pulling back a small number of its long-awaited DIR-855 dual-band draft 802.11n routers to fix an assembly error.

D-Link Director of Marketing Dan Kelly responded quickly to our query about a posting on the BroadbandReports.com D-Link forum, with the following statement:

Zyxel suing D-Link over cheap switch

Digitimes today reported that Zyxel Communications has filed a complaint against D-Link and Waveplus Technology for switch-related patent infringements. Chip supplier Waveplus is being blamed as the cause of the dispute.

The dispute is over a < $20 D-Link switch that is sold only in Russia and that Zyxel claims is "very similar" to a Zyxel design.

Zyxel said it has not yet decided the amount of monetary damages it will claim and D-Link said that it is "completely protected from any patent controversy" and that no operations should be affected by the dispute.

Full Digitimes Story

D-Link bringing MoCA bridge to retail soon

MoCA chipset manufacturer Entropic today announced that D-Link will have a retail product by the end of Q1.

The D-Link DXN-220 MoCA MediaBridge is an Ethernet to coax MoCA-compliant bridge using Entropic's EN2210 chipset. The announcement didn't quote any bandwidth numbers, but MoCA 1.1 has a PHY (raw) data rate of 270 Mbps. So expect a maximum application (useful) data rate of around half that.

No pricing was announced.