Does D-Link have a bad reputation for products?

[706]

I've been having a few problems with my ADSL. Multiple times it has dropped out, coming back in a few hours time. After many tech support calls to my ISP they believe that either there is a problem with the modem or the wiring in the house/area.
My experience with the modem I have (a 502-T) isn't exactly good; generally when there is no connection the ADSL light alternates between flashing or just being off, but several times it has shown a solid light even without being connected. So I'm not really sure if it is working properly. I have been told by a friend that D-link isn't a very good brand as he also had trouble with a D-link modem such as constant drop-outs and overheating. After replacing it with a linksys everything works fine.

So does D-link have a bad reputation for products? If it does turn out to be the modem should I go for a different brand?

 

[mikesgroovin]

As far as the "brand" goes, it really depends. Overall, they have a average to a little above average reputation for your basic home-use products. There are some products that I would stay away from and there are some that I would recommend. They've made some products like the 320RD, called a Media Lounge that I would clearly stay away from but they also have great products like the DCM 202, DIR 655, and the DGL 4100. Again, these are just from personal experiences. A large problem with their products, as far as I'm concerned, is their power adapters. They short, they overheat and their form-factor is sometimes mind-boggling (the power brick portion usually). I've never used that particular modem you are using but the year that it came out wasn't an "all-star" year for product development for them.

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

yes. worthless.

No, if you are going to post, try not to make it worthless, like this one. If you have a bad opinion about something, at least give some kind of reason for it. "yes, worthless" isn't an answer, helps no one, and makes you look like a post padder. (For further clarification, "Because they suck" wouldn't be valid either.)

PERSONALLY, D-Link is my networking brand of choice. I have (no longer in use) a D-Link WBR-2310 wireless G router that worked well for over 3 YEARS, with the only reboots coming from firmware upgrades, and config changes. Wireless signal was EXCELLANT in the whole house on my ex's laptop, and the only time the signal dropped for her was when I booted her for being on the computer too long. OYE. It is no longer in service, because with my Voice/Video/Internet, I neet to use their special Residentail Gateway to split the VOIP from the data. It's built (I believe by Cicso [Linksys], but I am not 100% on that. The Set top boxes are Cisco.) I DID have the WBR-2310 set up without DHCP working as JUST a wireless access point, but the only devices I have that are wireless are my iPhone, and PSP, neither of which need Wifi access, so it is powered down until such time as I need it.

Currently in use is a DNS-323 NAS drive on my network with two Seagate 500 Gig hard drives. This has a uPNP server out of the box that I use to stream music,movies, and pictures to both of my PS3's on my wired network. Box has gigabit ethernet too. It has been in service on my network for over 2 years, and the only downtime it has had was firmware upgrades, and when I changed from RAID 1 to JBOD. Well, actually, it has a Thermal sensor on it, and you can program it to shut down once it reaches a certain temp, and it did this about 3 times last summer when my office got up over 110*. Both the NAS and my computer shut down actually. Now it sits in the basement on my network rack, and hasn't needed to power down due to temps again.

Lastly, I have a D-Link DGS-1024D at the core of my network. It is a 24 port switch, each port supporting 10/100/1000. I have a patch panel that has 3 runs of Cat5e to each room (2 runs of 3 for the living room), and each port from the patch panel is wired into the switch. Got the switch in late October, or Early September, and it is running like a CHAMP. I've had 4 set top boxes viewing TV shows at the same time, 3 PC's downloading from the internet, and 2 PS3's watching different movies served off of the DNS-323 at the same time, and the switch wasn't bogged down at all.

Personally, I am not a big fan of Belkin, as I had one of their routers, and it didn't function well, and kept rebooting itself every few minutes, and their tech support was a total joke, and tried to tell me it was faulty electrical wiring at my premise.... not even going to get into that.

I haven't ever OWNED Cisco networking hardware (not really counting the Set top boxes, since I didn't purchase them), but I have had friends and family use them before, and to me, they come off as really finicky. Sometimes they just choose not to work, or wireless won't work with encryption enabled. Even my set top boxes for video service are finicky at times, and stop communicating with the ATT server, and needed rebooting.

For me, D-Link is the only one I choose.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Ok, router wise and such I don't know. But for typical network needs such as switchs, I haven't had a SINGLE issue out of my DGS-2205 switch, grabbed that for $20 at the egg one time, yet I have had so many issues with Belkin... God I hate belkin...

IMO D-Link = decent hardware, at a good price.

 

[KSoD]

There i cleaned the thread from all the posts that were not on topic.

Plain and simple to say a company is bad cause you had a couple of bad experiences is not correct. If that was the case what would anyone be doing running Windows.

I have had more than my fair share of bad routers from LinkSys BEFORE they were bought out by Cisco. I have not tried them since so i can not say they are bad cause they are different now.

DLink is not a bad company or product. I have had 2 routers replaced by them cause 1 was defective and the other died. This was well AFTER my warranty was over with. My latest router has been going strong for over 2 years and my old Gaming Router is still being used which is jsut about 3 or 4 years old.

DLink is just like any other company. They do have some hardware that is faulty and gets by Quality Control. It happens to EVERYONE.

If you are going to say they are bad give your opinion why. To just say yes and not give your opinion why is useless to everyone. Because many will not understand why you say it without saying your opinion as to why cause many people use them with great success.

I have also had nothign but bad luck with Belkin. I refuse to try them again....

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

In my experience, you get what you pay for, and if you get a Dlink that works continuously, count yourself lucky. I have had trouble with cheap-o dlinks simply not passing traffic, or carping out regularly, and I have also found that they were sensitive to the order in which things are started up.

in the past I have had similar problems with linksys models; some problems on Layer 2 and some on Layer 3 (NAT settings which are unchangeable) and in the worst case scenario the linksys router that i had simply would not save the changes I made to it. This was strange because some settings would hold and others would not.

I chalk all of these problems up to lazy/cheap engineers and bad product designers. Keep in mind, I'm speaking strictly about home networking equipment.

 

[hikaricloud]

I have had more than my fair share of bad routers from LinkSys BEFORE they were bought out by Cisco. I have not tried them since so i can not say they are bad cause they are different now.

I have also had nothign but bad luck with Belkin. I refuse to try them again....

I agree, linksys used to be a whole lot worse...I'm hoping that the Cisco buy improves them, but I'm still wary. And belkin is just an overall no no.

 

[KSoD]

In my experience, you get what you pay for, and if you get a Dlink that works continuously, count yourself lucky. I have had trouble with cheap-o dlinks simply not passing traffic, or carping out regularly, and I have also found that they were sensitive to the order in which things are started up.

in the past I have had similar problems with linksys models; some problems on Layer 2 and some on Layer 3 (NAT settings which are unchangeable) and in the worst case scenario the linksys router that i had simply would not save the changes I made to it. This was strange because some settings would hold and others would not.

I chalk all of these problems up to lazy/cheap engineers and bad product designers. Keep in mind, I'm speaking strictly about home networking equipment.

Yes you do get what you paid for. In which case you got cheap.

I have had trouble with cheap-o dlinks

You bought the bare minimal product. You got what you paid for. I spent more money on mine. Each of my DLink routers were over $150 each. I have yet to have a single issue with anything you describe on my home network. My WiFi Router is so strong that my neighbors can connect to my network cause i gave them the password. They are at least 100 yards away.

I had that same issue with my LinkSys. I bought the cheap $30 WalMart specials and they always died a month later. I spent more money and i got better product.

If you spend more money on a better DLink you would not have the issue you describe. You cant expect to get gold when you only pay for Bronze.

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

Still, there are plenty of companies that DO make quality (at least functional) low priced products.

But I think we can all agree that Belkin is, indeed, worthless. We have a Belkin WAP and it's anyone's guess as to who or what can connect to it if encryption is enabled. You can't even turn "Broadcast SSID" off.

 

[snowsurfer]

I have used D-Link products to set up two office networks, and my home wi-fi is also full D-Link: AP, external antenna, etc. I've been very happy with their products. The only problem I have ever found in these 6-7 years using their products is that I've had several AC Adapters die on me, but the networks are rock solid and the throughput, latency and stability is great.