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Date: 2000-07-26 08:34 Author: Brent Category: Broadband Routers Manufacturer: D-Link Product/Model: DI-701 List Price: $119 Online Price: $85.27 @ Buy.com

Installation

Well I was pretty excited to get this router and review it because I already have the Linksys Etherfast Cable/xDSL router and I wanted to see first hand what another one would be like and how it would compare to Linksys' offering.  There were a few things that I haven't fully gotten working or had to take some time setting up on the Linksys so I was interested in seeing how the D-Link router setup and how easy it was to get services working behind it.

When the Package arrived I ripped the box open and took the D-Link box out.  I opened it up and laid the things out so I could see them all at once and get to parts easily as I needed them.  I was happy to see a nice foldout for quick installation of the router.  It was basically all I needed, as an advanced user, to install the Router.  Though there is a regular fully paged manual to help those install it if you require more detail on installation and setup.  I actually referred to it quite a bit for some command code options detailed in it.

Because this router does not have a built in switch or hub you have to provide one of your own if you wish to hook it up to multiple computers on a LAN.  For this I brought out my lucky Switch I have, it's a nice fast 10/100 Full Duplex 8-Port Switch with Uplink Port.  I plugged power into my switch and sat the Router on top of it.  I took the included blue Cat5 Ethernet cable and connected it from the Local Port on the Router to the Uplink Port on my Switch, this allows it to send to all ports on the Switch.  I then took the Cat5 Ethernet Cable from my Cable Modem and connected it into the Global Port on the Router.  Then I plugged each computer, 3 total, into Ports 1, 2, and 3 on my Switch. (BTW Each Computer was turned off at this point).  I then plugged power into the Router and waited for it to boot up, which took about 20 seconds total time to boot up.  After all lights were done flashing on the Router I proceeded to Turn my Main Computer on so that I could configure the Router for my Cable and LAN.

The router comes with a CD, included on this CD is the setup.exe program, this setup installs the software necessary to configure the Router with.  After I installed it I realized it won't find the Router until I change TCP/IP settings on my own computer so that it can find the router.  I set IP to "Obtain IP Automatically" and I added a Gateway of 192.168.0.1 because this is the IP of the Router, and I disabled DNS.  After my PC rebooted I proceeded to run the D-Link software.

Setup

In order for it to find the Router so you can configure it you have to click on the Find Button, after you do that it will find it and look like this hopefully

Management: This is the Initial Setup for the Router. In the Device/Computer name you enter either any name you want to call this device, or if your ISP, such as @Home, requires you to have a computer name such as C12345-a then you enter that here. In the latest firmware version 2.22 which I have installed you also have an option to enable and setup PPPoE here. And here is where you can also change the Password to login to the router.

Local Port: This is where you setup for the DHCP function of the router, also called the Local Port. The IP Address of the router is the first setting 192.168.0.1 you won't have to mess with that one, and then the subnet of the router is 255.255.255.0 this one you also won't have to mess with, unless you need to. And below that is where you can really tweak the DHCP, you can Disable it all together if you want to, one advantage of this would to be if you wanted to statically assign IP's to your PC's on the LAN, which would be the best way to go especially if you want to do Port Forwarding called a Virtual Server on this Router. Or you can leave DHCP enabled so it will shell out IP's automatically, and it starts out at 192.168.0.2 with the number of PC's set at 32.

Global Port: This is where you setup the router for the Global Port which is your actual Internet Connection. You can let it obtain IP Automatically from your ISP if they use DHCP or you can Statically assign it. Also, there are fields for the Gateway and DNS there too. Finally, if you need to, you can Release and Renew the IP from your ISP if you need to.

Virtual Servers: this is where you can forward special services through different ports through the firewall to individual PC's on your LAN. In order to do this you have to disable DHCP and statically assign IP's to your computers so that you know which IP belongs to which computer. Here you can see I've forwarded two different ports to two different PC's, as you can see it recognized Port 21 as an FTP port.

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