D-Links 655 Router Problems ...

[vja4Him]

I just bought a new D-Links 655 router. Our connection now is even worse than with our old D-Links 524 router! I called our ISP, Clearwire, and they said the problem is not with them, but with the router.

We tried connecting two of our computers (HP Pavilion Elite, and Mac Pro 2.93GHz) directly to the Clearwire modem, and got a very solid and fast connection!

Problem is that only one computer can be connected directly to the modem, and we have four computers online.

I called D-Links and got several technicians that spoke very bad English. I had a terrible time trying to communicate with them. One of them wanted to remotely take control over my computer and install software that he guarenteed would fix our problems!

I said no ... Spoke with supervisor and they gave me a number to call, which turned out to be Apple Tech Support, and they are closed.

Is this router simply not compatible with Macintosh computers? Is this router not able to handle four computers?

Strange that my ancient D-Links 524 router works much better with all four of our computers online at the same time ....

Any suggestions? Should I just test float this D-Links 655 router, and buy another router ... ???

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Could it be channel interference?

If you're in an area with a lot of wi-fi access points (residential neighborhood, apartment complex, etc.), and a lot of other people are using the same channel on their routers, that could be introducing a level of interference that would cause you to have a weak or unreliable wireless connection.

 

[MisterMe]

I just bought a new D-Links 655 router. Our connection now is even worse than with our old D-Links 524 router! ...

Is this router simply not compatible with Macintosh computers? Is this router not able to handle four computers?

Strange that my ancient D-Links 524 router works much better with all four of our computers online at the same time ....

...

I can't give you a definitive answer, but there are indications that most of your fears are true. There was a time when routers were plug & play. Buy them, plug them in, everything just worked. No longer--at least not with Cisco Linksys and I believe not with D-Links. I recently purchased a new Cisco Linksys. Over Ethernet, it worked OK. However, it simply did not work over Wi-Fi until it was activated. The activation software is Windows-only. Luckily I have a Windows laptop that I pressed into service to activate the router. Once activated, the router worked like a charm.

If you have not activated your router, then that is probably the reason that it is giving problems.

 

[vja4Him]

Could it be channel interference?

If you're in an area with a lot of wi-fi access points (residential neighborhood, apartment complex, etc.), and a lot of other people are using the same channel on their routers, that could be introducing a level of interference that would cause you to have a weak or unreliable wireless connection.

Was on the phone with Clearwire tech support. After about the 3rd call, they suggested that there might be electromagnetic interference between the phone box and router/modem. So, they told me that the phone box needs to be at least three feet from the router/modem.

The phone box is now about four feet from both router and modem, and the router and modem are about three feet apart.

Our connection is better, although we are still having to reboot the router and modem often, like sometimes every 20-30 minutes.

My two boys and our roommate spend a lot of time doing online gaming. Would that be a possible cause of issues ... ???

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

I would still check the channel that the router is using -- I'm willing to bet it's set to channel 6, which is a popular default channel setting on a lot of routers.

Try changing it to 2, 3, 9, 10, or 11 and see if that helps.

It may also help to download the free iStumbler program:

http://www.istumbler.net/

Run it, and let it scan for a minute or two. It should tell you all the nearby access points and which channels they're using. You can then decide whether or not to change your router's channel, and what to change it to (i.e., a channel that is unused or not common as reported by iStumbler).

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18597189-How-to-change-channel-on-DLink-DIR-655