D-Link Exo

Light on features

PRICE $ 279 www.dlink.com.au D- Link usually sends us the most cutting-edge, high-end routers it’s got. They’re usually very expensive, look like an alien drone from Independence Day, and have had a few issues MUMIMO support of late. The DIR-879 is an entirely different beast; it’s the first mid-range router we’ve tested from the company, well below the price of previous D-Link routers we’ve reviewed. And yet to call it affordable is definitely a stretch given its feature set.

This is a dual band router, running both a 2.4GHz and 5GHz network, hence the AC1900 designation in the model name. The 2.4GHz network delivers a theoretical maximum speed of 600Mbps, while the 5GHz network pumps out a theoretical maximum of 1300Mbps. We must emphasise the word theoretical here, because routers are incredibly prone to exaggerated performance figures. Their performance varies wildly based on distance, devices, other Wi-Fi networks and even its proximity to your microwave or cordless phone.

The design retains D-Link’s eyecatching robotic spider aesthetics, but they’ve gone for a bold orange instead of the usual red. Four movable antennae can be extended, but they’re not directional. At the rear are your standard four Ethernet ports, single WAN port, yet strangely lacking is any USB port. This is a basic feature on routers of this price, allowing for network printing or basic network attached storage, so its absence is baffling.

The chipset used within is the RTL8198CS dual-core chip that operates at 1GHz paired, with 256MB of memory. The interface is extremely basic, so serious network nerds will find it lacking, but for most of us it does the job, and is relatively snappy and responsive while doing so. Gamers might find the maximum of 24 port forwards an issue though, as they’ll easily be filled with just a handful of games, which often require up to four or five of these fields per game.

When it came time to test performance, the router posted some respectable speeds. On the 5GHz network we pinged a speed of 401Mbps at a range of 10 metres, while the 2.4GHz network dropped this down to 176Mbps. Given that this tester has just moved house, and is now facing an entirely different range of competing networks and conditions, it’s impossible to say how it fairs against other routers, but a bit of

the interface is extremely basic, so serious network nerds will find it lacking, but for most of us it does the job

research shows it’s around the higher end of the pack for routers in the $250 to $300 price range.

That’s on par with other routers in this price range, although you can pick up Billion models for around $50 less that are just as fast, but come with much deeper tweaking options. They also have a USB port that enables much more functionality. BENNETT RING