D-Link DIR-895L

POWERFUL, BUT OVERPRICED.

USING THE SAME underlying wireless hardware as the ASUS RT-AC5300 and Linksys EA9500, the D-Link DIR-895L is as powerful as they come. It has full AC5300 support, creating three independent wireless networks, two of which are capable of 2137mbps and one of 1000mbps. A given device can only connect to one, but the D-Link will intelligently decide which one based on load and client capabilities.

e unfortunate thing about the D-Link, however, is its price. It’s presently retailing for $100 or more than its Linksys and ASUS competition, and it doesn’t really have anything to justify that extra cost. Indeed, ASUS actually has considerably more features available in its rmware, while Linksys has additional LAN ports. e only argument for getting the D-Link over those products is really its aesthetic, which is certainly unique. We’re not huge fans of its alien crab look, but you might nd it ts better in your house than the admittedly drab Linksys and ASUS routers.

Although we prefer the ASUS and Linksys rmware, the D-Link rmware is certainly not bad. Recent updates to the D-Link rmware have made it more visual, more user-friendly and more accessible to everyday users. e mydlink Lite mobile app is a little too cameracentric for our liking (D-Link really should have a separate app for routers) and doesn’t give full access to the router feature, but it does make initial setup easy. One upside, the mydlink SharePort app is great, letting you remotely access les and stream media from USB storage attached to the router, as well as upload photos from your phone to the storage.