D-Link DI-604 Cable/DSL Router, 4-Port Switch

The DI-604 is ideal if you're creating your first home or small business network, or if you're a more advanced user looking for additional management settings. A simple yet intelligent Web-based setup wizard makes the DI-604 easy for anyone to quickly and securely connect computers to share a high-speed Internet connection, files, resources, games, or just to communicate.

The DI-604 has an integrated 4-port switch with 10/100 Ethernet ports for directly connecting up to four computers. One Ethernet cable is included with the DI-604 to get you started.

Whether you're a college student who wants to network with friends and roommates, an executive working at home or in a small office, or a concerned parent who just wants to have more control over how your children access the Internet, the D-Link Express EtherNetwork DI-604 4-port router is the networking solution for you, even if you don't know anything about networking.

Product Description
D-Link DI-604 4-Port Ethernet Router - A router, like the DI-604, is an essential part of any home that has multiple computers and a DSL or Cable Modem connection to the Internet. The DI-604 has 4 ports to allow up to 4 computers to access and share that high-speed Internet connection. What's more, the DI-604 networks the computers to each other. Allowing you to access other computers on the network to share files and peripherals. MAC Filtering IP Filtering URL Filtering Domain Blocking Scheduling

Now to the caveat. The router is configured totally via a web interface. This is very good since all modern operating systems can configure the browser--no special software is required. Thus a pure Unix or Linux network can use this router. But there is a major flaw in the web-based interface. I am blind. I use a special program, called a screen reader, that interfaces with Windows and Internet Explorer 6 to verbalize the screen. The program cannot interpret graphics on the Web. It relies on the W3C standard of labeling images with alternative text, which the screen program verbalizes in place of the graphic. This is particularly important for graphics which are hyperlinks, as one can imagine. The problem is, all the hyperlinks in the administration interface of this router are images, and these images are not labeled properly with any alt= attribute. This is so easy and requires adding a short bit of code to the HTML, yet D-Link overlooked this now widespread, famous, and basic accessibility rule. I have wrote to D-Link about this, and they can correct this in a firmware upgrade, but they have not responded to this at all. The initial oversight knocks my rating down a star, and D-Link's lack of a response (after a week) knocks my rating down another star, so my rating is subject to change.


Simple, Reliable, and above all else. . . Cheap!   February 23, 2003
E. Callaway (Walker MI, USA)
40 out of 44 found this review helpful

The DI-604 is a great little router. Though I would never recommend that someone who knows nothing about configuring a router to try it on their own, this may be an exception. It has effective wizards and a remarkably user friendly interface that is accessed through your favorite web browser. The firewall seems to be effective, though my single complaint does come from that part of the device. I am yet to figure out how to shut it off when I would need to. . . But, it can be done.

I share a DSL connection over this router. I also file share and print share through the device. It has done a great job at all of the above. I have recommended this product to countless people since I purchased it in September.

epc


good router--GREAT tech support   October 12, 2002
outrecuidance (Seattle, WA USA)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful

I bought the di604 because I wanted to be able to share broadband (cable modem) access with more than one computer. After having first bought an ethernet hub, thinking that was what I wanted, then returning it when I discovered that I needed a router, I picked the di604 based mostly on price and the customer reviews here.

Set-up took just a minute, plug in the cords and you're done. The software is easy too, a web-based interface that the paper manual walks you through. It sounds like other customers had no problem at all with the software setup; for me, however, it didn't work at all. As soon as I finished the setup steps, I found I had gone from broadband on one machine to no internet at all on any machines.

Needless to say, I called tech support. Needless to say, I waited on queue for a long time. But what makes me give this product five stars, after using it for less than a day, is the outstanding job that d-link tech support did. My problem turned out to be very odd and very difficult, and this guy patiently, politely and doggedly kept walking me through solutions until one worked perfectly. That alone sets the company apart in my opinion. Add the fact that the router works as advertised, and this was certainly a five-star shopping trip.

The only caveat I would include is that I haven't yet figured out how to share files between my two computers. Clearly that's one of the router's intended functions, and other customers have said in their reviews that it works. I don't doubt that it's there and I'll figure it out sooner or later, but there are no specific instructions in the documentation for this functionality. Not enough to subtract a star from my rating, but if I find I just CAN'T figure it out, you can bet I'll be back here, writing another review with a couple fewer stars.

All in all, I would heartily encourage anyone who wants to set up a home network or use their cable/dsl on more than one computer to choose this router. And it's cheap!


Fast speeds, Small footprint, Good Enough Quality   December 11, 2002
bizarro (USA)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

I expect to get a DSL/Cable with 4-port switch with built in firewall when I pay for a product that claims to be that. Well I got what I expected plus more. Not only am I able to assign my own firewall rules and parental controls but I am able to schedule those by day and time. As an example I could setup the firewall to allow any program that requires certain ports to be open to use (i.e. WinMX, Online Games, etc.) to work on a specific IP address but only until 10pm so my kids aren't up all night playing games, and sharing files. You can also set a schedule for the parental controls so that certain URLs or URLs with keywords you designate can't be accessed until after 11pm/when the kids are asleep. This is a very nice feature that I didn't know I was going to be able to use. There are a ton of features here that you wouldn't expect to get for a router that is priced this low. I am very surprised and pleased with this router.


Inexpensive Home Network   July 19, 2002
R. Geissman (Lodi, OH United States)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

I purchased the DI-604 to share my Road Runner internet access with both my HP N5495 laptop and a Emachines T1220 system I purchased for my children. I removed the "Residential Gateway" (as D-link refers to the router) from the box. Plugged it in connected the cables and went through the setup without changing any suggested settings. Whole thing was operational in around 10 minutes and both systems are able to access the internet through the Toshiba PCX2200 cable modem. Been up and running for a week without any problems. Both systems running Win XP. HP Laptop is PIII 1.06 Ghz with 512 meg and the Emachines is a Celeron 1.2 Ghz with 256 meg. I am sharing a Canon S600 printer off the laptop using a Parellel cable and sharing a Canon S300 via USB from the desktop. Moving files between systems is effortless and fast. Have even played Motocross Madness 2 and Midtown Madness 2 between the systems via the network and it works great. I have Zone Alarm Pro on both systems and that works the same as it did before the router was installed. Overall my experience with this item has been fantastic.