D-Link DAP-1860

D-Link DAP-1860 - Introduction Recently we took a long hard look at an extremely good entry level router and walked away impressed with its overall value. A lot of out positive opinion was based on the fact that finding 4x4 wireless Network Interface Cards is bloody difficult. So much so that in order to get uber-high wireless performance most people have to go the 'dual router' path and literally use a second router as an external wireless NIC! After the review this did however get us wondering about other alternatives. Alternatives that do not rely upon buying two bloody expensive routers just to get sick speeds. Usually this means going the USB route… but that route is fraught with numerous problems and was quickly discarded. After searching we may have found the solution enthusiasts craving high performance wireless transmission speeds will be more interested in than buying two AC2600 routers: the D-Link DAP-1860. Unlike a full-blown router, the DAP-1860 is meant to be used as a secondary device that is sued improve an existing router's wireless range. As such its setup and configuration has been streamlined with a lot fewer options but this does make it a lot faster and easier to configure. Better still this 'range extender' comes with an integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet port which allows it to be used as an external wireless NIC! Yes this bad boy can not only extend the range of your existing network but is perfectly happy doing double duty and giving a wired only system wireless abilities. On the surface this is not all that impressive as there are countless others that do something similar. Heck we even own a Linksys RE7000 for this very reason – and to give our main HTPC access to the internet without unsightly cables snaking from room to room. What does however make the D-LINK DAP-1860 so interesting is that unlike nearly every other 'range extender' on the marketplace this little bad boy is 4T4R capable via its four external antennas. More impressive this 4x4 capability allows this small device to boast speeds of up to 1733Mbits/s on a 802.11AC network and simultaneous speeds of 800Mbits/s on a 802.11N network. Yes, it is a true AC2600 class wireless device… but one that is meant to plug directly into a wall socket. If all that was not enough it only costs a couple more dollars than the typical range extender and can be found online for about $150 (USD). On paper this little bad boy does seem like the answer for enthusiasts. It has an easier setup and configuration, it costs a heck of a lot less than buying a second AC2600 router, and yet still provides high performance wireless abilities to a rig that otherwise would not be capable of hitting AC2600 levels of performance. Today we are going to see if this promise is actually a reality or if it simply cannot live up to our (admittedly high) expectation. D-Link DAP-1860 - Specifications and Features D-Link DAP-1860 - Closer look Considering this is a 'wall socket' range extender we must admit to being surprised at how large the shipping container is. This of course is because the DAP-1860 is a rather large R.E. but on the positive side D-Link did not cut any corners on the packaging. Inside this brightly colored box you will find the DAP-1860 nestled inside a custom cardboard box that will protect it from life's bumps and bruises. Let's get this out of the way first. This is a big range extender. It is so big that it is almost too big to be a wall socket model. Also there is no pass through power plug so yes it is going to take up a wall socket plug all by itself. Yes we have had older models from some manufactures that do the whole pass through power socket so that you can still us the plug to power a second device. We actually prefer the fact that the DAP-1860 does not have this 'feature' and consider it a good thing. This is because it not only simplifies the internal construction but also reduces that chances of plugs and wires causing signal interference -something that did happen on a routine basis with range extenders that had this feature. In other words simpler is usually better. As for its size, it is big but not nearly as big as some 'router' style range extenders that are nothing more than a router chassis with cut-down firmware and hardware. This bad boy is also big because it is using high end internals and needs the room for cooling. Once again it is big… but not so big as to cause and real world issues. Also on the positive side, the DAP-1860's chassis is big… but not because they went with internal antennas. Instead this uses external antennas. Four of them to be precise as it is a 4x4 range extender and not the typical 3x3 most are configured as. This alone makes the DAP-1860 rather unique as its performance abilities really do rival that of high end routers. In fact compared the recently reviewed D-LINK DIR-880 the DAP-1860 is better and offers higher throughput performance. Equally important is even though this model is mainly meant to be used as a range extender it does come with a Gigabit Ethernet port and can easily be used as a wireless bridge… giving AC2600 wireless abilities to a system that is otherwise unable to wirelessly connect to your router! What this means is you can indeed use it as a 'external wireless NIC' instead of getting a second 4x4 AC2600 router and going down that route… that most of us have done to get bleeding edge performance. Also nice to see is that there is a physical on/off switch on the top instead of the usual push-button configurations that most come with. This is a nice bonus though the other real standout feature of the DAP-1860 is the integrated signal strength status LED bar on the front. This is such a nifty feature as you do not have to waste all that much time finding the optimal location for it to extend the range of your existing wireless network. Simply plug it in, wait for it to connect and then tell you what kind of signal connection it is getting. If it is too low for your liking… move it and try again. No need for software or even connecting to the DAP-1860 to find this critical piece of information out during the setup stage. This alone will save you a lot of time as you find the best location to emplace it. That is the positives of this unit. On the downside is that while the DAP-1860 does indeed use external antennas their range of movement is limited to say the least. This is unfortunate as we would have preferred to have seen more movement to further optimize signal strength. On the positive side it is still decent and should not cause too much issues on this front. We would have also liked the DAP-1860 to have come with more than one Ethernet port. There is obviously enough room for more than one, but by opting for a single Ethernet controller IC instead of a dual or quad they did handicap this device in this regards. One 10/100/1000 port is standard for range extenders so while it is decent it is a missed opportunity to have made the DAP-1860 really stand out. Plus the cost differences between a single and dual Ethernet controller IC… is minuscule at the wholesale level. The other minor issue is when we did open this unit up we were shocked to see this: Instead of using a proper length pin connector D-Link simply stacked three standard length ones on top of each other. We are unsure exactly why D-Link has done this, and while it will not cause any issues, it still is not the way things are 'supposed' to be done. Internally the large heatsink and large air gap between it and the front half of the unit should allow more than enough passive cooling via the numerous ventilation slits. Though once again we would have liked to have seen D-Link full utilize the large plastic chassis more optimal and used an even bigger heatsink. In testing it never did overheat so they obviously have used a large enough heatsink… but it does seem as if the chassis design team and the internal component design team did not exactly talk all that much. Overall on the design end of things D-Link did get more right than they got wrong… but some of the missteps are a big puzzling to say the least. Hopefully this unit has high enough performance to make us forget all about them… so let's get on with installing it do we can see what it is made of! D-Link DAP-1860 - Setup & Interface Like any range extender setting up the DAP-1860 is a fairly straightforward affair, albeit with one or two caveats. The first is finding the proper location to extend your existing network will take a bit of trial and error. Too close and the overall size of the improved network coverage will not be as big as it could be, too far away and your extended networks speed will stink on ice. This usually means plugging in a range extender, going through the setup process to see if it is in an optima location, moving it closer/further away and doing this over and over again until you hit the butter zone. Thankfully to D-Link actually took this into consideration. So with this little bad boy, you simply plug it in, wait for it to connect and then see what the signal strength meter on the front tells you. This one tweak will save you a lot of time… and really should be the de-facto standard for all future range extenders! Once you do find the perfect location you will then have to configure it. There are two ways of doing this: wired and wirelessly. D-Link does include the default SSID and password for the networks it will start broadcasting once it is connected to an existing wireless network… but to really make things easy the best way is to plug in a RJ45 cable to a system and then directly connect to the device. Doing it that way means that if you do choose to change the network names or passwords… you will not be disconnected before the setup is complete. The User-Interface on the other hand is a touch on the… spartan side. As, in an effort to make it as user-friendly as possible, D-Link has paired the UI back to basic. In an addition to being able to re-setup/re-configure the DAP-1860 you can also basically change how it connects to your router, what its default Ip address will be, check and update its firmware via the Internet, and other very, very basic tasks. If you are interested in more advanced features such as Stateful Packet Inspection you will be disappointed. Thankfully few will even notice such advanced features are missing. On the positive side it does come with a pretty decent management section that does have a good list of options including real time monitoring of usage. Overall this really is one of the easiest Range Extenders to setup and configure, but some of this ease of use does come at the expense of lack of advanced features. D-Link DAP-1860 - Testing Methodology Testing a wireless router is not as easy as simply connecting to it and push a bunch of file across the network while timing how long it takes to complete. Instead to gain a clearer picture of how good – or bad – a router is, more in-depth testing approach is needed. The first thing we do is a accurately measuring signal strength. A good strong signal does not necessarily mean good performance, but without you certainly will not get it! To this end we use inSSIDer, a program which can graph signal strength of all wireless signals being received by the computer’s wireless NIC. The second step is the measure the performance under controlled 'synthetic' testing. This gives a good idea on the potential performance of a given wireless router. For this we use Lan Speed Test. This free program can test both transmission and reception performance and do so in an easy to use and highly repeatable way. For ease of comparison we have averaged both the transmission and reception performance into one number. The last step is real world testing. This test consists of Gigabytes worth of small file and large files pushed from one wireless connected computer to a second computer connected via wired Ethernet. This testing is done via MS RichCopy. For clarities sake, we have averaged both the transmission and reception performance into one aggregate number. If the device supports wired transmission, wired Ethernet to wired Ethernet real world performance will also be included using the same massive amount of data used for the wireless test. To test all scenarios, we have further created four unique and distinct scenarios in which all testing will be done. The first test is labeled “Zone 1” and it consists of a ten foot ‘line of sight’ distance between the router and the wireless NIC with no walls or obstructions between the two. This replicates having the router in one end of a small room and the wireless device at the other. This can be considered a 'best-case' scenario for the performance of the router being tested. The second test consists of an twenty foot separation with a single interior non-load bearing wall separating a wireless device and the router. We have labeled this “Zone 2” which is still a very optimal setup for a wireless home router but more common on the real world as this test replicates you having your wireless device in one room over from the router. The third test is labeled “Zone 3” and consists of having the router in the corner of our basement with the wireless device trying to connect in the second story room at the extreme diagonal end from the routers location. This is still a fairly common occurrence in home networks with numerous walls, floors, wires, and even other electronic devices in between the router and your device. This is not an optimal configuration but still a very common setup for home users. The fourth test is labeled “Zone 4” and is an extreme test. While the router is still in the basement we have paced off 200 yards from it to outside the testing facility. This replaces those times a person is outdoors and wishes to use his home network to connect to the Internet or other devices connected to the home network. With fewer walls but much greater distances this test is extremely demanding and many will not be able to successfully complete it. To us the results in this test separate the good routers from the not so good ones. For all tests, four runs will be completed and only the averages of all four shown. When possible both 5Ghz as well as 2.4GHz Bands will be used for all tests with each getting their own separate results. All tests are carried out via a “clean” network in order to maximize repeatability and minimize factors outside of our control. D-Link DAP-1860 - Signal Strength Results To test signal strength, we use inSSIDer, a program which can graph the signal strength of all wireless signals being received by the computer’s wireless NIC. Unlike in most tests, the lower number, the better the performance. D-Link DAP-1860 - Synthetic Test Results To show the potential performance of a router we have used LAN Speed Test utility. This free program can measure both transmission and reception performance, and do so in an easy to use and highly repeatable way. For sake of clarity, we have averaged both the transmission and reception performance into one combined number. D-Link DAP-1860 - Real World Performance For real-world testing, we have taken Gigabytes worth of small and large files and transferred them from one wireless connected computer to a second computer connected via wired Ethernet. This test was done via the MS RichCopy utility. We have averaged both the transmission and reception performance into one combined number. The higher the number the higher overall performance. D-Link DAP-1860 - Score Card and Summary Performance: 39 out of 40. Put simply this is easily one of the best range extenders on the market right now… and arguably the best wall socket model available. Put simply this little device will blow you away with its performance and range extending abilities. Ease of use: 20 out of 20 D-Link prides themselves on creating easy to use, easy to configure home networking devices and this bad boy just underscore their commitment to customer satisfaction. They really knocked it out of the park in this area. Build Quality, Aesthetics & Warranty: 17 out of 20 The warranty and overall aesthetics are pretty much par for the course. That is to say good if not standout worthy. The build quality on the other hand is a bit more a mixed bag. On the one hand the 'triple decker' internal pin connector and less than optimal antenna adjustment really did leave us less than enthused; but on the other hand there is a nice large signal strength LED panel on the front of the unit, a nice on/off switch on the top, and a nicely robust heatsink to keep the unit cool. As such it is not perfect but it still is pretty decent. Value: 19 out of 20 While it is indeed costlier than most Range Extenders the DAP-1860 more than makes up for this with its shear performance and ease of use. It really is an incredible value and you do get a lot of bang for your buck with this little bad boy! Final Score: 95 out of 100 With its ease of use, flexibility, and overall performance the D-Link DAP-1860 is hard to beat even if it is on the pricey end of the Range Extender spectrum. D-Link DAP-1860 - Closing Statement Let's start with the white elephant in the room. Yes this is an expensive range extender. For the same coin people can get a pretty darn decent router … however good luck finding a 4x4 AC2600 router for this little cash. The same holds true of finding a wireless NIC that can do AC2600 speeds for only one fifty. Instead of thinking of this as an expensive range extender it is best to consider this a rather inexpensive AC2600 wireless device that can also darn near double your existing router's wireless coverage – as that is precisely what the D-Link DAP-1860 is. Simply put this is the fastest, most impressive range extender you can find in this price bracket. It may be large for a wall socket model but compared to similar performer range extenders (i.e. cut-down / firmware hobbled AC2600 routers) it is downright svelte. This is how we have a tendency to look at things and the DAP-1860 really is an excellent choice for consumers looking to somehow take advantage of their new, and expensive, wireless router. Until the day comes that someone makes a AC2600 PCIe wireless NIC card that does not cost an arm and a leg this DAP-1860 really is an excellent option. In fact even when that day comes a wireless NIC will still not be able to boost the coverage of your existing network and make areas of your hose that were darn near dead-zones it to 'perfect' spots for all your other wireless devices. With all that said this unit is still not perfect and there is room for improvement. With its greatly increase form-factor D-Link really should have included more than one Gigabit Ethernet port. There is room for more, yet they chose to not make the DAP-1860 even more flexible. Considering there are chipsets on the market that would have allowed the DAP-1860 to boast 2 or even four Gigabit Ethernet ports but still cost about the same at the wholesale level as the single port IC they used this is a missed opportunity. The same holds true of the external antennas. There is simply no reason to have not made them more flexible and have a much less restrictive range of movement. These nitpicks however about the only thing the average consumer is going to find wrong with this rather impressive range extender. As such if you are looking for either a good wireless bridge or range extender that can accommodate 4x4 configurations the D-Link DAP-1860 really needs to be on your short list.

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