D-link DIR-655 = Garbage / Don't Buy One! (v. DNS problems)

[Stereodude]

This is a PSA:

Do not buy a D-link DIR-655 wireless router.

It's a steaming pile of crap. Every few hours the DNS server in it stops responding until the router is rebooted, reinitialized, or cajoled into working. Mine has the latest firmware (2.00NA) and I've messed around with with the internal settings, but haven't been able to solve the problem.

When it goes off into la-la land the DNS server in it doesn't respond to any DNS queries. The external DNS servers from my ISP still work fine.

While it's not working a nslookup for yahoo.com looks like this:

> yahoo.com
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.1.1

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to UnKnown timed-out

However, while it's not working you can successfully use the ISP's DNS like so:

> yahoo.com 209.18.47.61
Server: [209.18.47.61]
Address: 209.18.47.61

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: yahoo.com
Addresses: 67.195.160.76, 69.147.125.65, 72.30.2.43, 98.137.149.56
209.191.122.70

When it's working, I get this:

> yahoo.com
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: yahoo.com
Addresses: 72.30.2.43, 69.147.125.65, 67.195.160.76, 209.191.122.70
98.137.149.56

This thing is garbage! :cursin:

 

[LunarMist]

How much did it set you back? If it was less than a hundred or so, I'd just throw it out and move on.

 

[Bozo]

You might try a new power supply.
My RCA cable modem was doing the same thing. Constantly resetting itself. I connected it to a train transformer and jacked in 14 volts in to it and it worked fine until I replaced it.

 

[Mercutio]

Is this a wide problem with that model or just with the one you have?

 

[Stereodude]

Is this a wide problem with that model or just with the one you have?

I'm not quite sure. There seem to be a lot of DNS related complaints, but most are related to earlier firmwares and seem to be centered around a feature called "DNS Relay" that mine seems to lack.

 

[LunarMist]

That is what I asked before, and now he goes ballistic. :dunno:

 

[Stereodude]

That is what I asked before, and now he goes ballistic. :dunno:

I'm not allowed to rant about crappy hardware that should be braindead simple to get right?

 

[LunarMist]

Quite the opposite. We need more rants.
And let's face it, there is more and more crappy hardware out there.

 

[Adcadet]

I have the DIR-655 with the 1.33NA firmware. The USB NAS feature never worked, but otherwise its run fine for me.

 

[CougTek]

I think Handruin has a DIR-655 too and he recommended it a few months ago. I bought one a while ago for 77$ and I've never had any problem with it. I still haven't opened the box, but it doesn't change the fact that I have no problem with it.

 

[LunarMist]

I still haven't opened the box, but it doesn't change the fact that I have no problem with it.

:rotfl:

 

[BingBangBop]

I have had a DLink Dir-655 revision 1 for a couple of years it is at 1.33Na and have not had any problems with it.

 

[Mercutio]

I believe that if you go through old threads about AP/router recommendations, I've said several times that DLink tends to have crummy firmware. I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't gotten any better, but it seems like the long-term status quo.

 

[time]

Doesn't sound like a firmware issue to me. If possible, I'd try to get it replaced.

 

[Stereodude]

The DNS server is software running on it, so I'm not sure how would a hardware defect manifest itself as a software failure that can be recovered from without a reboot? A ping from the "Ping Test" section inside the router's web interface will get the internal DNS server working again.

 

[time]

Sorry, I was basing that on the fact that 3 other members here (plus CougTek!) have reported satisfactory operation. The only differentiating feature left was hardware.

Concerned, I researched the problem and noticed that in your D-Link forum post, you happened to mention that your hardware was version B1, not A3 or A4. In other words, your hardware is significantly different, your firmware is consequently incompatible, and you are SOL.

Bin it or demand a refund if possible. Everyone else should be grateful that you shared this experience, because they might otherwise assume that because existing samples worked, any new ones would be okay.

This means I'm reverting to my old, jaundiced position on D-Link products, articulated so well by Mercutio, "I've said several times that DLink tends to have crummy firmware. I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't gotten any better."

Mea culpa.

 

[Handruin]

I've never had any DNS issues with mine. I'm using a manually specified OpenDNS servers. My father also bought the same router and he hasn't had DNS issues. I'm sure I would have heard about them if they can't get to normal websites.

I'll have to check which firmware I'm running on mine. I thought it was the same as Adcadet's (1.33NA). I believe my hardware is the A2 revision which is a lot older than yours. It's very possible they changed something for the worse since the time I've bought mine several years ago. I'd be curious to know which hardware revision Cougtek has and also Adcadet.

 

[Handruin]

I believe that if you go through old threads about AP/router recommendations, I've said several times that DLink tends to have crummy firmware. I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't gotten any better, but it seems like the long-term status quo.

I've had far less problems with this DLink firmware than I have with my prior Netgear and Linksys routers. This router has just worked through the years I've owned it where as my Netgear would have gotten a similar post to SD's a few years ago.

 

[Stereodude]

I've never had any DNS issues with mine. I'm using a manually specified OpenDNS servers. My father also bought the same router and he hasn't had DNS issues. I'm sure I would have heard about them if they can't get to normal websites.

Do you mean you manually entered OpenDNS servers into the router, or that you've manually specified the OpenDNS servers on each machine?

If it's the former, I don't see how that's going to help me given that the DNS server in the router is what dies and it won't automatically pass the IP's of the external DNS servers to DHCP clients.

Oddly enough, it hasn't died on me since I posted this rant yesterday afternoon.

 

[Handruin]

Do you mean you manually entered OpenDNS servers into the router, or that you've manually specified the OpenDNS servers on each machine?

If it's the former, I don't see how that's going to help me given that the DNS server in the router is what dies and it won't automatically pass the IP's of the external DNS servers to DHCP clients.

Oddly enough, it hasn't died on me since I posted this rant yesterday afternoon.

I entered the OpenDNS servers into the router, not on each computer. I'm not suggesting it will help you, I was using it as a data reference in case there is a difference between using the ISP DNS (that can be automatically configured) or if you were specifying your own like I am.

You may just have a defective piece of hardware, or again, maybe the newest revision of this router has changed significantly enough where they made mistakes while trying to improve it. I know I've had months of up time on my router with only power outages or config changes being the reason it was rebooted. There is clearly something different between our routers.

 

[BingBangBop]

You may just have a defective piece of hardware, or again, maybe the newest revision of this router has changed significantly enough where they made mistakes while trying to improve it. I know I've had months of up time on my router with only power outages or config changes being the reason it was rebooted. There is clearly something different between our routers.

That has been my observation with my DIR-655 router too. I looked and mine is an A2 HW revision with 1.33NA too. Maybe they fixed something that wasn't broken with the newer revisions or maybe you just got a lemon.

I empathize, for I've gotten my share of bad product too.

 

[Adcadet]

Mine's an A4 running 1.33NA. Again, my USB NAS function never worked, but otherwise has been great.

 

[Adcadet]

Are all wired (gigaE) Ethernet switches decent/commodity these days? I'm thinking of putting a switch on my network upstairs to give myself added flexibility.

 

[Handruin]

I checked out mine, and I'm running Firmware Version : 1.34NA, 2010/04/16 and mine is the A2 hardware revision.

 

[Handruin]

Are all wired (gigaE) Ethernet switches decent/commodity these days? I'm thinking of putting a switch on my network upstairs to give myself added flexibility.

There are plenty out there for a small price if you want a basic 4-8 port GigE switch with no thrills. If you think you might want to play with jumbo frames, you'll need to look for switches that support that feature. Here is a basic 5 port netgear for about $31.

 

[LunarMist]

Are all wired (gigaE) Ethernet switches decent/commodity these days? I'm thinking of putting a switch on my network upstairs to give myself added flexibility.

A while ago I bought a simple 5-port D-Link DGS-2025 gigE switch and it is fine. Of course now I'll find out it is sending messages to the Russians or it will break or something. :spiderman:

 

[Mercutio]

I just bought a couple Asus multifunction devices. I'll be interested in seeing how horrible these things are.

 

[Sol]

Don't know about this problem specifically but I've had similar issues with other D-Link modem/routers (320T). The problem in that case was that they seemed to have only tested their kit with windows PCs, most Linux distros just didn't work and the DNS cache issue you've read about meant that even on Windows, torrents or the like killed the whole thing. A firmware update fixed the latter issue and using Ubuntu fixed the former (To some extent, it's still a pain occasionally).

These days I won't touch D-Link stuff, unless I can install Open-WRT or something on it and the hardware is really good value.

 

[Mercutio]

Torrents kill lots of cheap routers. That's not a problem unique to DLink.

 

[Howell]

I have also have problems with Dlink in the distant past. It would work fine for a week and then get flakey for a few days. Several times I thought I had it fixed but eventually just gave up.

 

[Stereodude]

Torrents kill lots of cheap routers. That's not a problem unique to DLink.

My WRT54G with the Tomato firmware handled torrents just fine.

On a related note after I posted this rant thread the DNS server in the D-link hasn't stopped responding. :scratch: I also noticed I got 0 replies on my thread on the D-link forum. :tdown:

 

[Mercutio]

My WRT54G with the Tomato firmware handled torrents just fine.

There have been several different versions of WRT54G, but more than that, it's going to depend on your expectations for how much torrenting you're actually doing and how fast your intertubes are.

 

[Handruin]

My WRT54G with the Tomato firmware handled torrents just fine.

On a related note after I posted this rant thread the DNS server in the D-link hasn't stopped responding. :scratch: I also noticed I got 0 replies on my thread on the D-link forum. :tdown:

Would it be worth trying to replace it for a new piece of hardware to rule out that as causing some problems? That sucks you've had such a bad experience with it. I've really liked mine for the entire time I've had it and if it does ever die, now I'd be concerned with replacing it with a newer unit.

 

[time]

If you think you might want to play with jumbo frames, you'll need to look for switches that support that feature.

Interestingly, I don't seem to be having much success with jumbo frames on the Asus gigabit switch I've been playing with. File copy throughput drops when I enable 4 or 9k frames at each end. I suppose it might be the network adaptors - does anyone know how you can tell?

 

[Mercutio]

You would need to break out some kind of protocol analyzer. I guess you'd need a relay agent on another client and you'd need to isolate things so they're only talking to each other. In theory the packets on one port should be the same as the packets on the other, right?

 

[Stereodude]

Well, today when I came home from work the internal DNS server in the DIR-655 had quit working. When this happened previously I did a ping from inside DIR-655's menu the internal DNS server would start working again. Today, that didn't work. I had to release and renew the WAN side before the internal DNS would work. :cursin:

 

[LunarMist]

Is it too late for an RMA?

 

[Stereodude]

I'm not sure. The problem has gotten more sporadic which makes it hard to troubleshoot. I've been so busy at work I haven't had time to deal with it.

 

[Stereodude]

Well, I threw in the towel and fell back to my Tomato packin' Linksys WRT-54G.

The other day the DNS in the DIR-655 quit working after my Windows 7 x64 powered Acer 1810T pulled an IP via DHCP from the system. I had to reboot the router before the DNS would work again after that.

I'm not sure what I will do. I think it may be hard to RMA it to D-link, but I haven't tried yet.

 

[Stereodude]

Well, I threw in the towel and fell back to my Tomato packin' Linksys WRT-54G.

The other day the DNS in the DIR-655 quit working after my Windows 7 x64 powered Acer 1810T pulled an IP via DHCP from the system. I had to reboot the router before the DNS would work again after that.

I'm not sure what I will do. I think it may be hard to RMA it to D-link given the somewhat vague and random nature of the problem, but I haven't tried yet.