D-LinkWireless AC 750 Mbps Home Cloud App-Enabled Dual-Band Broadband Router (DIR-810L)

I have no issues for about 3 months. So I brought the 2nd one to cover the whole house. This is partially DD-WRT compatible. But I think everything is partially or not DD-WRT compatible, so I'm giving up on 3rd party software. You never know which part in which version doesn't work for your router. There is sufficient access control on the stock software for individual MAC or IP, with time table too. Also, you can ignore DNS request and use openDNS on the router instead. So this is somewhat sufficient for parental control.I'm paying 50 Mbps for cable ISP so the 100 Mbps ethernet port, instead of gigabit, will not be an issue. I will be paying for slower speed if there is such a tier. I am also not copying huge media files around the LAN. So the router, wired or wireless, should be able to handle streaming or multiple streaming.2GHz performance of the 810L may somewhat better than my old RT-N16. It may be that just the factory transmit power is higher. It may be just new vs old. I have another very old router that is still working, or so I thought. But there is a persistent small % of receive error. That caused my security cams to hang up mysteriously after a day or two. That is the reason I have to replace my client bridge and for some $16 I rather have a full wireless router and then think of how to make use of it.The 5GHz performance is way better than 2GHz. I got decent reception all over the house, but not in my old 2GHz setup. The strength of signals as indicated on your phone / pc doesn't correspond to the actual speed. Even when the 5GHz signal is weak, I can still get decent speed from my ISP, measured using common speed test apps.The performance may be due to the modulation, like 2GHz N-only will give you better performance. Wider band channels should also give you better performance.The surprising thing is that all my neighbors aren't moving up to 5GHz yet, while the 2GHz spectrum is pretty crowded. But I thought I'm the last one moving up. It's not yet a big issue like in apartment buildings in Asia. But when I walk around the house, you can tell which neighbors are using which SSID. Some of them may be still using a high gain antenna or rack up the transmit power. And they are happy. The problem for me is that if the signal is good on one side of the house, it will have significant interference at the other side of the house, plus degradation due to walls.To cover the whole house wirelessly, you can have WDS or repeaters. But they cost more than this 810L. And you never know some cheap device, including repurposing of your old routers, are jamming your own signals. This 810L cannot be configured to use WDS or repeater or client bridge etc. But after some research, connecting multiple routers/AP's via ethernet is best and simplest. There will be no slow down due to relaying across repeaters.Laying ethernet may be simpler than you think. Maybe throwing a long cable across the loft, from one corner to another. Maybe across the garage through two walls of the utility room or kitchen. It is not like laying electrical cables or coax cables where the exact outlet position is desired. Wireless signals are not sensitive to open space. If you have unused coax all over the house, you can turn that into ethernet wires using "ethernet over coax" adapters for less than $10.A wireless network that knows when and how to hand over is complicated and expensive. For residential use, you only need to use the AP signal with maximum power. The problem is how to teach little kids to use different SSID's. I thought repeaters may be simpler, but I found it surprisingly simple to due with ethernet connected routers/AP's. Use the same SSID, same everything else, but different channels. All my devices can login to the AP with the highest power.

Replaced a Linksys WRT110 that was always glitchy. Eventually the Linksys just conked out after a 5 year run, and I looked around for a budget router and picked this one based on reviews. Easy setup, and I haven't had a single problem with it. Both bands work fine, and we now have essentially two networks available in the house. The 2.4 GHz signal clearly has a greater range, excellent reception everywhere (up to about 100 feet away inside, and also in the yard). The 5.0 GHz is shorter range, get just a decent/fair signal at about 80-100 feet, through several walls. But that was expected from reviews. With so many wireless devices cluttering up the airwaves, it's nice to have the less used 5.0 GHz available.Based on my experience, I'd say you can't go wrong with this router if what you're looking for is a basic budget router for a home network. We have 2 wired computers, a wired Dish receiver, and another computer connected via wireless. The cell phones and 2 tablets also use it. All work great.

When my previous wireless adapter failed. I wanted to replace it with something faster ( I have 100 Mbps internet at home ). AC routers prices in general are over kill. This is one was so cheap compare to them and while I saw some bad reviews. Considering cost less than $20, it was worth the risk.I am aware that I should expect only 1/3 of the actual speed of wired. This router was giving me 34 - 37 Mbps. Which is ideal.I have been using the router for a year now and it is working perfectly. The only issue I encountered with so far, is I had to reset it 3 or 4 times over the last year ( when my router goes down for some reason ). Considering that is normal to happen with regular routers. I would say it is worth every penny spent on it. I bought a more expensive routers and I don't see advantage of over spending.

Update 3/2/17 : router has completely stopped working. Will not broadcast wifi at all. Never purchasing another dlink product.Update 3/1/16: So I have had this router for a few months now and it is time for an update. It no longer broadcasts my fast internet speed. I get maybe 40mbps if I am lucky and I am paying for 100mbps. When I plug in directly I get that speed but the wireless doesn't spit it out. So I will be upgrading to a better quality router once I am able to do so. I don't want to get half the speed I am paying for because I am using a bad router.It has definitely increased my available internet speed, my max is 100mbps. My previous router only went to 50. I do have some issues with the router but they are minor. There are two wireless settings. I have both set up. However it seems that they alternate which one will connect. On my phone I have both activated and it will switch at random during the day. It also makes me constantly reconnect my TV to the network despute no issues with any other device when the router gets unplugged by my kids. I didnt have that issue with my previous one. Overall I am satisfied with it and have no issue with connection theough my condo. The test will be in a few months when I move to a house.