D-Link DIR-505 All-in-one Mobile Companion Review

Configuration and Interface

The DIR-505 is very easy to configure in router or access point modes and is even simpler to configure in repeater mode. To configure the DIR-505 in repeater mode, you have to just follow three simple steps—plug in the device, press the WPS switch once on the main router and then press the WPS switch on the DIR-505 for a few seconds and you are ready for boosting the signal or repeating the network with the same SSID and password of the host router. This is very essential when you are in a particular area where you don’t receive a good wireless signal. This is an essential device for accessing a wireless network in far away rooms or closed rooms such as AV rooms or conference areas.

Regular interface for configurations

Configuring the device as a router or access point is similar to configuring any other router from D-Link. It sports all the standard security features such as WEP, WPA/WPA2 and PSK, SPI firewalls, MAC filtering, IP filtering and others found on all routers today. You will need to configure the device once in your office or home network or every time you opt to use it in an unknown network environment. Using it as an access point or router is very handy as most hotel rooms or visiting offices usually have a single network point for Internet access and you can use this single point for multiple devices and gadgets.

Repeater mode scans for available networks

Just choose the network you want to repeat

Give the password for the network you have chosen to repeat

Performance

Since this wireless device is not designed to give you coverage for a whole house or office, it is basically to give you enough signal strength within an average-sized room. We did check this router out in our premises and managed to configure the DIR-505 as a repeater, but not using the WPS mode. The problem was that our routers inside the test labs are highly secure and the administrators have disabled the WPS switch for additional security. Hence we had to dig into the repeater’s configuration web-interface to set the host router’s SSID and password. Once done, we could boost our existing wireless signals further than usual. The area where the repeater was plugged in would usually give us around one bar of connectivity with the host router. But after the repeater was configured in the same location, we did get maximum signal strength and our network was visible for around 20 meters further than the repeater itself.

Check out the "repeated signal of "Techwifi"

Verdict and Price in India

The D-Link DIR-505, priced at Rs. 2,299 should definitely be considered as an essential piece of hardware in your travelling kit. The rugged build-quality, compact size and quick configuration are its USP and we recommend this product for every office and business traveller.