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The D-Link wireless router lets you access your network using a wireless connection from virtually anywhere within the operating range of your wireless network. Keep in mind, however, that the number, thickness and location of walls, ceilings, or other objects that the wireless signals must pass through, may limit the range. Typical ranges vary depending on the types of materials and background RF (radio frequency) noise in your home or business. The key to maximizing wireless range is to follow these basic guidelines:

1. Keep the number of walls and ceilings between the D-Link router and other network devices to a minimum – each wall or ceiling can reduce your adapter’s range from 3-90 feet (1-30 meters.) Position your devices so that the number of walls or ceilings is minimized.

2. Be aware of the direct line between network devices. A wall that is 1.5 feet thick (.5 meters), at a 45-degree angle appears to be almost 3 feet (1 meter) thick. At a 2-degree angle it looks over 42 feet (14 meters) thick! Position devices so that the signal will travel straight through a wall or ceiling (instead of at an angle) for better reception.

3. Building Materials make a difference. A solid metal door or aluminum studs may have a negative effect on range. Try to position access points, wireless routers, and computers so that the signal passes through drywall or open doorways. Materials and objects such as glass, steel, metal, walls with insulation, water (fish tanks), mirrors, file cabinets, brick, and concrete will degrade your wireless signal.

4. Keep your product away (at least 3-6 feet or 1-2 meters) from electrical devices or appliances that generate RF noise.

5. If you are using 2.4GHz cordless phones or X-10 (wireless products such as ceiling fans, lights, and home security systems), your wireless connection may degrade dramatically or drop completely. Make sure your 2.4GHz phone base is as far away from your wireless devices as possible. The base transmits a signal even if the phone in not in use.

D-Link DGL-4500 Network Diagram

Tags: DGL-4500, Wireless Installation

This button is the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a simple way to connect to a wireless network without much configuration. With WPS, it will automatically configure a wireless network with a network name (SSID) WPA security key and authentication. WPS is designed to support various Wi-Fi certified 802.11 products.

wps help:

D-Link Wireless N Network Camera Installation And WPS DCS-930L As an Example

Tags: DGL-4500, ssid, WPS

This FAQ tells you about how to switch to the wireless on D-Link DGL-4500 and applies to the DGL-4500 only.

Step 1: Open your web browser and type in the IP address of the router (192.168.0.1 by default).

Step 2: Enter the username (admin) and password (blank by default), and then click Ok or Log In .

Step 3: Click on the Basic tab and click Wireless on the left hand side.

Step 4: Click the 5.0GHz radio button and click Save Settings.

Tags: DGL-4500, wireless radio

D-Link DGL-4500 Description

The D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router (DGL-4500) is one of those few devices built especially for gamers. Experience the power of our Xtreme N Duo wireless technology for data transfer rates of up to 300Mbps* and Gigabit LAN and WAN Ports to get your game on faster than ever before. We’ve also added an updated version of our award-winning GameFuel technology to get your game going smoother. To top it off, we’ve thrown in a high-performance CPU and a Network Activity Display to give you a serious gaming router.

Customer Reviews

Truth Teller said:

I bought this router almost immediately after it came out and have had it running for about 90 days at the time of this writing. I have it hooked up wirelessly (G) to my Xbox 360 for Xbox live, wirelessly (N) with my MacBook Pro, use it over gigabit ethernet with two other PCs in my house, and have it hooked up to an HP all in one over ethernet. It has worked without problem with all of these devices.

I set it up to use mixed G and N modes and I am seeing very good speeds with the Xbox (about 52 Mbps) and the Macbook Pro (about 117 Mbps). I can easily see about 8 neighbors networks and have multiple cordless phones in the house, so with this router running in mixed G / N mode I think that these speeds are perfectly acceptable.

I have no longer noticed any slowdowns when my wife decides to surf the internet while I’m playing Xbox Live. It seems as though the router’s automatic “Gamefuel” QoS technology is correctly prioritizing the Xbox traffic over my wife’s internet surfing. I didn’t have to set up anything special. I just let the router do automatic configuration of the Xbox via UPNP (no manual port forwarding, etc).

Configuration-wise it is really pretty simple. I had it up and running pretty quickly. However, I would strongly recommend that the first thing you do with this router is go to the D-Link web site and get the latest firmware before doing any configuration (assuming the firmware is out of date).

Lars Milano said:

This router has solved all my home networking woes and I’ve had a lot of them. Granted, it’s fairly complicated for a home network in that there are many devices connected both wired and wirelessly from various macs and PCs, home theater receiver, music server, network printers, network storage drives, game consoles (ps3, xbox, wii), etc. In the past I’ve used a combination of various routers to make things work properly. From different versions of Apple airport (express, extreme, extreme “N”) to various Belkin and Linkysys models, even the supposedly foolproof WRT54G model.

The problem with the Apple airport models has been their inability to allow open NAT for Xbox Live gaming, not to mention the playstation network. I love Airport networks and their integration with OS X and all its cool file/music/drive/printer sharing and networking features but I’ve always had to combine an extra router to handle the non-Apple side of things. The D-Link DGL-4500 is the first router I’ve had that plays nice with everything on the network. It just works. It works with Apple-based networks, it provides Open NAT for Xbox Live, it works with PS3 (with some minor tweaks), and it works with just about any challenge I throw at it. Music and video streaming, latency-sensitive online gaming, you name it.

mlkri said:

Our home network is pretty extensive, whole house, lots of connections, wired and wireless. We’ve gone through a few router types and all was fine until we added a 3rd Xbox to the system. No amount of configuring, tricks, tips or customer support from our old router manufacturer would allow us to run all 3 on Xbox Live with “Open Nat”. Decided to try this router and it works perfectly!

The set up took a few minutes, I wouldn’t say it was hard but it wasn’t a simple plug in and go, you need to read the instructions and knowing a little bit about your settings will certainly help. All in all it was only about 15 minutes before everything was up and running. The firmware upgrade is a little bit of a pain and I wish they could have made that easier.

I don’t find all the “display” bells and whistles of any really use to me. But the unit does what it claims and that was exactly what was needed here.

Bottom line – if your household has multiple gamers along with the rest of the internet connected, network fixtures in our home networks these days, this is your router. 3 Xbox 360s all on xbox live simultaneously and all with open NAT – ’nuff said.

Tags: 802.11n, DGL-4500, Reviews