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click image to enlargeIt is a small rectangular box roughly 200 x 120 x35mm high with power, the four Ethernet, WLAN, DSL and Internet LEDs on the front. All the connections are on the rear: ADSL phone line; four 10/100 Ethernet ports; power connectors as well as power and reset buttons plus the three wireless LAN antennas which are hinged and stick up vertically.
In the box, as well as the router itself, are two ADSL filters, mains power adapter, CD and Quick Installation Guide. Hence, there is everything needed to get started.
The quick start installation procedure was straightforward. After asking for country and ISP’s name, the only questions, prior to moving onto wireless LAN setup, were username and password so one soon found oneself able to browse the Internet.
Then, with regard to setting up wireless access, rather than stressing the importance of protecting your network, I was disappointed to see the message “If you want security”. Thus a number of naïve users will bypass this and end up with open and unprotected networks. However, for the more knowledgeable, when opting for “security”, it takes one through the necessary stages.
The alternative way to set up the DSL-2740R -- initially or to make subsequent changes -- is to access the router manager via a browser. It is straightforward and, on the first screen, there is the option of using the setup wizard or manual setup. Using the wizard is basically the same as using quick start.
With manual set up, one is taken through the various screens of ADSL, Wireless and LAN in Basic setup with extra options being under the Advanced options. Then the Advanced Setting screens include port forwarding, VLAN, firewall, and further wireless settings.
The status screens provide a useful amount of information about the device and its current settings; details of the connected clients and their up-time and, similarly WAN, LAN and ADSL statistics.
When it replaced an ordinary (old) ADSL modem router which only supported ADSL, the improved performance of ADSL 2+ were immediately apparent with an immediate 40% improvement to 6.95Mbps download and 100% increase to 600kbps upload. These improvements, limited by actual phone line length to a figure appreciably less than the “up to” 24Mbps that is frequently bandied about, will still be considered by many as a worthwhile upgrade.
In the unit reviewed, the date and time settings were not accessible via the set-up screens. There was no reference to the need to go directly to the extended url of /time.html and, by the way, that these settings were lost after a power down. Similarly, although the unit supports WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) there was no reference to the “pairing” button on the side of the unit.
The router supports 802.11b, g and n wireless. It worked well on “g” but, for lack of either an “n” laptop or the free wireless “n” dongle that D-Link is currently offering, it was impossible to see try out its “n” performance.
Overall, I found that the basic setup was very easy even though the inexperienced user could well overlook security settings. It is available on Amazon at a price of £96.86.
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