D-Link DKT-410 review

D-Link's DKT-410 is a Draft-N kit that includes a RangeBooster N 650 wireless router with Ethernet WAN port (originally reviewed in Labs, Shopper November 2006), and a DWA-140 USB wireless adaptor.

Buying both products individually would cost around £126, making this kit excellent value, especially as it's covered by an 11-year warranty.

Initial configuration is through a CD-based setup wizard. Rather than making installation easier, this felt as if it were aimed at people with experience of wireless networks, which could leave users feeling baffled if they've never set up a wireless router before.

We tested the router with our Centrino notebook first. Performance at close range was quick, but we've seen better from other Draft-N routers before. At long range there was little drop-off in performance, and the 2.9Mbit/s at 25m is good enough for web browsing.

Unfortunately, we experienced problems when we switched to the USB adaptor. Changing the router's settings to 802.11n only and choosing the wireless channel by hand fixed the problem, but configuration shouldn't be this much hassle. What's more, we didn't have these problems when we originally tested the router in Shopper November 2006 using the DWA-645 CardBus adaptor.

Transfer speeds were good, but we've seen better from Linksys's WAG325N. Sadly, we couldn't get a connection at 25m no matter which settings we tried.

D-Link's DKT-410 kit is good value with a stunning warranty. However, since we first reviewed this router, other products have surpassed it, and we weren't impressed with the USB adaptor. If you want a fast wireless router for your cable broadband connection, Netgear's RangeMax Next Wireless Router (Labs, Shopper June 2007) is a better choice.

Author: Matt Smith