D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router and Photo Frame, 2.5" Drive Bay, 3.2" LCD, Draft 11n

Comment: The DIR-685 is numerous products in one compact router. I like the router's capabilities, ease of setup and configuration as well as it's range and speed. It uses all the latest innovations to allow it to compete against the best routers on the market. The compartment for a hard drive and the USB ports allowed me to set up my printer without having to use an additional wireless print server and now I have additional storage within the unit. I'm excited to figure out what to plug into the other USB port so it can be used on the wireless network. Because of these multiple uses, it saves so much space! These are the practical uses and then there are the fun things that can be done with the LCD screen. The applications are fun and useful. It's a small screen but I didn't get it for the LCD and at the cost for it's practical uses the screen and it's applications are a fun bonus!

Comment: Setup went pretty smooth. No problems there.

Works very well. My favorite feature is the ability to store files on it which then I can share with any computer at home. I had gotten into the horrible state of having multiple copies of photos and files on all my computers and some files and photos were only on the 'small laptop', while others were only on the 'big laptop', or on the 'old laptop' etc. It got to be a mess of endless copies of files and a big confusion for me.

I was able to fix that situation by using this Storage Router. I was using a wireless router anyway, so why not take advantage of a product that handled my wireless AND helped me with storage? Perfect. And now I can access my files from all my computers.

The internal hard drive (2.5" SATA) doesn't come with this product, but those can be picked up for a very inexpensive price.

My next project with this is to play with the FTP server so that I can access my files from work, my sister's house or anywhere.

I had mentioned that setup was smooth. And it was. But, it did take me some time. I'm not a 'brain' about computers so I really need to take my time and read through things to get these kind of items to work for me. I just don't want anyone reading this to think it was just plug and play....it took me some time. But, I'm very happy with the results.

The color LCD screen on the router is just a bonus feature. Nice, but not really a big deal for me. It's a little small (3.2") but it is nice to see photos scrolling through.

Comment: As a database administrator and programmer, I tend to enjoy tech toys. I have a D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router sitting on my desk, and was excited to be offered the D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router as a more visually appealing and versatile router.

The D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router offers high speed wired and wireless n connections. Wireless connections can be managed by zones including guest connections. Unlike most routers, the DIR-685 includes network-attached storage (NAS) capabilities and a digital picture frame.

The initial set-up was simple to complete, however testing revealed the network didn't set up correctly. My PC can connect directly to the network, but cannot access any wireless networked devices even though I can ping them. I called customer support, only to be given the run around by people who didn't understand my problem. I asked my other half who is more familiar with networking to speak with customer service. This is when they admitted they didn't understand the problem and escalated to a specialist who would call back later. When the specialist called, the result was basically since I can ping the devices it's not a router problem. So I'm stuck with a network which doesn't work properly and have no clue how to fix.

The router frequently freezes up and drops connections. Freezing is obvious thanks to the digital picture frame as the images just stop rotating. It is not uncommon for me to unplug the router three times a week or more to unfreeze. Meanwhile there is no telling when this unstable router will drop a connection. Since the router sits on my desk, it's easy enough to disconnect and reconnect the network cable, but I'm tired of listening to my other half's constant valid complaints.

The digital frame is a nice touch; however it is way too small. For proper viewing the router would need to be pretty close to the viewer. This may cause a conflict between viewing and placing the router in an appropriate spot for wireless connectivity. Anyplace with too much distance makes the photos too small to distinguish.

I really enjoy using the frame channel with the digital photo frame. Setting up an account at the frame channel website was simple. I was able to sign up for news, weather, sports, stocks, and magazine sites as well as images from my facebook friends.

With the digital picture frame, the router includes an intuitive menu selection for showing stats and settings. The NAS drive (hard drive not included) was also simple to install and put to use.

As a techno-geek I was excited to try out this router. However my network isn't working properly, while D-Link customer service was unwilling to help resolve the problem. The router freezes and drops connections regularly. If I weren't having connectivity and freezing issues, I'd be willing to invest more time determining the networking issue. This problem is huge for a router and overshadows the digital picture frame and NAS system. This router has potential to be a fun versatile device, but I cannot recommend purchasing an expensive product which fails at its primary purpose.

PROS:
Frame channel
Intuitive on-board menu display
NAS (network-attached storage) system

CONS:
Never got it to work properly
Customer service not helpful
Digital frame too small
Regularly freezes and drops connections

Comment: Unfortunately, not all of the blades are working. I think this is because I had to use this router as an access point. I have an AT&T 2wire modem/router, so this was the only option I had. It has been about three weeks since the rep at D-Link told me that the team who developed this router would contact me and see if we could resolve some of the issues. As of yet I have not heard from them. If I do, I will update this review.

One of the issues is that I cannot connect to FrameChannel. The router tells me that the "network is unreachable". Another issue is that I cannot get the bit torrent client to work. It will load the necessary folders in the NAS drive but will not connect. I've tried port forwarding on this router, and also the 2wire modem/router but so far no luck. The problem might be mine, because this is the first time I have ever experimented with port forwarding. For me these are two minor issues.

Now for the good news on this router. Setting it up as an access point was a piece of cake. The PDF and the addendum that comes with this router are excellent. After setting it up as an access point, I manually set up the wireless portion of the router and connect to some of my PCs. One of the computers I use is a Eee 10 inch, and if you have one you know there are no restrictions to where you can go in your house. ;-) The conductivity was excellent wherever I went.

For me though, the biggest benefit of this router is having a NAS box (other reviewers have mentioned that the 2.5" SATA Hard Drive is NOT included). Again, using the addendum that came with the router, the setup for the NAS drive was easy. So now, I can share information with all my computers through the NAS drive. I also installed SharePoint just to make sure that it worked. And it does. I connected a portable external hard drive to the router.

Though I am unable at the present time to use this router it as it was meant to be, it gave me the opportunity to have network storage for all my computers. That in itself is worth the price of the router. And as a bonus, I also have a picture frame. ;-) If the day comes when the 2wire modem/router quits, I will replace it with just a modem and be able to take full advantage of this router. I have to give this at least four stars for its ingenuity. If you were to buy the pieces separately in order to have what this router has, I think you would be above the asking price, or at least close to it.

Comment: This is a pretty cool router - not only wireless connectivity but also with a hard drive (which is *not* included, please note!) that can be shared for storage and USB ports for sharing other devices. It also has the picture frame feature which is kind of a nice (if a bit odd) addition. But unfortunately, it's not exactly plug & play.

I'm not an IT guy but I got my MBA with an emphasis in Information Systems and I've handled the IT needs for small companies I've worked for (outsourcing the tougher stuff), but all that's been a few years ago and I really haven't needed to keep up on technology much since then. So, while I'm not an expert I probably know just enough to get myself into trouble. I've installed other wireless home routers (D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band and Linksys WRT54G) and they were almost plug & play. Unfortunately, this one didn't go as smoothly.

We have broadband access through our cable provider and it was difficult to get this router to work with it, but working through the setup process on the computer solved the initial connectivity problems. The picture frame is a nice extra feature, but the screen is so small that it seems almost pointless. The FrameChannel option makes good use of it, though, and you can subscribe to weather, news, comics, etc., as well as have your own photos cycling. The weather and photos were the only really worthwhile options to me, however, as the comics I selected ended up so small they couldn't be read and the news wasn't local (tons of options but nothing relevant to me). But at least it allows you to keep the router on top of the desk or otherwise out in the open, although it didn't have as good of range as we had before (we placed the other routers *under* the desk and still got much better range).

My biggest complaint is with staying connected to the internet. We continually had problems both on the desktop computer connected directly to the router as well as connecting wirelessly with the laptop - and sometimes one would work and the other wouldn't. The internet would randomly drop off and later come back online, and the speed on the wireless connection was inconsistent - usually extremely fast but sometimes excruciatingly slow. I'm sure a much more savvy computer-person than myself could have figured out the problems but after my wife got angry I switched back to our D-Link DIR-825 router (only took 5 minutes after I found the right cords) and we haven't had a problem since.

So, if you consider yourself an advanced user with this kind of equipment (or know someone who *really* is) this probably isn't a bad option. Otherwise, stick with something simpler.