As the limit of the old fashioned 10/100 Ethernet connection is pushed daily, we have to wonder about the future. Obviously, it will be better, but will the initial implementation of the new technology be worth a damn? Clearly, this type of technology has been available in the corporate world for awhile now, but if you wanted a gigabit connection in your home, you had to pay corporate prices for that extra throughput. D-Link graciously brings gigabit into the home with its latest router, the DGL-4100.

As far as a router goes, the DGL-4100 is just like any other router, except that it is capable of gigabit speeds. I picked mine up on a whim-- and wow--I can't wait to see what this baby brings to the party.

Upon opening the packaging, I noticed that it looks similar to most other D-Link routers in its’ small rectangular design, recessed D-Link logo on the top, and the LED placement on the front. This particular router is black with blue LED’s--it looks spiffy in the dark by the way-- and it would be well to mention that the LED’s are REALLY bright. Standard stuff in the carton: CAT5 cable, quick start guide, CD (contents: PDF Manual, Data sheet, Quick Install Guide, and Tribes: Vengeance demo), and power cord. Yep, that’s pretty standard.

Well, after about three days of use, the router simply would not power on. I checked the power cord by plugging it into another router...worked fine. So I'm thinking maybe it's just a glitch, so I followed all the instructions on D-Links' web site to no avail...dead router. Great, so I'm staring at a cool looking paperweight while on the phone trying to get a replacement, and I can't help but think, “WOW, this is the third time I have had a D-Link router not work for me.” Long story short, I got the replacement in about a week and a half, and so far no problems.

After I get the new router set up, I go into the configuration utility only to find that my browser (Opera) doesn't let me save any settings. This really made me mad, and I thought, “Great, now it won't let me configure it.” So the router has two strikes against it, and I try a different browser. This time I used IE--what a mess that was--security warnings every few minutes and every time I clicked on a different tab. At this point, the only thing that kept me from using the router as a frisbee was its' price tag. I caught myself saying out loud, “Alright router, if you don't work this time, you and I are going to find out just how aerodynamic you are.” Third browser, Firefox, not my favorite browser (but let's not get into that, shall we?). Okay, I get into the configuration utility with no problems, and nothing is telling me that there is a security risk--maybe I got lucky. I tried to change a setting--FINALLY, I am able to configure the router.

So now, with all of the kinks worked out, I can get on with the review.

Editors Note:
* Josh--the Fat lady has sung--Stop whining and load a REAL browser already--Geno *