Dlink Smart Mesh Router (DIR 2660) and Range Extender(DRA 2060) Reivew

"Daddy, there is no wifi at this spot!"



Does this happen to you, when you are at certain spots in the house and you reach a dead zone where Wifi seems non-existence?



It could be the room furthest down the corridor, the toilet that is tuck away in the corner of the kitchen far away from the router or if you are living in a landed property, the 3rd floor is usually wifi free.

Dlink  DIR 2660 EXO AC2600 Mesh Wi-Fi Router

dlink DIR2660

No matter how we move the Wifi, we always have a spot that has an intermittent wifi network. That happens on good days. On days when everyone is using the wifi, you would not even catch a signal. Even if you do, it takes forever to load. When that happens to you, it is time to upgrade that 5 year old router that came free with your Internet package.

Today, routers come with mesh technology. Routers now have mulit-node capabilities take connect directly and dynamically to as many other nodes as possible. Without the need to depend on a singular node, it s it able to dynamically self configure to bring a more reliable network.

Source: Dlink

Dlink DIR 2660 was recently introduced together with the wireless extender DRA2060 to its new range of EXO series of routers and wireless extenders. Combine these two and you could form a mesh network in your home and blanket the whole house with wifi.

Gree McAfee

The DLink DIR 2660 retails for $179 if you are a ValueClub member at Challenger. In addition, it comes with McAfee  Free 2 year anti-virus and a free Dlink DRA 2060 (Usual $99), Given the price, it would be an affordable upgrade for the masses.

The dual-band DIR 2660 is targeted a mid-tier segment. It comes with 4 Gigabit Lan ports as well as 2 USB ports. The Wifi speed is touted to be at 800 Mbps (2.4 GHz)  and 1732 Mbps (5GHZ).  It works with Google Assistant and Alexa.  It comes with a free Dlink Wifi app to help you set up and manged the network. In addition, you could monitor your child's internet activity via comprehensive parental control. However, to take advantage of this, you would require a separate Dlink Defender app and that may deter usage.

You can check out the unboxing in the video

Dlink DRA 2060 AC2000 Mesh Range Extender

Complimenting the DIR 2660 mesh router is the DRA 2060 range extender. This is a wall plug design that may save space on the table. However, due to its bulk, it renders the neighbouring power outlet out of commission.

In case you need faster speed, there is a Gigabit Ethernet port for those who yearn for stable and faster-wired connection.

Setup 

Set up can be done with the D-Link Wi-Fi mobile app ( IOS and Android version). However, if you have other devices already connected (such as a security camera), this setup might not work. In the end, we connected via laptop using wi-fi instead. Setup via the laptop was seamless and it was up and running within 5 minutes. Both the router and the extender can be set up with the laptop. The only catch is that the 2 items must be close together during set up stage to make it work properly.

Speed Test

After the setup, we did a wifi speed test.  As we are only connected to a 100Mbps internet connection, we would base the result on the speed of the Internet Connection.



Initially, we tested the speed next to the router. It gave a download speed of 61.6 Mbps and upload speed of 93.02.

Next, we tested at the spot where our original internet connection was known to be spotty. Our speed base on the old setup sans mesh network has achieved a download speed of 19.4 and upload speed of 19.5. With the Mesh router extender, it sped up to a download speed of 31.1 and upload speed of 49.8. Effectively double the speed we receive via Wifi. We also had consistently higher speed reading via the Mesh router compared to our 5-year-old meshless router.

If you have a 5-year-old router, it may be wise to consider a change. With today's technology demanding more speed for functions like 4K videos, multiple computer usage and more, it would make sense to have a boost in speed to cope with the demand.

Boost your speed with DIR 2660

 Disclosure
TWD was provided with a set of DIR 2660 and DRA 2060 for the purpose of this review, All opinions are of our own.