DIR-3060, EXO AC3000 Smart Wi-Fi Gaming Router, Tri-Band, 802.11 AC Wave 2 with MU-MIMO, Gigabit WAN, 4 x Gigabit LAN, Alexa Compatible, Black

Prior to purchasing the DIR-3060 EXO AC3000, my home setup included a Virginmedia Hub 3 router with 500Mbs fibre broadband, a lot of IOT devices, around 30 devices connecting at any one time. Includes Smart plugs, bulbs, hive, home cinema, multiple Amazon echo devices, security cameras along with smart phones, tablets and desktop devices. I also have 2 TiVo boxes, one in the lounge and another in the main bedroom. The environment is a large detached house with ground and first floor. The Hub 3 is in the lounge (ground floor) on one end and the main bedroom on the 1st floor at the opposite end on the house. The Virginmedia hub was ok but struggled for signal in the master bedroom and the TiVo boxes rarely worked when trying to play a recorded programme from one box to the other. Given the broadband speed of 500Mbs, I had nowhere near those connection speeds in a number of rooms. Connectivity to my IOT devices was ok, never had any dropouts. Due to COVID and working from home, I needed a better signal in my makeshift office (the dining room which is at the opposite end of the house from the lounge (separated by a kitchen and hallway). Prior to buying the DIR-3060, I bought and returned a TP-Link Deco M5 (problems with Amazon 4K TV Firestick, Ring camera and Sonos units connecting) and a Netgear EX8000 Mesh Smart Extender (App would not correctly identify devices and required rebooting daily or every 2 days). It was important that I had a single SSID and could roam throughout the house on my Tablet and Smartphone which ruled out a cheap WiFi extender. The DIR-3060 was delivered on 5th June 2020, setup immediately and I have waited a month or so prior to writing this review to ensure there were no problems with devices disconnecting or unreliable service. The device was delivered with v1.01 firmware. My Hub 3 is now in modem mode and DIR-3060 providing connectivity for all my devices. The bandwidth in the dining room increased from between 2-7Mbs to around 350Mbs which is a significant increase in speed.The firmware has had 2 updates and is now running on v1.11. When I initially setup the device with the default settings on v1.01 I had a problem with 1 Amazon Echo device (I had another 2 identical models which connected without any issues). My Ring camera would drop connections as well. The D-Link support was spot on, I needed to disable WiFi Mesh (I don’t have any extenders anyway) and Smart Connect (which obviously isn’t that smart!). Disabling Smart Connect still allows you to have a single SSID for 2.4GHz and the 2 x 5GHz signals which is what I wanted to have seamless connectivity throughout the house. A good tip for the Ring Camera is to fix the IP address (Reserve IP - this will only work on the main WiFi SSID and not the Guest SSID). I discovered the Ring fix by checking various forums. Also with v1.01 firmware I had problems setting up the D-Link Defend (McAfee Secure Home Platform - includes 5 year subscription), it wouldn’t work. Firmware update solved this for me. This is really useful if you have children and want to control what they can access and when. It can also be used to control access for your iOT devices. There is also a real added bonus in that you can install McAfee Antivirus (2 year subscription) on an unlimited number of computers, tablets and smartphones (I’m still running another AV solution and will change when that when the subscription runs out). A decent amount of time has passed so that I’m confident I can recommend this device if you need to have a decent Wi-Fi signal throughout the house and garden without the need to install Extenders (size and wall thickness permitting). The added security software makes this modern router an absolute bargain. WiFi 6 routers will future proof your network but comes at a premium at the moment and devices with WiFi 6 are few and far between (let’s face it, most iOT devices still only work on 2.4GHz Wireless LANs).

Hatte den Router rund 1 Monat in Nutzung. Er sollte als „Smart Home“ Router dienen, jedoch hatte er für mein Empfinden ein Manko. Der Router schien die Verbindungen der vielen Clients bei nicht längerer Nutzung zu trennen und erst bei Nutzung wieder aufzubauen. Was in der Theorie super klingt zeigte sich in der Praxis als nervig. Sobald Alexa oder eine WLAN Steckdose etwas länger nicht genutzt wurde, brauchte der Router ein paar Sekunden um wieder die Verbindung zu haben, was ziemlich nervte. Alexa leuchtete gefühlt ewig blau, die WLAN Dose schaltete spät, das Licht brauchte auch lange. Mein vorheriger Router hatte dieses Problem nicht. War für meine Zwecke leider ungeeignet. Das ist aber auch das einzige Manko, ansonsten super Performance (immer vollen Empfang), starke Reichweite (auch durch Wände + Etagen), sehr einfaches Menü (vielleicht etwas zu spartanisch, man kann kaum etwas falsch machen, weil man nicht viel machen kann ;)). Denke bis dato der günstigste 3x3 MU-MIMO Tri-Band Router. Preis/Leistung passte jedenfalls.

I've had this a week. My Asus Dark Knight was playing up so took a chance on this: -It has stopped ethernet drop outs on my laptop -It has increased wifi speed on smartphone (80Mbs before, 150Mbs now) -It has increased wifi coverage by about 10m -It was easier to set up than I thought it would be. Scan code on app, go through guide and it's all done in 6 or 7 minutes. I'd say that after initial set up - to go through the web interface on browser to change any settings as the android app seemed to rebot the router twice when I hadn't asked it to. The only minus is that external harddrives attached to it via USB have a limit of 2 TB size, which means my 5TB HDD can't connect to it, but that's minorflaw.

erstens funktioniert der McAfee D-Link defend Modus nicht (siehe Android Store dazu - das läuft wohl so seit ca. einem Jahr!) - und dies war eigentlich der Grund, den Router zu kaufen! Nachtrag 1 - Antwort von D-Link Support zum McAfee Problem: "Sadly the McAfee feature won't be supported anymore with DIR-1960/2660/3060 bought after 31st December 2020 and not registered on mydlink and McAfee server before." Nachtrag 2: ein weiteres Problem ist, dass ein Reboot via Web Interface dazu führt, dass der Router nicht mehr funktioniert. Man muss den Router manuell stromlos machen. Nachtrag 3 (allgemeiner Tipp): wer bei Vodafone Bridge Mode aktiviert und Probleme beim Anschluss des Routers hat: Kabel Modem resetten (192.168.100.1, admin/password), 5 Minuten stromlos halten und dann Modem anschalten, 5 Minuten warten bis alle Settings geladen sind und dann Router anschalten (DHCP Modus) - ansonsten erkennt der Router nicht das Modem... Nachtrag 4 - ok, nun gibt es ziemlich viele unerklärliche Verbindungsabbrüche (WLAN/Ethernet), WLAN deaktiviert sich at random, wenn man ein "Schedule" aktiviert hat - außerhalb der aktivierten Zeiten. Die Verbindung mit dem Switch bricht manchmal ab, alles sehr merkwürdig. Ich verstehe, dass D-Link den Router aus dem Programm genommen hat und schicken ihn nun zurück. Es wäre so schön gewesen: Tests waren gut und der Router hat (theoretisch) alles, was ich bräuchte...

I purchased this new router because of the inbuilt McAfee protection which covers all of my devices and for the tri-band technology which really helps to manage multiple connections from different devices at the same time. On average I have 30 devices connected and the coverage is perfect within the whole two floor house and in the backyard. Since I've had the router, despite all my connections, I've suffered very little buffering or video stream interruptions, even when the whole family is in. This product went beyond expectations from the installation which was just about scanning a QR code and following the guided procedure using the D-Link app. Once it is all set, the app also allows me to check who is connected, bandwidth usage and manage the advanced router settings. The EXO router can handle the Virgin fibre speed at its best, granting 531Mb download and 36.5Mb upload. This speed is also optimised using the MU-MIMO technology which can serve all of the connected devices at the same time with no lag which is the best I am gaming online.