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amazon D-Link AC1900 (DIR-878) reviews
The D-Link AC1900 (DIR-878) is an affordable dual-band router that offers the latest 802.11ac technologies, including beamforming and multi-user multi-input, multiple-output data transfer (MU-MIMO). It’s easy to install and manage and comes equipped with four LAN ports, but better-performing routers are on the market for the same price.
Design and Features
The DIR-878 has a matte black finish and measures 1.7 x 7 x 10 inches (HWD). It is designed to be placed on a flat surface or hung on the wall using the two built-in mounting brackets. It has four non-removable, adjustable antennas and has four Gigabit LAN ports, one WAN port and reset, WPS, Wi-Fi, and a power button, all on the back of the cabinet. The top of the Router has LED indicators for power, internet connection, and each radio band. Included in the box is a LAN cable, Quick Setup Guide, and Configuration Card.
The DIR-878 features a dual-core processor running at 880MHz. It is a dual-band 802.11ac router, providing a speed of up to 600Mbps on 2.4GHz and 1,300Mbps on 5GHz. It supports all advanced 802.11ac technologies, including beamforming, where it beams signals towards each client instead of sending them broadly; MU-MIMO streaming allows it to deliver data to clients that are compatible with each other at the same time rather than in order. The Smart Connect service chooses the optimum radio band for throughput.
Settings and Performance
Installation is very easy. Once the Router connected to my PC and the Internet, I entered http://dlinkrouter.local into my browser’s address bar. I used the Setup Wizard to configure the basic wireless and Internet settings. The whole process takes about three minutes. Then I started generating a unique password and SSID for each band (I disabled Smart Connect to test the 2.4GHz and 5GHz performance separately), and the Router was ready for throughput testing.
The DIR-878 is a good performer, but it didn’t break any speed records in our tests. Its score of 92Mbps on our near-by 2.4GHz throughput test (in the same room) is just a few points behind the Synology Router RT1900ac (95.9Mbps) and Asus RT-AC1900P (98Mbps).
In the 5GHz proximity test, the DIR-878’s 396Mbps could not surpass the competition. The Asus RT-AC1900P got 533Mbps, the Synology RT1900ac 479Mbps, and the D-Link DIR-885L/R reported 572Mbps throughput. The TP-Link Archer C7 (V2) documented 509Mbps in the present test. At 30 feet, the DIR-878, however, recorded 268Mbps, landing ahead of the Synology RT-1900ac (231Mbps) and the TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 (V2) Wireless Dual-Band Gigabit Router (250Mbps). Yet, it remains behind the Asus RT-AC1900P (337Mbps) and the D-Link DIR-885L/R (350Mbps).
We tested MU-MIMO throughput concerning three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops wired with Qualcomm’s QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuit. It must be mentioned that TP-Link Archer C7 (V2) and Synology RT-1900ac do not offer MU-MIMO, hence not considered herein. The DIR-878 achieved an average of 188Mbps at proximity test, having beaten the Linksys EA7500 Max-Stream AC1900 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router (176Mbps), but lagged behind D-Link DIR-885L/R (237Mbps) and Trendnet AC2600 StreamBoost MU-MIMO (TEW-827DRU) (238Mbps). At 30 feet, the DIR-878 finished last with a rate of 80Mbps. Linksys EA7500, with its 81Mbps, is just one point ahead, whereas the TrendNet TEW-827DRU (127Mbps) and D-Link DIR-885L/R (165Mbps) are far faster.
In the final analysis
Qualifying as a good standard Router at a fair price, the D-Link AC1900 MU-MIMO (DIR-878) Wi-Fi Router does yield less-than-stellar throughput for a Router in its class. That said, it supports the very latest-spec Wi-Fi technology and is equipped with a control panel that is intuitive and straightforward when setting up QoS per client, parental controls, and guest networks. The installation is quite straightforward, though a couple more USB ports on the Router for attaching external peripherals, like storage drives and printers, would be appreciated.
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D-Link WiFi Smart Router AC1900 Wireless Dual Band MU-MIMO Powerful Dual Core Processor Fast Gaming & 4K Streaming Reliable Coverage (DIR-878), Black: Buy it now