BIOS: Technology Means Business

If your ping times suck or you've got too much lag, D-Link's GamerLounge Wireless Router (DGL-4300) may be just the ticket. The DGL-4300 is designed to protect your online gaming experience from diminishing no matter what anyone else is doing on your internal network. After all, you may not realise that a file-hungry family member is transferring files in the middle of your online gaming session. D-Link's DGL-4300 is a solid product that actually does what it says it does - increase your likelihood of having a lag-free game! It's not exactly good value (it costs nearly twice as much as other Wi-Fi routers), but if prioritising your shared Internet connection is a must, the DGL-4300 is worth the investment.

Pros: Excellent peformance; 4-port Gigabit router; program controls
Cons: Expensive; lacks MIMO technology; rule changes require reboot

D-Link's latest networking device is a broadband router pitched at high-end gamers. However, don't be put off - it can also perform prioritisation of VoIP, teleconferencing and other protocols you deem necessary. Having said that, the DGL-4300's (Best Current Price: £108) principal job is to reduce in-game lag for the ultimate online gaming experience. It's also worth noting at this early stage there's no ADSL modem, unlike U.S. Robotics' SureConnect ADSL Wireless Gateway (£59.95 ex. VAT), so you can forget about shelving your USB or PCI-based broadband modem.

The router lets you access your network, using a wireless connection, from virtually anywhere within its operating range. Keep in mind, however, that the number, thickness and location of walls, ceilings, or other objects that the wireless signals must pass through, may limit the range. Typical ranges vary depending on the types of materials and background RF (radio frequency) noise in your home or business.

The DGL-4300 distinguishes itself from other routers thanks to a new intelligent packet processing engine integrated directly on the router. This 'GameFuel' engine gives online games precedence for bandwidth over all other Internet applications, e-mail and FTP transfers. So, if you're in the middle of a gaming session but need to download some important patches or upload a load of files to a Web server, the DGL-4300 prioritises your gamin packets to minimise in-game lag.

This may sound like marketing spin, but we all know that when playing an online game every millisecond counts. The product is also special because it is the first router to brandish four Gigabit (1000Mbit/s) Ethernet ports with up to 108Mbit/s 802.11g wireless connectivity for blazing fast LAN party and WLAN connections. Optimised for PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 games, the D-Link GamerLounge is an online gamers dream.

The game-centric user interface of the DGL-4300 allows for the configuration of multiple ports or port ranges simply by selecting the game title from a menu. With an easy to use, Flash-based Web interface, the router can be accessed quickly to change settings and adjust performance for individual applications.

D-Link hasn't forgotten about the importance of online protection either. The router comes with built-in firewall protection, and can be configured through the advanced features section of the product's Web-based interface. The router also features a dedicated CPU to support up to 1000 concurrent connections and advanced management features such as MAC address authentication, Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) and Content Filtering.

Networking security standards supported include WEP encryption and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) support for both 802.1x and WPA-PSK. It also lets you create versatile access control policies to control network access based on time, date, Web sites, and/or applications, as well as disable SSID broadcasts. Of course, Virtual Private Network (VPN) pass-through is also supported.

The design of the DGL-4300 is pretty funky as far as routers go. Its compact form factor (117x191x35mm) takes up very little deskspace, its wholly black appearance gives it a trendy appeal, and 'Gamer Lounge' branding on the top of router is guaranteed to give you kudos at your next LAN party. There's only one detachable antenna, although this is a relatively powerful and adjustable (rotates 90 and 360 degrees) 5dBi high gain antenna, and in our tests we had no problems in terms of signal strength.

You also get a matching black power Adapter (5V, 2.5A), blue CAT5 Ethernet cable, wall mounting kit and vertical stacking stands, should you really be short on desk space. Rubber feet are also provided to allow proper ventilation when the router is placed horizontally or stackable upon other D-Link products. To attach the vertical stand you simply have to fit them into the slotted grooves on the top and bottom panels of the DGL-4300.

The front of the router provides a basic display, informing you when the device is powered, when the device is connected to a wireless or wired LAN, and which of the four Ethernet ports are being used. All of the seven status LED are a cool blue when active, which makes a refreshing change from the usual green LEDs on most networking peripherals.

The rear of the device accommodates one Fast Ethernet (10/100Mbit/s) WAN port for connecting to your broadband line and four Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000Mbit/s) LAN ports for hardwiring computers or other networking devices. Of course, you also have to attach the 2.4GHz wireless antenna to the rear of the panel.

Finally, like all decent routers, there's a reset button, although you'll need a pointy gadget to actually press the recessed button. Unfortunately, there's no dedicated power switch, so you'll have to make sure all your security settings are configured if you intend to leave the device powered 24/7.

The DGL-4300 worked extremely well in our tests thanks to its GameFuel technology, which made a noticeable improvement in gaming performance on wireless routers servicing multiple simultaneous connections. We tested the unit by uploading and downloading large files to and from a Web server via FTP while playing online shooters. Ping times remained in the 30-to-40-millisecond range with no latency issues, which is virtually unheard of when transferring large files to and from a server.

However, there's no support for MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) technology which takes advantage of multiplexing to increase wireless bandwidth and range. MIMO algorithms send information out over two or more antennas and the information is received via multiple antennas as well.

On normal radio, multiplexing would cause interference, but MIMO uses the additional pathways to transmit more information and then recombines the signal on the receiving end. MIMO systems provide a significant capacity gain over conventional single antenna systems, along with more reliable communication. MIMO can currently be found in Belkin's Wireless Pre-N range.

Setup and management is very easy, thanks to a Web-based configuration interface and hand-holding wizard. You simply need to enter the router's IP address into a browser and use the various tabs to access the multitude of options. For instance, you can set up a virtual server, set up special rules for individual games that open up specific ports each time they're launched, browse access logs, and perform other operations. We also liked the inclusion of a glossary on the CD-ROM, allowing beginners quickly look up unfamiliar terms. [8.5]