The D-Link DI-714 is a four-port wireless router which offers features that let ISPs remotely configure and troubleshoot it. Security features are an added plus.

by Wayne Kawamoto [July 27, 2001]

D-Link recently announced its D-Link DI-714 Wireless Broadband Router and Access Point with four-port 10 Base T/100 Base TX Switch.

According to the company, the D-Link DI-714 uses 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) to offer the easiest and most secure way to share high-speed DSL/Cable Internet access over an IEEE 802.11b Wireless LAN, which should make it ideal for use in homes and small offices.

The D-Link DI-714 offers a high performance wireless solution for connecting PCs so they may share High-Speed DSL/Cable Modem Internet connections with the added security and protection of a hardware firewall. D-Link says that its router employs a stateful packet inspection feature that remembers the status of a connection and then analyzes individual data packets, as well as the packet payload, as they pass through the router. The DI-714 wireless router can also make access decisions based on the source, destination, and service requested by the packet. With this information, the D-Link DI-714 may be able to make a more informed policy decision than other routers.

Wireless router
The D-Link DI-714 has an integrated wireless router, which acts as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server to allow shared Internet access for up to 252 clients.

The built-in access point delivers high speed 11Mbps Wireless LAN connection using Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) that is fully Interoperable with all IEEE 802.11b-compliant devices, while the four built-in 10/100Mb Auto-Negotiation full duplex Fast Ethernet Switch ports should speed access time for client computers.

With two levels of protection, the D-Link DI-714 firewall function allows users to block and redirect ports as well as mask local IP Addresses from the Internet. The masking of users' IP Addresses from others on the Internet should make targeting a specific machine on the network much more difficult.

The device blocks and redirects specific ports to limit the services that outside users can access, while providing the freedom to open specific ports in order to ensure that specific Internet applications will run properly.

The D-Link DI-714 also features 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) for maximum Enterprise-level protection against network intrusions.

Ethernet port
In addition to the security provided by the D-Link DI-714's firewall feature, it has a single 10Mb Ethernet port for connection to a DSL Modem, Cable Modem, or other Broadband access device, which then can be shared through any or all of the 10/100 Dual Speed Ethernet ports as well as via it's integrated wireless access point.

The D-Link DI-714 Wireless Router offers a web-based configuration utility that lets ISPs remotely assist users and troubleshoot configurations.

Other important router features of the D-Link DI-714 include an extensive Virtual Server (VS) function that enables users to input ports in a specific configuration for specific network needs, Network Address Translation (NAT) so that no local computers are directly visible externally, a DHCP Server function for shared Internet access and connection to the LAN, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) to provide special pass through support for common VPN implementations, a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) setting for exposing a single client to ensure Internet application compatibility, a User-Definable Application Sensing Tunnel feature which allows the user to define the attributes to support special applications requiring multiple connections, and port range forwarding for web applications.

The four ports are IEEE 802.3 compliant 10/100Mb Auto-Negotiation Fast Ethernet Switch ports. The switch ports functionally should eliminate unnecessary traffic and relieve data congestion by delivering dedicated bandwidth for each of the four ports. Auto-Negotiation automatically determines the transmission speed of the device attached on each port. By allowing simultaneous transmission and reception of data on the network, the switch allows each user to run in full duplex—which is 200 Megabits per second.

Availability and pricing
The D-Link DI-714 Wireless Router and Access Point plus four-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch is available now through authorized retail, reseller, and distribution partners at a $299 Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) and a $230 Estimated Street Price (ESP).