[shadowandy]

D-Link DIR-890L AC3200 ULTRA Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router



D-Link debuted their ULTRA Performance Series WiFi routers and adapters at CES 2015 – AC5300 DIR-895L, AC3200 DIR-890L and AC3100 DIR-885L. These routers are built with speed, coverage and processing power needed to satisfy most bandwidth demanding scenarios. In this review, we will be looking at the D-Link DIR-890L AC3200 ULTRA Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router.


Package Contents



Within the package, you will find the following:

• D-Link DIR-890L Wireless AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit Router
• 12V 5A power adaptor
• Ethernet patch cord
• Various guides and information
• Screws and drywall anchors

Along the middle of the DIR-890L, you will find the LED status panel where you get informed on the status of your DIR-890L’s Power, Internet (WAN), 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz radio and USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 device connection.

Full review at D-Link DIR-890L AC3200 ULTRA Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router

[shadowandy]

Quick Links

• DIR-890L - A Super-Charged WiFi Router
• Full Review of D-Link DIR-890L AC3200 ULTRA Tri-Band Gigabit WiFi Router
• Tri-Band delivering 3200Mbps!
• Refreshed Web Administration
• Speed Monster

[shadowandy]

DIR-890L - A Super-Charged WiFi Router

Removing the top cover, you will find that D-Link is doing a good job at heat-sinking the DIR-890L.



Underneath the heat sink reveals the RF shielded CPU, WiFi radios and PCI Express switch. The antennas are hooked up to the board using U.FL connectors. The 4 solder pads on the left seems to be for TTL communication purpose.




Key Components of the D-Link DIR-890L

• CPU - Broadcom BCM4709A0
• RAM - 512MB
• Flash - 128MB
• Switch - BCM4709A0
• Radio - 3 x Broadcom BCM43602 (2.4GHz, 2 x 5GHz)

[shadowandy]

Tri-Band delivering 3200Mbps!

The D-Link DIR-890L features 3 dedicated wireless radios – a single 2.4GHz radio and two individual 5GHz radios. With this, the DIR-890L is capable of delivering a combined speed up to 3200Mbps [600Mbps (2.4GHz) + 1300Mbps(5GHz) + 1300Mbps (5GHz)].



The Tri-Band Technology with Smart Connect exposes just a single wireless SSID. The DIR-890L intelligently chooses from the 3 WiFi bands and connects each device on your network to the best available band.

A wireless scan reveals 3 channels under the same SSID. The DIR-890L automatically connects your wireless device to the best available band.



Other interesting features are:

• AC Smart Beam. It utilises its antennas to identify your wireless devices’ location and send them a focused signal to increase range and reduce interference. Bye to those dead spots/ zones.
• Dual-core 1GHz Processor. The 1 GHz dual-core processor gives you increased performance to support more devices and faster throughput.

[shadowandy]

Refreshed Web Administration

Like the DIR-880L, the DIR-890L comes with the redesigned web administration that is pretty much mouse/touch-driven. The user interface is easier to understand and simpler to configure. However, advanced user might find the lack of real advance settings uncomfortable. Below is a quick run through of the DIR-890L web administration page.

[shadowandy]

Speed Monster

To be updated with speed test results ...

[shadowandy]

Reserve post #1

[renfred89]

thanks shadowandy for the review! May i also ask if the stock firmware supports vlan tagging for singtel's usage?

[Gribber]

bookmark for more details.

[trichard]

1 question - What is the 100% TX Power of the unit ? still keeping within the limit set by IDA (100mW if I am not wrong)?

I have tried DIR 865 / 868 / 880 ... all setting to HIGH power cannot even match the coverage AC87U setting at 40% TX power (AC87U is at 300+mW).

If 890L following the same guideline as DIR 865 / 868 / 880, then the coverage will be so so ........

[shadowandy]

trichard wrote:

1 question - What is the 100% TX Power of the unit ? still keeping within the limit set by IDA (100mW if I am not wrong)?

I have tried DIR 865 / 868 / 880 ... all setting to HIGH power cannot even match the coverage AC87U setting at 40% TX power (AC87U is at 300+mW).

If 890L following the same guideline as DIR 865 / 868 / 880, then the coverage will be so so ........

Wah... you seem to imply that ASUS is not following IDA guidelines.. if dun follow guidelines and exceed the regulatory power rating, of cos higher coverage

The power rating should be capped by the software settings.

Anyway my AC66U is only set at 40mW and is sufficient for my home usage.

[shadowandy]

renfred89 wrote:

thanks shadowandy for the review! May i also ask if the stock firmware supports vlan tagging for singtel's usage?

Got to check this out. Not a Singtel user so didn't really take note of the VLAN tagging required for some Singtel services.

[renfred89]

shadowandy wrote:

Got to check this out. Not a Singtel user so didn't really take note of the VLAN tagging required for some Singtel services.

its fine for me if there is a vlan management feature. i can input the settings myself..

[shadowandy]

renfred89 wrote:

its fine for me if there is a vlan management feature. i can input the settings myself..

Couldn't find any vlan management on the DIR-890L. :/

[fireduke86]

shadowandy wrote:

Couldn't find any vlan management on the DIR-890L. :/

Sorry, I am not too familiar with networking stuff but it means that it can't be used out of the box as a gateway for Singtel Fiber right?