D-Link Whole Home Router 1000 DIR-645 Review

Laptop Mag Verdict

The cylindrical D-Link Whole Home Router 1000 DIR-645 looks great and delivers good performance for the price.

Pros

  • +

    Smart design

  • +

    Easy setup

  • +

    Good throughput at close range

  • +

    Low price

Cons

  • -

    Lacks VPN

Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Forget boring old routers from a bygone era. The D-Link Whole Home Router 1000 DIR-645 ($89) has one of the most unusual designs we've seen in years. Shaped like a cylinder, this value-priced router stands out in the crowd with large, easily accessible buttons on the front. Yet, the cylinder shape is more than just eye candy, as it helps eliminate dead spots for home- or office-wide coverage.

Design

Where most routers have a forgettable boxlike shape, the cylindrical design of the DIR-645 really stands out. The tall device, at 7.6 inches and 4.6 inches in diameter, gives the all-black router a distinct look. Large buttons on the front of the router let you turn the power off and activate the WPS automated setup mode for Windows.

Setup

The DIR-645 is easy to configure using a CD setup program. We had the DIR-645 up and running in about 10 minutes after adjusting a few minor settings such as its SSID name. There is no app for mobile devices, though. And, you can't configure the router using a Web-based install program. To tweak advanced settings, you type in the IP address of the router, but this process can be confusing for anyone new to routers.

Features and Security

Unlike older dual-band routers from D-Link, and the upcoming D-Link HD Media Link 2000 DIR-827, the DIR-645 is a 2.4-GHz single-band router. That means you can connect from just about any device, including laptops, the Apple iPad and your phone. However, the 2.4-GHz radio on this router is more susceptible to interference than the 5-GHz band, which is not supported. The DIR-645 still has four Gigabit ports, and a USB port, but to use the latter, we had to install a separate utility to configure the drive volume.

The DIR-645 supports the latest security standards such as WPA2 and WPS, a push-button Windows setup. (This mode lets you add the router in Windows and enter your security passcode.) The router also supports IPv6 as well as guest accounts so visitors can jump on the Internet using a simple password. However, the DIR-645 does not support a VPN, iTunes streaming or any self-healing features.

Performance

Using IxChariot, the DIR-645 clocked in at 92 Mbps from 5 feet away. That data rate beats out the Cisco Linksys E4200v2 (90 Mbps) and the Netgear N900 (80 Mbps) from this range. However, at 150 feet, the D-Link's speeds dropped to 64 Mbps, falling below the E4200 (88 Mbps) and the Netgear (70 Mbps). Then again, the Engenius ESR600H turned in a lowly 42 Mbps from that distances. Nevertheless, the DIR-645 maintained a good connection around an entire house.

We downloaded a 3GB file in 5 minutes, two minutes slower than the Linksys E4200v2 but faster than the Belkin N900 (7 minutes). A 2GB, 400-item folder of music, video and photos took 4 minutes and 30 seconds to transfer, more than twice as long as the Linksys and the Netgear N900, but more than twice as fast as the Engenius ESR600H.

In our quality-of-service test, which is intended to see if the router let us play a video and download files at the same time, we had no problems. We watched an episode of "Modern Family" on Hulu.com, downloaded a movie with iTunes download and downloaded several large files at the same time. We tweaked some QoS settings, and the iTunes download went from 2 hours to 3 hours. That's a good thing, because it meant our Hulu video stream never stuttered and a Skype call worked perfectly.

Verdict

The D-Link DIR-645 is a unique router for those who are tired of the boring boxy design. At $89, it's also much less expensive than dual-band routers, and offers fairly good performance. Those looking for better performance and coverage may prefer a dual-band router like the Cisco Linksys E4200 ($199) or Netgear N900 ($179). But if you're on a budget, the DIR-645 is a sound choice.

D-Link Whole Home Router 1000 DIR-645 Specs

Company Websitehttp://www.d-link.com
PortsUSB 2.0, 4 Ethernet
Size7.6 inches x 4.6 inches (diameter)
Wireless Bands2.4 GHz
More
John Brandon
Contributing Writer

John Brandon has lived what he writes about for Forbes, Inc., Wired, Popular Mechanics, Fox News, and many others. He has a BA in journalism from the University of Northwestern and spent over a decade in the corporate world, becoming director of Information Design at Best Buy at the ripe old age of 26. In the aftermath of a corporate restructuring, he traded hats to become a full-time columnist/journalist and has published more than 15,000 articles since that time. He and his wife live west of Minneapolis and have four grown children.

Latest in Routers & Broadband
Acer Connect M6E 5G Mobile WiFi
The Best Router of CES 2025 is the small-but-mighty Acer Connect M6E 5G Mobile WiFi
Amazon eero 6 plus
Get the Amazon eero 6 Plus mesh wifi 3-pack for its lowest price of the year
Amazon eero Pro 6E
Act fast: the Amazon eero Pro 6E is at an all-time low price for Prime Day
Ethernet calbe wires lighting up connected to an internet router modem are seen against a blue background.
A wildly impressive internet speed world record was just set — 402,000,000 Mbps, anyone?
Illustrate a foot race between an email icon, a tv, and a game controller. Each character should have legs, arms, and a face, depicted in a political cartoon art style. The video camera is in first place, about to cross the finish line with a triumphant expression. The email envelope is in second place, struggling but determined, while the video game controller is in third place, looking frustrated and exhausted. The finish line is clearly marked, and the background should include cheering spectators with exaggerated features to match the cartoon style.
How many MBPS do you need? 3 factors to consider before choosing an internet plan
Turtle plush doll in front of a laptop with a loading screen to indicate slow internet
Is your Wi-Fi router slowing you down? Here's how to find out
Latest in Reviews
The Asus Vivobook 16 Flip convertible laptop on a black and white desk, against a gray background.
Asus Vivobook 16 Flip (TP3607) review: A gorgeous OLED and great battery life make for a compelling convertible
The HP Victus 16 (S100) with lid open on a wood table
HP Victus 16 (S100) review: A stellar gaming laptop for the price with only one flaw
Asus Vivobook Pro 15 (N6506, 2025) open at an angle on a white table.
Asus Vivobook Pro 15 (N6506, 2025) review: Asus dials in its MacBook Pro competitor
A hand holding up the iPad Mini 7 with Apple Pencil Pro attached in front of a wood table
Apple iPad Mini 7 (2024) review: The ultimate mobile entertainment device
Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Aura Edition
Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1 Aura Edition review: Does it hold up to Lenovo’s best?
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 mobile workstation on a white desk with a black table mat, against a yellow backdrop.
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 is the ultimate video editing workstation — if you can afford it