D-Link DIR-868L review

APPS
As with many modern D-Link routers, the DIR-868L can be accessed on your local network and remotely with mobile apps and through a web browser. One such app is SharePort Mobile, which lets you listen to music, watch videos, view photos and open documents stored on USB drives attached to the DIR-686L. The app works well and has a smooth, responsive and intuitive interface, but will only work when connected to the DIR-868L locally. Although the DIR-868L has a USB3 port, we didn’t notice any significant speed improvement when accessing media over Wi-Fi.

The MyDlink app lets you control your router with a mobile device, even when you’re away from home

The DIR-868L is described as a Cloud router, and to use its Cloud services you must create a MyDlink account and register the DIR-868L with it. You can then administer your router and network remotely through your web browser or with the MyDlink Lite app. However, the best Cloud app is perhaps the MyDlink Shareport app. This works in the same way as the regular Shareport app, except the MyDlink app lets you access your media remotely wherever you have an internet connection. This means you can effectively use attached storage as your own personal cloud storage device.

SharePort Cloud lets you play media stored on USB drives attached to the DIR-868L while you’re on the move. This means you can stream your favourite tunes to your smartphone on the morning commute

The speeds we achieved with both Wi-Fi adaptors and on both bands weren’t terrible but neither were they as good as those of other 802.11ac routers we’ve reviewed, such as the Asus RT-AC66U and the Netgear R6300. However, the DIR-868L is much cheaper than those routers and we tested the Asus RT-AC66U with a Buffalo WLI-H4-D1300 media bridge and the Netgear R6300 with another R6300 in bridge mode due to the scarcity of proper 802.11ac Wi-Fi adaptors.

If you want a cheap 802.11ac router and don’t plan on using your devices too far from it then the DIR868L is a good buy, but if you demand the best performance for your 802.11ac devices then consider buying the Asus RT-AC66U or Netgear R6300 instead.