In this review we have one of D-Link's newest wireless routers that just might be the thing for homes with many devices looking to get on the Wi-Fi network. With all of your basic wireless needs, plus phones, tablets, and smart TVs looking to stream high definition content, a typical wireless router can easily become the bottleneck and hinder the performance of the connected devices. The D-Link DIR-885L AC3150 Ultra Wi-Fi router offers a solution with a variety of features that are designed just for such a setting.



The promotional image above shows the DIR-885L, and by looks alone you would hope it would be a high performance device in order to backup its sleek and stylish appearance. It looks like some sort of space craft, or maybe a racing drone, but it is what is found inside that will hopefully really set this router apart. Before taking a look at the sample provided for review, let's look at some of the features and specifications taken from the official product page on the D-Link website.

Features:

Connectivity:
» Advanced Wireless AC beamforming dramatically enhances wireless signal strength and throughput
» 802.11 a/g/n/ac wireless LAN for a complete range of wireless compatibility
» Gigabit WAN and LAN ports for high-speed wired connections
» One 3.0 USB Port to connect storage drives and printers for sharing

mydlink Cloud:
» Remotely view and manage your network over the Internet
» mydlink Lite mobile app helps you access, manage and view your network remotely

SmartConnect:
» Band steering automatically balances wireless clients among the two wireless bands

QoS:
» Tracks the type of network traffic (HD media streaming, web surfing, online gaming) and lets you decide which devices deserve higher priority

Security:
» WPA & WPA2 wireless encryption protects your network from intruders
» Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) securely adds devices to your network at the push of a button

Specifications:

Device Interfaces:
» 802.11 a/g/n/ac wireless LAN
» Four 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN Ports
» 10/100/1000 Gigabit WAN Port
» USB 3.04

Minimum System Requirements:
» Windows® 10, 8.1, Windows® 8, Windows® 7 , or Mac OS® X (v10.7)
» Ethernet Network Interface
» Internet Explorer® 11, Mozilla® Firefox® v28, Google Chrome v33, or Safari v7
» For optimal performance, pair the DIR-885L with an AC adapter (DWA-192/DWA-182)
» Cable, DSL or Fiber Optics

Advanced Features:
» SmartConnect
» Guest Zone
» mydlink SharePortTM web access
» Multi-language web setup wizard
» Green Ethernet
» DLNA media server support
» Advanced AC SmartBeam
» Dual active firewall
» Network Address Translation (NAT)
» Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI)
» VPN Passthrough (PPTP/L2TP/IPsec)
» Intelligent QoS
» Quick VPN - L2TP over IPsec

Package Contents:
» Wireless AC3150 Ultra Wi-Fi Router
» Quick Installation Guide3
» Power Adapter
» Ethernet Cable
» Wi-Fi Configuration Card

It is clear that this router is intended to provide simultaneous high speed connections to multiple devices on your network. You not only have a variety of modern technologies built in to keep the wireless traffic moving, but you also have a 1.4 GHz dual core processor in there to drive it all. What is also nice is that despite wireless performance being the focus, the unit still offers four Gigabit wired connections for your devices that can take advantage of them.