D-Link DGL-4300

What makes the DGL-4300 so special?

The catchcry for the DGL-4300 from D-Link is “Lag is no longer an excuse”. What makes the DGL-4300 so special?

Classed as a “gaming router” with its GameFuel technology the DGL-4300 essentially incorporates packet filtering that puts priority on UDP and TCP-based gaming packets. It’s a simple idea, something you can setup yourself if you run a Linux gateway, but it’s good to see it make it into an off-the-shelf product.

Note, however, that unless your link is constantly saturated using VoIP or P2P software, or you’re sharing your connection with your extended family, it won’t make much of a difference. The whole point of prioritising traffic means putting your gaming packets above those of others on the link – but if there are no other transactions going on, then your games have all the bandwidth to themselves anyway. It’s definitely a nice feature, but don’t buy it for this alone.

In fact the real selling point of the DGL- 4300 is that it integrates a number of high-end technologies neatly into the one box. Not only does it support 802.11b and 802.11g wireless, it also handles the turbo-fuelled 108Mb/s 802.11g variant and, best of all, bundles this in with a four-port Gigabit Ethernet hub. So no matter whether your network is wired, wireless, or both you can transfer between machines at maximum speed.

Naturally, the DGL-4300 will also accept your broadband connection and both share and firewall it for your network. An excellent browser based interface allows you to configure the firewall, wireless security with WEP and WPA, and even add your own profiles to the already extensive list of pre-defined games to give priority to for traffic.

Overall the DLGL-4300 is a nicely packaged broadband router for the modern geek and gaming home.