D-Link launches new AC1750 802.11ac router

At an event in London yesterday, networking company D-Link showcased its range of 11ac routers for the consumer market. There are now five models covering several flavours of the 11ac standard, with single-stream (1x1, AC750), dual-stream (2x2, AC1200) and triple-stream (3x3, AC1750) products. All products have Gigabit Ethernet WAN connections apart from the AC1200 DSL-3580L ADSL model which will appear at a later date.

The DIR-810L (£62) is a single-stream AC750 model, aimed at the budget end of the market and lacking extras such as a USB port. The next model up is the AC1200 DIR-850L, which adds a USB port and uses a cylindrical design.

The DIR-860L has one of the first implementations of the 11ac beamforming technology, called Smartbeam by D-Link. Beamforming helps improve performance and reduce interference with neighbouring networks by phasing the antennas to give a directional signal pointing at the client. To get the full benefit it needs beamforming support in the client, though. The 860L also gains a USB port.

The newly-announced DIR-868L (£133) is an AC1750 product, with similar features to the 860L. Also shown at the launch was the miniature AC580 single-stream DWA-171 USB adapter, which joins the existing DWA-182 dual-stream adapter.

D-Link now has one of the most diverse 11ac offerings of any vendor, enabling it to hit multiple price points. I'm hoping to get samples of one or more of the models over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for my reviews.

The DIR-868L is an AC1750 router with Smartbeam beamforming capability

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