Review: D-Link DKT-810 Wireless N Starter Kit

Wireless networks are now commonplace in people's homes, but setting up a wireless network for the first time can still be tricky for users who not familiar with the technology.

One good way to get started is with a kit, such as this DKT-810 Wireless N Starter Kit from D-Link.

The box includes both a wireless router – which is connected to the ADSL socket next to the home's incoming telephone line – and a wireless adaptor that is plugged into a USB port on the PC. Not all PCs have wireless capabilities built into them, so this adaptor will allow the computer to connect to the wireless network, of which the router is the heart.

Both devices use the latest wireless-N technology (also known as 802.11n), which provides high-speed data transfer, suitable even for demanding tasks such as transferring full-screen video across the home network. The £160 price tag is about average for wireless-N products, although there’s also a less expensive version available called the DKT-710, which offers slower speeds but costs £100 less (look out for our review online shortly).

Installing the kit is simple enough, as the software on the supplied CD guides you through the process one step at a time. However, there is one potential hiccup that might affect some people: in order to set up the router, you first have to connect a PC to it using an ordinary network cable, which could be a problem if the computer and the router are in different rooms.

Notebook users can obviously move their computer around quite easily, but users of ordinary desktop PCs may find they have to start lugging the entire system into another room in order to set the kit up properly.

Once that’s done it's then possible to connect the wireless adaptor to the PC and create a proper wireless connection to the network so that the network cable can then be unplugged. From that point onwards, the DKT-810 kit worked flawlessly. However, the need to use an ordinary cable for the initial installation could prove quite inconvenient for some people.

Vista Compatible: Yes