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VPNs for ad-blocking In an age when smart routers are seemingly getting bigger, D-Link goes back to basics, cramming plenty of power into a tidy and easily expandable package with the R15 Eagle Pro AI. D-Link encourages you to connect the R15 to a wall outlet and your modem, then to power it on. From here, the quick-installation guide branches off. Option one is to use the D-Link Eagle Pro AI app for guided installation (including a handy QR code to take you to the store), and the other is a manual approach via computer web browser. The catch is the app has different information to those first two steps in the quick-start guide. For starters, those initial hardware connection steps come later in the app guide. Additionally, you’re expected to scan a barcode beneath the D-Link R15, so get the app first if you want to follow those steps. I also advise taking a photo of the barcode because you’ll be asked for the device password listed there later in the installation. During my setup, Superloop wasn’t listed among the other NBN providers, so I had to select ‘Others’. At the end of the steps, the app wouldn’t accept the device password. Thankfully, jumping over to my browser to continue installation got things unstuck, and the internet was already working despite the D-Link app trying to convince me otherwise. In terms of speeds, the D-Link R15 Eagle Pro AI router blew away my expectations. When I first unboxed the R15, I figured it would struggle to keep up with more expensive alternatives like the aforementioned D-Link DIR-5460 and the Synology RT6600ax WiFi6e router. But that wasn’t the case for the most part. I ran my tests with a Superloop NBN 100/40 Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC) connection during the busy evening hours and the D-Link R15 scored the following results. Note that bigger numbers are better for download and upload speeds, but lower numbers are best for latency and the speed differences between Ethernet and WiFi. The farther away devices are from the router, the more you can expect speeds to change. Except the D-Link R15 Eagle Pro AI router uses some kind of WiFi magic to beat almost every comparable result from the more expensive DIR-X5460 and Synology RT6600ax routers. I’m honestly at a loss to how something so small can perform so well. If it had four Ethernet ports instead of a paltry three, I’d probably use it as my main router. Tapping on advanced features opens a browser for full settings, but you can access these settings by using the router’s IP address. Here is where you can have a deeper dive into parental controls, firewall settings or port forwarding. There’s also a Quick VPN tab for streamlined remote access. What’s most impressive, though, is how easily you can expand your network with the D-Link R15. Either buy another R15 router or other extender-compatible products like the D-Link M15, and you can create a WiFi mesh network. Simply open up the Eagle Pro AI app, tap the plus button, then scan the QR code under the compatible D-Link device. You’ll be guided through some straightforward installation steps and will have an extended WiFi network after everything syncs. Most homes should get by with the three-Ethernet port limitation, and the performance is impressive even through multiple thick walls. The fact the D-Link R15 Eagle Pro AI router has WiFi 6 and is expandable makes it even more appealing, particularly if you get it on sale. We like a router that’s easy to install, simple to configure and one that’s easy to tinker with for users who like to personalise settings inside a router’s operating system. Ultimately, though, a router has to offer a speedy and reliable network—mainly for preserving internet speeds but also for local transfers—which is why we pay close attention to the results of our speed tests. From there, we test a router as an everyday device. While high-end, future-proofed bells and whistles are great, we like routers that reliably work in the background to make it easy to browse the web, play games, share files locally and, ideally, offer wide-reaching WiFi networks.
