D-Link Cobra AC5300 DSL-5300
15 reviews
surprisingly powerful – got this VDSL2+ router/modem because I've been told that my previous Netgear modem no longer works with the changes to FTTN. Surprisingly this is much more power than I imagined. - I can boost the power so I don't even need the extender - Router logs can be sent to my log server - Router had issues with connecting back to the internet. occurs… Read more
once a week. But the firmware flash fixed it for me - this supports my Synology NAS really well.
con. every now and then there must be some issue with the NBN network. I need to unplug the D-Link router in order for it to reconnect. don't think that is the modems fault.
Inferior product – Does not work as described. Constantly faulting creating an unstable connection. Basically an expensive paper weight. The modem is constantly disconnecting and shutting down despite a stable internet connection. When this occurs unable to access modem gateway. Save your money and get a different product. Show details
Don’t buy it for parental control – The unit came with no instructions so I had to contact my ISP to set it up. Once it was working I had to look online for how to set parental controls (scheduling by device). What I could fine didn’t work so I contacted d-link support who told me to do it a different way. This didn’t work either and d-link support, while apologetic, ended up agreeing I should return the unit for a refund. Show details
Expensive, but rubbish quality – The device drops out for no reasons at all at least once a week, have to manually reboot it every time. So disappointing for price we paid. No more Dlink products
WARNING! WiFi security issues – Bought the DSL5300 modem/router from my ISP as best in market. Specs look great, but top dollar. Now I am continually getting warnings from Apple that the WiFi security is poor. D-link settings only allow for "WPA/WPA2-personal". No AES or TKIP encryption available. Contacted D-link. The agent acted surprised that there were no other options… Read more
available (this is despite a number of more recent articles online about D-Link poor security with other models). D-Link advised it would look at a patch to upgrade, but this would take time to be prioritised in it's development schedules, with no idea of how long this may take. Also noted that they could never provide the latest security requirements on this particular model. If you are concerned about WiFi security (and you should be) do not buy this device.
Huge premium price, not a premium experience – I bought this as the top-spec, no-compromise fastest, biggest range, most expensive modem/router available to go with my NBN FTTN connection. What a fizzer. Firstly, what works. This unit makes and maintains a strong, reliable, fast NBN connection. No complaints there. Unfortunately, most other elements are between disappointing and diabolical. … Read more
The supposedly "seamless" way the Cobra makes three WiFi networks available as a single network does not work. Devices drop out and get spinning wheels of death all the time. Only by abandoning the "smart" connection option and listing three separate Wifi networks do the tri-bands appear to be stable. The User Interface sort of looks nice, but really is not intuitive, nor powerful. The Parental Control/Access Schedule functionality flat out does not work and support cannot tell me why. This was a CRITICAL piece of functionality to me, to be able to control my kids' internet access by device. My ancient Billion did this reliably for years at 1/6th the price. And finally I have found the Customer Support slow and ineffective at resolving any issues. All this for the (or near enough) single most expensive consumer modem-router you can buy. It would seem to have the hardware there to be a star, but the firmware, features, support are all shockingly poor for a device at this price point. Very disappointed. Will look at a standalone modem plus mesh WiFi set up soon.
Expensive useless device – Bought this modem in Mar 2019 and since then it has had multiple issues with dropouts, losing config, requiring regular reboots and randomly restarting. One of the main issues is that is loses VLAN tagging ID info and needs to be entered again. Its now dead and wont connect to NBN anymore - expensive mistake. To top of the issues encountered,… Read more
D-Link's customer service matches their product and is also very poor. I've had multiple technical cases open with them to resolve the issues I've had and have the transcript to a Chat session where when I asked the technician why does the modem keep losing the VLAN ID but retains all other info, his response was 'that we do not know, thank you. Please rate my service'. I rated his service as poor.
Very very disappointing!!! – I thought I spend a bit more cash on a "Good" modem/router, but soon realised how crappy this product is. I ignored the few negative comments about this product, and that has been my biggest regret! First of all its frustrating that I have to reset/ or turn on and off the modem every 3-4 days as it drops out my cctv system. The other… Read more
disappointment is the range! I have a 6 bedroom house which is quite large, but the top back room and my backyard hardly picks up the wifi signal. Conclusion: Do not buy this crap! I have now changed to an optus ultra fast modem and all the problems have been fixed.
Very bad support and take a long time to update firmware – I had this modem for more than a year now. I had at least 18 devices connected to it. This may sound a lot, but I am using a lot smart devices like lighting, robot vacuum, solar panels, chromecasts, TV's, etc. I thought if I spend top dollars for best modem like this will handle everything smoothly. I guess I am wrong. First of all the smart wifi… Read more
that is supposed to automatically assign device is not great when you have a lot devices like mine, you have to disabled them. Instead you have to manually assign 2.4ghz and 5ghz. Most smart devices like lights only support 2.4ghz. What happen if you don't? sometime it won't work and sometime it will. you can't even access the connected devices from their app. Even chromecasts, you can't see them on your phone if the smart features is enabled. Also their QoS features are not functioning if you have multiple devices like mine. maybe if you have less than 5 it works. But why would you spend top dollars if they are not working as intended. I'm sure most people will have at least 10 devices in a family. Worst of all I have email and complained to their technical support...that was 6 mths ago. Everytime I ask them again, they will only respond sorry their support team is still looking into this matter and please be patient. Its very bad service considering Cobra Ac5300 modem is their flagship. Have a look at their own firmware update, look at how long it takes for them to update? it's not like their modem is very stable. Definitely I would not recommend this modem if you are thinking of using multiple devices.
Depends whether you want a landline anymore – Took a while to set up, phone call to telco, phonecall to D-Link, then the final question, "what else do I have to do to get the VOiP phone to work?" Answer: "it won't". Later, assessed the surge protector power point and noticed 1 IN and 2 OUT ports so thought we'd try plugging old modem back in alongside D-Link one to run phone separately -… Read more
not only does that not work either but had to go through the whole setup rigmarole again when it disconnected the internet. Not seeing a benefit to the many hundreds of dollars just yet!
Blazing fast speed aggressive styling – I purchased the D link AC5300 Cobra recently after having enough of the netcomm modem my internet service provider supplied me with and I must start by saying it is extremely well built and large. On my corner unit it takes up a space 40cm wide and 27cm deep, and that’s not counting the additional depth required for the rear connections. The eight… Read more
antennas reach 12.5cm above the unit.The screw connections for the antennas are plated. There’s 1 USB 3.0 port on the back, 1 USB 2.0 port. A phone line port for DSL and an Ethernet port for connecting to an Internet gateway, and four gigabit Ethernet ports for the wired networks around the home or office. It does all the things you’d come to expect from a high end modem from DLink. NBN is covered as well as ADSL, DLNA support, WiFi Guest access, “SharePort web access”, VPN and so on. The special addition is largely related to raw speed. The AC5300 is toting up all the maximums in megabits per second of which the unit is capable. There is tri-band WiFi, with one 2.4GHz and two 5GHz bands available. Wave 2 MU-MIMO – Multi User, Multiple Input, Multiple Output – allows for dataflows with multiple users and devices simultaneously. And I can honestly say all that adds up to a extremely fast connection I couldn't be happier with it and although it is on the expensive side of modem routers the features and speed I believe a worth the outlay.
Very powerful and versatile Modem/Router – Bought this modem a couple of weeks ago and was upgrading from the Fritzbox modem/router. At first glance (in the box) this is a very heavy unit but a lot of the weight is in the box as it is padded very heavily (for protection i assume) and the box opens like a shoe box. I was having a lot of trouble with WiFi in the house as i have cameras… Read more
that cannot see the 5 GHz band and will only connect to the 2.4 GHz band so i needed something that had room to spare in the 2.4 GHz area. This unit is a Tri-band modem/router that offers 1x 2.4 GHz band and 2 x 5 GHz bands that all work at the same time. The 2.4 GHz band offers 1000 Mbps WiFi and the 5 GHz bands offer 2167 Mbps each. Having more concern for the 2.4 GHz band, this was the unit for me as everything else i have that relies on WiFi can connect to the 5Ghz band such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc.
The unit's connectivity covers ADSL. VDSL and is also NBN/UFB ready with the Ethernet WAN port (rj45) and the telephone socket (rj11/rj12) but no VOIP. It has wave 2 MU-MIMO WiFi which is "Multiple Users-Multiple Input Multiple Output" which allows you to send data to and from devices simultaneously with greater speed and efficiency with no data loss.
The WiFi has "Advanced SmartBeam Forming" technology which means that when you connect something to the WiFi it will direct the WiFi signal/bandwidth to the device as it moves around the house, delivering a strong, uninterrupted and continuous signal. The WiFi also only has one SSID or WiFi name (saving you from having multiple WiFi names on your network) and the modem/router will connect the item (phone, tablet, smart TV etc) requiring the signal to the band it is compatible with automatically, this function is "Smart Connect". The signal is strong and is pushed out with 8 Hi-gain aerials/antennas surrounding the unit enabling me to connect my furthest away WiFi camera with ease.
The Cobra has a 1.8 GHz quad core processor (some might think this is not much as the processors we are used to these days are 3 to 4 GHz and above but when you only have to run a modem/router then it is huge IMO).
The casing is not cheap plastic but feels like a die-cast metal. I could not speculate what metal it is but it lends a very nice feel to it.
The interface is pretty much the same as my older d-link modem/router so i found it very easy to setup and navigate.
Change of Review – initially I had exactly the same problem as others. I was trying to configure more than 3 port forwards. It would not save settings and was useless for its intended purpose. After hitting up their tech support for a few weeks I was given access to a new Australian Firmware that resolved these software glitches. Hasn't skipped a beat. Would have… Read more
been 5 stars but they should never have released it in the state it was. The firmware I was supplied at the time was a beta version and wasn't available to all. Check their Australian website for the update before purchasing.
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Buggy software, settings disappear! Useless – Was excited to receive this modem router after reading all the great reviews. But major disappointmentr. When I added all my settings and saved them, it lost all my Port Forwarding settings I reentered many times and eventually it saved 3 Rules but any more disappeared. For a $700 router to have major faults like this is a complete joke. … Read more
Have D-Link never tested it properly or just with some default settings. Terrible! Sending back to supplier and looking for better brand.
Beast of a Modem/Router – An awesome upgrade from the Taipan AC3200 on the same chasis! With 8 beam-forming antennas - it looks like a mean spider on my desk! Quadcore processors providing more than needed processing power. Amazing coverage around the house (average sized 3 bedroom home). Price is very much on the up side - only recommended for powerhouse users. Modem is ADSL, VDSL (FTTN, FTTC and FTTB) and FTTP (Ethernet WAN) compliant. Show details
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