At a time when most manufactures seem to ignore one spectrum of the broadband world, D-Link have come out fresh with their latest modem router the DSL-X1852E Wi-Fi 6 VDSL2/ ADSL2+ Modem Router. We’ll not go into detail on what a disaster the NBN roll out has been here in Australia, however it’s great to see a big networking giant like D-Link focusing on a market segment not many are interested in. If you’re one of the unlucky many who are stuck with FTTN (Fiber To The Node) or similar technology for your broadband needs, the DSL-X1852E Wi-Fi 6 VDSL2/ ADSL2+ Modem Router would be your one stop solution in ditching that lame duck modem router provided by your ISP.

Not only does the DSL-X1852E provide VDSL2/ ADSL2+ with VLAN tagging support, it offers the latest bells and whistles you’d expect from a modern day router such as Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, 4G LTE backup support, and provides two FXS ports allowing customers to connect up to two telephone handsets utilizing VoIP technology to make calls over the internet.

Specifications

HIGHLIGHTS

Integrated VDSL/ ADSL2+ Modem for universal DSL connectivity in Australia and New Zealand with VLAN tagging
Wi-Fi 6 technology provides faster speeds, greater capacity and less network congestion
Speeds up to AX1800 (1200Mbps on the 5GHz and 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz)
One dedicated Gigabit WAN port and four Gigabit LAN ports provide optional wired connectivity
Connect up to two phones to makes VoIP calls over the Internet*
Connect a 4G LTE USB Adapter DWM-222 for cellular broadband access or failover
OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology communicate more data to more devices while simultaneously reducing lag
BSS Colouring Technology reduces interference, making more efficient use of Wi-Fi spectrum
Increased battery life of connected devices with Target Wake Time technology
Supports the latest WPA3™ encryption
Supports SOS/ ROC

WAN Interface :	VDSL, ADSL, Gigabit Ethernet
NBN/UFB Support :	Yes – all NBN types
Wi-Fi Technology :	Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi Speed :	AX1800 (574 + 1200Mbps)
Wireless Bands :	Dual Band
Wi-Fi Range :	2-3 Bedrooms
Ethernet Speed :	Gigabit Ethernet
Ethernet Ports :	4
USB Ports :	USB 3.0
VoIP :	Yes
Guest Network :	Yes
Parental Controls :	Schedule
PowerZone :	No
Warranty :	1-Year Limited Warranty
Dimensions (Size) :	251.64 x 166.47 x 194.18 mm

Unboxing and closer look at the DSL-X1852E

The DSL-X1852E comes in a new color scheme to D-Link’s standard products; rightly so given that this seems to be their first VDLS2/ADSL2+ Modem router device that also incorporate Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.

Opening up the box you find a neatly packed DSL-X1852E modem router along with a line filter for ADSL users and a power adapter. There’s also a detailed quick setup guide, warranty card, phone cable and a network cable.

The router itself is very well ventilated from both the top and bottom sides ensuring maximum stability on high loads. There are 4 high gain antennas providing greater coverage through your home and D-Link states that the unit would be suited for 2-3 bedroom homes.

You get a range of connectivity options at the rear of the unit with 2 phone ports to connect 2 VOIP phones, 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 x Gigabit Ethernet port and a DSL line for your ISP connection. There’s also a USB 3.0 port which can be used for an external storage drive or connect a 4G USB modem for backup internet connectivity.

Initial Setup

The quick setup guide included with the DSL-X1852E was quite detailed and would help a novice user to get things going easily. On login into the interface for the first time, you’re offered with a quick setup wizard which guides you through the basic setup.

The D-Link DSL-X1852E supports all NBN types and depending on your type of connection you’d need to select the appropriate connection type. Since ours was a FTTN service we used XDSL from the WAN connection type. The VDSL VC Setting was set to VDSL. You can change the remaining settings as required by your ISP; in our case everything else was kept as default.

Failover Internet connection

The D-Link DSL-X1852E supports the ability to failover to a backup 4G internet connection if you got a USB 4G dongle connected to the USB port on the router. Your interenet connection would seamlessly failover to the backup in the event your primary connection fails.

Additional Configuration Settings

In contrast to previous D-Link routers we have looked at, it seems the D-Link DSL-X1852E has few slightly enriched features on the user interface. For example, the built in firewall has a few extra settings under its sleeve which users can enable right out of the box.

The IP filtering has also been separated into Upstream and Downstream rules to make configuration easier and meaningful to the user.

Access Control Settings have also been setup to provide more granular control on how you’d want internal/external access to services offered by the DSL-X1852E. Be careful when you set these up as you may inadvertently lock yourself out of the router.

VOIP Settings

The D-Link DSL-X1852E offers support for two VOIP connections and you can easily configure them on the web interface. There’s a great degree of customizability offered here depending on the service you’d be using.

Performance and Conclusion

Being a user of FTTN NBN service, like most users we have had to bridge the ISP provided modem router with a more powerful router to handle the demanding needs of a common house holds today. Thanks to the D-Link DSL-X1852E we now have the ability to get rid of the ISP provided modem router and have a single device to handle your internet connection and internal routing needs.

In addition to 20 devices connecting to the router, we had 4 IP cameras with live feeds connecting through the DSL-X1852E. The router has been running in this configuration for over 2 weeks now and has been working flawlessly throughout.

D-Link have removed the automatic checks for firmware updates on the router, so you’d need to manually check for new updates on the D-Link website. There’s a newer firmware update available to the one that the unit was shipped out with at the time of checking and you should update to this version as it has some stability improvements implemented.

Overall we’re very pleased with the D-Link DSL-X1852E modem router and it has allowed us to ditch 2 devices and replace it with a single modem/router combo which has adequate power to handle the demanding needs of a modern house hold. It comes with the latest bells and whistles of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, BSS Colouring Technology for reduced interference, OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology for faster and efficient communication and supports the latest WPA3™ encryption standard.

At a price tag of AU$349.95 the D-Link DSL-X1852E is priced very competitively and is a solid upgrade if you’re on FTTN or similar VDSL NBN technology.