DI-624 Wireless Router - Airport Extreme network tips

Question

I have had problems with my D-Link DI-624 (rev.c) wireless router with WPA encryption ever since the recent AirPort updates, so I decided to post a solution in the hope that this may help someone who is also having the same issue.
This also might help people having issues with other older D-Link wireless router products. I've been using a couple of 624 models for about 4 years, and they're generally very good routers for their generation.
*The problem:*
I was experiencing wireless connection drops using WPA-PSK with the AES cipher on an Intel Mac Mini (late 2006) - Airport Extreme AND a PPC Mini. The minis are about 30 ft away from the router, through several walls.
I would get a connection drop randomly, maybe once every 15 minutes when the connection wasn't being used. I would have to disable airport, then enable it for a connection to the network to be re-acquired. This really annoyed people on IM, as I'd bounce on and off-line intermittently!
*The solution:*
- Use the latest firmware for the router (August 2006 - 2.76)
- Use WPA-PSK on the router for security (I do not recommend WEP because of the ease and speed of cracking WEP keys)
- IMPORTANT: Use TKIP cipher, not AES
- Disable Wireless Super-G (you can experiment later on if you have a "known good configuration")
- Disable 'extended range mode' (allows connections < 1megabit, useless for me)
- Change router wireless channel to 1 (for me, to avoid interference with other duelling wireless networks on channel 11)
I can't use WPA2 because I have a couple of Sony devices which do not support WPA2. I believe that if you don't have these devices, it might be better to use WPA2 with TKIP.
So, here's my 2 cents - hope it helps someone! If it does, reply to this thread.

Answer 1

Properly configured, the AirPort should provide both wired and wireless network client with Internet access.
At this point, I would recommend that you do the following as a minimum:
Power-down the modem, AirPort base station, and computer(s).
Power-up the modem; wait at least 10-15 minutes to allow it adequate time to initialize.
Power-up the AirPort base station; wait at least 5-10 minutes. Note: The AirPort's status light may continue to flash amber after it has intialized. That is because, there may be some additional configuration items necessary, like setting up wireless security, before the overall setup is completed to get a green status.
Power-up your computer(s).
If the above steps do not solve the problem, start over with step 1 above, but then perform the next steps between steps 1 & 2. above.
Disconnect the AirPort base station from the Internet broadband modem.
While all of the devices are powered-down, perform a "factory default" reset on the base station. This will get it back to its "out-of-the-box" configuration and make setting it up much easier, especially if you use the "Assist me" process within the AirPort Utility. (ref: Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule)
After the base station resets, go ahead and power it back down.
Reconnect the AirPort base station to the Internet broadband modem. For the Extreme and Time Capsule, be sure to connect the cable to the base station's WAN (circle-of-dots) port.
Continue with step 2 in the first set of steps.
In this basic configuration, the AirPort base station will broadcast an unsecured wireless network with a Network Name (SSID) of Apple Network NNNNNN. Network clients, connected to the base station either by wire or wireless, should now be able to access the Internet through the ISP's modem. Once Internet connectivity has been verified, you can use the AirPort Utility to configure the base station for wireless security and any other desired options. Please post back your results.