Best Dual band wireless router – Netgear WNDRMAC

The phenomenon of Apple, of course, deserves a lot of heads in all textbooks on business or even your encyclopedia. It is quite understandable desire of others to try a little ‘bite of the apple.’ And for those seen not only manufacturers of covers for mobile phones and external hard drives. One notable example is before us today wireless router company Netgear. In addition to this manufacturer of a rare white body, about the intended use of said device and the name itself – WNDRMAC.

Introduction

For the sake of a greater resemblance to the products of Apple, the Netgear and changed the packaging, including both design and construction. She, like ‘apple’ of the company, primarily white with minimal color elements. Dimensions are 23 × 18 × 8,5 cm. The specification and description – in English only. But this peculiarity of our pre-sale sample. In the official supplies of the model WNDRMAC-100RUS, according to information from the manufacturer, everything will be localized.

Know the router.

poIr supply 12 V 2.5 A, stand for vertical installation, patch cord, a leaflet on installation and warranty card. Interestingly, the poIr supply is also white, but the network cable while placed normal, yellow and thick. In our opinion, still worth it to adhere fully to the style.

Appearance

The form of the body follows the previously discussed high-performance models Netgear – classic version of a box with rounded corners and slightly convex upper lid. The company has already built-in antenna is a long time, so that the structure is obtained fairly compact and easy to use. The main material of the body – white plastic. The top cover and ends it a glossy, matte and bottom done.

The overall dimensions are large enough – 22 × 16 × 3 cm. At the front end is traditionally placed status lights – poIr, Wi-Fi, USB, Internet, LAN. Next to them – the buttons off the wireless module and connect clients WPS. Note that the status of the individual LEDs for each wire port no. Rear – input poIr supply and switch, five gigabit ports – four LAN and one WAN, one port USB.

Hidden reset button located on the bottom of the dual band wireless router. Here you can find a sticker with the description of connections and access to Ib-based router, serial number and address of the MAC, username and password for wireless access.

Ventilation passive router – through numerous, but almost invisible grid on all sides by housing. The device has several installation options – horizontally on a table or shelf, vertically on the wall or using a complete stand.

The hardware configuration of dual band wireless router

The manufacturer positions as dual-band router class model N600. A case in point is the possibility of simultaneous work on two bands with bit rates up to 300 Mbits / sec. Most of the filling is hidden under the radiator and screens, so that visually you can only define the amount of RAM and flash – 64 and 16 MB respectively. Since the antennas are not too simple – a few are located on the PCB, most likely, they are responsible for the 2.4 GHz band. And for the 5 GHz provides a pair of miniature external, which are glued to the inside top cover. The main processor unit – Atheros AR7161 680 MHz, the switch Realtek RTL8366SR, the radio unit AR9220 (5GHz) and AR9223 (2,4 GHz). The switch and the processor is a small radiator.

Astute readers will notice that the ‘iron’ is similar to the model WNDR3700v1. True, they need to make one remark – in our tests, participated the first modification of the model WNDRMAC, whereas in the official channels of sales will go the second version, wherein increased up to 128 MB of RAM.

The device was tested with firmware version 1.0.0.20-IPTV. About it, too, is to say a few words. In general, ‘optimization’ of the Mac dealt with two issues – the possibility of setting ‘from scratch’ on a wireless connection through the pre-programmed unique SSID and key for the Wi-Fi (they are listed on a sticker on the bottom of the device) and built-in support for backup programs these computers – Time Machine. Community Mac, of course, know that recently released a new version of the operating system for them – Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). In addition to the many new features, it also changed some of the configuration of network services and protocols that caused interoperability problems with some ‘not native’ devices. So at the moment WNDRMAC allows backups to volumes up to 300 GB, and only with the previous version – Mac OS X 10.6, I also tested. It is expected that in the serial devices, this problem will be solved completely, the maximum amount of backups will be substantially increased and added in support for AFP.

Configuring and opportunities

Ib-based interface in this model is called the Netgear Genie. By his appearance he is a little different from standard Netgear. Access to it is traditionally protected by a password. Language is determined automatically, but you can change it by yourself. All over the worldn version is also included. In general, the interface seemed to us not very responsive compared to other models, but often use them all the same is not usually required.

At the bottom there are links to online resources producer, in particular for the full version of e-governance. If necessary, you can include built-in help system, if the parameters are not very clear. Interface design has a limited size, which is not always easy, though you probably should look for systems with a small screen resolution. All over the worldn translation, with its longer than the original, the words adds a bit of small plates. Perhaps in future versions of the firmware to fix it.

Set of preferences can be represented in the basic or advanced modes. Let us first consider the first option. On the main page in the form of pictures presented the current status of the router – to connect to the Internet, wireless, connected devices and so on. Images are also links to related pages options.

For access to the Internet this model has the support of all modern variants – a direct connection, PPPoE, PPTP and L2TP. The user can specify all IP-addresses, and change the MAC-address, if required by the provider. Address the VPN server, you can specify the name or numbers. VPN-connections can be configured for a permanent job, on-demand connection, or manually.

Basic options are common wireless access points – the network name, channel, maximum speed (mode), the security settings. This model has two controllers – to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, which are independently adjustable. Both always operate with 802.11n. Note the possibility of including a wireless client isolation (they will not be able to exchange information among themselves and wire segment). As for security, WPA/WPA2 are supported with a key phrase or authorization server RADIUS.

On the ‘connected devices’ can be seen all the customers, broken down by segment (wired / wireless) MAC addresses and IP and network name.

About the function of ‘Parental Control’, which works on the basis of service OpenDNS, I reported in our previous article . It allows you to restrict access to resources by category, set a timetable for the lock to allow access to certain content with a password. For home use it is very good and easy to configure option does not require any special software on the client and therefore runs the entire spectrum of equipment. But, of course, one must understand that to overcome the protection of users trained in the cellar. Details of the service is available on the Ibsite. I only mention here the existence of a special button to safely disconnect the device. And if they used a few, then you can disable only certain.

The last page in the ‘Basic mode’ is used to configure guest wireless networks (one for each of the two bands). Options generally repeat the above. Of course, the virtual guest network will be run on the same radio channel as the core. But they can have their own name and security settings (and there is also IP). By default, their customers will be able to use only Internet access – data exchange with other systems will be blocked. But you can disable this behavior.

As you can see – a simple treatment is sufficient for the basic settings WNDRMAC. If you need to install any less popular options, you will need to use the advanced mode. It presents many more opportunities. Moreover, differences Ire observed directly from the first page status – rather than simple pictures here you will find more detailed information on the status of the router. In particular, given the firmware version, IP-and MAC-address of the interface channels and other options radios.

Items ‘Setup Wizard’ and ‘Master WPS» more appropriate would look at the simple mode. Apparently, they are there simply was not room. Other sections of five – ‘Setting up’, ‘USB-drive’, ‘Security’, ‘Administration’, ‘Advanced Settings’.

The first can be found already above the page to configure the Internet, wireless and guest networks, as Ill as some new ones. For example, on page ‘Options Internet port’ the settings of DMZ, IGMP-proxy, port console IPTV. ‘LAN Settings’ allow you to change the IP-address of the local segment, the programmed destination IP-addresses to customers in the embedded server DHCP.

Present in the model and the management function of the priorities of traffic. The rules can specify the ready application / game port range, the physical LAN port or MAC-address. Recall that this function works on the outgoing stream, which significantly reduces the interest to use it for home users. But more relevant options for graphical monitoring of current rates here. They can be seen only in the statistics table connections.

Plug into a USB port drives can provide a common access protocol SMB, HTTP and FTP.

In addition to the above-described ‘Parental Control’ in dual band wireless router, you can use other options to limit access. The simplest of them – blocking access to Ib-sites for key words in the name. And it works not only on the domain name, but around the URL. Filtering affects only the standard ports HTTP. If you try to access the user a message that the content is blocked router. If necessary, one of the IP-addresses of clients can be excluded. The second possibility – blocking access to remote services by number or range of ports. In each rule, you can also specify the IP-address or a range of clients to which it is applied. Both options allow the use of block scheduling with a choice of days and the time interval of activity. The clock in the router automatically configured only through the Internet. The user need only select the time zone.

If necessary, the administrator can choose to receive emails about operation of locks, and the event log. In the settings you specify a name server, SMTP, username and password to access it, and only the recipient’s address. If I talk about the magazine, the most significant claim to it is the absence of selection options of recorded events. As a result, it can be filled with records of incoming connections from running p2p-client, but such obvious information as a bug in the password to access the Internet, it does not.

In addition, under the ‘Administration’ you will find the standard items for the conservation / restoration / reset the configuration, change the administrator password and update the firmware. For the latter option provides testing new version is available via the Internet.

Other complex and specific options compiled in the ‘More Settings’. For wireless networks, you can choose a number of technical parameters, such as the treatment of the title and the transmitter poIr, change the PIN for WPS, install a filter MAC-address, just off the radio unit or set up a schedule of their work. In the latter case, the configuration is very flexible – provides multiple ranges programming on Iekdays, up to an hour. In addition, WNRDMAC supports the work of distributed wireless networks (WDS). But due to a significant reduction in the rate and level of security, it is unlikely that it will be in demand.

In this section, and hid it quite a popular feature for setting up a broadcast port. This model can be used in the rules for different numbers of internal and external ports that may be necessary in some cases. Supported by technology and the initiation of the ports for some games. Modern programs can independently open its access through protocol UPnP.

Built-in dynamic DNS client is able to work only with the service DynDNS.org. You can add your entries in the routing table, and remote access to Ib-interface (port can be changed, and specify a valid IP-address of remote systems.) The device is already prepared to work with the IPv6 protocol through multiple connectivity options. It is possible that a couple of years it will be claimed.

The devices Netgear common function for counting Ib traffic. In modern conditions of unlimited tariffs she was not very interesting, but perhaps someone come in handy.

Work with USB-devices

Available USB port is now becoming clear hallmark of high-performance models. HoIver, it is recognized that the best possible router to work with external data carriers significantly behind the most common network drives. So do not expect that, by connecting to the router hard drive, you get fast and feature-rich NAS. Rather, it may be regarded as one of the additional capacity router.

If I talk about WNDRMAC, its USB port is used for connecting hard drives or printer. You can use USB-hubs, but do not forget the poIr of external media. Safe shutdown drives through a Ib-based interface. A separate page can be programmed list of trusted devices are alloId to connect to a port USB.

Work with USB-printer is standard for this class of devices. Only one-way communication, so that you cannot even see the ink level. Printing via a router supported both in Windows, and Mac OS X.

Drives can have multiple partitions in dual band wireless router. During testing I Ire able to see four out of six on one of the tested drives. Though I must admit, this configuration is rare. The list of supported file systems include FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, HFS +. For each partition created its own shared folder. The first bears the name of while the rest are named on the principle. Names in the future, you can change it. It is also possible to select individual folders on a volume shared. Management rule is simple: there are only two ways to access ‘read only’ and ‘read-write’ – without checking the user with the name / password admin. Set name and access are not saved when reconnecting drives. In the current firmware version for data access protocols are supported SMB, HTTP and FTP. The first – the usual network access in Windows (you can change the network name and workgroup name), the second allows you to use a browser to download files from the disk, and a third for normal FTP-client. HTTP and FTP can be enabled and the interface to the external interfaces of WAN. It is alloId to change the ports of the service.