This behemoth sports 4 antennas and knows how to use them! I have been fed up with the lack of range with my WiFi network and finally decided to upgrade 3 days ago. I am composing this review from an area of the house where I previously was unable to connect and am instead pleased to see 3-4 bars (4 being the max). On the back of the router are 4 Ethernet ports, a USB port, and a combination USB/eSATA port. I have our printer hooked up through the USB port and am able to print from any windows machine, but have been unable to figure how to printer from Linux directly to the printer (without using a Windows machine as an intermediary). This is where the product lost a star-- I shouldn't have to figure this out, it should just work! I have yet to test the eSATA capabilities but am hoping to be able to use the router as a file server. I still have some of the same issues that have persisted on our network for quite sometime, but they all seem to be the direct result of our cable modem showing it's age and will likely be replaced soon. This is a too early report, and I plan to update it if anything changes.
Wondering how this is working out for you? I need to upgrade soon as we frequently have 4 devices using wifi (tonight) and the Apple products (kids) seem to overpower the Android and Windows devices (us).
Ok, I've had this for about 3 weeks now and I am very please with the service to Roku, Apple iOS devices and my Kindle Paper White and Kindle Fire HDx (10", IIRC). Some issues with the old lady's Kindle Fire HD and her Galaxy S4. Lots of issues with my laptop, but I think the OS is at fault there-- I have yet to get a good connection to any network since buying that laptop.
The router is dual band and the S4 is the old lay's phone. She would have issues connecting to either band and would turn the her phone's WiFi off and on again. Three days ago she said she has to delete and readd both bands before either would connect. I will likely make some adjustments over the week and see if anything helps.
I am ready take a saw to my old Linksys router. (Mine is pre-buyout, WRT160something, 802.11 draft N) The lousy range, dropped connections, all starting to get annoying and now with two Rokus, my iPhone, my wife's laptop, my desktop, a printer, maybe a couple others I'm forgetting, and a tablet that she doesn't know about yet , I think I'm just plain overwhelming it. Adam, do you think this model can handle my device load plus avoid RF interference issues on the 2.4Ghz band? We have a video baby monitor that plays havoc with all wireless devices that are not very close to the router.
The load won't be an issue, and many devices can run on the other band. If any router on the market is strong enough to overcome the interference, this,would be it.
You forgot to mention the NAS (Network Attached Storage) capabilities, (actually you did!) although you did mention the USB and SATA ports. That just may be the clincher for me.
