Specs and DesignThe WRE2205 resembles a power adapter and plugs directly into the electrical outlet. © 1996-2020 Ziff Davis, LLC. No More Ma-Bell's monthly charge - This product work right out of the box and I own it! Nonetheless, having these ports means the router can deliver faster-than-gigabit speeds on both WAN and LAN sides. This page works best with JavaScript. That said we’re in two minds about ZyXEL’s choices of finish. However, the WRE2205 has a great feature in that you don't have to figure out the perfect place to deploy the extender right away. SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and prosumer home, SOHO and small business users. Zyxel's Wireless N300 Range Extender WRE2205 solves the problem of dead zones in a wireless network by expanding the network coverage well beyond what the router can deliver. Let's round up the best gems... Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. And these ports are where it’s at. Airport is a router; you have to have a modem to go with it. Be patient. Trusted Reviews may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through links on our site. Click here to compare performance across various extenders. Elsewhere things are better. The company is also pushing the NBG6716’s eco-friendly and media prioritisation capabilities to further ingratiate it with power users. Considering I was using a router that was several years old for my base network, I was impressed the network could be extended so far and still be useful. Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017. ZyXEL offers a huge range of broadband routers but some of these such as the Prestige 660HW on review have been around for a while and have benefited from a … Located on the back of the router, they are proof Zyxel means business. • Wash your hands! (4th one), Not an Airport, but the internal router seems fine and the modem as well, Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2017. This DSL router is not on the "approved" CL list, however, I had no real issues with setting it up. The ZyXEL service person was very helpful and got me up and running in just a few minutes, century link couldn't do it. This USB port plus the 10Gbps LAN port means you can rightfully expect the G5 to deliver crazy fast network-attached storage (NAS) speed when coupled with a portable drive. The Bottom Line The Multy X provides reliable Wi-Fi coverage and average speeds for a large home. The G5 is also the only one without eternal antennas. The router never finished a test without the portable drive disconnecting midway. $350 Qualcomm 12 stream. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. FeaturesThere are also a few extra features within the interface, including universal repeater mode, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM), wireless output power management, and MAC-address filtering. Nonetheless, after creating an account — you can also use Google or Facebook account for that — I could log in the router’s interface, locally, just like the case of any standard router. That’s always an exciting bonus. The Multy X looks pretty cool and should fit in anywhere in your home. Click here to see network performance at various distances. The former can be useful for those traveling frequently or want their home part of a remote network. Or maybe the fan was never triggered during my testing. Devices can be allowed or denied access to the repeater by entering that device's MAC address within the interface. Doesn’t work unless you have a degree in Computer networking which I don’t. At about 110 feet, Ixia's IxChariot testing suite reported throughput rates between 0.015 Mbps and 0.056 Mbps and an average throughput of 0.023 Mbps. PCMag Digital Group. Another oddity is USB sharing is switched off by default and user access must be setup manually. ZyXEL supplies the router with a setup CD (increasingly an old school option) but you don’t need it to get going. This is the ZyXEL’s flagship 802.11ac wireless router and the Taiwanese company’s latest attempt to burst into the premium router space. Zyxel X150N wireless router With a street price of around $30, the Zyxel X150N wireless router is a bargain among 802.11n (Wireless-N) routers. Those without WPS support will find themselves typing in a needlessly complex default Wi-Fi password and once into the settings the UI is both simplistic in basic mode and a text fest in advanced. On the one hand, it has quite impressive hardware. The sweeping gold accent seems a little tacky, as does the gold logo (normally it is white). The Armor G5 is the first Wi-Fi 6 router from Zyxel. Maybe I could defeat the internal router, but instead I used my Airport to extend the network. The app is your only means of managing your network, so make sure to enable Bluetooth on your mobile device before setup, and then familiarize yourself with where everything is on the app. Unlike those from Asus or Netgear, you can’t change the G5’s network ports between the WAN and LAN functions via software. So I guess I will have to take my chances or get a new modem that I can verify can use the CL firmware. The Zyxel has no Dual-WAN or Link Aggregation, either. She focuses on ways businesses can use technology to work efficiently and easily. I checked with CenturyLink and they said the unit has to use ZyXEL FW, not the CL version. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/zyxel-wireless-n300-range-extender-wre2205, Fahmida Y. Rashid is a senior analyst for business at PCMag.com. I had to repeat the process some 5 times for the update to go through. Already ordered one for my Aunt. ZyXEL NBG6716 – Setup Setting up the ZyXEL NBG6716 is also a mixed bag. The Multy X isn't perfect -- its top speeds could be better, and it's missing a few features, like USB network storage. That’s because it’s simply a feature that blocks access to the Internet to a (group of) connected clients based on a schedule. Priced at $59.95, the N300 Range Extender doesn't break the bank, and the price tag is middle of the pack compared to that of other competitors, such as Netgear's Universal WiFi Range Extender WN2000RPT ($60, street, Cisco Linksys Wireless-N Range/Extender Bridge RE1000 ($50-$80, street), and BearExtender's PC Long Range 802.11n ISB WiFi Booster ($44.97). Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. Waste of time and money! The new routers come in a clamshell shape with rounded corners and edges all round. While the WRE2205 is pretty basic and doesn't offer very many features, it does support MAC address filtering, wireless output power management, and a universal repeater mode. The device can be configured in close proximity to the router, and then moved to the desired location. The below chart compares the Zyxel extender with a few others that were tested recently. There's also one USB 2.0 port, which doesn't support network storage, one gigabit WAN port and three gigabit LAN ports for wired devices on each unit -- which is more than you normally get on mesh devices. There are two-dBi internal antennae inside the extender, which is capable of transmitting and receiving data up to 300 Mbps, according to the specifications. It has no QoS, no game-related or online protection features, despite having “Armor” in its name. Outstanding product - Worked right OTB configured to Bridged and WOLA DSL worked perfectly - No longer have to LEASE Ma-Bell's modem with the extra monthly charge! Now, onto the review. It has three gigabit LAN ports on each unit and supports Alexa. Most mesh systems I've tested are fickle if your mobile device is too far away during setup. Most router makers offer Android and iOS apps for streaming media and accessing settings (at least locally). The router had about the same range as the Asus RT-AX82U, so if you live in a house of around 1,800 ft2 (167 m2), chances are it can cover every corner. Located on the back of the router, they are proof Zyxel means business. It turned out to be a firmware bug preventing the device from connecting to wireless routers running older WPA-PSK security. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Too bad, it did not work for my internet provider. Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2017. Two multi-gig ports. Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2018. But yes, the requirement for the online account was quite pointless, at least in my experience. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Many common features available in other similarly-specced routers of its $350 price range are not there. Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2019.