Wireless networking technology seems to be evolving every day. Not that long ago the best we could hope for was a single megabit of bandwidth. Today, our home networks are faster than ever. When Linksys released their Max-Stream EA9500, wireless networking was able to surpass the performance of wired networks for the first time. While this technology was loved by enthusiasts, it’s price point kept it out of the hands of many consumers.

When you want the best of the best, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny for it. With the WRT3200ACM router, Linksys is hoping to challenge that thought. This router looks like it has the same great specifications as their top level router, but is being offered at a much more affordable price point. Let’s put it to the test and see if it can be crowned the best mid-range router on the market.

First Look

While some of the newer Linksys routers have gone for a striking visual style, the WRT3200ACM goes back to basics. It’s got the classic black and blue look that everyone has come to associate with their brand. They did, however, add a few new stylistic elements that show the router for the powerful beast it really is. Sharp, aggressive corners and dramatic angles combine with the 4 beefy antennas to give you one serious looking machine. Looks can only do so much, so let’s take a look and see how it performs.

Connectivity

The back of the router contains all the ports you’d expect. You’ve got the WAN port to communicate with your modem, and five gigabit Ethernet ports for any hard-wired devices in your home. It can also connect to external hard drives and be used for network accessible storage. This can be done through the USB 3.0 port, something that’s commonly found on consumer routers these days. But where the WRT3200ACM stands out is the inclusion of an eSATA port. This will allow you to connect a higher speed external drive to take advantage of the impressive bandwidth offered by this router. This particular port is what’s known as a “combo port”. It will actually communicate with both USB devices as well as SATA. Not every eSATA port has power, but fortunately this one does so you won’t need an external power supply for your storage device.

Communication Standards

The Linksys WRT-AC3200 supports the latest 802.11AC standard, and is fully backwards compatible with all other standards. This is a dual band router, meaning that your devices can communicate on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies simultaneously. This is an incredibly important feature to have, as our airwaves are quickly becoming crowded with wireless networks. These bands support a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 3200 Mbps (megabits per second): 2600 on the 5 GHz channel and 600 on the 2.4 GHz channel.

Today, we have more wireless devices in our home than ever before. Too many devices sharing the same network can slow down some routers, leaving you waiting patiently while your website loads. To address this problem, Linksys made sure that this router supported MU-MIMO. This acronym stands for “multiple users, multiple inputs, multiple outputs”. Depending on your network structure, this can mean one of two things. If you have a MU-MIMO network card in your computer, you’ll be able to open multiple simultaneous connections with the router, maximizing your total bandwidth.

If you don’t have an advanced network card, MU-MIMO will keep your devices from conflicting with each other. Ever find that the internet was operating slowly because one of your family members was busy downloading something? With MU-MIMO, each device in your house has its own isolated connection so one user won’t slow the others down.

Another impressive communication standard supported by the WRT3200ACM is Tri-Stream 160. Routers work by sending out little pulses of data at regular intervals. The amount of information contained in each pulse is defined by the channel width. Think of it a bit like posting on twitter. If you had an 80 character limit, you wouldn’t be able to say as much with each tweet. But if you had 160 characters, you’d be able to say a lot more. This is exactly how Tri-Stream 160 works. By using a 160 MHz channel width the router can send twice as much information per pulse, making huge bandwidth possible.

Open Source Ready

One of the most popular features of the WRT routers is their ability to use open source software. Routers, like computers, have an operating system. While the included Linksys operating system is fantastic, some advanced users want to have a little more control over how their home network operates.

There are many ways that open source software can improve your network performance. Some users want to install a bare-bones operating system. Because the entire processor is free from managing any advanced features, you’ll have almost the entire chip dedicated exclusively to managing your network traffic. Other users want to install a more advanced firmware that will allow them to have more control over their network. There is firmware available that has advanced security settings used for business or public networks. Others have traffic shaping ability that can improve gaming performance, even while streaming Netflix. In some cases, you can even run a basic Linux distribution and have your own local or public web server.

Usually custom firmware isn’t released until after WRT routers have been on the market for a few months. If you want to be ahead of the curve, there is no reason you have to wait. OpenWRT, one of the most popular custom firmwares, is already out and tested for full compatibility.

Software Features

Even if you don’t use a custom firmware, you’ll have access to plenty of great features that Linksys has built in. For starters, the entire setup procedure has been turned into a simple step-by-step wizard. You simply log into the router, and it will walk you through setting up your network name, password, internet connection, and any extenders or bridges you need.

You may want to control how your network is used, and Linksys provides several ways to do so. Parental controls can determine what websites your devices are able to access, and time restrictions control when they can get online. Dynamic DNS can provide advances content filtering for the entire network, or give you a way to access your home network remotely.

You’ll also find plenty of great security features. Hiding the SSID will ensure that nobody can find your network without knowing the name, and MAC address filtering lets you control which devices can or cannot get online.

Real World Performance

A 3200 megabit connection sure sounds great, but we know from experience that wireless networks are rarely able to meet the maximum theoretical bandwidth with a single device. We had to find out for ourselves what the maximum transfer rate would be from a single device.

Using 802.11ac, we transferred a large file across the network at close range. Amazingly, the file downloaded at a rate of 480 Mbps. This is incredibly fast performance, only made possible with high speed SSD drives. But we all know that performance can drop significantly, so we had to redo the test from the other side of our house.

We went up to the second floor and set up our computer on the other side of the house. This means that the signal was going through a floor and two walls. We still managed to achieve a download speed of 418 Mbps. This is certainly a small drop, but other routers we’ve tested have struggled to even get a signal this far.

Specifications

• Dual-Band 3×3 with Tri-Stream 160 Technology
• MU-MIMO
• Enterprise-grade 1.8GHz dual-core ARM-based CPU
• 256 MB Flash
• 512 MB DDR3 RAM
• DFS certified to operate in the clearest Wi-Fi airspace
• SOHO-grade 5-port Ethernet switch
• 4 Gigabit LAN ports, 1 Gigabit WAN port
• 1 x eSATA/USB 2.0 port
• 1 x USB 3.0 port
• UPnP Server
• Four detachable external antennas

So, Should I Get the Linksys WRT AC3200?

This might not be the fastest router on the market, but it’s pretty darn close. The question is, do you need all this power?

If you live in a household with a lot of people, then the MU-MIMO technology will be a godsend. Even if you use older devices that aren’t individually capable of extreme bandwidth, most routers will quickly choke when there are too many open connections. The Linksys WRT3200ACM, on the other hand, handles it with ease.

Do you have a high speed internet connection? If you’re bandwidth exceeds 50 or even 100 Mbps, you’re going to want a router fast enough to handle it. This router offers that, and still leaves you room to grow.

Is there anybody who shouldn’t get it? If you have a very slow internet connection and do not plan to share any files locally, then you won’t see much of a benefit from upgrading to such a high-tech router. Your internet is only as fast as the weakest link in the chain. No router can turn a 5 Mbps connection into a 50 Mbps one. If you’re sick of slow internet speeds, maybe consider upgrading your cable modem. Linksys makes the CM3016 high speed cable modem, allowing you to kill two birds with one stone.

The post Linksys WRT3200ACM WiFi Router Review (WRT-AC3200) appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Although wireless networking is now more advanced than ever, there are two major issues impeding its functionality. The first is bandwidth, although technologies like MU-MIMO and 802.11ac have taken some impressive strides in the right direction. The second is range. Wi-Fi signal can only go so far, and depending on the obstructions, often this signal won’t cover your entire house.

If you’ve got a large home, an apartment with concrete walls, or an office space, you have likely struggled with wireless coverage. There are a few solutions, but they are often expensive, cumbersome, and require a great deal of technical knowledge to correctly configure. The AmpliFi LR (long range) and HD (high density) is a solution that promises to fix your range issues once and for all. The mesh technology used has shown to be incredibly effective in some solutions, and disappointing in others. It all boils down to the implementation. Let’s take a look at it and see how it performs in the real world.

First Look

The AmpliFi LR & HD Home WiFi System is made up of two different components. First you’ve got the router, or base station as they describe it. This router is designed with a modern appeal, looking like no other router you’ve seen before. While the smooth white exterior brings everything together, the focal point of the unit is the high-tech LED display on the face. It’s perfectly round, and gives you at-a-glance access to your current networks performance. Both upload and download speed are shown through an interface that looks like something outside of a science fiction movie.

The second component are the extenders. They’re compact in nature, and have a rounded design that allows them to be discreet. On the face you’ve got an LED bar that shows you the signal strength, making it easy to use and always visually see your connection status.

Difference Between HD and LR

AmpliFi offers two different versions of their home WiFi system; one being HD (high density) and the other being LR (long range). Visually, they look identical, but you’ll notice that the HD version retails for $50 more. Why is this and what’s the different you ask? AmpliFi HD has a bit more power behind it, letting it deliver transfer speeds of up to 5.25 Gbps. rather than 2.35 Gbps. with with the LR version.

Design

The AmpliFi WiFi System is one of the most attractive on the market. But it’s design elements aren’t just for appearance, they also add to the functionality of the device. When you first turn it on, the large display will give you directions regarding the setup procedure. If there’s any functional issues, it will indicate the problem in a clear manner, directing you to the app for further assistance.

Once things are working as intended, the display will provide you with relevant information. With no users on the network, it gives you the date and time. The interface is certainly striking, surely more attractive than your alarm clock. When there are live connections to the router, you’ll be shown information such as your WAN IP, the Router IP, and the number of users currently online. When there is a large amount of bandwidth in use, you’ll be given an attractive graph that shows current upload and download speed.

The display isn’t the only functional design element. When the router is fully operational, a ring around the base will glow white. If there are problems, the router will not glow. This is an easy way to check and see that you network is up, and can help you troubleshoot issues such as one of the extenders becoming disconnected.

Ease of Use

Although there are many solutions for extending your wireless network, most are incredibly complex and cumbersome to set up and use. The AmpliFi LR & HD is one of the few mesh networking systems designed for the plug and play consumer. Setting it up really is that simple. All configuration takes place through and Android or iOS compatible app. Simply plug in the router, connect it to your modem, and open the app. It will locate the router in a matter of seconds, and allow you to enter your networking information such as access point name, and desired password.

At this point, you’ve got the network up and running. You’ll receive confirmation through a series of beeps that are emitted by the router. You can now go and plug the extenders into any electrical outlet in your house. They’ll blink for a moment or two, before the get a connection and indicate the signal strength on the face of the device.

Changing settings is also quite easy on this router. Unlike most, you’re not required to log into a web interface or memorize IP addresses. Everything can be configured from the mobile app, making changes simple.

Features

Just because the router is easy to use, doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in features. It’s running on a powerful installation of Busybox Linux, offering services that are often only found in the most advanced routers.

Two of the post powerful features are band steering and router steering. Band steering will attempt to force clients onto the 5Ghz network, when available. 5Ghz networks tend to have higher bandwidth, and are often less crowded than the 2.4Ghz band. Since so many devices default to 2.4 Ghz, this can be a great way to improve your bandwidth. Router steering attempts to force devices to connect to the base station first, only relying on the extenders if the connection is poor. Because there is no rebroadcasting taking place, you’ll likely get a slightly faster connection when you are going directly to the router.

If you’re technically inclined, you can still change many of the advanced features to further optimize your network. Channel width can be change for both bands. You can also forward ports, narrow channels, set up custom DHCP rules, and all of the standard filtering and access restrictions.

If you’re using this system in a public place, the router gives you the option to set up a separate public network. You can restrict the number of users, the maximum time they can use your network for, and content restrictions specific to the network. This feature alone means that the router is suitable for both home and business purposes.

Bandwidth & Range

Thanks to 802.11ac, AmpliFi offers incredible performance. Our transfer rates for locally shared files average around 850 Mbps. Normally, we’d do this test both far away from the router and at close range. But thanks to the extenders, speed remains pretty consistent. When you are connected to one of the extenders, your bandwidth remains about the same. It’s worth noting, however, that the additional hope adds a slight delay to your connection. You can expect a 5ms increase in ping times. This won’t be a factor for most users, but online gamers may want to try and connect directly to the router when possible.

The coverage is advertised as 20,000 square feet. After testing it out, we certainly believe it. Our connection was strong from all parts of the house, and we couldn’t find a single dead spot. One factor you may want to consider is the construction of your home. If you’re in a large apartment with concrete walls, or an old brick loft, you’ll likely see distances of about half the advertised value. Of course, it’s unlikely to find an apartment that’s over 10,000 square feet, so you probably won’t find any issues with this.

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of routers on the market that offer long range, but it’s important to consider signal roll-off. If you have a high speed 802.11ac router that can cover a 5000 square foot area, how good do you think your signal will be at the end of that range? What if the signal has to go through several walls? Likely, you’re find the bandwidth disappointing. For this reason, the AmpliFi Home WiFi System has two key benefits. First, you’ll be able to cover a large area with wireless internet. Second, your bandwidth will be consistent throughout the house. Sure, there aren’t many people who really need the 20,000 square feet of coverage offered by this system. But there are many people who could benefit from the stable connection speed.

Of course, not everyone will love this home wireless system. Those who want to use advanced features like access control, but don’t have the technical know-how will like the Amped Wireless ALLY System. If you only have a single dead spot in your house, you may be able to cancel it out with the Netgear Orbi. But if you find yourself struggling with multiple dead spots in your home and poor bandwidth, the AmpliFi is the choice for you.

This is one of the first Wi-Fi systems we’ve seen that doesn’t restrict configuration in any way. If you’re technical and know how to set up your own router, then you’ll appreciate the way that the AmpliFi is laid out. Business users will certainly love the way that they can prioritize connections, and configure a separate public hot spot with its own set of access restrictions. Not only is this system affordable, but it’s one of the most feature rich we’ve seen on the market.

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Bluetooth is quickly becoming the connection method of choice for the smart homes of the future. Bluetooth offers you a high bandwidth connection with quick data transfer rates and low power draw. If you’ve spent any time looking at smart devices, you’ve surely noticed that there is a huge range of products. Everything from speakers to lighting to device power controls are readily available.
But there are two key disadvantages of this system. The first is interconnectivity. You might have a NEST thermometer, Kwikset smart lock, and maybe even a Beddi Smart Radio. But these devices won’t always communicate with each other, leaving you with several different apps you need to control the various aspects of your home. Plus, Bluetooth will only work over a short range. If you left something on in the living room, you won’t necessarily be able to switch it off while you’re in bed.

The Cassia Hub system is able to directly address both of these problems. With the Bluetooth router, you can control any device from anywhere in your home. You can connect your existing Bluetooth devices, or use Cassia’s impressive devices that extend the functionality of your router. Let’s take a look at see if this home system is revolutionary, or disappointing.

First Look

The Cassia Hub Connected Home Kit is composed of four separate devices, and an app. The heart of the system is the Bluetooth router. It manages connections between up to 22 different Bluetooth devices. They offer three different self-branded products: a smart plug, an LED light, and a Bluetooth speaker. But you aren’t just restricted to these objects, as the hub will communicate with any Bluetooth device within its 1000-foot range. Their entire product range is designed with a very sleek, modern look. The flat white gives it a premium appeal, while remaining neutral as a form of décor. It’s clear from the design that Cassia was focused on the experience first, and design second. Each and every one of their devices has an impressive feature set, so let’s take an in-depth look at them.

App

At the heart of the entire system is the Cassia Hub app. This is your primary point of interaction with every aspect of the system, and defines your entire experience. Upon first opening the app you’ll see a sleek splash screen with a single button. Tapping on it opens up your list of connected devices. You are able to categorize them into groups. For example, you can have a group for each room of your house. Or you could have a group for lighting, another for music, and so forth. Adding a device is a simple as pairing it with your phone, tapping the add button, and selecting the type. Cassia devices will be typed automatically, while the rest can be defined as lighting, audio, switches, temperature, and several other options. You can also link multiple devices together. For example, multiple lights can be entered as a single lighting instance. Anytime you change the color or brightness, the command will be applied to all of them at the same time.

Once all of your devices are added, it only takes a few taps to change any setting you want. You can change the lighting, start your favorite Spotify playlist, and set the rooms temperature. If you move to another room, it only takes another tap of your phone to shut down all the connected devices and move your settings into the new room. The app may be simple in nature, but it’s very well designed and easy to use.

Router

The Cassia Hub Bluetooth Router is the silent engine driving your entire home automation system. Through the app, setting it up is incredibly simple. All you have to do is connect it to your home Wi-Fi network, and pair all of your Bluetooth devices. They’ll automatically be detected by the router, and can be assigned functions from the app.

The Cassia Hub Bluetooth Router has an advertised range of 1000 feet in open air. In our experience, this is closer to 700 feet in each direction when positioned in the center of the house. It’s important to clarify that this is the range of communication between the router and your Bluetooth devices. Your connection with the phone is virtually range less. Because it pairs to your Wi-Fi network, you’re able to access it from anywhere – even over mobile data while you’re out of the home. This makes it incredibly useful, and you really can make sure you turned off all the lights while you’re at work.

Cassia Bluetooth Speaker

The Cassia Hub Bluetooth Speaker is certainly one cool looking device. It’s completely cylindrical, just like the router. There are two speaker grills on each side, and a single blue light indicating that it’s in use. But you won’t find any controls on this speaker, as everything is done from the mobile app.

Generally, you’ll want to leave the speaker plugged in. But if you want to take your music with you, the rechargeable Lithium Ion battery gives you up to 10 hours of music playback. The speaker is a little larger than most Bluetooth speakers on the market, but the size is compensated for with the extra-long battery life and impressive sound quality.

Although it’s just a single speaker, you are actually getting full 2.1 surround sound. You’ve got speakers arranged each side of the device in a radial pattern that creates 360-degree sound you can enjoy from everywhere. Two passive radiators improve the bass performance, giving you a music experience you didn’t think was possible from a Bluetooth speaker. If you receive a call, you can actually use the speaker to complete the call thanks to the built in microphone.

It can be used in almost any environment, thanks to its incredibly durable case. Accidentally knocking it over is unlikely to damage it, as the construction is incredibly solid and tight. It’s fully water resistant, so there is no reason to worry about the occasional splash.

You’re given full control as to how the speakers can be set up. You can use two of them at the same time, filling even the largest rooms with impressive sound quality. To activate them, you don’t even have to open the app. NFC, or near field communication, is embedded in the top of the speaker. Just place your phone near the top for a moment, and your favorite Spotify playlist will start streaming. NFC can also be used to transfer your music from one speaker to the other, a great feature to have if you’re changing rooms.

Cassia Smart Plug

The smart plug is a simple device that allows you to convert your standard appliances into smart appliances. Its functionality is very simple. You just plug it into the wall, and then plug any 120V or 240V device into it. It will then operate like a switch, allowing you to turn it on or off from the Cassia Hub app.

You’re not just restricted to one device either. You can easily plug a power bar into it, and use the Smart Plug to turn every connected device on or off at the same time. With a 25,000-hour life expectancy, you can be sure that this will last you for a very long time.

Cassia Bluetooth Multi-Color LED

This smart bulb can be screwed into any standard light socket. It produces just as much light as a standard 100 watt incandescent bulb, but only uses 6.5W of power. The bulb uses special four color LEDs that can produce red, blue, green, and white. This allows you to set the exact color and brightness you want, setting the mood however you see fit.

This LED bulb has an expected life of 25,000 hours. How much do you think you would spend on standard light bulbs after 25,000 hours? Not only does this work out to be a cheaper option, but it will cut power use by 80%. In short, this bulb pays for itself.

Final Thoughts

As far as smart apps are concerned, the Cassia system is an excellent way to make all of your devices operate cohesively. You can use the bundled hardware, or purchase existing hardware from another manufacturer. It’s great to see a company that’s focusing on making their products easy to use, with a focus on consumer choice. But the Cassia Hub is available in several different kits, and which one is right for you?

The Cassia Hub Bluetooth router extends the range of your Bluetooth devices, and allows you to use the Cassia Hub app to control them. If you’ve already got a number of smart devices in your house, the router is the best way for you to make them work together.

The Cassia Hub Audio Kit I bundles two of their best products, giving you more of the experience. Bluetooth speakers are generally designed for portability, at the sacrifice of audio quality and battery life. But we strongly believe that this is one of the best Bluetooth speakers for household use, and would highly recommend this kit for any music lovers. If one speaker isn’t enough (and really, is it ever?) then you can upgrade to the Audio Kit II and get a pair of them. This is great for filling large rooms, or having multiple audio sources in different areas of your house.

If you want the full package, then the Cassia Hub Connected Home Kit gives you access to the entire ecosystem of the Cassia Hub. You’ll get the light bulb, the smart plug, the router, and the speaker to enjoy everything this company has to offer. If you don’t have any smart devices at home, this is the perfect way to get started.

The post Cassia Hub Bluetooth Router, Home & Audio Kit Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Finding an affordable router that offers superior performance can be a challenge. If you have a family or roommates, you’ll often struggle to get a decent wireless connection with a large number of devices using the same network. Recently, Linksys has released some impressive routers that offer superior bandwidth and traffic shaping. But those routers were sold at a premium price, and most consumer hardware simply isn’t fast enough to take advantage of the high speeds it offers.

For many users, it can feel as if you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one end of the spectrum, you’ve got low grade consumer routers that just don’t live up to the demands of our modern technology. On the other, you’ve got premium routers that are overpowered and overpriced for your use. Today, Linksys is helping you find some middle ground with the Linksys Max Stream EA7300. This router has the powerful features that allow you to use high bandwidth internet connections through a large number of connected devices. Let’s take a look and see how it performs in the real world.

First Look

The Linksys Max Stream EA7300 has a sleek, modern appeal. It’s smooth black case is both utilitarian and professional. While it doesn’t have that same imposing look as some of their higher end routers, it also doesn’t have the classic “appliance” look as their older routers. You can certainly tell it’s a high quality router, but it doesn’t demand any extra attention. It’s the type of router you could place openly in your living room or tuck away in a closet. No matter what you choose, it won’t look out of place.

Setup

Getting the Max Stream EA7300 up and running was a simple and straightforward process, thanks to the included set-up wizard. You simply plug the WAN port into your modem, and attach the power. After a short boot up process, you’re ready to complete the final step. You can either log into the router through the open network connection, or physically plug into one of the gigabit Ethernet ports. Upon opening a web browser, you’ll be able to walk through Linksys’ step-by-step configuration guide. You’ll pick a name for your network, select a password, and then you’re ready to go. You can move on to change advanced network settings, or you can simply start using the internet right away.

Connectivity

Both wired networking, wireless networking, and network attached storage is supported. Wired networking is connected through one of the four gigabit Ethernet ports along the back. To the right, you’ll also see the single USB 3.0 port that can be used to connect an external hard drive to be shared with the network, or a flash drive for the purpose of updating the firmware.

Of course, the wired connections are really just a small part of what this router is designed for. Wireless communication is facilitated through the high speed 802.11AC network. This system is capable of offering better bandwidth and improved range over older systems. Of course, if you have an older client that only supports 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11n or 802.11g, you’ll still be able to use this router and all of its features. But if you want to take advantage of the impressive bandwidth, you’ll want to make sure you’re using an 802.11ac client.

Real World Performance

The 1.7 Gbps speed advertised sure looks impressive, but we all know that these theoretical rates are never possible in the real world. We decided to go hands on and see what kind of performance we could achieve.

In order to properly test the system, we used a laptop with an 802.11ac wireless networking card. We connected a PC to the gigabit Ethernet port, and shared some files on our local network to determine the transfer rate. Our first speed test took place in the same room as the router, with a distance of about ten feet. Transferring a few ISO files, we achieved an impressive 245 Mbps average transfer rate. This is some pretty impressive performance, more than adequate for streaming 4K video or accessing remote content in real time. But we all know that speeds can drop off quickly when you’re further away from the router, so we had to test it again from the other side of our house. During this test we were about 90 feet away from the router, and the signal was going through multiple walls. Our transfer rate went down to 115 Mbps. This may seem significant, but it’s still more than fast enough for every purpose we could think of. In most households, this is the minimum bandwidth you can expect.

We also wanted to take a look at signal quality, so we looked for dropouts or long buffer times while we were transferring files. No matter where we were in the house, we found that file transfer rates remained consistent with no signal issues at all. For this reason, the router is a great choice if you live in a large building and have trouble getting a decent signal.

MU-MIMO

One of the most important features of the Linksys Max Stream EA7300 is the MU-MIMO technology. This stands for Multiple user, multiple input, multiple output. Surely, you’ve noticed that when a lot of people are using the internet at the same time, your connection can be quite poor. A wireless network can only handle so many requests at a time, so under heavy use some requests can be dropped. MU-MIMO means that this router actually creates three separate wireless networks.

If you have three devices, you’ll each have your own dedicated network. If you have six, you’ll only be sharing the connection with one other person. In our experience, this improved the connection speed by a very large margin. Torrent files are notoriously hard for routers to handle, as you’re often dealing with 200+ connections per torrent. But with MU-MIMO, our connection was still fast and responsive, despite what other users were doing.

A common misconception is that MU-MIMO will actually produce separate Wi-Fi networks, forcing you to manually select one to connect to. This is not the case. All users simply log on to the network just like any other router, and the Max Stream EA7300 will distribute your connections as necessary. Part of this system is an intelligent traffic shaping system that re-organizes connections as needed. For example, let’s say that you have 5 devices on your network. 4 of them are smartphones, only using the internet to occasionally check for notifications. The last one is a game console, running a network-heavy online game. In this case, the user that requires the most bandwidth would be given their own channel, while the low volume users will be divided between the remaining channels. This means that you’ll always get the best possible connection, without compromise.

Network Access Control

This router was designed to be simple to use, but still provide access to a number of highly advanced features. This is one through the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi application. You can install this app on your phone from the app store, or by visiting linksyssmartwifi.com from any internet enabled device.

At a glance, this application will tell you what devices are currently connected to your home network, and information about their connection. You can view standard information such as MAC address, IP address, and connection status. Alternately, you can set up advanced access control such as connection priority, schedule, or content restrictions through parental controls. These options are not rare, but finding them so easy to use is very rare, and a huge bonus for it.

So, Should I Get the Linksys Max Stream EA7300?

For the average consumer, the Linksys Max Stream EA7300 may be one of the best values in routers on the market. It’s designed specifically for use in households that have a large number of devices, all requiring high speed internet access. If you don’t have the latest technology, you’ll still be able to enjoy the traffic shaping and MU-MIMO technology to ensure that everyone maintains reasonable bandwidth. If you do have an 802.11ac card, you’ll finally be able to enjoy the huge bandwidth possible.

For families, the parental controls are also handy to have. But if your family is primarily concerned with restricting how and when you children access the internet, you might prefer the advanced parental controls available in the Netgear Orbi. Users that have a 100 Mbit or higher internet connection and want the best possible speed should consider upgrading to the EA9500 router.

But for the average consumer, the EA7300 find the perfect balance between price and performance, and wraps everything up in an easy to use package.

The post Linksys Max Stream EA7300 Smart WiFi Router Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

When we’re out hunting for the latest tech, we’re always on the lookout for something that is faster, more powerful, and all-around better. One of the fastest growing industries is wireless networking. What was once considered the top-dog is now considered yesterday’s news. If you’re on the hunt for a high performance wireless router, then NETGEAR has something exciting you might want to check out.

The Nighthawk X10 is staking it’s claim as the fastest router currently on the market. Can it stand up to the test? We decided to find out.

First Look

The Netgear Nighthawk X10 is certainly one powerful looking router. It’s likely much larger than any router you’ve seen before, with four LED illuminated antennas extending from the sides and the back. Despite its high-performance look, it still manages to come across as a little more reserved than other high performance networking equipment on the market. It’s got sleek, smooth edges. The smooth triangular design on the face contrasts nicely with the deep grooves of the cooling vents, creating a look that is completely unique. But looks can only get you so far, so we’ll have to see how it performs to make a judgement.

Specifications

Netgear advertises the X10 as having a total Wi-Fi bandwidth of 7.2Gbps, or AD7200, which is simply shocking. This is possible with a combination of 802.11ac and 802.11ad, a new technology we’ll get into shortly. This gives you a total of two 802.11a channels with a maximum bandwidth of 4600Mbps, an 802.11c channel with 1733Mbps of bandwidth, and an 802.11d channel with 800Mbps of bandwidth.

Handling multiple data streams across so many dynamic interfaces is certainly a lot of work for one little router to handle. Netgear had to beef up the performance beyond what any reasonable router is capable of by including a 1.7Ghz quad core CPU with an advanced operating system. This would be impressive on its own, but the additional features they’ve included really make this router stand out.

Setup

The first thing you’ll notice when setting up the Nighthawk X10 is how simple their system is. You access the settings using an interface called ‘NETGEAR UP’. You can access it from your computer, or from an app on your smartphone. It’s got a very simple, easy to navigate interface that walks you step by step through the installation procedure. For us, our network is pretty generic. We’ve got a couple desktop PCs, and a number of mobile devices. In this scenario, it’s simply a matter of plugging in the router, opening the app, and choosing a password for your network. Once it’s up, you can move into the more advanced settings of the router.

If you’re connecting your router to a corporate or heavily customized network, you might not be sure how to proceed. The X10 supports virtually every networking configuration in common use, so you can be pretty confident that it will work. But for those challenging technical issues, the NETGEAR UP application gives you one touch access to their support infrastructure. You can browse how-to topics and video tutorials, or connect and chat with a support representative in real time. Combined with the straightforward configuration procedure, this is one of the easiest routers to set up that we’ve ever seen.

Software

Once it’s setup, you’re certainly going to want to take a look at all of the advanced software features that are available to you. All of the standard configuration options are available. You can view the devices currently connected to your network, look at real-time bandwidth statistics, set up security and access restriction tools, and access parental controls.

You also have some of the more advanced options we’ve occasionally seen on other routers. You can set up a public access hot spot that has no password, but more restrictive access times and bandwidth use. You implement powerful QoS (quality of service) optimization that keeps your networking running at it’s peak performance.

But what really makes the X10 stand out is two unique features we don’t often encounter. The first is the Amazon Drive Cloud Backup system. Amazon offers free cloud storage for photos and music (or unlimited storage for a monthly fee) and you can configure it to automatically backup all of your devices with a few simple clicks. There’s a little configuration needed from your computer. For example, all files that need to be backed up should be accessible from the network. But beyond that, this is one of the easiest and most reliable backup systems we’ve used.

You’ve also got the advanced NAS, or Network Attached Storage, feature that’s built right in. The router has two USB 3.0 ports, allowing you to plug in external hard drives. All of your devices will now see these drives on the network, so you can access your data with ease.

What impressed us the most was the included PLEX media server. PLEX is a powerful media serving application that lets you stream all of your locally stored music and videos to any of your household devices. You can share files that are attached to the router through local storage, or you can include network shares from any of your other computers. PLEX gives you a beautiful interface to access this media from, and automatically converts these files to a format your media players will understand. Any PC or Mac is supported, as well as mobile phones, game consoles, and streaming sticks.

Networking Technology

Wireless networking technology really took off in 2003 when 802.11g was implemented. This was the first system that allowed for 100Mbps connection speeds, and drafted that standard for MIMO. This standard was updated to 802.11n, providing a small increase in bandwidth. Now, it’s what we know as 802.11ac. Although quite similar to the original 802.11g, it can provide users with access to 2 GHz of wireless spectrum. 802.11ad is yet another expansion of this standard, providing access over the 60 GHz band. When the two platforms are used together, they can offer a theoretical bandwidth of 7 Gbps. Hardware hasn’t been released that can constantly hit this limit yet, but the Nighthawk X10 is one of the first that can come close.

Like any good router, the Nighthawk X10 is backwards compatible with all previous wireless standards. On top of that, it provides you with four gigabit Ethernet ports to connect wired devices. Historically, wired ports were only used for mission critical applications where speed was the ultimate priority. At this point, users can finally get better performance over wireless.

The last standard that’s included is the SPF+ port. This looks like a standard gigabit Ethernet port, but it’s actually several bonded channels that provide you with 10 Gbps bandwidth. Not many consumers will have access to this technology, but it’s still among the best on the market.

Real World Performance

At this point, there are very few storage devices that can even come close to providing 7 Gbps throughput. In theory, you might be able to use a RAID array of PCIe SSDs, but you’re quickly heading into the territory of storage solutions that cost thousands of dollars. Plus, there are almost no 802.11d compatible networking cards on the market, so you can’t quite take full advantage of the performance of this router.

What we can tell you is that this router can handle all of your household networking needs without even a hint of lag. While some people are worried about their 4K movies buffering in time, the X10 can transfer the entire thing in 20 seconds. Want to backup 3GB of family photos from your vacation? That will only take you 20 seconds. While this is happening, it doesn’t matter what else is going on in your home network. You can have up to 20 devices all streaming high definition multimedia, without even slightly reaching the limit of this router.

Should I Get the Netgear Nighthawk X10?

If you want the best of the best, then you should definitely consider the Netgear Nighthawk X10. What sets it apart from other high performance routers is that it’s future proof. It’s got all the latest standards, even if some of them haven’t hit the market yet. You could leave this plugged into your home for the next 5 years, and it will still provide you with the bandwidth you need.

If you find yourself sharing lots of files over your home network, then you’ll see an immediate performance increase. Users who have high speed internet connections (50 Mbps+) can use this router knowing that it won’t bottleneck your connection.

Perhaps the one area where it really shines is when there are multiple devices on the network. Sick of your brothers Netflix marathon slowing down your gaming session? With the X10, those days will surely be a thing of the past.

The post Netgear Nighthawk X10 AD7200 WiFi Router Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

When you’re setting up your small or medium sized business network, you’re going to need a few different pieces of hardware. One of these devices is either going to be a switch, a hub, or a router. Often, these devices are talked about is if they are interchangeable. It’s true that they all perform similar functions, but each of these devices are quite different.

A hub is the simplest of the bunch. It simply takes any input it receives, and rebroadcasts it to every connected device. A router is on the opposite end of the spectrum, and much more advanced. A router acts as a middleman between all connected devices, isolating the local computers it’s connected to from the external network. But a hub fits somewhere in the middle. It can be used with an existing router, but it’s not completely passive like a hub is. Generally, switches are used to filter the packets that it’s transmitting.

For you, this means that a switch can control how your network is used, significantly improving performance. This is almost essential for any business with a lot of users. Seemingly harmless events, such as running windows update on one too many computers, can slow your network to a crawl. If used correctly, switches can also improve your network security, and prevent internal abuse.

The question is, what kind of switch should you buy? They might look the same on the outside, but they each perform quite differently. Today, we’re going to take a look at the three best web managed Ethernet switches on the market. After, we’ll help you find the one that’s right for your business.

Netgear ProSAFE

Of course, we couldn’t go through a review of the best networking equipment without mentioning Netgear. From their top of the line consumer routers to their bulletproof business grade hardware, Netgear is a company that has a solution for everything.

Connectivity

The first thing to determine is if your switch will be compatible with all of the devices on your network. The Netgear ProSAFE offers up to 24 gigabit Ethernet ports, each of which is duplexed. This means that, when connected to the right computer, they can actually deliver up to 2000 Mbps of throughput. Additionally, this means that the total bandwidth is an impressive 32 Gbps, provided all ports are in use. Duplexed gigabit Ethernet adapters are not particularly common, but as we’re already reaching the limit of standard gigabit Ethernet, it will be good to have on hand. The switch is available in 5, 8, 16 or 24 port rackmount devices, should your business require that many connections.

Performance Features

As a managed switch, this device gives you quite a bit of control over your networks performance. The important feature is QoS, which stands for quality of service. Imagine you’re in line at the grocery store. The person in front of you has a cart overflowing with merchandise, but you’re just there to buy a sandwich. He decides to let you go ahead. This is exactly how QoS works. The switch can prioritize user needs based on volume. This means that heavy network users won’t bog down your essential communication.

The switch can also automatically detect and prevent Denial of Service attacks – simple hacks that attempt burden your network with irrelevant or incorrect request in order to halt communication. With this switch, these attacks are just not possible.

Security Features

There are two services built into this switch that can be used to secure your network. The most important is VLAN compatibility. This works to break up devices on your network into two or more isolated areas. For example, you’ll definitely want your point of sale machines to be isolated from the free public Wi-Fi. This is an essential security system for any business. If a threat is identified, network monitoring can be useful. This mirrors traffic data across a specific port, allowing your technician to analyze it in real time. This is, in essence, a window into your network activity that can only be accessed from a specific administrative location. This is one of the few ways that flexibility and security can come together.

Maintenance Features

If your network is critical, you want your technicians to be able to fix errors as quickly as possible. To aid this process, the Netgear ProSAFE has built-in cable testing, so you can immediately rule out a faulty wire in the event of an outage. It also has features like loop prevention and broadcast storm identification that detect software issues before they cause problems on the network, stopping problems before they even start.

TP-Link Easy Smart Switch

While they might not be as well-known as Netgear, a major portion of worldwide networks rely on TP-Link. This company focuses on reliability above all, often sacrifices somewhat gimmicky features in favor of solutions that are virtually bulletproof. For essential business operations, they’re an excellent go-to.

Connectivity

The TP-Link Easy Smart Switch, like the previous, also offers up to 24 ports. But if needed, options with 5, 8, and 16 port versions are available. These switches are the standard Gigabit variety. Generally, if you’re worried about even performance across the network, you’re not going to have throughput-based QoS services. Both this and compatibility are good reasons why Gigabit Ethernet would make sense.

Performance Features

As is to be expected, this managed switch also has a form of QoS. But this one is a little different. It still prioritizes one connection over the other, but it uses a tagging system to determine which connection is more important. For this to work, it’s required that you have your network split up into separate VLAN. You can then identify one VLAN as always more important than ever. This is excellent for infrastructural QoS.

Perhaps you want your buildings automation system or server traffic to always take priority. But it’s not suitable for preventing interference between two devices on the same VLAN. The benefit is that this form of QoS has no additional overhead on the network, so it truly is the highest performance option.

There is one secondary option to this, although it’s not used quite as commonly. This is called Port based QoS, and it’s used to give email or other network services priority over another. This doesn’t allow for dynamic port allocation, so it’s only suitable in very specific circumstances.

Despite this switches 1 Gbps limitation, it’s actually capable of very high throughput with minimal lag. This is due in part to its massive 10K frame limit, allowing each cycle to transmit a huge amount of data.

Security Features

One of the few security flaws with modern switches comes from the use of multicast. Multicast is commonly used in video streaming applications, as well as several other content delivery solutions. In essence, multicast involves data coming in on a specific port which is then distributed to all users at a consistent rate. When the data is being transmitted at the same time, this can save a huge amount of bandwidth on your WAN.

IGMP snooping is the perfect solution for this problem. IGMP is a gating algorithm that allows the switch to determine who is using the stream and who is not. If a user is not accessing the stream, it can stop broadcasting the data to that interface. This saves a ton of CPU time, and prevents any network congestion that is common with multicast. In effect, this hardens the security of the switch as multicast DDOS attacks are commonly used to overload the switch, allowing an attacker to circumvent the security policies.

Maintenance Features

All of the basic maintenance features are included such as loop prevention and cable diagnostics. But the main feature of this switch is the Easy Smart configuration utility. This allows the configuration application to run anywhere on the network, or anywhere on a dedicated VLAN if security is a concern. It can also handle multiple instances, so multiple members of your tech team can have access. This makes management easier than any competing switch.

ZyXEL Smart Managed Switch

Chances are, many of the above switches are overkill for some customers. ZyXEL is a major player in the value segment of business networking equipment, offering no-frills solutions for budget minded businesses.

Connectivity

The ZyXEL Smart Managed Switch is available from a wide range of models from 8 to 48 ports, providing each wired connection with 10/100/1000 throughput depending on the network card configuration. They’ve sacrificed the classic case design to make it easier to add into any office. It can be mounted under or on top of a desk, stood on a shelf, or rack mounted with a special adapter.

Performance & Security Features

Where some switches have gone all out, using the latest technologies available, this one keeps it basic. Everything typically runs on a single VLAN, although a guest VLAN can be activated. QoS is only activated under heavy load, where the highest bandwidth users are throttled to make room for the lower bandwidth users. Where they did go above expectations is in the error protection systems. Loop prevention, dual images, storm control, and DoS prevention are all well above standard, making this option a good base level security solution for medium to small businesses.

Maintenance Features

Where this switch really excels is in setup. The browser based management application is unlike anything else on the market. You can go in and change settings directly if you like, but most users will use the wizard. This software takes you step-by-step through the network, helping you to choose the settings that are right for your business. This requires a much more basic level of technical skill than others, so it’s perfect for anyone that doesn’t have a dedicated tech department.

Which Web Managed Smart Gigabit Ethernet Switch is Right for Me?

If you’re a little lost, there is no need to worry. We’ve picked these three switches for a reason, each of which is better suited for a different purpose. The important thing to remember is that all of these devices will perform well as a basic switch. It’s going to be those small percentage of consumers with unique needs to make the difference.

We suggest the NETGEAR ProSAFE for medium to large businesses who have high bandwidth needs. This switch is best suited for large throughput, and the 2 Gbps ports mean that it’s future proof, and ready to last you for several years.

When security is the number one priority, the TP-Link Easy Smart Switch has got you covered. This switch uses tried and true technology, coming as close to guaranteeing a secure environment as any piece of networking equipment can come.

But for most consumers, the ZyXEL Smart Managed Switch will do just fine. There are a few options in there that are designed to manage the thing that your router won’t, making it a great way to expand your existing network. Plus, setup will be a breeze as the web-based configuration couldn’t be simpler. Coupled with the low price tag, this one really is a great buy.

The post Best Web-Managed, Smart Gigabit Ethernet Switch appeared first on Nerd Techy.

We’re often reviewing networking technology from the wireless side of the industry. Wireless networking is changing every day. We’ll look at a router and determine that it’s the fastest on the market, then three months later something better has come along. When you’re sending data through the air, you’re constantly battling a number of different issues. Signal quality, clarity, obstructions, and interference are all major factors. Your results in one situation won’t always be comparable in another.

For this reason, hard-wired computer networks are still a very popular choice. Anytime you need reliability, they’re the obvious choice. Generally, a network adapter that connects at a certain speed will continue to provide consistent performance in almost any environment, as long as the conditions are controlled.

The problem is that the majority of Ethernet adapters are not getting better. They’re actually getting worse. As consumers move towards wireless solutions, many manufacturers are removing the hardware adapter and replacing it with a software emulator. This means that high volume applications, the very same ones that make wired networks appealing, now use plenty of unnecessary CPU cycles and degrade the performance of your machine.

If you’re using a wired network, you should take a look and find out what kind of card you have. Unless you’ve specifically purchased a system designed for your needs, there is a good chance that your hardware is under-performing. Fortunately, there is a solution. For a low price, you can get access to a high-performance Gigabit Ethernet card that will bring your network up to the standard you demand. Let’s look at the three best cards on the market. Then, we’ll help you understand what you need to look for.

Intel Gigabit CT PCI-E Network Adapter

It goes without saying that Intel is the top brand when it comes to enterprise hardware. A network card is a very low level device. It interacts with the chipset and bus on a very simple level, so simplicity is key. Because Intel designs the chipsets for almost every major motherboard, nobody is better equipped than them to create a bulletproof piece of hardware.

Hardware

At the heart of the Intel Gigabit CT PCI-E Network Adapter is the Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet Controller. This same controller is found in a lot of products. The top of the line server and gaming computers often have this chipset built right into their motherboard. What makes it so special? For starters, it uses very little power, making it highly efficient. Next, it has two queues for each Tx (transmit) and Rx (receive.) This allows the card to prioritize which data gets sent first. Large, intermittent packets will always be sent below compact, time sensitive ones. The end result is better performance, lower PING rates, and better handling of large loads.

It also supports all the advanced networking features that you might be interested in. Wake from LAN, network boot, (even directly off a server) and remote management are all included – something that is essential for businesses.

Compatibility

This chipset isn’t considered new technology, but it is widely accepted as standard. While many other cards have the same technologies, Intel wrote the laws they operate by. This means that the card is supported by virtually any operating system out there. Every version of Windows from 98 onwards, all flavors of Linux, BSD forks like Solaris and, yes, even OSX all work perfectly. You’d be hard pressed to find a modern system that isn’t compatible with this card.

Performance

Performance isn’t as easy to measure as it is with some products. For a single file transfer, this card approaches the theoretical limit of gigabit Ethernet just like any other. The performance improvements are a little hidden, but definitely present. Even though the CPU is no longer handling the networking, the card still needs to communicate with your processor. It does these through interrupts. Interrupts tell one core of your processor, “Hey! Stop what you’re doing. We’ve got work to do.” This NIC can group requests together, sending an interrupt only when necessary. This means that your CPU is free to do any other task you’ve assigned to it.

This card also has a higher signal to noise ration than any other on the market. This means less dropped packets, better ping speeds, and all around snappier performance.

StarTech Gigabit Ethernet Network Card

If you’ve ever shopped for an affordable cable or computer accessory, StarTech is likely one of the first brands that came to mind. Their focus is on affordable hardware that still uses high quality components. For this reason, they’ve become a first choice for businesses. Based on price alone, this Ethernet card might seem like a bargain basement model that is to be avoided. But once we saw the specs, we knew that it was going to be one serious piece of kit.

Hardware

The StarTech Gigabit Ethernet Network Card is available with either 1, 2, or 4 ports. They can also be purchased with 25W power over Ethernet (POE) hardware, something that is commonly used in industrial environments. Most users will just need the standard model. Regardless which one you choose; the power of this card comes from the Intel I210 controller.

The I210 is a popular choice because it takes many aspects of networking and offloads the responsibility from the CPU to its own dedicated piece of hardware. Tasks like VLAN management, traffic shaping, frame management, and filesystem interpretation (for PXE and iSCSI boot modes) are all handled right on this card.

Compatibility

Intel’s Gigabit CT card is popular because it’s completely standard, and therefore supported by almost every operating system. In some ways, the I210 platform is the opposite. It supports technologies and systems that cannot be found on any other card. Instead of two TX and RX buffers, this one has four.

They can even be used in conjunction. You can manage two VLANs at the same time. You can use the card to connect to port-mirrored audio / video streams and rebroadcast over a buffered on-demand system. The second set of TX and RX buffers are software definable, so there is a lot of custom equipment that requires this card. As for its compatibility with modern operating systems, it will work flawlessly on any windows system starting with Vista, and most Linux boxes.

If you’re looking to use enterprise grade software, you’ll have no problems with these cards. They’re plug and play on all versions of Windows Server from 2003 and up, ESXi 6.0, Hyper-V, and several other systems.

Performance

For standard users, the area where this card will excel is stability. It’s designed for incredibly high bandwidth uses, often with custom firmware running. This means that if you’re just using the standard network technology, you’ll notice excellent ping times, even when there is a lot going on in the background. It also supports jumbo frames up to 8K in size, making it perfect for high volume data transfer. In the right environment, this is one of the most reliable cards you can get your hands on.

Rosewill Gigabit PCIe Network Adapter

Rosewill is another manufacturer that targets the business sector, although they take a radically different approach to their devices. Rosewill solutions are along the lines of “everything but the kitchen sink.” If you’re looking for the best in features, you’ll be hard pressed to find something better than this option.

Hardware

With the Rosewill Gigabit PCIe Network Adapter, instead of going for brand name, they went for a programmable RC-411 standardized chipset. This chipset has been used in hundreds of different scenarios. The reason is that it’s very powerful. Perhaps a little overkill for most networking applications, but Rosewill made sure that it had the firmware it needed for almost any situation. One of the most important features of this chipset is that features can be enabled or disabled depending on the environment. This has implications in both performance and compatibility.

Compatibility

If you’re using a PC with a PCIe port, then you can use this card. There is no question about it. Thanks to the flexible firmware, you’re able to use it with every version of windows ever released except for early versions of NT. It even supports DOS, making it the first choice for those who need a card that is hardware addressable from within a legacy virtual machine.

But there is more to your network than the operating system, there are also dozens of communication protocols that may or may not be in place in your network. It supports all standards of IEEE 802.3 including u, ab, and x. You get 802.1q, CSMA/CD, and direct software addressable TCP/IP space. What does this mean? It means that no matter how your network is structured, this card will support it out of the box. It can use any type of Cat 5 cable, with an average maximum run of 100 meters. These are just the standards that are supported out of the box. There is more it can be used with, requiring only a little configuration. We’d list them here, but we’d just end up repeating the list of every Ethernet networking standard in place since the 90s.

Performance

One of the most stand-out features of this card is its ability to support full duplex mode. Essentially, this refers to the rate that data is transferred. Half duplex used to be more reliable, although this is less of a problem with professional grade networking equipment. Most of the 10/100/1000 cards you see run this way. Full duplex transfers data twice as fast. You now get 20/200/2000 Mbps. Great deal, right?

The issue is that a full duplex card running in half duplex mode will constantly ping the router before it’s ready. This puts a lot of extra traffic on your network. But this one has a feature called backpressure, allowing the timing to be synced with proper half-duplex networking equipment.

Alternately, you can run in half duplex mode and split the network in two. This is usually used in a VLAN, where the software sees two isolated networks over one cable. In this case, you’re able to set up VLAN tagging, a software trick that tags important data so it’s delivered first. This is great if you’re running a piece of software that needs local access, as it will always operate uninhibited.

Which Gigabit Ethernet Card is Right for Me?

If you’re unclear on what these specifications mean for your real-world performance, there is no reason to worry. Any one of these cards will likely outperform the onboard Ethernet that came with your motherboard.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is determine what exactly you’re looking to do. If you’re purchasing this card for gaming, grab yourself an Intel Gigabit CT PCIe Network Adapter. This card is the most reliable on the market, and you’re not going to be able to take advantage of the extra features in the other models on a home network.

If you’re replacing the card is a workstation or non-essential PC, you’ve got two options. The Intel card can give you reliability, but we’d prefer the StarTech Gigabit Ethernet Network Card. There are a few extra features that are helpful to have in a business environment, and will help you improve the speed.

Lastly, the Rosewill Gigabit PCIe Network Adapter is best in servers or testing environments. It can be put to use in any computer system that is connected to from multiple sub-networks or VLANs, and is designed to be able to open a secure connection with any of your internal systems, no matter how old they may be. In fact, this card is commonly used by system administrators to move legacy software into a virtualized environment.

Chances are, most people will be reading this only looking for one specific thing. There is no reason you need to worry if you’re missing out on features. At the end of the day, all of them provide a cheap and effective upgrade from the terrible software-based systems of today.

Looking For More?

Home users, if you’re looking to squeeze the most out of your network, remember that the network card is only one of the pieces in the Pipeline. Just because some routers have a Gigabit Ethernet port on the back, doesn’t mean they can handle the full volume. Make sure you take a look at a high-performance router such as the Netgear Nighthawk X10. You can also double check your cable modem and make sure it’s up to snuff. You’re not going to be transferring 1 Gbps data over the internet anytime soon, but a speed improvement is definitely noticeable with the right model.

The post Best PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Network Interface Cards (NIC) appeared first on Nerd Techy.

If you’ve been keeping up to date with our blog, you know that we’ve always been a big fan of Netgear. They’re a high-quality manufacturer of both consumer and business equipment. One of the things that stand out about their brand is the unique combination of reliability and progress. Often, users find that buying the latest cutting edge technology is a bit of a double edge sword. You get access to the latest and greatest, but you’re at risk for paying a premium for hardware that still has issues that were left in as the product was rushed to market. Netgear doesn’t generally suffer from these problems. They aren’t always the first to market, but they rarely release anything unreliable.

We’ve already reviewed the fastest and best cable modems, but technology is advancing every day. When Netgear announced the CM700 32×8 Cable Modem, we had to try it for ourselves. What we found is that Netgear offers the same top tier performance we’d expect from a high-end cable modem, with a few subtle performance tweaks that make it a great buy.

First Look

One of the most obvious upgrades to the modem platform is the design. Netgear has managed to create something that looks aggressive, and yet subtle. It’s sharply angled lines, bright green LEDs, and sharp triangular vent holes scream performance. From the moment you set eyes on it, you’ll know it’s a performance piece of hardware, and yet it’s not kitted out with any unnecessary bling. They’ve simply taken all of the elements a modem needs, and touched up the design to create something that’s simply cohesive.

If you’re currently using a vendor bundled modem, you’ll notice that this one is a little larger. By any stretch of the imagination, you certainly couldn’t consider it ‘huge’. But it’s packed with powerful hardware, and this requires a little extra space. Fortunately, thanks to the built-in stand it has a very low footprint. Some modems can be used either on their side, or upright. With the CM700, we highly recommend that you keep it in the upright position. It uses both sides for cooling, so having the vents uncovered could impact performance.

Setup

While some modems require a complicated setup procedure, Netgear kept it simple with the CM700. For many users, getting it up and running involves nothing more than connecting the power, plugging in your Ethernet and cable connection, and pushing the power button. The modem takes everything from there. What makes this possible is the dynamic handshake. When your modem first connects to your ISP, the two devices have to agree on a method of communication. The CM700 can automatically test the different options, selecting the one that gives you the best performance. This makes the setup procedure completely hands off, something that will be appreciated by most consumers.

Unfortunately, some consumers will need to make a call to their ISP to get it activated. The modem does support automatic activation, but very few internet service providers are using this technology.

Bandwidth

The CM700 uses the fastest communication technology on the market, giving it a potential bandwidth of 1.4 Gbps. If you had internet service that was compatible, you could download data at rates of up to 175 MB per second. This is enough to download an entire 4K movie in a little over 10 seconds. Will you actually see these speeds in real life? Unfortunately, that’s unlikely. However, there are several benefits to having access to this technology.

Cable modems run on a system called DOCSIS. DOCSIS is, in essence, a method of converting data into a frequency that can be transmitted over a cable line, along with many others. DOCSIS 2.0, the previous version, allowed for a maximum throughput of 42Mb/s per channel. DOCSIS 3.0 allows these channels to be ‘bonded,’ or used together as if they were one ultra-fast connection. DOCSIS 3.0 currently uses a maximum of 32 bonded channels, and the CM700 supports all of them.

The problem is that there are very few ISPs who have the bandwidth to support offering these connections to consumers. If they did, their network would be flooded beyond their ability to supply. Despite this, we still recommend getting a 32-channel modem. The reason? Channels have a tendency to become crowded. Most of the modems on the market are still using four or eight channel systems. This means that those four channels can become very crowded. With the 32-channel system, the modem is able to select any of the available channels. You can skip the crowded ones, and take advantage of whichever are the least occupied, helping you to get the best connection speed possible.

Upstream channels are a little more limited, with only 8 available. But in the consumer networking space, this is still the best on the market. If you need a faster upload speed, you’ll be better off going with business class fiber.

Load Balancing

A modem isn’t anything like a faucet. You can’t just open a valve and let the bandwidth flow into your network. Every application you’re using, from your web browser to the latest online games, are dividing your active internet connection into individual packets. The job of the modem is to accept these packets and repackage them for transmission to your ISP.

Fortunately, this modem has a powerful processor that can handle large loads with ease. It’s got four independent cores, each of which is dedicated to high performance throughput.

Compatibility

The Netgear CM700 32×8 Cable Modem follows the DOCSIS 3.0 standard to a T. This means that it works with almost every ISP on the market. If you’re using a small local internet provider, it’s pretty safe to say that it will be compatible. Some of the larger ones require modems to be certified before they’re allowed on the service. Certification is a long and expensive process, so it hasn’t always been easy for us to find modems that offer good compatibility. Fortunately, Netgear has a relationship with many ISPs. This means that the CM700 is certified to work on XFINITY from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Bright House Networks and more.

There is, however, one special device it’s compatible with. This is the Nighthawk X10 AD7200. If you’ve read our review, you know that it’s the fastest router currently on the market. We can’t think of anything better to pair it with than the fastest cable modem. What’s unique about this relationship is that both devices share the same powerful QoS service. QoS stands for quality of service, and helps to prevent common network issues. The Nighthawk modem can keep careful tabs on all of the users on your network, and the CM700 is capable of making sure that all of your important data is delivered in an effective manner. Together, the duo make for one serious piece of networking hardware.

Should I Own the Netgear CM700?

If you’re looking for the best in performance networking hardware, the Netgear CM700 32×8 Cable Modem is an excellent buy. There are two types of people we’d recommend to purchase this device.

The first group is people who are paying for a high bandwidth connection, but aren’t able to realize the full performance of the service they’re paying for. To see if this is you, do a quick speed test online. If this number is less than 80% of your advertised rate, there is a good reason the modem could be to blame. If you live in an area where the lines aren’t particularly good, or you’ve got a lot of high bandwidth traffic, your modem simply won’t be able to keep up with the errors. In this circumstance, the CM700 would be a great solution. But if your performance is below 20% of your advertised rate, you’ll want to call your ISP first. The CM700 can make a huge impact on your performance, but it can’t perform miracles.

The next group of people who could benefit from the CM700 are those who like to have the fastest internet connection possible, at all times. When ISPs bump up the top speeds, it often takes several months for manufacturers to catch up. Buy buying into a high-performance piece of hardware now, you’ll always be first in line for the latest tier. Gigabit internet is still a ways off, so this modem will surely last you for at least a few years.

Don’t fit into any of these categories? Some people don’t care about performance quite as much, and just want to save themselves the monthly rental fee. If this sound like you, we’ve got a ton of great options listed in our DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem buyers guide. Make sure you check it out!

The post Netgear CM700 32×8 Cable Modem Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

With Netflix, Skype, and Spotify becoming common household subscriptions, many public figures have gone out on a limb and declared home services dead. But many of us know this to be untrue. Millions of Americans across the country continue to subscribe to a service bundle from their local cable company. Let’s be honest, as appealing as a $10 per month subscription is, our local cable package gives us more channels than ever before, in crystal clear HD. Phones almost always include long distance, internet bandwidth is often uncapped, and we’ve got so many channels that we can’t even remember the whole list.

Considering how much better our services have become over the years, why is it that so many people complain about cable companies? I think we all know the answer to this one. The problem is that cable companies love to bundle. Everyone has the same experience.

“Want to watch AMC? No problem! It comes in a package with HGTV and the Cartoon Network. By the way, you’re going to have to rent all the equipment. If you’re already paying, why not throw in an extra $5 for the PVR? Oh, and nobody uses that internet package anymore. You’re definitely going to want this one. And don’t forget about the installation charge. I tell you what, let’s make it a bundle with home phone. Add that on, and I can knock $10 off your bill!”

By the time they offer you the home phone service, you’re just happy that you’re finally being offered something you actually wanted. We sign our contracts and accept our huge monthly bills, knowing that switching would almost be more of a headache than just paying up.

Let me fill you in on a little secret. You don’t actually have to pay for all that stuff. Many people try to get a bargain by cutting out the services they don’t want. Instead, the trick is to find ways to save money on the services you do want. We’ve already showed you how to save hundreds of dollars and improve your internet speed by picking up your own DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem. Today, we’re going to show you can get your home phone service for free.

This isn’t some kind of complicated scheme. It’s actually quite simple. You already have an internet connection, so all you need is an inexpensive adapter that will connect your phone to VoIP (voice over internet protocol) service. Once you buy the adapter, your service is completely free. There are some companies that charge a subscription for this service, but today we’re going to be taking a look at the two best Free Home VoIP Phone Service Adapters that you can buy today. After, we’ll compare the two to help you decide which one might fit your needs.

Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service

Ooma started out as a company offering multi-line VoIP service to business clients, but this home phone box is their first foray into the home market. We’d generally be apprehensive to try out a service from a new entrant into market. If the business was to fail, then you’d lose the free service. Since this is the biggest advantage to these products, we wanted to avoid it at all costs. But they’re very well established in the business market, so it’s pretty safe to say that they’re here to stay.

First Look

The Ooma Telo is a pretty spiffy looking unit. The top is flat black, and coated with a material that is smooth to the touch. It’s got a vibrant logo on top that certainly makes it stand out, and several buttons located on the bottom right corner. These are your typical touch buttons. Aside from the small indentation and minimalist symbols, they don’t draw any attention to themselves. Fortunately, they are still quite easy to use and very sensitive.

The box itself is surprisingly compact. It’s something that you’ll want to have out in the open, so the fact that it doesn’t take up any unnecessary space is great. It’s sold as being cheap, easy to use, and requiring very little setup, so we were excited to try it out for ourselves.

Usability

The first thing you’ll have to do is set up your Telo. The first step is to get it registered. You just have to log into their website at ooma.com, enter in a few numbers from the Telo and provide them with your email. You’ll now have an account you can log into and track your usage, if you like. From there, you’ll be able to choose your phone number. They have most major US cities listed, so if you live in a smaller town you’ll be choosing one close to you.

Fortunately, most phone service now includes long distance so your friends and family won’t have to pay extra to call you. Then, you’ll need to connect three things to your Telo. It attaches to your router via Ethernet, your phone through a standard phone jack, and the wall using the included power adapter. Within a few minutes, you’ll be ready to make your first call.

Making a call is no different than before. Just pick up your phone, dial the number, and use as usual. There is no learning curve or special features that you have to familiarize yourself with.

That isn’t to say that there are no additional features at all, they’re just ones that you’ll be familiar with. The Telo has a built-in voicemail so you can access messages from phone calls you’ve missed. It’s easy to access from the front panel, so we have no complaints about the system.

Sound Quality

Sound quality is often an issue with VoIP service. Many inexpensive or free solutions suffer from lag, echo, or that dreaded ‘in a tunnel’ sound. Fortunately, the Telo doesn’t suffer from any of these problems. In fact, Ooma uses special HD compression that is similar to what’s being used in HD voice on both Android and Apple cellphones. Unfortunately, since you’re routing the sound through an older phone, it generally sounds just as good as your old landline, rather than better.

Packages

All of your calls within the United States are completely free, and international calls are blocked by default. You can turn these on at any time by logging into the website. Rates vary from 50c per minute to over a dollar for some smaller countries. If you’re regularly making international calls, it might be worthwhile to pick up the $18 worldwide package that makes it unlimited.

Most VoIP providers do not offer 911 service. The Telo does. The problem is that 911 is taxed by the state, so you may have to pay an additional fee. New York charges about $4 a month for this. Some states charge as little as $2. This all depends on your area though.

Additional Features

The Ooma Telo has a few extra features built in, as well as some that you can purchase. If you don’t like the idea of being tethered to your router, a cheap Bluetooth adapter can make this connection wireless. But even the standard package gives you full access to their impressive web app. You can save your favorite numbers, listen to your voice mails, access call logs, or add some prepaid money to put towards international calls.

OBI202 VoIP Phone Adapter

If you’ve looked into getting a VoIP phone adapter before, you’ve probably come across an OBI product before. They’re one of the first companies to offer a BYOD (bring your own device) solution. At the time, VoIP was available exclusively through some high cost providers. Much like your cable company, they charged hefty monthly rental fees for their gear. The OBI202 is the latest of their analog phone to voice adapters, and it packs a few great features that we haven’t seen on previous models.

First Look

As I’m sure you could tell from the name, the OBI202 looks much more like a networking appliance than a stylish new way to move yourself into the 21st century. But underneath it’s blue top it packs quite a few features. You’ll notice this as soon as you flip it around.

On the back, it’s got both WAN and LAN ports. This means that if you’re already connecting your modem to a router, you can just put this adapter in line with it. Connect the modem to the OBI, and the OBI to your router. This avoids potential conflict, and prevents any issues from arising. The features don’t stop there, but all this performance was impressively crammed into a very compact box. This makes it incredibly easy to tuck it away.

Usability

Setting up the OBI202 can be simple, or complicated. It all depends on how much control you want. It has the ability to connect with Google Voice, a free VoIP service that can be used by anyone in the United States and a number of other countries. To set this up, you just have to go to your computer and enter in a special URL that takes you through the setup wizard.

If you know what you’re doing, you can instead access the advanced panel and do things like configure custom star codes, add multiple VoIP services, and set custom call routing rules. This is handy to have for anyone that works from home. You can just add your work phone number to this little box, and take calls from the office as usual, as well as access local extensions.
It can also support two phones, something that anyone in a large household will appreciate.

Sound Quality & Packages

Due to the way this device is designed, it’s challenging to review how good the call quality is. This will depend more on what service provider you choose. What we can tell you is that the OBI doesn’t degrade sound quality at all. Using it with our Google Voice account sounded just as good as it does from our phone. High quality providers should give you the same experience.

Which one do you choose? Well, this is entirely up to you. The OBI202 is completely SIP compliant. This means that you can use it along with Vonage or any other paid VoIP service, if that’s something you already have.

Which Free Home VoIP Phone Service Adapter is Right for Me?

Fortunately, these devices are pretty simple, and both cost about the same. The difference between them boils down to flexibility and ease of use. The OBI202 is the most customizable. It has every feature you can imagine, allowing you to set up incredibly complex configurations. It also supports every provider, so you’ll never be stuck in one system. But even if you’re not a technical person, setting it up is still quite easy. Just register a Google Voice account, follow the simple prompts, and you’re ready to go.

The Ooma Telo is the OBI’s polished little cousin. It performs in a very similar way, meaning high quality phone calls with no need for compromises. But setting it up is a no-brainer. Everything is completely taken care of. If you want ease of use and an attractive design, the Ooma Telo is a great choice.

The post Best Free Home VoIP Internet Phone Service Adapters appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Wireless networking technology has continued to improve over the years, especially with regards to bandwidth. What was considered a powerful wireless connection in 2006 is now only a tiny fraction of what even the most basic routers now come standard with.

But there is one area where routers have improved much more slowly – range. Sure, each new generation may allow you to squeeze a few extra meters out of your connection, but the bandwidth and ping times at the end of its range are often abysmal. For many consumers, the problem isn’t just distance. It’s obstructions. When you’re sitting far away from your router, it’s likely that the signal is travelling through several walls. If you’re in an apartment building or loft, your walls are likely built to be much thicker than the typical home. The result is disappointing wireless performance, even when you buy a high-performance router.

We first took a look at the Orbi a few months ago. At the time, they were offering a truly unique system what wasn’t particularly common in the market. They would divide up the WiFi signal between two different base stations, allowing your computers to connect to the one that provided the best signal. From our tests, the technology was groundbreaking. Sure, this is something that’s been possible with a couple of Linux routers and a little technical know-how, but the systems were often found to be flakey and complicated to set up. But today, there are several vendors offering their own version of the home WiFi systems that promise ease of use, and high performance networking for a reasonable price.

With so many options on the market, we’ve decided to revisit the topic. First, we’re going to take a quick look at the three best WiFi systems on the market. Then, we’ll put them to the test and see which one performs better.

Netgear Orbi

We’ve always been a fan of Netgear products. We’ve been a user for a long time, and almost all of our ‘best of’ networking articles have had at least one Netgear solution. In fact, we’ve already reviewed the Netgear Orbi towards the end of the summer. Today, we’ll be doing more of a comparison to see how it stacks up against the competition.

Connectivity

Orbi’s base station is pretty straightforward. It has a wired Ethernet port that is used to connect to your modem, and a separate Gigabit Ethernet port array that can be used to hook up another local device. On the extender, there’s another three Gigabit Ethernet ports. If you’ve got something like an IPTV (cable) box that doesn’t have wireless, you should place the extender there. It can also be used with a gaming console or PC where you want to avoid the overhead of wireless networking.

Going through Orbi’s extender won’t be quite as fast as a dedicated wired connection, but it will have marginally improved ping times from a standard Wi-Fi connection. Nothing that standard users would notice, but gamers specifically might want this feature.

It also includes two USB 2.0 ports (one on each device) that can be used to connect an external storage device. This creates a NAS drive, or networked storage that you can access from any computer. This is fine for basic file sharing, but USB 2.0 is likely too restrictive to take advantage of streaming 4K video. This feature wasn’t completely rolled out when it launched, so if you don’t see it, make sure you do an update.

Technology

Orbi uses 802.11ac wireless technology, broadcasting on both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band. Communication between the base station and the extender is using a proprietary system. While your devices can’t connect to it directly, this gives Orbi the ability to get a good connection in areas where you wouldn’t normally be able to.

It uses something called “mesh networking.” You only see one network from your computer, but Orbi will automatically broadcast from whichever device has the best signal. It also supports MU-MIMO technology, which stands for multiple user, multiple input, multiple output. When you’re connected to Orbi, you technically have your own connection which won’t be interfered with by other network users.

Another feature Orbi has is traffic shaping. It automatically changes the bandwidth so that everyone can get their fair share of the network. If one users download is preventing any other traffic from going through, the router will throttle the download in order to speed up everyone else’s connection.

Setup

Orbi is one of the easiest networking systems to set up. The top of the extender has a blue LED ring that can change colors depending on its environment. Once you’ve plugged in the base station, you simply walk around your house with the extender until you find a good spot to place it. As long as you’ve got a strong connection, the ring will stay blue. If it’s running at reduced speed, the ring will turn amber. Red indicates that the connection is too poor.

Google Wi-Fi System

If you haven’t heard of Google, you probably aren’t concerned about your internet speed. If there is any company that knows networking, it’s Google. We couldn’t wait to try out their Wi-Fi system.

Connectivity

The Google Wi-Fi System is very much a purist product. It’s attractively designed cylinders have nothing more than an LED indicator ring and a power cord. The base station has two Ethernet ports hidden on the bottom. One is to connect your WAN cable, the other can be used for another wired device.

Technology

Google is also taking advantage of mesh technology, adding in an advanced networking management software that selects the best channel. It runs on 802.11ac, but you won’t necessarily be splitting your connection between the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels. Instead, Google chooses the best channel for you based on your signal quality and bandwidth allocation. If you start downloading a lot of files, it might spread you out across multiple channels. But if you’re just browsing the web you’ll likely only be on one.

Setup

Google’s system is also incredibly easy to set up, although it requires a little more involvement. You have to download the free Wi-Fi app from the Google play store, or the app store if you’re on iOS. It will then take you through the setup process step by step. You can choose your networks name and password, and enter a password. If you like, there are plenty of advanced settings available to you. Then, you have to walk around the house with one of the extenders, and your phone will tell you the best place to put it. Alternately, if you already know where there is a dead spot, you can just place an extender there, quickly check the signal strength, and move on.

There isn’t a whole lot to Google’s system, so the real test will be when we compare it against the others.

Eero Home Wi-Fi System

Eero’s solution is another on that we’ve taken a look at quite some time ago. We found it to be a high-quality solution, although it’s gone through several software updates since then. We’re excited to see how it improves, and its performance against several of the newer systems.

Connectivity

Eero is another device that keeps it simple, with only three ports on the back of it. You’ve got the standard WAN port to connect to your modem, as well as a USB 2.0 port which can provide both network connectivity and local storage. But where Eero sets itself apart is with Bluetooth. No other home Wi-Fi system offers Bluetooth networking, so you’ll never be without a connection, no matter the circumstances.

Technology

Unlike the other two solutions, Eero uses point to point networking. This lets you lock onto a certain router, giving you better network stability in certain networking situations. It also supports the latest 802.11ac networking, allowing you to divide your connection up between the 2.4 and 5Ghz channels. This system makes it superior for high bandwidth applications.

But it’s not the bandwidth that makes Eero stand out. It’s the advanced parental controls and security that set it apart from the crowd. It’s incredibly easy to use management interface can be accessed from any browser. This lets you set controls about who is allowed on your network, and at what times. You can see which websites your children frequent, and set filters that block the things you don’t want them to see. It’s also a very hands-off system. You can get weekly digests showing who’s had access to your network – something you’ll appreciate if you’re concerned about hackers getting into your network.

Setup

Eero is very easy to configure. Setting it up is very similar to Google’s Wireless networking system, as you need to download their application. However, the interface is much more straightforward. It skips over all the technical details, allowing you to get up and running in a matter of minutes. Doesn’t have the same system as the other two, so you just place the extender wherever you think your network performance is the worst.

Portal Smart Gigabit Home Wi-Fi System

The Portal WiFi System was another device that launched this last summer, providing consumers with another unique way to access the internet at home. But Portal is much more than just a simple Wi-Fi extender. It’s got its own unique communication technology that takes this system to the next level.

Connectivity

The Portal WiFi System has a full suite of connectivity options on the back of the base station. Aside from the WAN and power ports, it’s got 5 full duplex gigabit Ethernet ports allowing you to send a maximum of 2Gbps of data over a single port. It’s also got two USB ports that can be used for USB communication or external storage. When a thumb drive or external hard drive is connected, it will operate as NAS. This allows you to access the data from any computer on the network.

Technology

The stand-out feature of the Portal WiFi System is the Proprietary Wi-Fi spectrum. Typical routers are only able to access one sixth of the total spectrum, but Portal can access the entire thing. It refers to this section of the spectrum as “FastLanes”, and it stays true to this name. Between the base station and the secondary connection points, the speeds travel a longer distance at higher speeds than any other router on the market.

Used in combination with a “rolling code” technology that automatically changes the Wi-Fi access password on a scheduled basis. This means that the network is almost impossible to hack, keeping your data secure.

Setup

The setup procedure with Portal isn’t the easiest on the market, but it does carefully walk you through all of the necessary steps. You might have to briefly consult the manual, but we feel that even those who are not technically inclined will be able to configure this router with ease.

AmpliFi WiFi System

The AmpliFi WiFi System is another unique way of using mesh networking technology to reduce the problems caused by having too many wireless networks in a densely-populated area. This system is designed to be powerful, and yet still easy to set up.

Connectivity

One of the ways they’ve simplified the setup procedure is by keeping the design of the base station simple. It’s got an easy to use touchscreen display on the face that lets you control all the settings, allowing all the communication to be handled through a single WAN port. We do wish that there was the handy USB ports that can allow the network to be used as NAS storage, but 90% of users will appreciate the simplicity.

Technology

The foundation of this router is mesh networking. There is a private connection from the base station to each of the extenders, which then operate as their own independent routers. This allows for a total bandwidth of up to 5.25 Gbps. You’ll notice that this is much higher than any other router on our list. In reality, this is because you’re really using five separate wireless networks, each with their own dedicated bandwidth allocation.

Setup

This is one of the easiest home Wi-Fi systems both to use and to configure. Once you plug in the base station and connect your modem, getting it up and running is a simple procedure. All you have to do is walk around the house with the extenders, plugging them into outlets where you feel that your connectivity is poor. The LED lights on the face will light up to tell you how strong the connection is with the base station. As long as you’ve got at least a few bars, your network is operational.

Moving forward, you’ll be able to take a quick glance at the included display to see how your network is performing. The large blue rings show you the total bandwidth that’s currently in use on your network, and the total bandwidth available to all of your extenders.

The Speed Test – All Systems Compared

So, which one is the best? We’ll let the numbers decide. We set up all three systems is a large, 3500 square foot home. Eero advertises 3000 square feet of coverage with their three pack, Google advertises 4500 feet for three, and Orbi claims they can cover 4000 square feet with only two. Now these systems aren’t going to suddenly stop working once you cross the threshold. They’ll slowly lose speed, and eventually start to suffer from stuttering and signal drop offs. So we’ll be watching for this in our test.

First Test

The first test was designed to determine the maximum throughput of the router itself. We tested all three systems through the LAN port to see what the potential was. Google came out on top with a total speed of 567 Mbps, followed by Orbi at 515 Mbps. The Amplifi and Portal were neck and neck, coming in at 495 and 509 Mpbs respectively. Eero was the worst of the bunch, only managing 467 Mbps. However, all three of them are much faster than even the best internet connections on the market, so in a wired application they should perform well.

Second Test

Next, we tested them on the other side of the house. This signal was going through a few walls and covering a great deal of distance, so this metric should represent what the average consumer is going to see over Wi-Fi. Once again, Google came out on top with 240 Mbps of bandwidth. The Portal WiFi System was sneaking up behind 229 Mbps, while the Amplifi came in at 205. Orbi managed just over 200 Mbps, and Eero struggled with 50 Mbps. However, none of the routers suffered any packet loss, so we’d consider the connection quite stable.

Third Test

Finally, the ultimate test. We went to the upper floor, as far away from the router as possible. Given the size of the house, this is going to be a worst-case scenario for most customers. As we expected, Google’s system performed the best with an impressive 80 Mbps of bandwidth. Orbi came in around 66 Mbps, although the connection was still very stable. The Amplifi was also a strong contender, providing a stable connection at 60 Mbps. The last successful system was Eero, puttered along at 53 Mbps, with one brief moment where the signal dropped off. While the Portal WiFi System held up very well in our other tests, we couldn’t get a stable signal at this distance.

Which Whole Home Wi-Fi System Should I Buy?

So, which one is best for you? On paper, it looks like Google’s system performed the best. But there is a few things you need to understand about these numbers.

The Google Wi-Fi System was designed for bandwidth. Users who want the best possible performance at all times should definitely consider this model.

The AmpliFi provided the most stable connection throughout our tests. This system is recommended for anyone who wants a simple, easy to use WiFi range extender. This model is our top recommendation for most consumers, since the ease of use doesn’t require any sacrifice in power.

The Netgear Orbi didn’t perform quite as well, but that may be by design. Remember, Orbi has load balancing built in. It’s designed to prevent one single connection from using all of the bandwidth, so everyone can enjoy a good connection. If you’ve got one high bandwidth user, this might not be the best choice. But with a lot of people online at the same time, it’s the superior option.

The Portal WiFi System is another great option, provided you live in a smaller home. While this model doesn’t have the largest range, it does have some advanced encryption technology that keeps your network safe. If you’re suffering from poor signal quality because of thick walls, such as the ones used in large condo buildings, this system will help keep your signal strong at all times.

Finally, the Eero Home Wi-Fi System scored the worst in the tests, but we were testing it over a very long range. Even at its worst, 50 Megabits is more than most internet connections. The only people who would notice an performance impact are the ones who are accessing locally shared files. For anyone else, Eero is an excellent option.

No matter which system you choose, remember that a high quality WiFi system is only one part of the puzzle. If you’re on cable internet, you’ll want to make sure you’re using an upgraded modem. For more information, check out our review of the best cable modems on the market.

The post Best Whole Home Mesh WiFi System appeared first on Nerd Techy.

At NerdTechy, we’re always looking for way to improve our home network connection. After all, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the internet. Although wireless networking has saved us from having to pull cables throughout our entire house, it has introduced a few new problems.

First, when you’re connecting to a single point on a home network, the signal has to pass through walls and floors that sit between you and the router. If you’re in a dense urban area, you’ll have many other routers and networking devices competing for the same portions of the wireless networking spectrum as you. There are several solutions to this, many of which we’ve reviewed before. But another contender has entered into the marketplace, promising to further improve wireless network extenders.

Plume WiFi is a unique technology that follows similar principles as other mesh networking devices, with a couple twists. We’ll be putting their system to the test to see if it really can improve your network performance in challenging conditions.

First Look

As soon as we opened the box, we knew that the Plume WiFi was little different than its competitors. Most systems have a base station which serves as a focal point for your entire network. The signal starts in one place, and is rebroadcast throughout the house by the extenders. With the Plume, there is no difference between the base station and the extenders. Every module in your home is exactly the same. Instead of buying a hit that has one, three, or five units, you simply buy as many Plume modules as you need.

Design

Almost every manufacturer claims that their product is “unlike anything on the market”, but Plume really means it. Each of the individual units are very attractive in design, and contrast strongly against what you’d expect a router to look like. The unit is hexagonal in shape, with each corner coming together into a point in the front. They call these modules “pods,” which is a surprisingly accurate way to describe them. Each pod is no larger than your typical transformer, and plugs right into any electrical outlet. On the bottom you’ve got a WAN port, which can also be configured as a LAN port depending on how you it sets itself up.

Aside from those two functional elements, the rest of the pod is designed to be simply beautiful. It’s made from metal, giving it a sleek modern appearance. If it was shrunk down to size, we could easily see this exact design being sold as artistic cufflinks or any other luxury product. Since you’ll be smattering your walls with these little guys, you’ll have a lot of time to appreciate how good they look.

Networking Technology

The Plume runs on the 802.11ac protocol, which is currently the latest available. When selecting any kind of wireless system, the important thing to remember is that not all networks are alike. 802.11ac technology is a little further ahead today than it was a year ago. The Plume has AC1200 Gigabit WiFi which is capable of 300 Mbps on the 2.4Ghz channel and 867 Mbps on the 5 Ghz channel. Most modern computers are capable of streaming both of these channels simultaneously, so you can take full advantage of the connection speed.

The Plume also supports a technology called MIMO, or Mulitple Input Multiple Output. MIMO, in essence, means that each pod is running two networks at once. If you and a friend are in the same room, the pod can give each of you your own separate network connection. What you do on your phone won’t affect the performance on what they do with theirs. This avoids a problem called channel crowding. To understand what we mean, think about trying to merge on the highway. If one person is constantly sending and receiving packets as quickly as the channel has room for, your device will have to wait for a break in the connection so it can take a turn to transmit data. When the channels are isolated, you can both send as much data as you need.

This is especially important when you consider what exactly the Plume is doing. It is a mesh networking device. So your plume is communicating with your devices, while simultaneously communicating with other plumes.

Quality of Service

With some routers and networking systems, QoS is just a simple part of the built-in networking technology. While all routers have QoS systems designed to prioritize your networking performance, Plume goes above and beyond what is considered standard. To understand how the Plume can improve your network, let’s first take a look at what exactly makes a network ‘good’. There are two ways to measure performance: bandwidth and ping. Ping is the amount of time between a request and a response. If you’ve ever sat there waiting for a website to load while the browser said “connecting”, that’s a bad ping. Once you do get a response, the rate at which data is transferred is the bandwidth.

Distance and obstruction is the most common reason for bandwidth issues. The farther the signal has to travel, the slower it gets. This issue is made worse when it has to travel through walls. Mesh networking is the most obvious solution to the problem. When there is too much distance between to devices, you put something in the middle. Device A communicates with device B, which passes the message on to you. This does a great job of improving the bandwidth. The disadvantage is that it increases your ping time in the same way your tavel time increases when you have to stop for gas.

The solution to this problem is what Plume refers to as channel hop. See, typically mesh networking devices connect to the strongest signal they can find. So your computer connects to the closest transceiver, which then connects to the one closest to that, and so on until you reach the base station. The end result is great bandwidth, but terrible ping speed.

We’re at a point where additional bandwidth is useless to some consumers. And Plume is programmed to know exactly how much bandwidth each application needs. If you’re just sending an email, the difference between 1000 Mbps and 10 Mbps could be imperceptible. Instead, the additional ping time would be greater than the time saved from the high bandwidth. In these cases, Plume sends the signal as far as it can to reduce the number of hops, cutting your Ping speed down by a significant margin. This is done on a case by case basis. If you’re transferring a massive 4K video file, bandwidth will be prioritized. This means that no matter what you’re doing, you’ll always get the best connection possible.

Setup

Despite how advanced this networking system is, the Plume is an absolute breeze to set up. The first step is to plug in a Plume into each room. Remember, since it can dynamically skip ‘hops’ to give you the best connection possible, the more you have the more possible routes the system can take. Having one in each room also cancels out the problems with walls, so your signal won’t degrade quite as much. You then plug in your modem to one of the Pods.

That is literally it. If you wanted to, you could get on the network right away. At first connection, you’ll be asked to choose a password. But one form and one button has you up and running. But where do you plug in your modem? Anywhere you want to! The Plume automatically determines if the pod is a LAN or a WAN port based on the IP address. When you plug in your modem, the modem tries to assign an IP address to the plume. Then it says to itself “hey, I guess this is the main network” and it’s up and running. If you plug in an IPTV box or any other devices that’s searching for a connection, it knows that it’s being used as a WAN. This is one of those things that’s so simple in practice, we wonder why nobody’s thought of it before.

Final Words

This isn’t one of the first WiFi extenders to hit the market, but it’s certainly one of the best. It’s the QoS system that really takes the cake. No matter which system you choose, you’re always being forced to make compromises. Just look at our reviews of the best whole home WiFi systems.

We mentioned that some devices were better for users who were streaming large files, others were better for users who were sharing the network with a lot of people. No matter which you choose, there was always trade-offs. The Plume is the first networking system that automatically changes it settings based on usage. But it’s not the software either. Need another room connected? Just add another Plume. Building your own network is as simple as plugging in a little device into each from. From there, Plume will do the rest.

The post First-Look Review of the Plume WiFi Pods appeared first on Nerd Techy.

“The Cloud” was one of the biggest tech buzzwords of 2016. But what exactly is the cloud? All this really means is that we’re moving away from storing our data on our local systems, instead keeping it online. This means that our digital lives are now becoming device independent. As long as you’re logged in, you’ve got access to all your media, documents, and files at the touch of a button.

With our devices now faster than ever, we expect things to load immediately. Gone are the days where we’d have to wait minutes for a simple image to load over dial up. Everything is transferred in the background, so no user interaction is needed on our part to facilitate communication between remote servers and our local PCs.

The backbone of this technology is our internet. Without adequate bandwidth, almost every part of our computer will run more slowly. Even the Notes app on our phone requires an active internet connection. When it comes to getting a fast internet connection, one of the most important components is our modem. Since our cable provider gives us a modem for free, we often neglect to think about how essential a good modem is for having a good connection.

The Netgear CM1000 is being marketed as the fastest cable modem on the market. But just how fast is it? And will standard users see any benefit from upgrading to this high speed technology? Or is this all marketing? We went hands on to see how this modem performs. We’ll show you the real world results, and help you understand if this is a piece of technology that you should have in your home.

First Look

Netgear went with the same styling they use for their other high end networking gear, with a few key updates. The edges are angled a little more sharply, giving it an aggressive, high performance look. The indicator panel on the front is made from a shiny aluminum, with the hidden green LEDs providing a subtle but functional way to get a quick update on your network status.

The back of the modem is much simpler. You’ve got your LAN port, which connects the modem to your router. Below that is the coaxial port, tying your home network into the grid. Finally, you’ve got a power button, reset button, and power supply jack. This is nothing out of the ordinary for a modem, but once you turn it on you’ll see how much power this modem has to offer.

Networking Technology

To understand how this router can improve your internet connection, we first have to learn how cable internet works. Almost all cable providers use a communication protocol for DOCSIS. This stands for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. In essence, it’s just a set of rules that explain how modems can talk to each other. Until recently, DOCSIS 3.0 was the latest version of the protocol, supporting higher data speeds and IPV6. Recently, DOCSIS 3.1 has been adopted by internet service providers. This is a small upgrade to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, providing a few key benefits.

Obviously, the first thing to be upgraded is bandwidth. With DOCSIS 3.1, speeds of up to 10Gbits/s are possible. This is possible because modems can now communicate using 4096 QAM. To understand what this means, let’s imagine that routers communicate using standard language. QAM is, essentially, the total number of words that can be used. If you were using a language that only used, say, 100 different words, it would take you a long time to explain something complex. But with 4000 words, you’d be able to express complex ideas easily.

Another improvement with DOCSIS 3.1 is the channel spacing. By using channels that are 20 to 50Khz wide (instead of 8Mhz used by DOCSIS 3.0) service providers are able to cram a lot more bandwidth into the same old cables they’ve been using for years. Mathematically, this is equivalent to taking a 5 lane highway and turning a 1 lane road into a 120 lane highway. This level of performance looks almost too good to be true, but should clarify exactly how much performance could be gained with this modem.

Real World Performance

Are you actually going to get an internet connection that is 120x faster just by purchasing this modem? Unfortunately, no. The performance gains will be noticeable, but much more modest. Most of the benefits of DOCSIS 3.1 are for the carrier. That being said, the only reason they’ll be able to offer high speed connections is because DOCSIS 3.1 gives them the bandwidth to do so. So if you want a performance increase, you’re going to have to get this modem.

So, what exactly can you expect? In it’s most primitive form, DOCSIS 3.0 gives you 38 Mbps of bandwidth. These high speed modems work by opening multiple connections (or channels) and combining (bonding) them. The CM1000 supports 32 bonded channels, giving you a total downstream bandwidth of 1.2 Gbps. You also get up to 8 upstream channels, allowing you to upload at 304 Mbps.

As of September, Comcast finally announced their DOCSIS 3.1 service. Advertised speeds are 1 Gbps down, and 35 Mbits up. During testing, we were pleasantly surprised at how well this service worked. Most cable customers are used to getting speeds well below what’s advertised. But you’ll notice that Comcast is using a service that is technically capable of 1.2Gbps and selling it as 1Gbps. This is because there is always some noise or cross chatter that reduces your actual bandwidth below the theoretical maximum. We were able to get 964 Mbps down and 41.3 Mbps up with this modem. Obviously, the modem is capable of much faster upload speed. But at the moment, we’re restricted by Comcast’s bandwidth caps.

Signal Quality

As with any top tier internet service, 1Gbps Xfinity service isn’t available everywhere. It’s mainly restricted to dense urban areas where the line quality is very high. This is because 1Gbps service is pushing the modem very close to it’s limit. Any degradation in line quality would result in a noticeable performance drop. But this is the very reason why this modem is still a good option even if you have a slower connection.

Imagine that you’ve got a long commute to work every morning. If there is only one road you can take, you might find yourself travelling at a disappointing 5 miles an hour, even if the speed limit is 50. This is what happens when you’ve got tons of clients all struggling to use the same channels. But what if there were 32 other roads you could take? What if those roads were only accessable to special cars that supported them? This is exactly what happens when you use this modem. Even if your area only has 8 or 16 different channels to choose from, most commercial modems only support some of them. Since this one supports the full range of 32 possible channels, you may be able to connect to your ISP on one that isn’t crowded.

Disadvantages

This modem is only so powerful because it uses cutting edge technologies. As with any new technology, it’s going to take some time before DOCSIS 3.1 is available everywhere. If you live way out in a rural community where the top internet speed is 25 Mbps or less, you’ll see zero benefit from upgrading to this modem. In fact, it might be over a year before you’ll be able to see any improvement. This is a purchase that should only be considered if the service is available in your area.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to upgrade to Comcast’s new 1Gbps internet service, the Netgear CM1000 is a must have. Yes, Comcast will allow you to rent one for a monthly fee. But you’re going to be paying a lot more for the modem over it’s useful life. If you just purchase one outright, you’ll have the entire thing paid off in only a few months.

This would also be a good upgrade for people who have 50 Mbps+ service and aren’t getting the speed they require. There is more bandwidth available on the DOCSIS 3.1 channels, so you’ll reduce crowding by tapping into a new, high end stream.

Currently, this is the only fully certified modem available for Comcast Xfinity customers. Other ISPs have announced that they will be bringing in DOCSIS 3.1 over the course of the next few months, but you’ll want to call them and confirm compatibility before you make the purchase.

Remember, this modem is just one component in your home network. If you upgrade to a high bandwidth modem and try to shove all that data through an outdated router, you’re not going to get the performance you expect. Consider checking out the Netgear Nighthawk X10 router. It was designed to work with Netgear’s line of high end modems, and will help you push your bandwidth faster than you’ve ever thought possible.

You’ll also want to check and make sure that your computer can handle that much throughput. Most standard SSDs cap out at around 500 Mbps. Check out our review of the best PCIe SSD drives, as these are some of the few drives on the market that are capable of saving files as fast as your 1 Gbps internet connection can download them.

The post Netgear CM1000 Ultra-High Speed Cable Modem Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

A growing trend in the wireless networking industry is for companies to create whole-home systems that address those pesky dead spots we all try to avoid. We’ve already explored some of the best whole home mesh WiFi systems, but if there is one thing we can learn about technology it’s that what’s considered “good” one day is old news the next. When Linksys announced their Velop system, we were excited to see what it had to offer. Linksys is one of the most respected brands in networking, and they’re a brand we’d trust to improve on an already impressive system.

First Look

Linksys promises “edge to edge” WiFi with their latest batch of networking equipment. The Velop Whole Home Mesh WiFi System is composed of one to three stylish white pillar looking devices. In reality, each of these are their own router. Most mesh networking equipment involves a single base station to which several remote repeaters are connected. In many ways, that system is inferior to what Linksys has set up. With a base station, you’re relying on a single router to control the flow of network traffic. While this works fine in ideal conditions, if your home had ideal networking conditions you wouldn’t be shopping around for something like this. With separate routers spread throughout the house, each unit can act intelligently to map out your network in the most effective way possible.

Design

The column-like appearance of the Velop is both imposing, yet subtle. It’s got a very modern design that is strictly high tech. Just by looking at it you can tell it’s something that purrs along quietly in the background without much user intervention necessary.

We really appreciated how they buried the less appealing visual elements of the nodes. High performance computer equipment needs to stay cool to operate well, but many manufacturers sacrifice cooling capacity in favor of good design. But the Velop places all of the cooling vents along the top and two back sides. It’s very simple to face these away from your immediate surroundings, so the nodes still look good. Linksys knows that in order for networking equipment to work well, it needs to be in the areas where people tend to congregate. For this reason, they’ve created an attractive looking device that you won’t mind having in your living room.

Just as they’ve hid the cooling, they’ve also buried the mess of cables that tends to appear anytime a new device shows up in your home. The dual Ethernet, power port, switch, and reset button are all located on the bottom of the device. To enable you to route your cables neatly, the corner of the node has been hollowed out, providing an easy little loop for you to send your cables through.

Coverage

One of the unique things about the Velop WiFi system is that it’s designed for a range of coverage, rather than a fixed limit. With three Velop nodes you’re able to get full and complete coverage in a 600-square foot home.

For a 2000 square foot home, you simply take a single Velop and place it in the center of the home. If you have an existing router, you can add a Velop and place it midway in between the router and any dead areas you have.

From 2000 to 4000 square feet, you can simply place two Velop nodes equally on either side of your home. The third unit can be placed near a dead spot to improve reception. With 6000 square foot and above homes, you’ll need to be a little more analytical with how you place the Velops. To get maximum coverage, you should start with one, then use their free utility to find the areas that have poor reception and place one there.

These placements are given as guidelines. Included with the unit is a manual that details more specific arrangements for multi-story homes, ranch style homes, brownstones, apartments, and modern style homes. These layouts aren’t just about the physical layout of the homes, but also the types of construction materials that are used and how they affect wireless performance.

Setup

Linksys made the setup procedure both simple and intuitive. The first thing you’ll want to do is download their free application. It will then walk you through the process of connecting your modem and powering on the first node. You can then use the application to choose a layout that is similar to your home. The app will then recommend ideal placement. Once all the nodes are in place, the app will test the signal strength to each one and recommend any changes necessary. We tested it in a fairly large house, and the setup only took a matter of minutes. Chances are, you’ll never need to make adjustments when in place. We’d guess that this part of the software was developed only for people with very large homes, or tricky wireless areas.

Bandwidth

We all know that you can’t rely on manufacturer specifications, and it appears that Linksys is catching on. They haven’t published any hard numbers of what this system is capable of, so we had to find out for ourselves.

The first test involved just a single Velop. With our laptop located about 10 feet from the node, we achieved throughput of 486.5 megabits per second. 37 feet from the node we saw speeds of 195 megabits per second. The toughest test of them all was in the basement on the opposite side of the house. After travelling through multiple stories, concrete, and several walls, our maximum bandwidth was 25 megabits per second. While this last number isn’t particularly impressive, this is with us just using a single node. Based on these tests, we can determine that each node can provide a lightening fast connection up to 40 feet in either direction. Based on these tests, we’d want two Velop’s to get good coverage in our home. With three, we’d likely have no dead spots at all.

Software

The Velop isn’t just a router, it’s got several key features that can keep your network secure. For families, you’ll want to take a look at the parental controls. This allows you to set device specific restrictions that prevent your children from searching for content they shouldn’t be, or time restrictions preventing them from using the internet late at night.

You also have access to several performance enhancing tools that let you give certain devices bandwidth priority. If you’re having connectivity issues, you can take the speed test for a spin or try out the autofix software, which is able to correct most simple issues with the touch of a button.

Disadvantages

Although this is a very powerful home WiFi system, it’s ideal for those that use their network primarily for internet. If you’re sharing files locally, it doesn’t offer the 300 megabit performance you’d get with a high end router like the Netgear Nighthawk X10.

Is the Linksys Velop Right for Me?

Before you purchase, you’ll want to consider your internet speed. The Linksys Velop is a great whole-home WiFi system if you’re using 100 megabit or less internet. Since very few connections are faster than this, we think that it will meet the needs of most consumers. But if you’re looking for the peak of networking technology, this isn’t it.

We think it’s important to consider how something can be used. It’s easy to get caught up in analysis paralysis, and spend your time trying to buy a device with the best-looking numbers instead of considering how specifications will actually impact your use. Even if 400 megabits is the upper limit for what this router is capable of, how often do you actually transfer files at that speed? Unless you’re one of the lucky few with a gigabit internet connection, it’s unlikely that you ever do. Bandwidth might not be the strongest point of the Velop, but it’s got a lot more to offer.

Where the Velop excels is ease of use. Things that are normally quite complicated only require a few clicks through their simple online interface. For this reason, we’d recommend the Velop to anyone who’s struggled to get a good internet connection in their home, but doesn’t have the time or technical know-how to set up a unique high end network.

If you’re more of a techy, you might want to explore other options. In our guide to the best whole home mesh WiFi system we found that Google’s own offering was a little more utilitarian in approach, making it perfect for those of you who like to get into the nuts and bolts of things. If you’re more into the design of something, the Plume WiFi pods are some of the most attractive mesh networking equipment we’ve come across.

The post Linksys Velop Whole Home Mesh WiFi System Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Every few months, companies like Netgear release the next generation of wireless routers that promise improved bandwidth, lower latency, and less loss. Although the wireless technology we have today is significantly better than what we had last year, for some there is no replacement for wired networks. Wired networks tend to produce the best quality signal of all, even in conditions where wireless would typically fail.

The problem is that not all routers are set up for proper wired networks. At best, you’re usually looking at four to five Ethernet ports. For a large LAN party, this simply won’t do. Other routers use load balancing as a way to address network congestion. Power users are given first dibs on bandwidth, while others have to wait. But when all users on your network are power users, load balancing is more of a hindrance than an asset.

If you’re looking to take your existing router and add in additional wired networking functionality, a switch is the answer. Switches are a little pricier than hubs, but the performance gains are huge. These days, if you’re using a hub you might as well just go wireless.

Netgear’s Nighthawk S8000 Switch is the latest addition to its Nighthawk line, a number of products geared towards gamers and heavy bandwidth users who will accept nothing less than the best. We’ll be taking a look at this switch to determine how it performs, and help you decide if this is the right purchase for your home network.

First Look

Modern networking equipment is more than just the beige boxes we were sold several years ago. Today, consumers are concerned with the way their hardware looks. If this resonates with you, we suspect that you won’t have any concerns with the way the Nighthawk S8000 looks. It’s a sharp looking hexagon with each outer point raising up to meet in the center. Only the from is flat, leaving room for a high-tech looking indicator light that gives you at-a-glance networking status without having to dig around in online menus. Along the back are seven LAN ports and a single WAN ports, each of which are illuminated with an electric blue LED light.

Durability

Since this product is targeted at gamers, Netgear wanted to make something that was suitable for LAN parties. Network connectivity is a big deal at serious events. When one client lags out, who’s to say it was a fair match? For this reason, the S8000 was designed as something that you can take with you without having to worry about damaging it. It’s made from a premium Zinc-Alloy that Netgear refers to as “cool touch.” This material, like any metal, is extremely durable. Chances are, it can withstand more abuse than you’d ever subject a switch to under regular circumstances.

Despite being a metal, the nice thing about Zinc alloy is that it’s also very light. You get the metal look and feel, but without any of that unwanted heft.

In the unlikely event that you do run into problems, the 3-year warranty is sure to get you sorted. 3 years is uncharacteristically long in this industry, so this is a purchase we’d feel very safe making.

Performance

To understand how a switch can improve the performance of your network, we need to understand a little bit about how they work. There are three types of devices that can be used to connected wired networking equipment: routers, hubs, and switches. A router is always required. The router has what they call a DNS server. This is what assigns each of your computers an IP address.

Whenever data is sent to the router, it’s unpacked, analyzed, and resent to the correct destination. Analyzing the packet can be a time-consuming process. Your router needs to determine if the packet is destined for a local device, or if it needs to be transmitted over the internet. Routers can handle a lot of different destinations, so they’ve got to spend more time analyzing the packet.

Switches and hubs are both devices that can be used in conjunction with routers. Their purpose is to take a single LAN port and split it into several. All that hubs do is take the traffic from one port and rebroadcast it to every device it’s connected to. These are cheap to make, but your computers are constantly bombarded with unnecessary traffic leading to bad ping times. This is the last thing you want for gaming.

Switches work a lot like a hub, but they send each packet to the correct destination. But their job is very simple. In this case, there is only 7 possible destinations. Switches can actually take the packet analysis duties off of your router. Any of the 7 devices connected to it will have faster ping times than if they were connected directly to the router. And the best part is that any traffic that has to go through the router has no additional ping times, since it’s a direct connection. Anytime the switch gets a packet that it doesn’t have a destination for, it’s forwarded directly to the router. This makes the pin virtually imperceptible.

In our tests, we noticed that the switch shaved a few milliseconds off the ping time for any destination it was connected to. When your already using a high end router, this is a seriously impressive improvement.

Networking Technology

We can’t credit all of its performance to the fact that it’s just a switch. There are several other key features that all help to improve latency. You can access the QoS (quality of service) panel through the web interface. This gives you plenty of information about how your network is performing, and add some of your own tweaks to improve it further. If you’re using a Nighthawk router, some of these features expand on the capability that’s already present.

For example, you can set port configurations that assign specific ports to specific IP addresses. This is great if you’re running a server. Even if the connection has to go through the router, you’ll speed up the analysis time making the router run almost as well as the switch. This is an essential tweak to consider if you’re running a locally hosted network game, and not using online servers.

Other features include the ability to set up separate Vlans, so you can keep your gaming sessions on a network that is isolated from other networks. This stops interference from other traffic, and is ideal for use in an environment where there is lots of additional traffic that is out of your control.

Disadvantages

This isn’t a standalone device, if you want to take advantage of everything it has to offer, you need to pair it with an equally competent router. If you’re just looking for basic connectivity, this probably isn’t your most affordable option.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve already purchased a Nighthawk X10 AD7200, this switch will drastically improve performance on hardwired networks. The router is still, to this day, one of the most powerful that we’ve used. But the one area that it’s lacking in is wired performance. The Nighthawk S8000 corrects this issue, and adds a ton of great functionality to an already impressive platform.

You’ll experience the most benefit from the S8000 if you’re doing a lot of gaming or streaming. With gaming, it’s the reduced latency that results in better performance. There is less time from the point where a piece of data is sent to the time where it’s delivered. In an age where we’re measuring our display response rate in milliseconds, it’s important to have a network that can keep up.

But gamers aren’t the only ones who’ll benefit from the S8000. If you’re transferring a lot of local files over the network or streaming 4K content, you’ll be putting a lot of strain on your wireless network. Moving heavy users onto a wired network connection frees up the airwaves so everyone else on your home network can get the same great performance they desire.

Who shouldn’t buy the S8000? Some users rely on existing wired Ethernet ports to get connections in an area where wireless performs poorly. In this case, you might want to consider extending your wireless network instead of looking for replacements. The Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2200 is a high performance range extender that works wonderfully with other products in the Nighthawk system.

If you’re not a fan of digging into the nuts and bolts of your network, there are simpler options out there. The Linksys Velop is a whole home WiFi system that’s designed to be set up in as simple a manner as possible, allowing your whole household to get impressive networking performance.

The post Netgear Nighthawk S8000 Gaming & Streaming Switch Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Dealing with a slow or unstable internet connection can be a frustrating experience. To make things even more difficult, if you want to improve your connection speed you have to check every piece of equipment between yourself and the internet. Between your modem, your router, and your wireless network card, it’s the slowest of the three that determines your fastest possible connection speed.

For the most part, every modern device comes with a high-speed network card. 802.11ac is commonplace even in inexpensive cellphones and laptops. Where most users find trouble is their modem and router.

Instead of having to buy two separate devices, many consumers are choosing to purchase a combination modem and router. Not only will you be able to ensure that your modem and router will work well together, but you’ll be able to avoid any chance of mis-configuration between the two devices.

When it comes to high quality networking equipment, there are very few manufacturers we trust more than Netgear. Their CV7100 Cable Modem / Router combo promises to deliver lightening quick internet speeds and support the latest telecom technology. We decided to take a look at this promising device and see exactly what it can do. Once we explore the features, we’ll find out who could benefit from this device.

Design

The Netgear C7100V Cable Modem/Router is one sleek looking device. The face of the unit is covered with a brushed aluminum faceplate. When off, it appears like nothing more than a simple piece of metal. But behind the shiny face is several LED notification lamps that are invisible unless illuminated. From top to bottom, these indicators show the power status, communication status with your ISP, whether the internet connection is active or not, local network activity, telephone connectivity, and battery power.

The sides of the unit are fairly plain, with nothing more than some cooling ports and a Netgear logo. The back of the unit has four Ethernet ports, two telephone jacks, two USB ports, and a coaxial WAN port.

Modem

The modems job is to connect to your cable internet provider and set up an internet connection. You probably already have a modem, but many of you are likely paying expensive rental fees. What many people don’t realize is that rented modems are usually sub-par. If you want to get the most out of the top internet tiers, you’re going to want something that can support these high speeds.

In this area, the C7100V is no slacker. It supports 24 downstream channels and 8 upstream channels. This means that your total download speed can be up to 960 megabits per second. In layman’s terms, this would allow you to download an entire HD movie in only 15 seconds, assuming a 2gb file size.

It’s important to understand that this modem won’t make a slow connection fast. It just means that you’ll be getting what you pay for. Currently, the upper range of most internet tiers is around 100 megabits. Many consumers find that even though they’re paying for 100-megabit service, their modem can only handle a throughput of around 80 megabits. With this modem, you should have no problem getting the advertised speeds up to 1 Gbps. Even if you don’t have this tier of internet yet, it’s worth considering a modem like this. You don’t want to buy something that you’ll just have to replace in a year when you upgrade your package. By buying the best you can get now, you’ll have something that you can use for many years.

Router

On its own, a modem will only allow a single computer to connect to the internet. The routers job is to take this one connection and share it between all the devices in your household. It can also facilitate communication between local computers.

Since most households have many devices, it’s important to have a powerful router. With a poor router, users will often find that the entire household suffers when one or two people are doing something bandwidth intensive like gaming online or watching Netflix.

Fortunately, the router inside the C7100V is based on the high end Netgear Nighthawk platform. While it doesn’t quite meet up to the standard of the current top-of-the line router, the Nighthawk X10, it comes pretty close. The router is capable of communicating on both the 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz channels, with a total throughput of 1900 Mbps. This balances out to be 1300 Mbps on the 5Ghz band, and 600 on the 2.5 Ghz band.

Many laptops on the market can use both these channels simultaneously. Almost all of them can use either the 5Ghz or the 2.4 Ghz bands. A few old ones are only capable of 2.4 Ghz. Regardless which devices you have, the router should have no problem helping you get the maximum connection speed your devices are capable of.

The router is also capable of producing a network with better range than most routers on the market. It can do this through a technology called beam forming. Generally, wireless internet radiates out from the router in a circle. The maximum range is the same in any direction. But beam forming allows the router to direct the signal towards your devices. This creates dead areas where there is nobody using the internet, and enhances the signal in that direction. If network users are spread evenly throughout the house, your range will be no better than any standard router. But if users congregate in a few specific areas (for example, in the living room and bedrooms) you’ll notice a significant improvement.

Telephony

One of the unique things about this modem is that it supports Comcast’s voice service. Most modems require you to purchase a separate box or adapter from Comcast, but you can just plug up to two telephones directly into the router to use their VOIP service.

Many consumers shy away from 3rd party VOIP units as they often don’t support all of the Comcast specific features. Fortunately, Netgear managed to work out a deal to make their device fully compatible. This means that you can use Caller ID, Call Waiting, and any other feature that’s included in your package.

VOIP is generally much better than the copper telephone system. But the one disadvantage is that it requires power. If your power goes out, so do your phones. This is the last thing anyone wants in an emergency situation, but Netgear has a solution. They sell a separate UPS kit which provides battery backup. This gives you up to 24 hours of phone and internet service, which should be more than enough in most scenarios.

Compatibility

Currently, the Netgear C7100V is only available with Comcast. One of the nice things about this particular modem is that you don’t have to call in to activate it. Just log into your Comcast account with your existing modem, enter a couple numbers off the back of the new modem, then swap them. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Historically, most of Netgear’s modems have been compatible with multiple carriers, even when they only worked with Comcast upon launch. This is a possibility with the C7100V, but there are so many Comcast specific features that it’s possible this may be an exclusive device.

Disadvantages

While the 1 Gbps Docsis 3.0 standard this modem runs off is currently the best on the market, Docsis 3.1 is just around the corner. With this in mind, it’s possible that this modem could be replaced by a faster standard in two to three years.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking to take advantage of Comcast’s just-announced 1Gbps internet tier, this modem is the best way to do so. The fact that it’s paired with a high-end router is just the icing on the cake.

Is it the fastest modem on the market? Unfortunately, it isn’t. That award goes to the Netgear CM1000. But it’s worth considering that the 1Gbps Docsis 3.0 internet connection is currently the fastest available. If you were to buy both of these routers today, you wouldn’t see any difference between them aside from the fact that there is no router in the CM1000. In our eyes, that makes the C7100V a very reasonable purchase.

What if you’re not on Comcast? At the moment, you’re not going to be able to use this modem. We recommend checking out our guide to the best Cable Modem / WiFi Router Combos.

Already have a high-end router? In this case, it might be a waste of money for you to buy a combo unit. Instead, you can check out the CM700. This is the modem-only version of the same platform we looked at today.

The post First Look Review of the Netgear Nighthawk C7100V Cable Modem/Router appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Wireless technology seems to get better and better every year. While 802.11n was once the king of networking technology, modern routers and home WiFi systems take advantage of dual band technologies to provide users with better range and fewer bandwidth limitations.

What most users don’t realize is that unless you have an up to date wireless adapter, you’re not able to use these new technologies. Many consumers are suffering from disappointing internet speeds even with a high end router, completely unaware that and inexpensive WiFi adapter could solve the problem.

We’ll be taking a look at the three best 802.11ac WiFi USB adapters on the market. We’ll help you understand the technical terms, and find the one that’s right for you.

ASUS USB-AC68 AC1900

When it comes to high performance computer hardware, ASUS is one of the biggest brands in the industry. Their high end motherboards and complete systems tend to be some of the best performers, but they’re not always about the latest and greatest. Their line of external networking hardware is designed for use with computers that are at least one generation old. They provide direct access to the latest networking technologies, so you can bring your system into modern times.

Design

The biggest problem with network cards is that they’re often stuffed inside your PC or Laptop. There are a few models with external antennas, but rarely will manufacturers provide consumers with the best networking experience possible. The ASUS USB-AC68 AC1900 is uniquely designed to give you some of the best coverage available. This is done by un-tethering the adapter from the computers internal case.

ASUS gives you a long USB cable and a stand. Even though the WiFi adapter connects to a USB port, when you plug it into the stand you’re given the freedom to place it wherever reception is best. To aid with this design, two fold out antennas fan out like a pair of wings to help receive signal from multiple directions.

Despite the performance oriented design, ASUS commonly targets their products towards gamers. If ASUS is expecting users to place the adapter on their desk (where reception is best) they had better make sure that it’s an attractive looking unit. Fortunately, we weren’t disappointed. The plastic frame of the AC68 is engraved with an Aztec style pattern that gives it an aggressive yet eclectic look. With the added highlights of the bright red antennae, this is certainly an object that will command attention on your desk.

Features

Our favorite feature of the AC68 was the foldable antennas. When you’re looking for something portable, you can close it up and throw it in a pocket. But with a quick flick of the wrist, the antenna will flip out for full reception.

Another nice thing about this WiFi adapter is that it uses USB 3.0. For many years, USB 2.0 has been more than enough to handle the bandwidth of wireless networks. But with the latest AC1900 technology, this just won’t cut it. USB 3.0 is capable of handling multi-gigabit bandwidth, making it the perfect choice for this adapter.

Performance

The ultimate measure of any piece of networking equipment is how well it performs. Fortunately, the AC68 is one of the most up to date network adapters we’ve come across. It’s AC1900 designation comes from that fact that it’s maximum potential bandwidth is 1.9 gigabits per second. While this isn’t the only network adapter to receive this designation, it’s certainly one of the best implementations we’ve seen.

It’s biggest advantage stems from it’s support for a technology called MIMO. MIMO stands for multiple input, multiple output. Most modern routers use MIMO so that they can create multiple, separate wireless networks so that users connections don’t interfere with each other. But this adapter supports MIMO on it’s own. If you’re playing a game, downloading torrent files, and performing system updates, all of these tasks can take place with their own dedicated connection to the router. This means that you won’t be finding your network cutting out while you’ve got tasks going on in the background, and improves connection stability.

TP-Link Archer T9UH AC1900

TP-Link is a company that’s been silently powering the worlds computer networks for years. Their enterprise grade hardware can be found in datacenters all around the world, and many laptop manufacturers buy their chips in bulk. But not every manufacturer is willing to spring for their performance line of networking equipment. This portable version of their popular AC1900 chipset is your opportunity to give a serious upgrade to your portable computer without breaking the bank.

Design

The TP-Link Archer T9UH AC1900 has a surprisingly premium feel to it. The silver ring around the base combines with the smooth, dark lines of the adapter to create something that adds to your desk in a way that most adapters cannot.

When folded down, the adapter is roughly the size of a standard USB stick. A single pivot allows you to elongate the antenna, keeping it in the air away from obstructions. We were surprised to see how much of a difference adapter placement could make. We almost always saw an increase of one bar when folding up the antenna.

TP-Link gave you the ability to experiment with placement thanks to the extra long docking station. The USB 3.0 cable gives you several feet of space. After a few minutes of experimenting, we found that the right corner of our desk gave us nearly full reception. This area has always been notoriously challenging, so we were impressed to see this improvement.

Even though the design gives you tons of flexibility, you’ve still got plenty of portability. You can just flip it closed, slap it in a pocket, and carry it with you. You’ll almost forget it’s even there.

Performance

This adapter is capable of receiving a maximum speed of 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. We’re used to seeing this rating on wireless routers, but the important thing about this adapter is that it’s capable of communicating on both bands at the same time. This gives you the best combination of range, bandwidth, and stability.

In fact, stability is the one area where this adapter really excels. We often find that adapters that are trying to push the limit do so at the expense of stability. For a moment, your bandwidth might be amazingly high. But after some time, you’ll notice that the speed drops a little. While the TP-Link adapter wasn’t the fastest on our list, it still held it’s own against more expensive models. But we noticed that our connection was rock solid at all times. We never saw our download speed drop, or have our connection cut out for a moment.

Features

The most impressive feature on the T9UH is it’s beam forming technology. Basically, beam forming allows signal to be directed in one particular direction. Instead of getting, for example, a 10 meter radius of reception in all directions, you can get 13 meters in one specific direction. Most users are connecting directly to a wireless router, so this can improve the range by a significant margin.

Edimax EW-7833UAC AC1750

While Edimax isn’t the most well-known brand in the networking world, their products are highly reviewed and extremely affordable. Consumers are always expected to fork out a lot of extra cash for the latest and greatest hardware, but often buying the second best thing on the market can save you upwards of 50% and result in a performance drop of only 5 to 10%. The EW-7833UAC is one of those products.

Design

To keep the costs down, Edimax kept the design of the EW-7833UAC quite simple. Just like a flash drive, it plugs directly into the USB port on your desktop or laptop computer. It’s a little thicker and wider than a standard flash drive, but we had no problem popping it in a pocket or our laptop bag.

But one of the main reasons we wanted to review this adapter instead of other cheaper models was the inclusion of a fold out antenna. We’ve seen time and time again how important this technology is to get a good reception, and the fact that it’s included means that you can get top notch performance without losing out on portability.

Performance

This AC1750 chipset is capable of a 450 Mbps of bandwidth on the 2.4 GHz channel and 1300 Mbps of bandwidth on the 5 GHz channel. Although it’s not capable of using both of these channels at the same time, it does automatically select the one that has the best signal strength at any given time. This is ideal since the 5 GHz networks won’t always travel quite as far as the 2.4 GHz networks. Even though this isn’t the fastest rated adapter you can buy, it still gives you more than enough bandwidth for streaming 4K movies, playing online games, or working with cloud based software.

Features

Despite the extremely low cost of this adapter, it still supports both MIMO and Beam forming. When paired with the correct router, you can still get some of the latest features currently available.

While that feature isn’t exclusive to this adapter, one thing that is it’s plug and play system. The drives are common among many different wireless adapters, allowing it to work on a wider range of systems. This adapter is fully compatible with windows 7, 8, 10, OSX 10.7+, and Linux.

Which 802.11ac USB adapter is Right for Me?

All of these adapters could be a great choice, but the one that’s right for you depends on a few factors. You’ll want to consider the performance of your router, and how you intend to use your network.

If you’re gaming, the most important thing to you is ping speed. A long ping time means that you can lag out, missing out on important game play. Maintaining a consistently good ping speed requires excellent reception, and the ability to isolate demanding tasks from your games to keep your connection stable. In this regard, the ASUS USB-AC68 is the best choice. It’s multiple antennas and support for MIMO make it ideal for gaming.

If you’re doing a lot of file sharing over the local network, the TP-Link Archer T9UH AC1900 is an excellent choice. This adapter is capable of impressive range and rock solid performance. The connection is incredibly stable, so you will rarely see dropouts or speed loss.

If you’re just looking for a better internet connection for browsing, streaming, and downloading, the above adapters may be overkill. The Edimax EW-7833UAC is more than capable of the bandwidth that most internet connections provide, and the inclusion of technologies like MIMO, beam forming, and automatic channel selection allow you to upgrade your network connection and take advantage of the features found in the latest hardware.

The post Reviews of the Best 802.11ac USB WiFi Adapters appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Technology is always a very personal investment. We all have our own unique needs and wants, and it’s important for us to purchase devices that meet our unique needs. But no matter what we’re into, all of us love being able to save a little money. With most cable companies charging us monthly rental fees for our equipment, purchasing our own modem is the quickest and easiest way for us to save a few bucks every few months. As an added bonus, many consumers will see in improvement in their internet speeds as well.

When finance is taken into consideration, it can be hard to find a modem that offers a good balance between price and performance. Netgear typically produces equipment on the higher end of the performance spectrum, and many of these devices come at significant cost.

The Netgear C6220 is offered as a solid “middle of the road” purchase. On paper, it offers performance that is good enough for most users, and affordable enough to provide good value. But can it keep up with the needs of a heavy use environment? And just how fast is it? We went hands-on to find out.

First Look

The C6220 is a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem that is compatible with the service of most ISP’s on the market. It comes in a reasonably attractive, but plain looking case. Even though it doesn’t look much different than your typical cable modem, it has a fully functional router built right in. This means that it’s the only networking appliance you need, providing an all-in-one solution for your internet connectivity.

Provider Compatibility

There are 438 cable internet service providers in the United States. At least 80% of them are using DOCSIS 3.0. The C6220 is fully compatible with the standard. There are no technical reasons why this modem cannot be used with Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, Cox, Optimum, Bright House Networks, WOW!, Suddenlink, and Mediacom. However, many of these providers require that any modem allowed on their network is certified. Really, what they mean by “certified” is that their engineers need to look over the specifications and make sure that there is no configuration issues between their private network settings and your standard modem. Unfortunately, we cannot promise you that the Netgear C6220 will work with every cable provider in the world. But we can tell you that with a quick phone call, you’ll be able to know for sure.

We can also tell you that this modem works great with Comcast. In fact, Netgear and Comcast have a special relationship that allow their modems to be used without having to phone in. To get ours up and running, all we had to do was install the modem, log into our online panel, enter a few numbers off the back of the modem, and plug it in. The whole process only took about five minutes.

Speed Compatibility

Not all cable modems are created alike. Some are capable of higher speeds, while others are capable of lower. It’s important to purchase a modem that is capable of speeds beyond what your internet connection is rated for. This allows some headroom for noise.

It’s good to think of it like a vehicle. Your car might reach a top speed of 100 Mph, but only on the highway. Since many of us live in buildings with older cabling, or perhaps we are far from the cable company’s distribution center, a faster cable modem means that we’re less likely to get speeds below what was advertised. ISP’s usually provide users with the cheapest modem available, so many consumers accept poor internet speed as a fact of life.

With the C6220, we noticed a significant improvement in our download speed compared to the provider’s modem. Our 100 Mbps connection averaged 97 Mbps, compared to 83 with the old modem. On paper, this modem is capable of a maximum download speed of 340 Mbps. We’d recommend using it for any internet package up to 250 Mbps.

Router Technology

There are many types of wireless standards out there. The latest and most up to date standard is the second generation of 802.11ac. This router is fully compatible with this standard, allowing for a combined bandwidth of up to 1200 Mbps.

802.11ac is actually a combination of two wireless frequencies: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The bandwidth is divided across these frequencies. Users of the 2.4 GHz frequency have 300 Mbps of bandwidth, while 5 GHz users can have up to 900 Mbps. Many modern devices are capable of dual band connectivity, allowing you to use both channels at once.

Having the choice is handy, especially if you have poor reception. For example, even though 2.4 Ghz is a little slower, it tends to cover a wider area. Meanwhile, 5 GHz tends to travel better through walls. Most modern devices will make this choice for you automatically, and change settings depending on network conditions. But if you’re stuck with an older device, it only takes a couple of clicks for you to change over to the other network.

Some gamers might not want to use a wireless network. The router does provide two Ethernet ports, each of which are capable of 1 Gbps throughput. Generally, Ethernet connections provide better ping speeds, something that is essential for gaming.

Features

You might be wondering why a modem that has a maximum speed of 300 mbps is attached to a router that is capable of 1Gbps. The additional bandwidth is used for local network traffic. Perhaps the most useful feature of this combo device is the fact that it will operate as a multimedia server. There are two USB ports on the back. You can plug in any externals drive, whether it be a hard drive or a flash drive. All of the files on the drive will then be shared across the network. You can create a simple folder to share documents and files with other users, or you can use the DLNA server to stream video.

DLNA is a technology supported by most smart TVs and game consoles. You can browse through all of your media files, and stream them wirelessly over the network. This saves you from having to plug an HDMI cable into your laptop, and turns the router into an all-inclusive media center.

There are also several features designed to keep your network secure. You can set up a guest network. This network has no password required, but does provide additional security that prevents any external devices from harming your local systems. The guest network will also be restricted from accessing shared files, or modifying network settings.

Disadvantages

If the main reason you’re buying your own modem is to cut your monthly bills, then an affordable model like this one is a great way to go. But with an affordable price comes a few disadvantages. It isn’t the fastest modem on the market. If you’re planning to upgrade to a plan with more than 250 Gbps of throughput in the next year, this modem doesn’t provide enough bandwidth.

Final Verdict

The Netgear C6220 is one of the best bang-for-your-buck modem/router combos on the market. It’s got enough bandwidth to handle the majority of user’s needs, and comes equipped with a surprisingly powerful router. Plus, if you’re still paying those frustrating modem rental fees, this device can virtually pay for itself!

Is this modem for everyone? Not necessarily. If you’re looking to take advantage of the latest 1Gbps internet plans, you might be better off to go with something like the **Netgear C7100V. This modem / router combo is one of the fastest on the market, allowing you to take advantage of higher tiers.

Already have a powerful router? If so, there is no sense in replacing it. There are a number of cable modems in our cable modem/router combo guide, many of which offer performance comparable to the Netgear C6220 we reviewed today.

That being said, there is a lot of value to the simple “all in one” solutions offered by Netgear. We found that this combo device is one of the most inclusive packages available. Considering all of its features, it’s very moderately priced. Whether you’re just casually browsing the internet or streaming 4K video on your local network, both setup and use are as simple as can be. For that very reason, the C6220 is one of our primary recommendations when it comes to modern cable modems.

The post Netgear C6220 AC1200 Cable Modem/Router Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

Having internet access is something that many of us take for granted. It’s such an integral part of our daily lives that when our connection isn’t working properly, it can be a huge headache. And having to deal with the service provider is almost as annoying.

“Have you tried rebooting it? Everything looks fine on our end, must be something wrong with your computer.”

Sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. While this may seem daunting to some people, it can actually be quite easy if you have the right tools.

The Netool Pocket Sized Network Tester is a simple, all in one device that allows you to diagnose all aspects of your home or business network from the palm of your hand. But what exactly can it do? And is this something that the average consumer should have in their home? We went hands-on to find out.

First Look

The Netool is a handheld device that serves as an information gateway for everything network. You install the app on your phone, and plug it directly into an Ethernet port. By wiring it into the network, you’re able to access all of the nuts and bolts that would typically be inaccessible over Wi-Fi.

It runs a custom operating system that’s designed to ping and explore the network, making information available that would typically take some digging. It’s designed primarily for use in large corporate networks, but it’s performance means that it is perfectly suited for smaller jobs as well.

Design

The Netool is very simple in design. It’s shaped like a pack of gum, with nothing more than a single button and some LEDs on the front. The RJ45 port is located on the bottom, allowing you to plug in any standard Ethernet cable. There are a number of LED lights on the top, that give you at-a-glance information about whether the Netool is connected or not. But other than turning the Netool on or off, you’re not going to be spending a lot of time working with the tool directly. Instead, everything is done through your phone.

Functionality

Before we get too in-depth, we’ll take you through a standard use or the Netool. The first thing you do is plug the Netool in, and turn it on. You then open up the App on your phone. After a few moments, it will connect directly to the Netool through an encrypted WiFi network. This network is completely private, and the connection process is entirely automated.

You’ll then see a list of items, each of which has a light beside it. The first thing you’ll see is the “NIC Status” light at the top go green, showing that the device is connected to an active network. All of the fields below it will then be populated with data in 15 to 20 seconds. The first thing you’ll see is the basic networking information, consisting of the IP address, gateway, DNS server(s), and the subnet mask. This is the basic information required for default network troubleshooting.

Below is where things start to get interesting. If you’re on a medium sized network, you’ve likely got a network of switches and routers connected to each other. The Netool can tell you if the network is a part of a Vlan, which switch it’s connected to, the address of the switch, and the port you’re on.

Underneath that you’ll have two basic ping tests. It will check of the gateway is responding, then if it can ping Google.com.

What does this all mean? This screen tells if you if the internet is working, and shows you all of the devices that stand between you and the internet. If there is a problem, it will almost certainly show up on this list.

Software

What makes the Netool so powerful is its custom Linux based operating system and companion app. The operating system allows you to find out virtually everything there is to know about a network, and the app makes it easy to put this information to good use. Even when there are complex problems to solve, you can put multiple Netools to use and share data between them. You can manually tag settings saving them for later. It even allows settings to be saved and sent to coworkers.

One of our favorite features of the app is the ability to control Netools remotely. Let’s say that you often find yourself going to reboot the router. You can just leave a Netool plugged into the router, and send messages to it allowing you to ping websites or local hosts, or pull configuration settings for the network. Large companies can save tons of time just by having a few of these tools on hand.

If you’re regularly working with a complex network, you can save information to the discovery database, allowing you to pull information up as needed.

Protocol Compatibility

One of the key features of the Netool is that is can analyze packets to give you more information about what is going on inside your network. You can see if a physical port is part of a tagged VLAN, helping you to make sure that secure networks are properly configured. You’ll be able to see where any bridges are, helping to diagnose a network outage in any specific area. For high bandwidth applications, the Netool can detect bridged or paired ports through its support for the LACP protocol. Finally, it can detect QOS services to see if a given port is being throttled or controlled in any way.

Testing & Cloud

The Netool is designed to be carried with you, and used in person. But for those looking to create a remote testing point, the Netool.cloud service can be used. This is essentially a private VPN between the Netool and your cellphone. Wherever you are in the world, you can perform network tests. This is an essential feature if you’re going to be offering 24/7 support to a client and won’t be able to get on site all the time.

Although you could achieve something similar with a VPN, that poses a huge security risk. It is not possible to perform any intrusive or malicious actions through a Netool, as it is forced to operate within the parameters of the local networks security system. This makes the Netool a safer and ethical alternative for professionals who are responsible for the security of their client’s network.

What tests can be done? Most connectivity testing is done through Ping. By default, you’re able to ping Google.com or the current gateway. But you’ll also be able to ping any local addresses that you’ve saved on the Netool app. This allows you to verify connectivity with local resources, and determine if there are any latency or stability issues with the network.

Disadvantages

The Netool is a unique product that quickly allows networks to be mapped and verified. In some circumstances, using it may be against the network owner’s policies. This is not something that you can take to work to troubleshoot issues with your computer. This is something that should be used only by people who have permission from the network owner. In the future, we wouldn’t mind seeing a simpler version of the Netool which is designed to help end users get the information needed to assist tech support with their job.

Final Verdict

The Netool is an incredibly powerful tool that provides technicians with an all-in-one way to troubleshoot network issues. Its biggest asset is the software. Because you can save data for later use, using the Netool is essentially an incredibly comprehensive database that can make your job a lot easier.

The primary criticism of the Netool is that it doesn’t do anything that you couldn’t do yourself with a terminal. This may be true, and we would not recommend the Netool for somebody who doesn’t often need to perform network diagnostics. But if this is a regular part of your duties, the Netool can take virtually all of the grunt labor out of your job, making you much more efficient.

The level of depth and detail offered by the Netool is not necessary for the average consumer. If your network is complicated enough that you are having these kinds of issues, you’d be better off to replaces your outdated hardware with something a little simpler. We’ve found that Mesh networking equipment addresses the problems caused by wireless bridges and multi-network extender systems. We took a look at the best mesh networking systems to help you find the one that’s right for your home.

The post Netool Pocket Sized Network Tester Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

As a business owner, you’re often finding ways that you can make your clients and customers feel more comfortable. Several years ago, all you needed was a stack of magazines in the waiting room. But today, customers expect WiFi to be provided.

At first, you might think that making free WiFi available would be an easy task. All you have to do is log into the router and create an open network, right? Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Standard routers aren’t designed to handle a large amount of public traffic, and additional security settings need to be in place to make the network secure for your users.

Some businesses choose to outsource the project to a team of talented tech professionals to save themselves the headache. While this may be a fine choice for some, what many of them don’t realize is that creating a WiFi business access point can be easy when you have the right hardware. Netgear’s WAC510 looks to be one of the most promising models on the market. But is this access point right for most businesses? And what exactly does it do that a standard router doesn’t? We’ll be answering these questions (and many more) during our in-depth testing.

First Look

The WAC510 is an innocent looking white box that, from the outside, doesn’t appear to be anything fancy. This was done so that businesses can place it in a location that provides the best wireless signal without negatively impacting your existing décor. It’s unassuming and doesn’t grab any unwarranted attention.

This access point can be used on its own, or you can connect a number of them to cover a large area. They’re designed to be very simple to install. The first access point needs two cables, one for power and one Ethernet cable that connects to your existing router or modem. If you want to use multiple access points, you only need to connect a single cable thanks to the power over Ethernet functionality that combines both into a standard cat-5 cable. However, you do need to order a special power adapter to use this functionality.

Setup

There are two ways to setup the access point, both of which are simple enough to be completed by somebody with limited technical knowledge. The first way is through the web interface. Users who have set up access points before will find the web interface familiar, as many routers operate on a similar system. After plugging the access point into your modem, you connect a second cable to the LAN port. When you open your web browser, you’ll be forwarded to the access point’s IP address. You are then given the option of simple or advanced configuration.

Simple mode works like a wizard. You’re asked a series of questions that automatically configure the access point name, and let you manage restrictions and settings. Advanced configuration gives the same options, but everything is laid out in a technical manner. Advanced mode is ideal for anyone who understands the basic principles of computer networking.

The second option is to use the Netgear Insight App. The wizard is identical, although the design has a nice modern touch to it. Personally, we found the app had a much more modern feel to it. And once you’re done the configuration, you’ve got access to one of the most comprehensive management suites we’ve come across.

Application

In our eyes, the Insight app is the main selling point of this system. Most routers leave you in the dark. You know that people can access the internet (if it was down, you’d surely hear about it) but you have very little idea about how your network is being used. Insight is a window into the functionality of your network. You’ll see how many users are online, which access point they are connected to, and the total amount of data that is being used. On the front page, this is shown as a graph. You can compare today’s use to previous days, and see what the peak times are.

You can see if you have returning users, or new users, and highlight devices that are using particularly large amounts of data.

User Management

If you’re running into problems, there are plenty of management tools that allow you to address them. You can enable something called a “captive portal”. When users first connect to your network, they’ll be brought to a screen that explains the terms of service of your network. If you disallow activities such as streaming media or engaging in file sharing, you can make this clear here. You can also request that users enter their name, or some other form of identification. Once you’ve identified users, this is where you can really start to ramp up the power of your network. You can set device specific bandwidth limits so you don’t have users abusing your connection. You can track usage on a per-user basis, giving you more control over how your rules are implemented.

Of course, all of this is done in a very private way. You’re not spying on users, and you’ll never come across any personal information. You only have the details pertinent to a network manager, making your job simple and unobtrusive.

Performance

The most powerful app in the world is completely useless if the hardware behind it can’t live up to expectations. Fortunately, the WAC510 is a powerhouse. It uses the second generation of 802.11ac WiFi. This is the latest standard available. Each access point has a total bandwidth of 1.2 Gbps – enough for even the fastest internet connection on the market.

It also supports a technology called MIMO. MIMO stands for multiple input, multiple output. In English, this means that you have two networks built into one. Users can be distributed between the two networks evenly, so one heavy user can’t bog down the entire connection.

Another problem solved by the WAC510 is congestion. Ever go to connect to a WiFi network and notice that there are dozens of networks in range? The reason that it’s possible for so many networks to operate in a single area is because the WiFi spectrum is divided up into hundreds of channels. This works just like FM radio. While WiFi represents the FM spectrum as a whole, channels are much like each invididual station. Generally, a WiFi network is designed to use one or a few different channels. But the WAC510 can access the entire range, and it will automatically swap users onto whichever channel is the cleanest. This means that you’ll always have a great connection, even in areas where other routers fail.

Interoperability

If you’re only trying to setup a connection for a single room, a single WAC510 is likely all you’ll need. But if you want to cover a large office building or department store, you can daisy chain multiple access points together.

This is different from how typical routers work as they’re all working together. Users can walk around and move out of range of one access point, they’ll automatically be transferred to the nearest in-range point.

In order for this to work, there are three components necessary. The WAC510 access point itself is what does all of the legwork. You can think of it like the antenna. You’ll also need, of course, a power adapter. This is sold separately because the size of your power adapter depends on the size of your network. Running a single access point requires much less electricity than running 10.

The last piece of the puzzle you’ll need is the switch. Remember how all of the data and power is transmitted over one cable? The switch is the special tool that facilitates communication and power distribution between all of the access points.

The end result is a completely cohesive system. You’ll never be managing multiple devices. From your perspective, the whole network is just one big router.

Final Verdict

Setting up a large public network has never been an easy task. There are a lot of different components, and the failure of one of them could, historically speaking, bring down the entire network.

The Netgear WAC510 is one of the few network solutions that has made this complicated system simple. It can be setup by any business owner with a little spare time, and all of the usage data is broken down in a manner that makes it easy to understand. While this isn’t the first access point Netgear has ever released with this technology, its’ the first time that it’s been affordable enough to be within reach for small and medium sized businesses.

Which package is right for your business? For smaller networks, just a single access point and power adapter should be more than enough to provide adequate coverage in coffee shops, waiting rooms, or small offices. If you’re looking to get coverage for an area that exceeds 3000 square feet, or has many walls and obstructions, you will want to consider getting at least two access points and the POE switch. For hotels, department stores, and very large buildings, you’ll probably want 1 access point per 1500 square feet of space. Generally, this will provide more than enough signal strength, but if you find dead zones you can always add another inexpensive access point where needed.

Not running a public network? The WAC510 is specifically designed for businesses who need to manage a public or employee access network. If you’re just looking for a way to get a decent wireless signal in your home, read up on the best whole-home Mesh WiFi Systems. These products perform similarly to the WAC510, but the software is much more suitable for the application.

The post Netgear WAC510 AC WiFi Business Access Point Review appeared first on Nerd Techy.

As our homes are getting progressively more and more connected, we’re also becoming more and more vulnerable. In October of 2016, a massive chain of smart toasters were hacked. Yes, we can hear you groan from here.

“What’s the worst they could do with that? Burn my toast?”

Believe it or not, this hacking attempt shut down Spotify, Twitter and The New York Times. When there are enough simple devices in a hackers network, they can shut down just about anything.
Researchers have conceptualized (and designed software that can protect against) hacking attempts that could bring down the power grid in major US cities by simultaneously turning on everyone’s heat and AC.

If we’re going to rely on our gadgets to control every part of our lives, it makes sense that we should take steps to protect these gadgets from malicious use. Before any online attack can penetrate your network, it first has to go through your router.

We’re not here to tell you that every router on the market is inherently vulnerable. In fact, most modern routers are quite secure. But the simple fact is that routers aren’t completely up to date with the way we’re using our networks. Norton’s Core Router aims to change all that. Since the company is well known for it’s easy to use security software, we decided to go hands-on and see what this powerful router has to offer.

Design

Without a doubt, this is one of the most unique looking routers we’ve ever come across. You could legitimately pass this off as a piece of art. To anyone who sees it in passing, “router” is likely the last thing that will come to mind.

But the design isn’t just a gimmick. It actually serves an important purpose. If you want your home network to function at peak performance, your router should be at the center of it all. And this is certainly something that you won’t mind having there.

But every router needs to have a few things in common. One of those things is ports. If you lift it up, you’ll find that Norton has tucked all of the ports into a hollowed-out portion underneath. You’ve got four separate Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and of course the power port and button.

Hardware

Although the outside will catch your attention, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Since this router is doing much more than a basic model, it’s important that it’s got some powerful hardware to back it up. The router runs on a dual core 1.7 GHz processor that runs a compact version of Linux. This isn’t unheard of in the networking industry, but it’s definitely approaching the upper echelon of hardware.

But perhaps the most unique piece of hardware found inside is the beamforming antenna. Until recently, there were two types of antennas on the market. You had omnidirectional antennas, which are the most common. These antennas broadcast signal evenly from the center. Directional antennas create a focused beam of signal that only heads in one direction. These are most commonly used in expensive corporate networks and are heavily engineered. The beamforming antenna is a bit like a combination between the two. The router actually has tons of antennas arranged in a circular manner. If the network is experiencing heavy use in one direction, the router can focus the signal where it’s needed. This improves the signal quality all around the house, making the router more powerful than competing models.

Security

Now that we know the basics, what exactly is it that makes this router more secure than competing models? The first line of defense comes from the automatic background updates. Norton is constantly keeping its finger on the pulse of the security industry. When it detects a threat, it can automatically update every router on the market to protect itself from this threat. This means that you’re not just protected from the current threats, but the ones that haven’t even been created yet.

Norton is one of the few companies we’d trust with this job. Security research is an extremely expensive and resource intensive process. If a brand-new company released the same product, we’d have to be skeptical of their ability to maintain their system. But this is already the core of Norton’s business, so you can rest assured that they’re not going to bail on their clients.

You can think of the Norton Router a bit like a hardware virus scanner for your home. It’s got a huge database of current threats, and will be on the lookout for them at all times. But, in reality, most security issues come from users accidentally misconfiguring their network in a way that is not secure. The Norton router scans every device on your network and provides you with a security score. This score provides at-a-glance information about how secure all of your devices are. If issues are found, you’ll be notified and given directions on how to fix them.

We tend to be pretty on top of our network security (at least we thought we were) but the Norton Router still found a few issues. We had two devices that were out of date, and there were several risks that had come to light since the last one. All it took to fix was a quick update. The router also found that one of our devices had an open port, but this was corrected automatically. We simply got a notification explaining the change, with the ability to reconfigure if the change caused any issues for us.

Bandwidth

The Norton Core uses the 802.11ac protocol allowing for up to 2,500 Mbps. This isn’t your standard AC WiFi, this is the updated version that allows for more than twice the bandwidth of the previous version. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about backwards compatibility. The router had no issues connecting to our older AC equipment, and even provided acceptable throughput when we forced it into G mode.

Disadvantages

Like most Norton products, this isn’t something that you buy once. The company has to constantly keep its security database updated. For this reason, it’s a subscription device. If you’re already paying for Antivirus, you can rest easy since the subscription includes free antivirus for 20 devices. But if you’re not willing to pay for an Antivirus, or you aren’t willing to switch over from another provider, this probably isn’t the model for you.

Filtering

As a bonus add on to the security features, Norton offers filtering tools to keep your family protected from unsavory content. If you have children, you can select the types of sites you want them to be able to access, and receive a notification if somebody tries to access something they shouldn’t.

You can also set bandwidth limits for each device. This is especially useful for anyone who lives in a rural area and is using mobile or satellite internet with bandwidth restrictions. This feature means that you’ll never see an overage charge again. It’s also handy if you’ve got one user who just can’t keep his usage at bay, and you’d like to add on some limitations to their use.

Final Verdict

Wondering if the Norton Core is right for you? We’d recommend this to anyone who’s been looking to tighten up their network security, but doesn’t have the technical know-how or the time. We spend a lot of time working with technology, and we’d like to think that we’re on top of any security issues. But what the Norton Router taught us was that even we can let things slip some times.

While this security system is reasonably foolproof, those of us who like to dig into the nuts and bolts of a network might like this option as much. It’s designed to be simple, and so it doesn’t give as much control over the finer details. For these users, we’d probably recommend something like the Linksys Max Stream EA7300 as an affordable option, or the Netgear Nighthawk X10 if you want peak performance. While both of those routers are built to the highest standard, if you want to turn them into an impenetrable security system like the Norton Router, you need to be confident in your technical ability.

Another consideration is range. This router has excellent range for just being a single device, but it’s not going to effectively cover an entire house as well as something like the Linksys Velop. Norton doesn’t currently have a mesh version of it’s router, but it’s something we’d like to see.

For the average home user, we’d definitely recommend trading in your antivirus subscription for a router like this. After all, securing your devices without protecting your network is a lot like bolting down your valuables and not locking the door.

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