An IT person by trait my goal is to always seek out performance. The N900 promised just that...what I got was not what I expected.
Pros:
Dual Band - Separate 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks.
Guest Network
2 USB Ports to attach storage, etc.
QOS - Quality of Service features built in for multimedia streaming.
Cons:
Range/Speed are not up to spec of 802.11n (2.4ghz range was OK).
Software needs major fixing - every change requires a 90second reboot.
I have been a long time user of Apple's Airport Extreme which is in the same price range and offers dual band connectivity. I did my usual speed testing and my results were as expected; however my range was reduced in the 5ghz band and the 2.4ghz band got progressively worst as I moved farther away (naturally).
I use MAC's at home and ran some tests with iStumbler (wireless test utility. I also checked my transmit rates on the MAC and compared them to my Airport Extreme. (Images have been uploaded). You will notice in one image that a router that is clear on the other side of my home was providing me a similar signal to the N900 which was about 6 feet away from me when testing. Naturally I tried multiple laptops/ipad/ipod to see if this was a hardware issue with my machines or the router itself...in all cases the range was not as good as I had hoped.
Here is what I found:
The range in 2.4ghz was OK/Good. The range in 5ghz was lower than what I have gotten with other dual band routers. The transmit speed in the 2.4ghz band was normal but the rate in the 5ghz band was half of what we should be seeing. The transmit rate in the 5ghz band was about 130 which is about half of what I get with any other dual band router including the Apple Airport Extreme (see attached images for comparison).
Personally I feel that a router costing as much as this unit should at the very least come close to the promised specifications. It did not...thus my 3 star rating. I feel that Belkin has a great looking product with some excellent functionality - but it needs MAJOR improvement (maybe firmware will fix??). For now I would pass on this and look elsewhere for dual band connectivity.
Again, please look at my images for some comparisons.
Pros:
Dual Band - Separate 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks.
Guest Network
2 USB Ports to attach storage, etc.
QOS - Quality of Service features built in for multimedia streaming.
Cons:
Range/Speed are not up to spec of 802.11n (2.4ghz range was OK).
Software needs major fixing - every change requires a 90second reboot.
I have been a long time user of Apple's Airport Extreme which is in the same price range and offers dual band connectivity. I did my usual speed testing and my results were as expected; however my range was reduced in the 5ghz band and the 2.4ghz band got progressively worst as I moved farther away (naturally).
I use MAC's at home and ran some tests with iStumbler (wireless test utility. I also checked my transmit rates on the MAC and compared them to my Airport Extreme. (Images have been uploaded). You will notice in one image that a router that is clear on the other side of my home was providing me a similar signal to the N900 which was about 6 feet away from me when testing. Naturally I tried multiple laptops/ipad/ipod to see if this was a hardware issue with my machines or the router itself...in all cases the range was not as good as I had hoped.
Here is what I found:
The range in 2.4ghz was OK/Good. The range in 5ghz was lower than what I have gotten with other dual band routers. The transmit speed in the 2.4ghz band was normal but the rate in the 5ghz band was half of what we should be seeing. The transmit rate in the 5ghz band was about 130 which is about half of what I get with any other dual band router including the Apple Airport Extreme (see attached images for comparison).
Personally I feel that a router costing as much as this unit should at the very least come close to the promised specifications. It did not...thus my 3 star rating. I feel that Belkin has a great looking product with some excellent functionality - but it needs MAJOR improvement (maybe firmware will fix??). For now I would pass on this and look elsewhere for dual band connectivity.
Again, please look at my images for some comparisons.
Product Description
The Belkin N900 DB Wireless Dual-Band N+ Router gives you ultimate performance for all aspects of network multi-tasking.
Features
- Speeds of up to 450Mbps +450Mbps
- Exclusive MultiBeam technology for a high-powered signal for multiple devices
- Simultaneous dual-band operating on 2.4 and 5 GHz bands
- Wirespeed Routing
- Gigabit ports for ultrafast sharing of files
- Downstream QoS to prioritize video streaming
- Two speed optimized USB 2.0 ports for wireless printing and high-speed NAS
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