WD My Net N900 HD Dual-Band Router Reviewed

[sfx2000]

Interesting design...

Discrete radios for 2.4 and 5Ghz, Ubicom network processor for routing, and another CPU and what looks like bridge chips for LAN and WAN respectively - What is that chip under the HSF - my guess is for NAS services to the USB ports (x2)... perhaps a Marvell ARM5.

Lot of work went into this one - very vertical and proprietary. And spendy from an OEM perspective.

I'm thinking a BSD software baseline on this one... and probably not open for modification, not that anyone would want to code for this one...

 

[tipstir]

You mean the WD N900 right? With 7x Gig LAN ports and 1x WAN port. CPU speed info seems to been remove by the OEM. Odd move. The top of the line version sports a TB NAS drive system. Still looks good something different than the rest of the pack.

 

[thiggins]

There is nothing under the fan. It's just there for exhaust and has never come on in the time I've used the product.

The design isn't that unusual. As noted in the review, similar to the D-Link DIR-857 and a few other high-end simultaneous dual-band routers.

 

[Unregistered]

Look at the FCC database:

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/repo...Frame=N&application_id=656927&fcc_id='RRK-F2F'

Made for WD by Alpha Networks Inc., No.8 Li-shing 7th Rd., Science-based Industrial Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C. - Model No.: F2F

 

[Unregistered]

New firmware 1.04.08 released for WD N900 C

Has anyone tried this new firmware release to see if wifi range performance improved?

 

[Andrew LB]

I'd like to know as well. They have now released two firmwares. 1.03.11 and 1.04.08.

Firmware Version 1.04.08
Resolved Issues:
 Fixed router stopped traffic from WAN after more than 39 hours
 Fixed parental control not working with Guest Access
 Fixed port forwarded relay issue after firmware install
 Fixed DLNA video playback timeline "Seek/Pause" are not working.
 Fixed accessing SMB share through WDTV Live
 Fixed Parental Controls - device policy take priority over master policy
 Fixed Network Drive password required when storage device set to public
 Fixed USB ports mislabeled
 Fixed External HD connected to router populate Windows Explorer/Network


Now... if these are fixed and this router is performing how it should, I may purchase one. I'd love to have more than 4 gigabit ports since last year I spent a lot of time wiring my whole house with Cat6. We've got two Samsung Smart TV's, this PC, a Mac Pro, a mini-itx PC in the garage which hooks into my Audi's diagnostic port, and a media server PC. Everytime I work on a friends computer I have to shuffle plugs and it's always annoyed me, but not so much as to get an additional switch.

 

[thiggins]

Buy a 5 port Gigabit switch if you want more ports.

 

[Unregistered]

NAS benchmarks

I wish the review showed benchmarks for file IO on a unit with the built in 1 or 2 TB HDD in addition to the two USB 2 drives. Anyone got a guess if it would be much better than the 20 MBps seen here?

 

[thiggins]

I wish the review showed benchmarks for file IO on a unit with the built in 1 or 2 TB HDD in addition to the two USB 2 drives. Anyone got a guess if it would be much better than the 20 MBps seen here?

That is a different product, which WD did not provide for review.

 

[Unregistered]

What were your radio settings when you had the 2.4 radio getting maximum throughput ? What channel and how did you get it to stay in 40 MHz mode? Was the 5.0 radio on as we'll when you tested it?

 

[sparkymark75]

Anybody got any further thoughts on this? Has it improved with maturity and firmware releases?

 

[twelvebore]

Well I've had one of these for three or four months now, running as an access point. Despite running the latest firmware I've seen it lock up three times now, the wifi stops working and it's inaccessible via the wired interface.

Shame really, because it's a nice cheap dual-band AP solution, but having to go into the loft to power-cycle it once a month takes the shine off it.

 

[L&LD]

twelvebore, could it be because of heat? What is the ambient temp in the loft? Can you try a small usb fan on it to keep it cool (if that is the problem)?

 

[twelvebore]

twelvebore, could it be because of heat? What is the ambient temp in the loft?

Well it's winter here at the moment - so ambient temperature is in the 5-10C range in the loft.