Only review products that have the potential to be outstanding

[mjw]

I've been an avid reader of SNB since the beginning and keep coming back because of the in depth detailed reviews that
1) Inform me regarding pros/cons before spending hard earned cash on products
2) keep me informed about the latest and greatest enhancements that new technologies have to offer

I would say however that of
late there are few reviews for products that really stand out from the pack. Occasionally we find a wireless router with a few Mb/s additional speed at location E or a nas with a few MB/s performance but the majority of products fail to excel significantly in any area.

I appreciate that reviewing to the high standard performed at SNB takes time and expertise. In addition to trying to get through the review backlog by making the review process more streamlined I would suggest better selection of which products to review in the first place. If a product doesn't hav any significant likelihood of beating the pants off the current competition then I would suggest not wasting precious time reviewing. You might say it's difficult to know in advance which products will be outstanding without testing but perhaps you can eliminate products that are using pretty much the same chipsets as previously released products. You can also perhaps even submit a list of potential products to the forums and allow readers to vote for the ones they have the most interest in. I would focus reviews only on the products that bring real innovations to the table for example:
- a product that integrates wireless with powerline
- a product that does 3x3 mimo on both bands
- a product like quantenna that ups the ante to 4 antenna
... I guess you get the general idea

Thanks again for putting together such a wonderful and informative site for all these years.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for your thoughts.

I already am pretty selective about the products that are reviewed and tend to focus on products from top-tier manufacturers, with only occasional coverage of lesser-known brands with more limited availability.

That said, it's important to cover products that "don't have any significant likelihood of beating the pants off the current competition". Marketers continue to be creative about how they describe their products, using every subjective term they can think of to attract buyers. The only way to debunk the claims is to test the product. And this is especially important for products that buyers are most likely to find on store shelves.

The truth is that today's networking products are more alike than different and there isn't that much differentiation in performance. The real differentiators are reliability, stability and support, which can't be judged in the short time that we can devote to testing a product.

That's why it continues to be important that users share their experiences with products and buyers use every means at their disposal to vet products before spending their hard-earned cash.

My method for personal purchases is to buy and try, take advantage of no-restock charge return policies, keep products and packaging in like-new condition during trial and return them packed as closely as I can get to how I received them.

 

[mjw]

Might be worth a review 2012

Super range wifi
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/09/amped-wireless-2012-lineup/

1300 Mbps wifi
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398483,00.asp