The Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Router (R20000G) is a dual-band 802.11n router from a relatively young company in the networking space, Amped Wireless. The company's focus is more on range than with throughput speeds. Range is a worthy focus; however, testing did not show any great range or performance improvements over similarly-priced dual-bands from Netgear, Cisco Linksys, or Buffalo. Range increases quite a bit though, when the R20000G is paired with Amped Wireless' High Power Wireless-N Directional Dual Band USB Adapter (UA2000) and by updating the router with the latest firmware.
The R2000G offers a good setup process, some advanced capabilities and decent throughput. Still, the $179.99 price is hard to justify when you can get dual-band routers such as the Netgear N900 and Cisco Linksys EA4500 that can support as much as 450 Mbps under ideal RF conditions on both bands for nearly the same price. The R20000G (Best Deal: $169.99 at TigerDirect.com), on the other hand, supports up to 300 Mbps on both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Buffalo AirStation AC1300/N900 Gigabit Dual Band WZR-D1800H can now actually support up to 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, thanks to the 802.11ac draft standard it incorporates.
Specs
The 20000G has two external 5dBi antennas which are detachable. The router has 600mW amplifiers to boost transmit power plus low noise amplifiers to increase receiving sensitivity.
As mentioned, both of the R20000G's bands can support up to 300 Mbps. The device is wall mountable and also ships with a stand so it can operate horizontally. The rear panel has four Gigabit LAN ports, a Gigabit WAN port, reset button, WPS button, and a USB 2.0 port for connecting storage devices. Printers are currently not supported but Amped states support will be made available in a future firmware update.
The router has a cooling vent on top of its casing as well as vents on the bottom. Still, it ran a bit warm after a day of uptime.
Setup
While the R20000G does not offer the wireless, practically automated setup of the latest Cisco Linksys EA-branded routers, the setup process is quick and easy and very well documented in the setup guide that ships with the device. Setup requires connecting an Ethernet cable from the computer used to setup the router, to one of the LAN ports on the router.
Once connected, it’s just a matter of opening up a Web browser to setup.ampedwireless.com (or to the router's IP address). This brings up the Smart Setup Wizard within the interface. The wizard can automatically detect the type of WAN connection. My connection was set up in about 10 seconds.
After the WAN is detected you have to re-log back into the interface, but logging back in is a smooth process. When I logged back in, the wizard picked up right where I had left off before I was forced to log out.
Setup then walks you through configuring the system time and wireless settings. By default, the SSID and security are already configured with WPA/WPA2 encryption. If you tweak the wireless settings, such as changing the SSID for example, the router requires a reboot. The reboot was initially a lengthy 120 seconds, but a firmware update that came out as I was testing knocked that time down to 30 seconds.
The setup process is very good. The interface and setup documentation is among the most polished and detailed I've seen in the router market. The install guide doesn't just tell you how to setup the router and then leave you on your own; you’re given detailed instruction on how to connect Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. There's even a section that answers questions about common problems that can crop out during a router install.
Smart Features and Performance
Although the setup guide and instruction seem targeted to newbies, the router has some pretty advanced capabilities. It supports up to four WLANs. There are also some features I haven’t seen in too many consumer routers such as IAPP (Inter-Access Point Protocol) and WLAN partitioning.
The interface provides an Access Schedule feature used to disable or enable the wireless radios based on day and time. Smart features are features included to allow users to control access on the network. For example, you can block content by URL or keywords. I typed in "Facebook" and not only was the site blocked, but any site referencing the name "Facebook" was inaccessible. Obviously you'd have to be careful what keywords you used, as this could quickly get out of hand. The blocking took affect as soon as the setting was applied without having to refresh the browser and disabling the block, lifted the restriction just as quick.
Other features include support for VPN pass through, IPV6 pass through, DMZ, port forwarding and protection against threats such as Denial-of-Service attacks.
One feature that puzzles me is "Wireless Coverage." This allows you set how far the SSID broadcasts by specifying the coverage percent which ranges in increments from 15 percent to 100 percent. Coverage is set to 100 percent by default, and I can't imagine any reason to lower it. If you don't want anyone to see your SSID, you can simply not broadcast it, you can manually connect to a wireless network that isn't broadcasting. The co-founder of Amped Wireless told me that customers have requested this capability; if anyone reading this is one of the requestors, please let me know why you need this feature.
Performance is better than with the first generation of 802.11n 600Mbps routers out several years ago, but nothing spectacular compared to the double 450 Mbps monsters that some networking vendors are shipping. In all fairness, the folks at Amped Wireless say their focus is on range and not speeds. Yet, the range without Amped Wireless' accompanying USB adapter is not any better than other dual-bands on the market.
The R2000G was tested using Ixia's IxChariot utility. The wireless endpoint used in the test is an HP Elitebook 8440w with a 3x3 Intel Centrino wireless adapter.
From a distance of 5 feet from the router, I got a decent throughput of 102 Mbps testing at the 2.4 GHz band in Mixed Mode. This is actually the second highest speed we've tested in at 2.4 GHz Mixed Mode, only beaten by D-Link's DIR-827 which clocked 125 Mbps. The R20000G is capable of cranking out good throughput.
What's not so good is that by the time I got 30 feet away from the router, that throughput dropped to 46 Mbps, more than 50 percent loss. The DIR-827 managed to sustain decent throughput at 30 feet at 98 Mbps:
R20000G 2.4 GHz Performance Results
Range was better running in the 5 GHz mode. From 5 feet the router managed an OK 107 Mbps from five feet. While this is not as robust throughput we've been seeing at the 5 GHz band from devices like the Buffalo WZR-D1800H, which managed 187 Mbps, or the Netgear N900, which performed at 177 Mbps, the R20000G sustained throughput well, clocking 108 Mbps at 30 feet.
R20000G 5 GHz Performance Results
In the lab testing environment, which is saturated with RF interference, I rarely, if ever, see any throughput after 30 feet. I installed Amped Wireless' UA2000 USB adapter and was pleased to see good working throughput where I previously had no coverage. The adapters helped sustain coverage up to about 100 feet in the test area which is a typical deadspot for most routers, so Amped Wireless claims about producing hardware focused on range, prove valid.
Good, But Expensive and Not Great
The 20000G certainly isn't a bad router. It's got good throughput—particularly for its specs—a well-designed user interface and a nice set of features, an easy three-star earner. Consumers would not be disappointed with the 20000G, but since there are more robust dual-bands available in the same price range, the Amped device may be a tough sell in the router market. If range issues are a specific problem for you, and other routers have not been satisfactory in your environment, than the RG20000 may be ideal. For others, there are more powerful dual-bands out there, such as the Editor's Choice Cisco Linksys EA3500.
More Database Software Reviews:
• High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Router (R20000G)
• TP-Link 150 Mbps Wireless N Nano Router TL-WR702N
• Buffalo AirStation AC1300/N900 Gigabit Dual Band WZR-D1800H
• Cisco RV180W Wireless-N Multifunction Router
• mydlink App (for Android)
• more
Sumber : Komputer Magazines
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nice.. valuable information..
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