Synology RT2600ac – 4x4 dual-band Gigabit Wi-Fi router, MU-MIMO, powerful parental controls, Threat Prevention, bandwidth management, VPN, expandable coverage with mesh Wi-Fi

I bought this as a replacement for my Airport Extremes. Let me say, I still like the AE's and they were great. As we say where I come from: "They work fine & last a long time". Unfortunately Apple discontinued the line & any hope I had of them ever upgrading their software to make re-configuring and adding features died along with that decision. So I went looking for other options.I went with the RT2600AC because after researching, this router supposedly had the combination of hardware and software options that I had always desired from my AE's.The RT2600AC is as simple or complex a wireless router as the user wants it to be. I don't consider myself as "tech savvy" but I am also not 'Tech ignorant". I had the router online and was receiving signal within 10-15 minutes of powering it up. Initial setup for basic functionality was straightforward. Coverage of the wi-fi signal was as good or better than my previous AE's. My son (who is a gamer) said he has noticed that his IP times were down (good thing) and his FPS were up (also a good thing), for all that is worth to the reviewers out there. I interpreted that as the data speed from the router was better than the AE. Once the user gets to this point everything is a matter of personal needs & wants. The unit has more functionality than a Swiss Army Knife.So I will highlight what I have found useful so far:The unit identifies via its router management software SRM every device that connects to it.Then it allows the user to define priorities and limitations to these devices such as:Allocating bandwidth priority so the user can assign priority to which device the user wants to ensure has greater connectivity to the internet, should the need arise (otherwords: if one watches TV via the internet but one of the kiddos is eating up all the connectivity watching You Tube videos or playing HALO, then the user can assign a higher priority to the TV so it gets the connectivity it needs instead of the two devices fighting each other for bandwidth and the TV constantly buffering).Also every device can be setup with bandwidth limitations to constrain how much bandwidth any device will consume at any time.Every device can be setup with limitations as to content access. Adult sites, gambling sites, sites with violence, etc.. can be blocked for individual devices. Usually the pre-made filtering packages of the software suffice and can be assigned to the devices. There is also, however, the ability to create a custom user packages, or even the ability to block specific websites. ALL OF THIS is done from the router. No going into several individual devices anymore to set each units own parental control or other restrictive setting. Just log into the SRM on the computer and go to town. One can even set up the router to NOTIFY YOU if someone is trying to access inappropriate content and it will give the site and which user(s) were trying to gain access to it. These handy features seems to be designed not only for its use as the home router but also as a wifi router for a small business.On top of this, it gives graphical displays of the amount of bandwidth each device is consuming and will even run an easy to follow report on bandwidth usage and breakdown what sites are using the most.Interfacing into all its features is done from the SRM (web based application) but there is also the smart phone app that will allow limited access to control these features when one is away from the computer. Within the SRM are capabilities for external storage, cloud services, VPN, security, and many many other features. And the router itself has handy features that make its use simple and convenient. Wifi can be disabled/enabled from a push of a button on the router. This is handy for troubleshooting or just to get all the kids attention when they have difficulty dragging themselves away from their devices to do their chores (one of my favorite features!!!). Handy USB 3.0 & 2.0 slot right on the router for connecting external devices (i.e. external hard drives) & even an SD Card slot. There are four Ethernet ports on the rear for those who have a need for wired connectivity and even a simple on/off button to power up/down the unit.I need to refrain from writing a novel here (because I can't even begin to list all the functionality of this unit) so let me sum it up this way. The RT2600AC allows the user to have total control of his/her network. Whether you are a person who needs simplicity to set up a simple network or if your a Sheldon Cooper techy type who isn't happy unless there are a million functions that require extensive computing knowledge; this router has the ability to satisfy both needs. For those of us in between, with a little reading (btw, SRM gives easy access to helpful information) you'll discover useful capabilities that should far exceed your expectations but not your abilities/ know-how. Only time will tell if the longevity / lifespan of the router will be equal to that of my previous Apple AE's. So far.......Very Good!!

Solid, stable router. It may be a bit underpowered though and takes a while to boot up. Once it's booted up you basically don't have to worry about it at all. Applying the firmware updates was smooth and I never encountered any issues after any of the updates (unlike another Brand where occasionally you'll have to reset the router after applying updates sometimes to resolve issues). Quality control of their firmware and firmware updates appears to be good. If you can find one of these and having the maximum wifi range is not a priority, it's a great option.

I decided to upgrade my internet speed to 1 Gig which led to picking up a Motorola MB8600 which worked great when connected directly to a PC but, the Asus RT-AC56U just wasn't cutting it anymore. The Asus was getting bogged down with the CPU pegging out 100%/50% on each side and causing a bottleneck of a maximum speed around 250M when the ports were rated for Gig.I started looking around at different routers and reviews. I work in networking and don't really have a high tolerance for most things off the shelf from the big 5 producers of consumer routers. I started comparing specs and digging into the devices before plunking down $200 for something that wasn't going to perform. Looking into the chip sets, radios, future proof options, and so on I stumbled upon Synology which is known for high end NAS systems and stability. I didn't realize they had already released the RT1900 and now this beast RT2600. It was a bit unexpected to find them dipping their toes in the networking side of the house let alone glowing reviews of the improvements made from 1900 -> 2600 platform.From what I was reading about all of the wifi devices out there was most of it's just marketing. I refocused on the specs for the devices instead of some of the fluff reviews. For most people in the average sized home this thing will blow the doors off of your existing router. It takes about 10-15 minutes to initially setup the device between the first login and initial download / reboot to the newest SRM management package. After that's completed it's on to the tweaking. It's fairly easy to do if you're familiar with how these things work and somewhat intuitive if you're not but have read the reviews before picking one up.I turned off the simultaneous 2.4/5Ghz bonding because I have a couple of devices that only work on 2.4 and don't want anything else on 2.4 due to the lack of speed you get on the lower band. Being the network nerd that I am I then was using my "wifi analyzer" app to see what channels each band were using to mitigate the overlap you typically see by default settings on most routers. I'm sitting on the page where you can change the channels to a manual setting but, I'm watching the analyzer and I'll be damned if this router actually picked the uncrowded channels on its own w/o having to toggle channels and test speeds until finding something optimal. This is a first for me and I've been doing this for years!Knowing that WIFI depends on both sides of the connection Router/WIFI Card I was a bit skeptical of some of the speed reviews since most AC WIFI cards that shipped in the last couple of years top out at either 433 or 877 or even less if it's even older. My Asus was testing out pretty low due to the CPU issue that only came up after upgrading to Gig internet. I've got an Intel 7260 in my laptop and this thing is hitting 500-550M x 45M on speed tests from several different sites. I went digging around for any wifi card improvements and Intel released a 9200 series card in 2017 that's still scarce when it comes to picking them up outside of an OEM produced unit. I did find some sources in China though that have them and ordered a couple of them and they should be here in a week or two depending on the shipping. Anyway... so, the 9200 series cards are highly compatible with the high end features that people are paying for in the routers they're buying but not thinking about the PC side of the equation. So, the new 9200's will push 1.733Gbps over wifi giving you the same or better than the wired connection w/o a LAG configuration through ethernet.So far I'm impressed in the capabilities of this router. It's not overly complicated for the simplest of setups but, it does offer the options you may need if you're going to deep dive into setting up things like VPN / IPS / Etc. without having to hack the firmware or anything extraneous. There's 3-4 applets to control things and 6 or so apps you can add to the router through the SRM just like you would add an app on your phone. It seems to run cool to the touch even when you're pushing it to the limit with a 100GB transfer to a NAS. Sitting in the same room I'm getting a -45db signal on 5Ghz and -30 on 2.4Ghz. Another nice thing is the LED's aren't all that distracting like some devices I came across and you have the option to turn them off through the SRM. The router is really unassuming when it comes to looks but, that's the whole Function over Form when it comes to Synology. I have roughly 10 devices connected between TV/BR/Roku/NAS/HDHR's/etc.The only thing I would add for a feature is a monitor function for the LAN traffic similar to the WAN traffic monitor. Other than that I can't really come up with anything I don't like about the router and its performance so far.