WD MyNet N900 Review

You can also set up the storage section where you can plug in an external storage drive and configure it to be shared, streamed or stored using DLNA, iTunes or FTP respectively. This can also be secured by enabling public access or using passwords. Other options are adding a device using the WPS configuration and the advanced area where you can micro-manage the entire router for specific options such as WAN and LAN connections, MAC filtering, firewall, access restriction, DNS settings, IPv4 and IPv6 settings, storage and a lot of other settings almost common on any typical wireless router. Lastly, you can click on the dashboard tab to see the working and short status of the router. What feels sad is that the router’s firmware is not designed in such a way that you can make all your settings and configurations and apply them all at once. The router resets the wireless network or will reset completely every time you make and save any changes in the firmware. This will be pretty irritating, especially when you are configuring the router over a wireless route. We also noted the absence of an automatic firmware update feature. Overall, the setup page is very well-designed with large icons and easy to find configuration areas and is very user friendly compared to any other router we have reviewed or used in the past.

The dashboard

Setting up the router is also possible using the setup disk provided with the MyNet N900. The disk is also used to ship three of Western Digital’s proprietary utilities—WD Print Share, WD Quick View and WD My Net View. Print Share helps set up and share printers or scanners connected to the router’s USB ports. Quick View is a status monitor and alerting software for the router’s firmware, attached storage drives and router’s settings. My Net View helps diagnosis of the network and any information required to address network issues. These utilities can also be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website whenever required.

Wireless configuration

Performance

We tested the router by hooking it up to a regular PC via the Ethernet port and used a laptop over the wireless connection using a Linksys WUSB600N dual Band wireless dongle. We did a real-world performance test as this is what any person can understand best. The router was placed in a regular-sized office with work bays and a few other standard wireless routers running on the 2.4GHz frequency band in the same zone. The test was performed using a single 1.1GB video file, which would represent some large files being sent across or almost simulate a high-definition video being streamed or copied. The test was performed by placing the laptop in three different zones—the first being 1 metre from the router, the second zone was at around 5 metres from the router with no barriers in between and the third zone was at around 10 metres with one thin wall in between. The average throughput obtained when using the router in the 2.4GHz band was 8MB/s, 7MB/s and 4MB/s respectively. When switched to use the 5MHz band, we acquired throughputs of 11.7MB/s, 10.5MB/s and 5.6MB/s respectively. This test verifies that using the router and compatible peripherals in the 5MHz band would give you better speeds because of the low disturbances caused from other routers and wireless devices in the area.

Signal strength over a distance of 1 m, 5 m and 10 m

The throughput speeds that we recorded should not be considered as a final verdict of the router's performance as these results will vary according to the environment it is placed in and the number of devices and PCs connected to the router both wirelessly and physically. If you have large open rooms, you can get better performances. If your rooms are smaller and cluttered with furniture, metal objects, too many walls or even has a number of wireless devices, then it will affect the performance.  

Verdict and Price in India

Going by the selling price of Rs. 11,999, we feel the product is priced well in the market. There are other brands also that offer the same speeds (N900 and Gigabit ports), but they don’t offer certain features that this one offers, for example, 2 USB ports and 7 Gigabit ports. Some routers also sport BT and HTTP download support and are DD-WRT compatible, but are still priced higher than the MyNet N900. We would recommend the MyNet N900 to those looking for a future-proof wired and wireless networking router (IPv6 and Gigabit support with Dual Band N450 Mb/s speeds) for their homes or small business premises.