Synology MR2200ac Mesh Wi-Fi Router

If there’s anything I learned in the last 10 weeks from trying to replace a Netgear WNDR3800 and R6300 with a newer 802.11ac router is that wireless is consistently inconsistent. I tested the Synology RT1900ac, Netgear R8500 (3 of them thanks to failing radios), ASUS RT-AC5300, RT-AC3100, RT-AC1900P and now the Synology RT2600ac.

The R8500 was faster overall than all of them but there was no way I was going to continue with replacements with repeated radio failures and wasn't going to put up with their tired interface and lack a features. I really liked the RT1900ac features and interface but had average performance at best. I wound up settling with the RT-AC5300 because it was almost as fast as the R8500 but had a better interface and features. There have been reports that the radios in this model have been failing like the Netgear and left me uneasy; I’m wondering if it has something to do with the Broadcom chipset they share or if they’re overheating because there isn’t any way to adjust power with both tri-band models.

Luckily the RT2600ac started shipping before my return period expired on the RT-AC5300 and keeping the Synology. I wish performance was better overall than the R8500 but I’d stack it in-between the two with the Synology beating the Netgear on a few of my tests. Performance for all models were inconsistent and neither of the top three dominated, but my choice was based on performance in locations and operations I perform the most, family feedback, features, product management and usability.

I like that you can adjust power levels but only low, medium and high are offered; the low levels on 2GHz and 5GHz cover the areas I need on that segment of my network. The other models don’t let you adjust power levels. It’s nice I’m not restricted to 16 character passwords like the ASUS models. One down side is that it doesn’t support 64 HEX characters like other routers and clients and have addressed this with Synology. At least they responded the next day to my query unlike the other manufacturers. It’s great that Synology and ASUS allow you to change the admin user name and also support HTTPS management on the LAN side as well as selecting your own port unlike Netgear. The Synology has certificate support which can be exported to other appliances and allows SYSLOG as well as other features. I’m currently using the router as an NTP server and pointing all devices to it so only one device goes out externally for time. Another feature I’m looking forward to testing more is the IPS beta add-on they have; it’s a free feature and there’s also a paid subscription service. You need to have external storage to download and use so a fast SD card should do. Off the top of my head it added about 10% CPU usage up to (30ish) and the same amount of RAM. There are other packages available that can be downloaded like a DNS server, VPN and others but not planning on using it on this router.

I was pleased to see the addition of eight 5GHz band channels (52-112) (the RT1900ac had this as well) but haven’t had the chance to use them. There are currently no users on those channels in my area and it reminds me of the days when I was the only one using 802.11a on 5GHz for years. Too bad it’s getting crowded like 2.4GHz in my area.

I think Synology made good with their second router attempt and glad I’m able to use “big boy” features not seen on consumer/home routers and for less cost. ASUS can try to polish their UI with their “updated” 5300 for a lot more money but my money is going to Synology with a more complete package. I’m also confident they’d support this product with updates longer than the home versions based on experience with some of their NAS devices.

This isn’t a controlled test environment but my typical “real world” operation.
Used a PCIe Half Mini Card Intel AC 7260 2x2 (867 Mb), an ASUS USB-AC68 USB 3.0 3x4 (1300 Mb), and Netgear A6200 USB 2.0 (867 Mb) adapters for testing. Routers were swapped at the same location on a second floor and clients on 1st floor (same location) at about 45 degree angle and approximately 40 ft. away. Power was set to high for RT2600ac and both used same fixed channels on 5GHz where adjacent interference was minimal. Routers were upgraded to latest versions, set in AP mode and fully configured as I would normally run as well as client adapters updated on Windows 10 64-bit.

USB-AC68 using USB 3.0 system:
RT-AC5300 – 128 Mb peak / 128 Mb typical download

240 Mb peak / 232 Mb typical upload

232 Mb peak / 168 Mb typical download w/MIMO

200 Mb peak / 264 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

RT2600ac – 136 Mb peak / 120 Mb typical download

200 Mb peak / 184 Mb typical upload

128 Mb peak / 120 Mb typical download w/MIMO

208 Mb peak / 200 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

USB-AC68 using USB 2.0 system:
RT-AC5300 – 256 Mb peak / 248 Mb typical download

224 Mb peak / 216 Mb typical upload

240 Mb peak / 224 Mb typical download w/MIMO

32 Mb peak / 24 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

RT2600ac – 272 Mb peak / 264 Mb typical download

264 Mb peak / 200 Mb typical upload

272 Mb peak / 264 Mb typical download w/MIMO

208 Mb peak / 200 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

A6200 USB 2.0 adapter:
RT-AC5300 – 88 Mb peak / 88 Mb typical download

200 Mb peak / 184 Mb typical upload

88 Mb peak / 80 Mb typical download w/MIMO

192 Mb peak / 184 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

RT2600ac – 96 Mb peak / 72 Mb typical download

192 Mb peak / 184 Mb typical upload

112 Mb peak / 80 Mb typical download w/MIMO

192 Mb peak / 184 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

Internal 7260:
RT-AC5300 – 328 Mb peak / 304 Mb typical download

184 Mb peak / 168 Mb typical upload

128 Mb peak / 120 Mb typical download w/MIMO

288 Mb peak / 272 Mb typical upload w/MIMO

RT2600ac – 240 Mb peak / 144 Mb typical download

224 Mb peak / 200 Mb typical upload

240 Mb peak / 192 Mb typical download w/MIMO

264 Mb peak / 192 typical upload w/MIMO

Gigabit Ethernet:
RT-AC5300 –536 Mb peak / 504 Mb typical download

920 Mb peak / 904 Mb typical upload

RT2600ac – 632 Mb peak / 504 Mb typical download

920 Mb peak / 904 Mb typical upload

Highest speed gap in favor of the RT-AC5300 was about 160 Mb better average download speed with 7260 adapter.

Highest speed gap for the RT2600ac was about 176 Mb better average upload speed with USB-AC68 adapter on USB 2.0 system.

The fastest wireless speed test was achieved by the RT-AC5300 with the 7260 adapter registering 328 Mb peak and 304 Mb average download. The same router w/MIMO enabled also had the slowest wireless speed test with the USB-AC68 adapter, on a USB 2.0 system with only 32 Mb peak and 24 Mb average upload.

Wired switch speed on the RT2600ac was 96 Mb faster peak but both had the same average uploads; this was slower by about 360 Mb than other switches tested. Upload speeds were equal and as good as or slightly better than other switches.

- - - UPDATE

Finally got around to testing additional 5 GHz channels and the ASUS USB-AC68 doesn't work with them. The notebooks with the internal Intel NICs picked up every channel I threw at it. These are the channels the ASUS couldn't handle: 52,56,60,64,100,104,108,112,116,132,136,140

I can imagine those that turn on automagic channel selection (only on few routers that support these channels - not ASUS) and all of a sudden clients stop connecting because of adapters that don't support them.

I'm glad the new router supports these channels since nobody is using them in the area...it will be like 802.11a days again where I was solo for a long while. Time to go notebook shopping so I can get rid of the legacy gear and get an internal Intel NIC. Wish I would have tested this a week ago so I could return the adapter. Guess I'll chuck it in the draw with my 1Mb PCMCIA Wifi adapter after I get a new notebook.

- - - 11/26/17 Update - - -

Gave up on the asus USB-AC68 because of inconsistent performance and lack up any new drivers since May. I'm not holding my breath on any fixes for KRACK for this adapter either. Intel even released updated drivers the day after mainstream word of KRACK for the AC7260 card that was introduced in 2013 and currently EOL.

Oh, and Synology even updated their older RT1900AC (2 years old already) router the day after as well.

Excellent router. I've used NETGEAR R7500v2 before. I thought NETGEAR's Genie was easy enough. Boy, I was wrong.
I am amazed by Synology RT2600AC its easy to use GUI, performance and tons of useful features.
Unfortunately my ISP doesn't offer FTTH to my home so I have FTTB @ 500/500Mbps (My ISP throttles my connection speed from 1Gbps to 500Mbps which sucks)
With NETGEAR R7500v2, Speedtest.net I get 4ms 429.82 Down/391.01 Up with my iPhone 7 Plus.
With Synology RT2600AC, Speedtest.net I get 3ms 485.87 Down/464.74 Up with my iPhone 7 Plus.
Synology RT2600AC maximizes my WiFi connection where there is no performance lost both WiFi and Ethernet.
The reason I purchased Synology RT2600AC is its VPN feature. I wanted to use VPN with my iPhone 7 Plus but NETGEAR R7500v2 lacks L2TP VPN server feature.
With Synology's VPN Plus App, I get easily connected wherever I am. It seamlessly reconnects iPhone to VPN while I am moving along (eg. WiFi - LTE- WiFi - 3G - LTE)

The bonus feature I didn't know up until I actually setup the device was its support with Google DDNS. I am using Google Domains for my domain registrar. Up until now, there was no way to setup automatic DDNS updater because such client was nonexistent. Synology RT2600AC has built-in Google DDNS auto-update client. I was really happy to see that it actually works very well.

I wish other router manufacturers follow Synology's approach. OS like GUI makes me think that this router is like a full-featured Linux computer. Package Center feels just like an App Store. It is intuitive and you won't get lost how to install and set it up.

Synology's RT2600AC 802.11ac Wave2 router supports Multi User MIMO and your phone/tablet seamlessly connects between 2.4Ghz band and 5Ghz band based on your signal strength. SSIDs of both 2.4G and 5G are the same. User doesn't have to switch between 2.4G or 5G. It automatically finds the best signal and roam between them.

Synology's RT2600AC is my best money spent on this year. You won't regret buying this router. I bought more than 10 routers and used various DD-WRT, OpenWRT and TomatoUSB firmwares. I will not go back to any of them again period.

As you can see from the attached picture - the speed while using a Dell android ac tablet nearly 100 feet away in a different room from this Synology FR2600AC router nearly maxed out my internet connection. Streaming 4K HDR amazon and netflix without issue. Actually able to stream four, 4K streams on different devices without buffering or interruption. Previous $300 Asus router wasn't able to do this.

Running SRM Version: SRM 1.2-7742 Update 5 firmware that was recently released (VERY FAST so make sure you get the latest version) - required two updates and reboots out of the box. Each update took around 5 minutes. Up and running after a few tweaks in under 15 minutes total.

Plugged in a 1TB hard drive and was able to backup pro photography work while in the field. Nice just connecting to a hot spot with my laptop and securely sending gigs of files to my home hard drive as a backup over night. Wake up in the morning and 250 gigs of files are safely at home. Might buy a second Synology RT2600ac to give to a friend to have him work on these files while I am in the field.

The router isn't anything special to look at but it runs silent and produces very little heat. Definitely ignore the 1 and 2 star reviews - this router deserves the high praise and awards it is winning.

5 stars!

I've been using this router for about 4 months. I wanted to have some time with it to get past the honeymoon period. While the experience hasn't been perfect, there are many reasons why you should consider this router if you're shopping for a new one.

Setup - It's pretty easy, the wizard will get most people up and running in a few minutes. Most of the out of the box settings will not only work, but provide a reasonable level of security that will accommodate people who just want WiFi.

Performance - I have 3500 finished sq. ft and an unfinished basement and this router easily covers the whole house with Wi-Fi from a central location. I didn't have to mess with antennae or do anything special. Beamforming obviously works. 5Ghz performance is good (most of my devices connect to the 5Ghz network automatically using SmartConnect), and automatic channel selection seems to do a good job keeping me as far from conflicting devices as possible. I'm using the NAS (time machine), VPN server, parental controls, and traffic monitoring and the CPU hardly exceeds 40% and 50% memory utilization with 15-20 connected devices and multiple HD video streams. The router is cool and quiet.

Interface - Easily the best interface of any router I've used. This router is very fully featured. The GUI looks and feels like a desktop operating system and it's pretty clear where to go and what to click to access the wealth of features and information this router can give you. If you just want reliable WI-FI and don't care, great. But, if you like to see traffic utilization on your network, control access to the internet by time or content, use a VPN remotely, or set up network services, this router makes it easy. Logging is robust and easy to use. If you want control of your network, this is the best consumer out of the box experience I've found.

Security/Updates - Just like your computer, routers require frequent patching for security updates and bug fixes. The update schedule is at least monthly and usually includes the CVEs (security patches) that are required to ensure your router is not vulnerable to current exploits. In contrast to other vendors who update quarterly or less frequently, I have high confidence that I'm running a patched OS. Included features allow you to generate or use highly secure encryption certificates and algorithms to secure connections to the router, restrict traffic and services, and use two-factor authentication to access the router and VPN, which is a mandatory feature in today's security environment. Again, you don't have to do all of these things to use this router, but you CAN and it's simple.

Support - Okay, so there have been an issue or two with my router. For example, there was a bug preventing parental controls from working properly. I contacted support and received a response within a day. I worked with support over the course of a few weeks (the devs are in Taiwan so there's a time delay), The developers worked directly on my issue (how many companies do that?) and identified the problem. They gave me a workaround and deployed the permanent fix for everyone in the next firmware release. I don't always get that level of support with even professional grade equipment. I feel like the company stands behind their product and will continue to do so.

Synology is a new player in the router market, but they're serious. I've tried many of the other big players and I typically buy near the top of the line because the internet plays a large role in my work and my family's play. Many have gone back and I'm sticking with Synology.

I've owned this router for a little over one year, 16 months as of this review to be exact. It has proven to be the most reliable router I've own since my Linksys WRT54G of 16years ago. Since then I've own Netgear, Buffalo, and TP-Link. This router just works and the throughputs I get are nothing short of amazing.

It has tons of advanced features including both client and server VPNs, intrusion detection, very customizable firewall, basic NAS software, media server, download station, cloud station and including some other features that I don't use such as RADIUS and DNS Servers.

Best of all, its' administration portal is like none other found on other routers, no matter what the router brand. It has a very attractive graphical Windows-like UI but Linux based operating system. Setting up the router is super easy because how user-friendly the DSM operating system works. Other router makers should really strive to emulate the UI of Synology admin portals. They are light years ahead of the game.

The router will also produce monthly professionally looking report about the operation of the router, and detail data usage of every device on the LAN, and the type of data that streams through the router to your email or smartphone. It can also provide real-time intrusion alerts to your cell phone. Wow. very impressive for a consumer router.

While other routers are lucky to get two or three firmware upgrades in the product's lifespan. Synology pushes out new updates on a monthly interval. 16 months later I still get regular updates! When the life cycle of this router comes to an end, I will look to Synology again for an upgrade. I am very impressed with the rt2600AC.

Wifi signal strength is strong and consistent, the VPN client has a kill switch that stops a data connection if the VPN gets dropped which helps protect your data. The intrusion protection gives me a status on internet bots and port scans. It will automatically take action on its own to prevent intrusion and I can tell it to block an IP address after several unauthorized attempts. I can block IP address blocks by IP number, by group of IP numbers, by geography. It's one hell of a router.

I'm quite happy with it and I hope Synology continues to add to their router product line. I'm actually considering buying a NAS to hold movies and based on my experience with Synology's router, I will get a Synology brand NAS since they both share a very similar operating system and UI.

Its a phenomenal router with many enterprise-level features inside a consumer router box.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 9th 2018
Since the last firmware update, my Synology RT2600AC now supports the latest Wifi encryption WPA3 and a wider 5GHz Channel width of 160Mhz. AMPDU, extended NSS and 802.11r has been added at no additional cost. This router gets better with each update. The Intrusion Detection is now out of Beta and supports many new advanced features with intrusion definitions downloaded weekly via updates just like an Antivirus.

I am very happy with this router.

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Feature Product

• Dedicated Tri-band 2.13 Gbps (400+867+867 Mbps) bandwidth optimized for performance and reliability
• Easy setup and remote management from web client or mobile app
• Comprehensive parental management and easy-to-use inter face with Safe Access
• Single Wi-Fi name and seamless roaming with 802.11 k/v/r support
• Create advanced VPNs with WebVPN, Synology SSL VPN, and SSTP VPN capability

Description

Embrace a whole Wi-Fi coverage in your home and office with the intelligent Synology Mesh Router MR2200ac. Designed with Tri-Band and MU-MIMO technology, MR2200ac makes sure your devices are on the fastest bandwidth dedicated to an optimized performance while keeping multiple devices reliably connected without any delay. Besides, you can enjoy the best Wi-Fi seamless roaming with a single Wi-Fi name among your modular mesh system. Safe Access provides easy-to-use parental management while keeping away any malicious intrusions. Synology MR2200ac is backed by Synology's 2-year limited warranty. Compatible with: Client support for WPA3 is required for compatibility.

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Have a decent size house (~3300sqft) with some difficult areas for Wifi. Was looking for a solid router that had good features and the ability to addon Mesh without being "just" about the Mesh and being a good router as well. Orbi is the big dog, but every place I look at reviews it is littered with people who talk about it being great, until it failed and support being a pain or non-existent. Have had similar experience with Linksys and TP-Link personally, so was looking for something a little more stable. Kept coming across this device, but just was not sure based on how new they were in this area.

Finally decided to take a dive, since the price was reasonable and even cheap compared to others I was looking at.

All I can say, is why did it take me so long?!? This devices has been awesome to work with. It is easy for a novice to set up, but has enough extras to keep a tech junkie like me happy. The range is very good in my house and the places I do need some extra juice is overcome by being able to add the Mesh units. Those are only a few places that are on the outside and extreme corner that need high bandwidth and stable connections. If it was not for their demand this would work for most devices as is.

They seem to be consistently working on improving with updates and that tells me a lot as well. Seeing as they just recently release the Mesh units, I know that they are still building out in this arena. If they keep building hardware like this I will be a long time customer.

Just for some basic info on my use case...
- I have a Gig up/down internet connection
- 52 "Smart" devices (plugs, lights, assistants, etc)
- 8 Nest Outdoor Cams + Hello
- 2 Roku TVs
- nVidia Shield that streams a lot
- 8 Computers/Laptops
- 5 Smart Phones
- 2 Tablets
- 2 Printers
- 1 Smart Lock
- 2 Smart Garage Openers
- 2 Smart Thermostats
- Plex Server
- xBox and PS4

So the network is heavily used both for fun and work.

One of my clients upgraded their ISP bandwidth to 400/20 and was complaining that their wired computers were not obtaining the promised speed. Clearly, the 8-year-old Apple Airport Extreme was no longer up to the task and the WiFi coverage needed improvement as well. I needed a less expensive solution that my usual Peplink Balance Once with dedicated AP's and Cat6 ethernet wiring throughout the house.
Since I have good experiences with Synology NAS devices I gave this RT2600AC router a try and I am very impressed with the user interface, options, ​and most importantly performance! Despite being located in the basement of a 2500sqft house this router mounted high up against the drywall covers the entire house and backyard with excellent WiFi. And the wired connections are reaching the advertised speed this client is paying for. Fast forwarding Netflix on the ethernet connected Roku box is very fast.
Beside the performance, I really like the option to automatically update firmware updates and schedule reboots to keep things running smooth.

9/7/18 - I decided to move on from this router to a full blown Ubiquiti setup. As of today since the manufacturer response to my review, there haven't been any feature updates or bug fixes to the issues they said they were aware of. I would still recommend this router to power users, but the lack of software support concerns me.

I've been using the RT2600AC for about eight months now and I have been very pleased with it so far. It has much every single bell and whistle that a consumer level device can offer in 2018 with a few minor exceptions (link bonding, etc). It offers features for both basic and power users and is supported very well by Synology.

Positives:

Like I said earlier, there is pretty much every bell and whistle you can ask for in this box, with constant software updates which fix and add new features. This router handles my Comcast gig (connected to an Arris SB8200) like a champ and fully supports IPv6 via DHCPv6-PD. I don't experience any type of instability or lag when pushing this thing to the max, unlike other top of the line routers which have just rebooted on me in the middle of a large file download at line speed. The SD expansion slot allows for additional packages to be installed (VPN, Download Station, Cloud Server, etc) which is a nice touch, but I'm not currently using it for that. Synology's QuickConnect functionality is great as I'm not paying for a static IP through Comcast, so this takes care of remote access if my IP changes one day. Reporting features are nice (CPU, memory, throughput, etc), and 3G/4G/failover is nice to have as well although the supported list of dongles is limited.

Negatives:

I'm docking a star as the UI can be fairly quirky at times, and it takes absolutely forever to come up fully from a cold boot or reboot. It also does not retain the LED settings (I like them off) after a reboot. IPv6 is also finicky, it occasionally just doesn't connect via DHCPv6-PD, requiring multiple reboots.

Overall I'm very happy with this router, you're getting what you pay for and I'm usually pretty critical of these devices. I've gone through dozens of the various top of the line consumer routers and this one is the best by far. One important caveat I need to mention is that I am not using it for wireless at all. I have a separate Meraki access point that I am running off it as I'm not a fan of the "spider" all-in-ones. I'll update my review if I choose to switch over in the future.

When I upgraded my video setup to 4k hdr, I had problems with occasional stuttering when using WiFi to stream Netflix 4k hdr to my smart TV & Amazon 4k box using my old Assus RT-AC68U router, despite being on a 1 gig fiber internet connection. The Assus was in another room about 30’ away and theoretically should have been adequate, but real time analysis showed it was “pulsing” the streams. You really need at least a steady 10megs/sec.
I pulled the Assus & replaced it with the Synology RT AC 2600 in the same location and those problems immediately went away. I also noticed that my WiFi networked PCs are noticeably faster in web related activities. I don’t use it attached to a hard drive as a network server, so I can’t speak to that.
I found the Synology easy to set up and update using the Windows like interface. I’m not an IT pro, but have past experience setting up routers & home networking. A beginner might need a little help.
Synology has a really useful app that lets you monitor & tweet the network performance and update the router using your phone or pad.

I have a very specfic set of requirements for a router: 1) Priced reasonably ($250 or less), 2) Regular firmware updates, 3) Secure design, 4) No history of careless or stupid security vulnerabilities (every router will have something -- I just don't want one that has had some stupid "critical directory is visible" or "admin interface defaults to visible on WAN side" or "UPNP responds on WAN"), 5) Quality hardware, likely to last for some time and not begin to drop connections or lock up after a year, 6) Likelihood of support for more than a year or two (Consumer routers stop getting firmware long before I'm ready to retire them), 7) Decent FEATURES (particularly security related), 8) Great coverage in my entire relatively small house without having to resort to mesh or range extenders or additional wired access points at the other end, and 9) Preference for a business class device

This router checks most or all of these boxes, and I can't say for sure because a couple of these criteria will remain unknown until history can determine how they play out. The price? $200 is fair for a router of this quality. Firmware updates? The firmware history log shows very regular updates, so unless this changes, I do expect to be more than satisfied here. It by far beats the Netgear, TP-Link, Asus, etc. that I've had that might get an update per year, or two at best if some horrendous vulnerability is reported. They stop getting updates too soon and I'm left either hoping there are no unpatched vulnerabilities or that open source firmware might work well enough on it, which is a crap shoot. As for secure design, I'm not entirely qualified to judge this thoroughly, but my feeling is that it is well designed with respect to security, and attention seems to have been given to security in the router's OS. I have no idea whether it's making good use of ASLR and various other design techniques. I wish there were an easy way to comparatively gauge this aspect of routers. Reading the independent threat assessment reports and the firmware update changelogs give me a good idea of how security focused this bunch are.

Regarding hardware quality, I have to rely on other reviews, where I usually spend time reading the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what is breaking most frequently (and why I ruled out a competing Asus router which seemed to have a ridiculous proportion of 2.4 GHz radio failures) which crossing my fingers, for this router, no particular failures seemed to be common, unlike most other routers which had things like "stopped working after a year" or "must reboot every day" or "2.4 GHz radio stopped working after a few months". This one seemed to mostly have complaints about ease of use or not having this or that feature. None of that deterred me. Next... Features? It's loaded with them. If those aren't enough, it will allow you to install modules that add even more features. I also didn't find the complaints about the router being difficult to set up especially ringing true. It had a sort of wizard to walk me through basic setup, and with ease had it up and fully running in no time. Fine tuning the many possible details wasn't overwhelming. I changed the DNS provider from my ISP's DHCP provided one to 1.1.1.1 very easily, added a guest network, and tweaked a number of other things. Navigation is quite straightforward.

Coverage in my house is phenomenal. I'm used to getting decent signal in the room with the router and the living room next to it (where there is an open space between, no wall), but then middling signal in the back room that might occasionally drop. The Ring doorbell outside usually worked but the video stream was a bit iffy. This router is blasting a strong signal through the whole house, and even in the corner of the furthest room, it's like 80% or 85% of what I get right next to the router. WiFi Streaming to the Fire TV in that room is as good as it gets.

Thanks to tips from a security researcher named Horowitz, I had nearly settled on buying only a business-specific router -- he recommends a PepLink MK3, because they're selling more on the software than the hardware, and you can expect to have the software being well maintained for years. That's important to me, and consumer routers just don't do that. This one, while I *think* is being sold as a consumer router, gave me the vibe of having been designed and supported as if it were a small office device, and the frequent firmware updates speaks well that way. I forgot to mention above that I really strongly preferred finally having a device that can automatically update itself, so that I don't go six months and not think to do it myself. This one does just that, though you can either turn it to completely manual if that's your preference, or to download but ask permission before updating. Will this thing be supported for years as I'd wanted in the ideal router? That's where time will tell. Let's see if I'm still seeing updates in 3 years, or even 4.

Finally, the options are just incredible. It has nice security monitoring and control already part of the base firmware, and if that's not enough, there is a more sophisticated version available to install as a module. You get quite a bit of intrusion detection and prevention, and some really comprehensive monitoring of various conditions that are suspicious. It will e-mail or SMS some summary reports or more immediate threat reports if necessary.

There are other features I haven't yet used, but eventually will, like traffic prioritization / QOS -- and by that, I mean that it's quite a bit more sophisticated than the usual basic QOS that turns up in the average retail store consumer router.

I really don't note any negatives at this point, apart from the sheer size of it and how much I had to move things around on the equipment shelf to make it fit where smaller routers used to be. I'd sure love to be able to create discrete, secure, self-contained separate networks (there is a term for this which is slipping my mind) to isolate my IOT stuff from the rest, sort of like how you can with the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ... but that wasn't a must-have, so I'm not counting this against the device. In all, though, if the support and longer term reliability turn out in my favor, it will have fulfilled every one of my needs... everything else that can be known now HAS fulfilled the needs and then some, so I unreservedly give it 5 stars and recommend it enthusiastically. Should anything happen in the course of using it that changes my mind (failures, or whatever), I will be back to revise my score.

Update: After having used this for a while, the security focus with this product is really outstanding. Synology has been sending security bulletins with a status for their progress on various known vulnerabilities, and updates are prompt and regular. The device can be finely configured to be potentially super-sensitive to blocking possible threats on your network or the outside. I actually had to back it off from this level a bit because its heuristics were flagging normal though probably poorly done software update as looking suspicious and therefore blocking the updates. These can be whitelisted, so it isn't catastrophic, but it does take time to figure out what triggered the block and whether you want it to be happening. You do get notifications that something tripped it along with packet dumps.