Customer Reviews

AmbiCom WL300N-AR Wireless 802.11b/g/n 300 Mbps Cable/DSL Router

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First problem was my mistake. I was looking for a DSL modem/router combo and did not read the description well enough. However, I was able to easilly set it up as an access point and connect it to my current DSL Modem/Router combo. I turned off the wireless features from the old router and everything works fine for me in that regard.

300 Mbps? Not so sure about that. All of my current 802.11n wireless cards have the most recent firmware and drivers and the best I can get is 150 Mbps about a foot away from the router. Ten feet away, it drops off to about 135 Mbps and in the worst case scenario, its still better than my wireless G that I used to use. However, I bought this for the ability to stream multimedia throughout my house and my 802.11n equipped media extender is still connecting at less than desireable speeds.

Another issue that I had (and it was not mentioned in the documentation for the router OR the documentation for two of my HP laptops) is that YOU NEED to change your wireless security settings to WPA2. I was using WPA and could only connect at a max 54 Mbps. Apparently it is a problem with some routers and wireless cards that use the Ateros chipset. Neither HP, nor ambicom were able to resolve the issue and HP even sent a new WiFi card for my laptop thinking that would fix the problem. A bit of googling informed me about the slower speed issues and changing to WPA2 fixed the problem. HP support is now aware of the issue and has even thanked me for informing them of how I resolved the issue.

Is it better than what I had before? Yes. Is it as good as I expected? No, not yet. Hopefully a firmware update will resolve some of the speed issues and I'll be able to get the full 300Mbps (Yes, I have it set up to run "n" only and have no g devices on my network.)

AmbiCom WL300N-AR Wilress 802.11b/g/n 300 Mbps Cable/DSL Router
The setup required setting the user name and password used to access the ISP. I had a Microsoft MN-500 Wireless Router for many years, but a user lost wireless connectivity upstairs. It was only after replacing the MN-500 that the problem was the wireless radio was turned off on the user's wireless laptop. It was gratifying that the AmibiCom router has a longer range -- I can see more wireless routers around the neighborhood, and connectivity range has at least a distance of 60 feet (haven't tried going outside and seeing how far I could go without losing wireless connection). Before the range was 30 feet. The specs of supporting b/g/n is a good feature -- I only have b, but I can now upgrade. I liked the feature of not broadcasting the SSID so no one can see my SSID on their wireless machines. WEP was configured -- my machines wireless interface don't support WPA, etc.

non-brand products could be tricky but this one is a non-issue.
Just like brand products it uses the same manufacturers for chips, it just doesnt come in designer style package and catchy name.
AND it does more than branded product -- bridge (WDS) mode uses WPA/WPA2 encryption while branded products force you to use less secure connections.

Speed:
I have not speed rated it fully yet as the AP (the usual mode of operation, when people use it to use their wireless laptops, etc.)
I use it to "bridge" my video equipment, bluray, satelite, popcorn hour player, to my home network. In that setup it does exactly what is supposed to, streams 720p video files with ease. at about 8Mbps, at about 30 feet distance and I forced the router to transmit at only 75% strength and

Setup:
extensive, their setup wizard is very simple for beginners and the detailed/manual setup provides all options you can think of for virtual server, NAT, Firewall, etc.

GUI:
not an eye-candy but it does things very cleanly and fast. lets you save all the changes while you do them and then apply them all instead of rebooting the router after every single field change to save it.
Has a clean statistics page, but like all other is missing current bandwidth usage, so you dont know at what speed network is uploading or downloading -- still beats paying $140 for this one functionality in the belkin router.


Will test actual speed - router to laptop.

Current configuration: AP bridge - WDS or for you telecom gurus -- "wireless backhaul" -- what is does it provides a wireless "wire" from my distant equipment to my network

(bluray, popcornhour, sat recvr) --> Ambicom router ~~~~/802.11n WDS WPA2/~~~~ Ambicom router --> ethernet switch with all other network --> internet

Product is what it is. I didn't need buttons and bows. Just the basics to connect my desktop and lap top. I only have ONE of each and this fit the bill at a very reasonable price without having two or more new boxes on my desk.

Compre este router 2 anos atras y a sido el mejor que he probado hasta ahora,se lo recomiendo a cualquiera.

So far it's running ok with Windows machines...some of my ubuntu box is having issues connecting to it. I will do more troubleshooting later on..

thanks.