Why I replaced Google Wifi with Synology's mesh networking gear Router
reviews are normally about speeds and feeds. They generally answer
whether or not routers being reviewed are faster for Wi-Fi than other
routers, and what connections and protocols they offer. They are an
almost never-ending series of price/performance comparisons. CNET has an
excellent, in-depth review of the Synology RT2600ac which has had the
benefit of CNET Labs performance testing.WIFI GPS Router
This
review is not like that. This review is almost entirely subjective. In
it, I compare the marriage of the Synology RT2600ac and MR2200ac against
Google Wifi in my very challenging house. The Synology RT2600ac
is an AC2600 4x4 quad stream router. It's part of a router class that,
right now, includes fast -- but not the fastest -- Wi-Fi routers. When
CNET initially reviewed the RT2600ac, it was at the top of its game in
terms of speed. Even two years later, it consistently gets great marks
for its performance. There's a lot more to the RT2600ac, but we'll come
back to that later. The Synology MR2200ac is, to me, where the magic
is. The MR2200ac is a mesh router. You could just buy an MR2200ac and
use that as your only Wi-Fi router, but if you combine a few MR2200ac
devices with an RT2600ac, it can transform the Wi-Fi in your home or
office by creating a seamless, always-available mesh of solid Wi-Fi
coverage. This was also the promise of Google Wifi. You could (and
still can) buy a bunch of Google Wifi pucks or, as I did, a Google
Wifi-compatible Asus OnHub and then some Google Wifi pucks, and create a
mesh network as well.
|