Synology RT2600ac Wireless Mesh Router

An excellent wifi router, with the added bonus of the familiar Synology approach to device management and support. That includes comprehensive and easy-to-use configuration software, and the backing of a responsive, well-organised, well-informed and helpful support operation - an example that some of Synology's competitors would do well to follow!However, if you are considering, as I did, buying these devices to create a mesh network behind some other existing router (ie, you wish to run in these Synology units in Access Point mode), then THINK AGAIN:-THE MR2200ac WILL NOT CREATE A MESH NETWORK WHEN OPERATING IN ACCESS POINT MODE.I will return to this later.The first thing you will notice when commissioning these units is that they are painfully slow to boot, and it typically takes several minutes from power-on to full operation. If you have multiple units, the initial process of pairing them is simply agonising. Pairing cannot begin until both units have reached an operating state - say 10 minutes from cold boot. The the main unit must then "find" its subsidiary unit, and then send it configuration information, all over wifi. This again takes a considerable time, during which the internet connection is unavailable, and the less patient user is likely to have given up long before the process is complete. I don't doubt that this is Synology being thorough, but I can't help feeling that much time might be saved if initial pairing could be completed using a wired connection between the units. However, the pairing process explicitly requires wifi connection only - wired connection can only be made once pairing has been completed, which strikes me as silly, as well as wildly unintuitive even if it is common practice.I have already mentioned mesh networking. Remember that this device is advertised and sold as a mesh router, which to me seems to be only partly true. The main point of a mesh network is that on can have multiple router/access-points working together to provide seamless wifi coverage over an area that could not be covered by a single unit. The benefit of this to the user is that one can move around anywhere within the covered area, connecting invisibly and without interruption of communication to the unit providing the best signal at that particular moment. Switching between units should be instantaneous.After I had installed my Synology units in addition to (and not as a replacement for) my existing DrayTek router, I found that there could be a hiatus in communications of several seconds, occasionally tens of seconds, in switching between units. It was only when I eventually queried this with the Synology support department I was told that mesh communications is only available when the master unit is operating in full router mode, otherwise it is explicitly disabled! I remain more than a little annoyed about this, as I found no indication of it before purchase, and nor does it seem a remotely reasonable limitation on so pricey a piece of kit. I am an enthusiastic user of other Synology NAS devices, and so I had no qualms in purchasing these devices. However, had I known of the mesh limitations I would most certainly not have done so.

I was having many many problems with attacks and all devices in our house were targetted by idiots who hack/attack etc.This router has been a life saver.It logs EVERYTHING.You can set speeds for EVERYTHING running on all devices.Log every IP that has attempted to access our IP.I have ongoing complaint cases against quite a few Internet service providers companies now, which was possible because of the logs that this amazing router collects and saves.The range and speeds are superb.If you are more into what happens on the things that run and operate on devices, pc, tablets, phones etc, then this is the router to get.As a pc engineer, its the inner workings that I love about computers.And this router is for people like us, the people who want total control of EVERYTHING that is going on, in the foreground and more importantly, the background.It takes a day of 2 to get to grips with the workings of the router.But that's the enjoyable part of these beasts.But this router if you want to have full control of your internet - in and out speeds, in and out programs, and in and out logs of every last bloody thing that other routers won't even have the options to control.The logs have saved my life and I thought I was paranoid until I bought this router which proved time and time again that I wasn't.As an example, an IP address belonging to Linode, was attacking my IP over 900 times a day and because this router logs everything and produces reports and alerts for these type of things as well as a ton of other related options, I had the proof to show Linode that someone using their IP was doing outrageous attacks against my ip.

I have been fighting against Wi-Fi dead spots at home for a long time, and this is my first time victory.Previously I have been a long term Linksys user since the golden ages of WRT54GL. I have also used Linksys EA6700, and even flagship like the EA9500. I have also tried various Wi-Fi repeaters (range extenders) of various brands, but they all shared a common issue: any device in the area where signal strength is about the same from two signal sources (one router and one repeater, or two repeaters) would intermittently drop package because the device decides to switch signal source, even when it is not moving. This is a pain because it results in dropped video calls and stuttering live streams. The so-called "seamless roaming" is totally useless and cannot avoid periodical and temporary disconnections. The lesson learnt here is that only a single router without any additional add-ons like repeaters can be the most reliable, robust and consistent solution.When it comes down to fighting against the Wi-Fi dead spots at home, the options narrow down to a single router with the best 2.4GHz range. I have done my research online for many days, and eventually found a tech geek doing tests and reviews at smallnetbuilder. The measurement data seem legit to me from a prospective of engineering, at least not biased/subjective as other reviews with merely vague descriptions. It appears that by looking into the "Throughput vs Attenuation" charts, this Synology RT2600ac holds best against signal loss, i.e. it will penetrate most walls among all routers they tested. Further looking into their routing performance spreadsheets, I have noticed that this Synology RT2600ac has least number of retries for TCP and least number of lost packages for UDP under stress tests, and beats the flagships of other brands (e.g. Linksys, Netgear, ASUS, TP-Link etc) by several orders of magnitude.I decided to give it a try by myself and see whether it is really that good. As a long term user of Synology NAS, I like the consistent UI offered by this RT2600ac. The initial setup procedure has been very smooth and I updated the OS to SRM 1.1.4-6509 straight away. The result is very satisfying: I can confirm that the dead spots in my bedroom are now gone finally, and the signal strength bar has been obviously improved with stable connections compared against the bulky EA9500 with 8 antennas! It just proves that the measurement data from smallnetbuilder are telling some truth. My devices also no longer intermittently drop connections! I have tried to stress test with multiple computers downloading from the internet and at the same time uploading to my Synology NAS, and everything went smooth and stable! The router has been up and running for a week now and I have never had to restart anything.Pros:State-of-the-art hardware specs: 1.7GHz quad-core + 512MB RAMBest 2.4GHz range as of H1 2017Extremely stable connections without maintenanceSynology's SRM router OS with next generation UI and functionsVery fast and easy to set up out of the boxCons:Maybe a little bit pricy?

My experience with Synology RT2600ac WiFi Router, Sep - Oct 2019.I bought this to have better Networking & WiFi at home where I was using a Virgin SuperHub 3 and 100mbps fibre connection. The SH3 gave poor performance, and the widely documented path forward is to put it into Modem mode and buy a real WiFi Router.I first bought an ASUS AC88U which failed after two days and went back to Amazon. I bought the Synology RT2600ac about a week later after reading a lot more reviews. It was easy to install in a bedroom wardrobe and setup, very flexible. We got good speeds downstairs and upstairs with great coverage from the WiFi, enabling me to abandon my Powerline adaptors and local WiFi hotspots completely. Everyone happy. No more sluggish network, dropouts, intermittent freezes, bad coverage areas from the Virgin SH3.I updated the firmware and set it to auto update, which it did a few times over the next couple of days.The user interface is very clean, well designed, complete, easy to use and really helpful. I mean it gives clear guidance at each step instead of just a cryptic statement.I set everything up in two hours and it is all still fine three weeks later. Nothing changed on me, nothing unusual happened, updated itself fine.- No dropouts of any users / clients. Everyone reconnects when they get home without issues.- No internet disconnections, no WiFi fades.- Clean, correct, up to date Client list.- Clients are - iPads, iPhones, Macs, Epson printer, Android phones, Windows 10 PCs and Surface Gos, Ubuntu Laptop, Kindles, Raspberry Pi. All connected immediately and still are.Other reviewers said this router was worth the money and I fully agree. Everyone happy. Peace at last !!

Have you tried using range extenders to increase the coverage of your Wi-Fi network? Found they're not exactly seamless when handing over as you move around? Dropping out or being a bit flaky, or needing re-booting at inopportune moments? Me too...My Synology router is a great piece of gear with an excellent user interface. I've now added three MR2200ac access points to create a mesh network around my large property, and couldn't be happier with the set-up.Configuration is a piece of cake, using the excellent Synology app. It's genuinely plug and play. The option to use a dedicated wireless channel or ethernet cable for back-haul is excellent and reduces demand on your useable bandwidth considerably. Same SSID and password throughout the coverage area, of course - but the handover between access points is genuinely imperceptible. Now, instead of multiple networks with different SSIDs criss-crossing my property, there's a single, lightning-quick mesh network that just works marvellously!Make the switch to Synology and get full, easy control of your network! You'll be glad you did!*** If you've found this review useful, please hit the "Helpful" button. I neither receive nor accept any incentive or reward for commenting on products, so this is a genuinely independent perspective. Your appreciation is what makes writing reviews worthwhile 😊 ***