Zyxel NBG4615 Wireless N Gigabit NetUSB Router Ideal Home Wireless Router TexT // Muzaffar IsMaIl Most consumer level networking products oten lack exibility so i you’re getting a wireless-N router, that’s all you’ll usually get. Consumer networking products with more eatures are oten in the high-end spectrum and usually have too many unnecessary unctions that you know you’ll never use. Thankully, this month’s Zyxel NBG4615 Wireless N Gigabit NetUSB Router doesn’t all into this category as it not only oers wireless- N connectivity but also useul eatures or your home network. All white with a glossy surace fnish cover, the Zyxel NBG4615 is compact and space-saving. The design is inconspicuous and blends in with the background. Featuring two removable and adjustable antennas, it oers our Ethernet LAN ports and one WAN port or the connection to the ADSL modem. It has two switches, one to turn o wireless connections and one to turn the router o or on. On the side o the router there are two USB ports that you can use to connect and share either your USB printer or a USB external hard disk drive. Doing so oers immediate wireless connectivity or either device turning your USB external hard disk drive into a simple Network Attached Storage. Since the router uses both antenna, it oers ull edged wireless-N connectivity with speeds all the way up to the maximum 300Mbps. Setting-up the router is as simple as plug and play with an Easy mode that is very user-riendly. The Easy mode uses a lot o simple and easy to understand graphics, showing how the computers and devices in your network are setup along with various options below it. These options include the ability to activate wireless connectivity or gaming consoles, a content flter or parental control, bandwidth management and wireless security. I you’re a bit more tech savvy, the Expert mode oers access to all the nitty gritty details including a ull log o actions in the network along with other rather high-end eatures. Perormance is exceptional with the router recording a 1GB transer time o 3 minutes and 31 seconds at the nearest test location, a time o 2 minutes and 48 seconds 10 meters away and a time o 4 minutes and 23 seconds about 20 meters away. Network utilization and transer speeds were quite good and stable at the frst two locations but became a bit unstable on the third. The router managed an average top speed o 130Mbps at the frst two test sites but dropped down to 87Mbps at the third. This speed is still blazing ast despite this but it is clear that the device has a sweet spot about 10 meters away. at a glance WI-fI N/G/B BuTTons Wireless Switch, WPS (Push-Button Security), Power- Switch Max speed 300Mbps Vpn PPTP, IPSec, L2TP prICe RM289 Awesome home wireless-N network with great functions and features avb Physique: 8.5 Features: 8.5 PerFormance: 8.5 user Friendliness: 8.5 Value: 8.5 v e r d i c t s c o r e s a r e o u t o f 1 0 . 8 . 5 Vict: speCIfICaTIons neTWork sTandard IEEE802.11n, IEEE802.11g, IEEE802.11b // seCurITy WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA, WPA2 // porTs 4x RJ-45 Ethernet LAN, 1x RJ-45 WAN, 1x Power, 2x USB2 // feaTures 2x detacheable antenna, WPS, Easy and Expert mode, multiple SSID, NetUSB support, wireless scheduler // WarranTy 3-years // ConTaCTZyXEL Malaysia Sdn Bhd // Telephone (03) 7960 0088 // url www.zyxel.com The settings menu can be switched rom Easy mode to Expert mode The extra switch on the back allows you to quickly turn-o wireless connectivity The Zyxel NBG4615 Wireless N Gigabit NetUSB Router is one surprisingly ast and easy to use wireless-N router or the home. Perormance-wise , it delivers both in terms o speed as well as range while also oering great shared unctions that most home-owners would appreciate. The router’s Easy and Expert modes make it even better or home users, especially or those looking to manage multiple users at home. 152 h W m | april 2011 l a B T e s T C O M P U T E R S