WD My Net AC1300 HD Dual-Band Router - Wireless AC, 1750 Mbps (450Mpbs + 1300Mpbs), 5 Gigabit Ports, 2x USB 2.0, Dual-Band 2.4GHz/5GHz (WDBWNJ0000NBL-HESN) WD My Net AC1300 HD Dual-Band Router - Wireless AC, 1750 Mbps (450Mpbs + 1300Mpbs), 5 Gigabit Ports, 2x USB 2.0, Dual-Band 2.4GHz/5GHz (WDBWNJ0000NBL-HESN)

Pros: Just wanted to say that I have enjoyed this product. Much more reliable than my old Cisco router

Cons: Non yet. Have to reboot every couple of weeks....but then again, it might just be my ISP

Pros: Set up was easy. The user interface for the router is very user friendly. I get better reception with this than with my old router. It's fast most of the time. (See Cons below)

Cons: About once or twice a week this wi-fi router just slows to a crawl. The only way to get it to work correctly again is to reboot it. So I have become much more of an expert on the user interface to this router than I ever wanted to be. There are no diagnostics available to figure out what might actually be slowing things down or causing a problem.

I bought a WD Elements 2D hard drive to use as external storage with this router. It doesn't work. The router can't recognize it. In fact, the router freezes when I plug in the hard drive. I wish I had read the other reviews here. No where in the documentation for the My Net AC1300 does it say that there are any restrictions on what external storage may be used. I called customer support. They said to reformat the hard drive and try again. So I did. And it worked for a few days. Then froze up again. How many times must a reformat a 2T drive?

Other Thoughts: Not ready for prime time!

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the My Net AC 1300, as this is not the typical experience with the product.
We always recommend ensuring that your router is up to date with the latest firmware, as this may easily resolve the issues you are experiencing. Assistance in how to update your routers firmware can be viewed on page 48 of the user manual provided by the following link.
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/UM/ENG/4779-705091.pdf#page=53
If you have already done so and are still experiencing these issues, in the interest of troubleshooting, you may want to reset the device back to factory default, as this will remove any residual configurations that may be causing conflicts within your network from an update that did not fully reset upon reboot of the unit.
To troubleshoot the WD Elements drive, which is supported for connection to the My Net Router line, it would be advisable to test the external drive for possible concerns.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/866
We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience directly, resulting in a positive resolution to your issue. You may contact us at 1 (855) 842-5370, or via our support website at http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en&ct=networking Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: works great out of the box, was easy to setup, im not a wiz when it comes to routers and had no problem. looks nice,seems to be alot you can do with this router as well,came with a disk that walks you right thrugh setup

Cons: cant say about yet

Other Thoughts: old router was dying,was time for an upgrade,chose this one becuse of tv and all other pcs on network,this thing is said to be able to handle many things at once, was a bit on the high price side, am also gona get a bridge

Pros: It works straight up and simple. The coverage is very solid and I get better reception than my old wireless N router even on the 2.4 N band. My house to make a long story short is not a network friendly environment, previously to get reception to all devices I had to use a range extender. Not anymore.

It is very very fast. Even on my devices still using N I saw speed jump from 20-24 Mbps wireless to stable 30 Mbps. The setup wizard is simple, easy to use, and has all the bells and whistles.

Cons: The documentation is lacking to say the least. The installation guide is literally just a bunch of pictures and the warranty predictably turns into a giant paper wall you could accidentally bury yourself in. It also reads like it was written in latin by someone who was very drunk. Go figure.

Remember to set your internet adapter to automatically detect settings before you try to start the setup process. I forgot to do it myself and ended up scratching my head like a goofus for a couple minutes before I remembered to do so.

One thing that bears repeating even though another user already mentioned it. If you want to set up storage for this router it will only work with Western Digital products. Fortunately I only buy WD hard drives etc so it doesn't effect me but it is still a con.

Lastly it also doesn't prompt you to create your own admin password during the setup process. This is sort of a minor gripe though but you really need to do it since the default one is rather predictable.

Oh and I actually had to pay money for it. It costs a lot yes, it is also the best wireless ac router on the market right now. I call that a fair trade, if you want in on new tech now be prepared to pay the price.

Other Thoughts: So while the documentation is atrocious once the setup is started by visiting 192.168.11.1 or http://wdrouter getting everything up and running is pretty darn easy and fast. It took me less than 15 minutes to get it out of the box, installed, configured, and verifying all devices in the house were up and running with stable signal.

The drawback right now is while you can get some great bridges to work with this device (such as the currently sold out on newegg WD bridge I am using) the AC network adapters all seem very very par. Until some better drivers and newer software comes out for the AC adapters this thing isn't going to hit it's full potential.

That said even if you just want to start preparing for the AC future and not go the full monty yet this is a great buy. Even for 2.4 N it's performance is superb and an improvement over older router models. You really can't go wrong here.

Western Digital does more than make great hard drives and EHD's it seems.

Pros: Never got to find out. DOA.

Cons: Item was DOA. Obviously came from the manufacturer that way, as the box and contents were in mint condition.
I don't know how much QA is going on at the manufacturer.

Other Thoughts: I saw these products in person at NY Comic Con, and at first was very skeptical. I saw a few good reviews and decided to give it a shot.
It looks sleek and supposedly the setup requires no thought whatsoever[which would not even bother me if it was, considering i'm a Network Engineer].
Plugged it in, powered it on, got a blinking blue power light. That's it.
I tried scanning the device from a wired computer, I even decoded the pictograms on the single foldup sheet of "instructions" and searched for a wireless device to configure it via wireless[which I've not encountered before], nothing. There seemed to be some traffic happening between the WAN port, but that was it.
There was nothing in the instructions about light statuses, diagnosing, nothing. The CD basically opens up your web browser to the default hostname on the product, but failed to connect[because its DOA], so that was a waste as there is no documentation on the CD either.
I am not saying it should program itself and cater to me, but for the price it should at least power on properly, or I should be given a set of instructions to help me troubleshoot the thing. Especially when I start finding out that it's actually one of the lowest throughput routers in regards to the AC signal{not that I plan on suing it at the moment].
I'm going to give it one RMA, and if it still doesn't work then I'll just settle for a cheap LinkSys and buy a nice bottle of scotch with the savings.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the My Net AC 1300, as this is not the typical experience with the product.
It is unfortunate that you received a device that was not in working condition. Western Digital does rigorously test and verify all of our routers are in good working condition prior to shipping. We stand behind our warranty for the duration of the products provided warranty period, and as such, we are here to support our products regardless of the circumstances. We would like to assure you that what you have experienced is extremely abnormal.
As a troubleshooting step, please perform a reset on the router via the reset button on the bottom of the device, to ensure that the unit is not hanging during its initial boot up.
Should the device need to be replaced under warranty, we will gladly replace it for you directly, at no further cost to you. Please contact us directly, so we can address your concerns, and provide a positive resolution to your experience, at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: While the Newegg free mailing took almost two weeks - killing me to wait - WD delivers in spades.

I read mixed reviews on some other sites, so I was a little apprehensive about buying this. I paired the router with the WD 1300ac Bridge and BLAM!!!

Setup took 2 minutes - for both router and bridge. As soon as I plugged the router in, Windows 7 popped a browser - updated firmware and configured - one minute is all it took.

I used the WPS push button on both the bridge and the router for instant setup - worked perfectly.

Cons: No mounting options. While this is a nice looking unit, it is designed to sit flat. I would have liked to mount it on a wall. Not a big deal, and I can figure out a work around, still I wish companies like WD would design a bit more flexibility into their products.

At this time, this is a bit expensive - $179 for the router and $99 for the Bridge. While reasonable when compared to other 802.11ac solutions, compared to 802.11n - this is very expensive.

Other Thoughts: I only tested the 802.11ac connection via internet speed test. Compared to my 7 year old Apple Airport Express and Trendnet 640 bridge, WD is twice as fast, and has much (MUCH) greater range. I will run some signal strength test later.

Meanwhile, I have the router and bridge 35' and one floor (plus two walls) apart. Great connection speeds.

Pros: -Ready for 1300mbps internet
-Extremely easy GUI
-Don't have to remember the IP. (Only have to type wdrouter instead of 192.168.6.1)
-FasTrack is pretty smooth
-Only WPA2-PSK passwords (It's the only setting for protection. Not bad, seeing how it's very difficult to crack.)

Cons: -If you're having internet connectivity problems because of your ISP, this thing WILL reset itself multiple times
-Lost the settings for networks three times
-Can't register it anymore

-It reset itself on me while trying to add a guest network for the first time. It forgot all networks, all settings, registration, ect.

-Programs for it are garbage, really
('MyNet View' only scans and just states the obvious like "You have an Anti-virus" or "Internet is down, try resetting the modem." Not helpful AT ALL.)

-CD given only goes to wdrouter
It doesn't include any software.

-WD support was really slow. (Took about a week and a half to get a reply from support. I'd hate to see this thing break, and going through WD's support for an RMA...)

-Cloud storage is only available if you have WD's "MyBook Live" cloud storage devices....I was under the impression any external HDD/ Flash drive would do, but no. Only those specific drives will work.

-Warranty paper was longer/ thicker/ more detailed than the instruction manual. (Those were the only two things that came with it.)
The warranty paper is so massive, it's like a map.
If you need help with it, again, good freak'in luck. With NO help from what comes in the box, if you're without internet you really are sčrewed.

-Instruction manual gives very simple instructions on first-time setup. It's barely 3 pages, with almost only pictures and a quick paragraph of text.

-No way of getting to PPPoE login unless you aren't connected to the internet. So if you're having Frequent Disconnect problems, it'll be rare to be on customer support with your ISP and have the PPPoE login page ready. (It would've helped with my ISP then, eliminating certain issues, although we dropped Verizon like a bad habit and switched to Comcast.)

-"Setup guest networks"
Even though I've set it up, the notification still hangs there in the GUI. Slightly aggravating. Just like the Registration notification.

-Apparently, just turning off the router will make it forget that it's registered

Other Thoughts: I initially bought this router since my ISP at the time was blaming the frequent disconnects on my old Linksys WRT54G.
Reading the reviews I was also under the impression any flash drive/ external hard drive would fit for the cloud storage.

Nope.
You need a special MyBook Live external hard drive for this.
Kinda a downside.. I was looking forward to this.

At the very least, this router is good to go for a good 5+ years. At most it can be the best router you've ever had.

I can't say much for when it comes to installation, seeing how my ISP was total garbage when I first got it.
I've spent literally HOURS with the GUI.

As you can tell I really only have negative things to say about it; Although this is coming from bad luck and bad timing combined into one. Not much of the router's/ WD's fault for that.

The only reason why I'm taking an egg off is because of the total lack of support from WD.
They told me in response to the router resetting itself multiple times and not being able to register it again:
"The product is already registered according to the system information. You can just ignore the option to register because every time you reset the unit it will ask you for that."

They completely skipped the whole part of it resetting itself and forgetting the settings.
(Although the pop-up for registering is small, it gets annoying to hop into the GUI and have 4+ notifications, one being the registration, one being about setting up guest networks (even though I've already done this), one being about changing account password (you'll be logging in SO frequently it'd be stupid to change it.), and one possibly being about no internet connection...if you're unlucky like me.)

In the few weeks I've had this, I've changed ISPs and everything is now running fine.

Pros: This is the first non- hard drive product I’ve had from Western Digital and it’s a router with the new 802.11 standard: AC. The router is capable of ridiculous speed. You will be hard pressed to max this router out with an Internet connection in the US. It’s rated at 1300Mbps via 802.11AC and 450Mbps via 802.11n. It is a dual band router, so you can increase the overall network bandwidth by using both. While it can do 1300Mbps, that’s the theoretical speed. Realistic is always lower. Look more at 1000Mbps for a realistic speed. Still, that is 50x the American house hold Internet speed. This is a very good router for HD streaming. Netflix was easily run using it. The two USB connections along with the new 802.11AC make it one of the better media streaming routers on the market. Another feature I love is the signal strength. I have several other routers from different price points and even my $120 router isn’t comparable to its strength. I have a full signal throughout my house. If you’re looking for a router to use at the base of your home network, but don’t want to use the wifi, it has gigabit Ethernet. This is truly a future proofed router for most of us. The router itself is also fairly stylish, but not in your face. It’s very subtle with style. Now for the software, I found it very user friendly. I, myself am in the IT world, so as long as it’s usable I can use it, but with this router it is one of the more user friendly interfaces I’ve seen. Updating the firmware was very easy (I recommend updating using a wired connection), as well as registering the router. Didn’t have to look under the router for the serial number or anything, which is a huge plus. I tried stressing this router as much as I could since I’ve had it. I’ve done Netflix, gamed, transferred large files, and nothing phased it. Overall, this router has been amazing and great. One of the, no, the best home router I’ve ever used. It is certainly amazing for home media purposes.

Cons: Now, this is an amazing router, but it has faults. Such as, it does cost quite a bit, but you are also getting a lot, so not a huge negative. There is no external antenna option, so for anyone looking to upgrading the antenna is basically out of luck. Not sure if it’s possible if you removed the casing and modded it, but for most people, you cannot upgrade the antenna, however it is one of the better ones I’ve seen. Another down side to this router, is it is fairly large. It’s not fat, but it’s certainly wide for a router. So perhaps look at the measurements if you have a confined area for your router. Additionally, there are no mounting holes on the back. So the router isn’t very flexible when it comes to home placement. Lastly, the indicator lights are not really standard. I’ve yet to see them be anything other than blue, so troubleshooting takes a bit more reading it. No real negatives when it comes to performance, but the router has minor flaws worth noting.

Other Thoughts: Overall, I’m hard pressed finding a better router, especially one centered on media. You get the blazing fast theoretical 1300Mbps, with an additional 450Mbps for the second band. The signal strength is the best I’ve seen for a stock home router. The interface was very easy to use.
A side note, to get the 1300Mbps speed, you will need a 802.11AC adapter for your device.
Also, I do not believe there is aftermarket firmware supported, so for professionals/tweakers this may not be your router. However, this is an amazing home router for most consumers. I cannot tell you how many other routers I’ve gone through and how much better this signal is.

Pros: Great packaging, nice box, and super easy setup. Easiest router I've ever used. Very sleek user interface, easy to find anything one could possibly need for configuration of a router (from the simple stuff to the advanced).

More bells and whistles and features and options are on this router than any other I've ever seen, including the new AC features for some of the more "advanced" WiFi features that will become more readily available as time goes on. The auto settings did just fine for my purposes, but testing and changing things is always satisfactory for advanced users so I was pleased with those as well.

Cons: The signal strengths seemed to dip in comparison to some of my cheaper routers. Where I might have 5 full bars with a cheap router of another brand, I only had 4 with this. However, I didn't notice any different ranges between the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz bands (as mentioned by a previous reviewer), but I still had to knock a bar for the loss of signal. With a higher priced router such as this you would think "WiFi range" would be the least of your problems.

Other Thoughts: This is my first experience with a Western Digital router (though I'm a long time fan of their other hardware) and I have to say I was impressed.

Pros: I tested the Western Digital "My Net AC1300" dual-band router. I went by the NewEgg item SKU number (N82E16833146008), which describes it incorrectly as an AC1750 model router. hopefully somebody at NewEgg can fix this.

First off this router true to its word, is very easy to setup. Probably the easiest router I have ever tested to setup. I inserted the WD setup CD into my DVD drive (and as long as you have auto-play turned on) the rest is an easy 3-step setup process. This router has a smart feature, in that once its connected to the Internet, it phones home to a server at WD and automatically checks to make sure it has the latest firmware installed. The review unit I received, did not need its firmware updated. This gets around one of the biggest hassles most new non-technnical router buyers are going to face, especially if you are not a geek. There is nothing worse than having to fight with a new router that has buggy firmware that causes it to crash. This router was very stable for a new model from a hard drive company I might add. Note: Firmware is the internal software that controls the router.

The WIFI users in my home office reported getting a better signal from this router than my trusty test standard Linksys WRT54GL model. The WIFI-N probably made the difference here. Link speeds were not as fast as with other similar dual-band routers that I have tested. But they were more stable. They did not drift in and out.

This router passed my VPN test with flying colors. It was better than my Linksys test unit in this regard. My VPN software will chirp whenever it has to reset its remote connection. I did not hear any chirps with the WD router during my many hours on the VPN connection. I plan to keep on using this router.

I found the internal menu pages were fairly quick to load and save out settings. So the unit was fairly responsive to user input. The gigabit built-in network switch is a big plus, provided you have the CAT-6 cabling in your home, or business to take full advantage of it. Overall a very solid router offering from WD.

The router also includes a new feature called AC, which is supposed to provide better media streaming and faster link speeds. It also supports QoS, or Quality of Service. This feature has been offered in Windows Pro versions for years. Basically what it does is give preference to services like: streaming video (NetFlix), online games and telephone voice calls (VoIP) Skype, Etc., that are made through the router. people who are just surfing may notice slower page loads when other users in the home are using one of these streaming services. This beats having your online videos suddenly stall at a critical plot point

Cons: WIFI reception in my attached garage shop (a tough area) was very good on the low-band (4 out of 5 bars) and only fair (1-2 bars) on the 5 GHz high-band. I thought for the price of this router it should have performed better on the high-band. This is where externally mounted antennas might have made a difference. I have never been a big fan of internal router antennas. With external antennas you can unscrew them and install all sorts of high-gain, directional antennas, boosters and extension cables that allow you to relocate the antennas higher up, which makes those units more flexible in difficult WIFI areas. No mounting holes, so forget about wall mounting this unit.

The built-in help was almost non-existent in this router. I had to Google new features that I was not familiar with. The only instructions included with the unit was a quick setup sheet. The downloaded user manual was very graphical, but not very detailed. I did not see a user manual on the provided CD. I see a potential Catch-22 situation here, if you can't get online to download the full user manual. . .

The WPS button was rather small and dim.

Other Thoughts: I had no problem inserting an 8GB USB flash drive into one of the two shareable USB slots and sharing some music files on my network. If you name your home or office workgroup something other than the default "workgroup" and you run Windows XP on some of your PC's, they may take longer to discover the AC1300 on your network. My Windows 7 computers had no problem finding its shares on my home's peer-to-peer network. I wish WD would add the ability to edit the workgroup name inside the router. I still prefer my XP PC.

WD being best known for their hard drives, should provide a SATA socket in the side of the router that you can slide a 1TB 2.5" notebook drive into. This could act like a Mac Airport (TM) device and make a good place to backup your computers to. They obviously have lots of external drives that you can plug into the USB ports. Hopefully there is enough current available to power an external USB notebook hard drive. I have not tried this yet. I also did not try connecting a shared printer to one of the two ports.

If WD dropped the price of this router to the $99 dollar range I could highly recommend it, but for $190, I would have to say no, not unless they throw in a nice hard drive. There are better units out there in that price range with more WIFI punch. With very few notebooks and tablets for that matter supporting WIFI-A, it will be years until most users could even realize the higher speed benefits of this dual-band router.

On the other hand if you don't care about cost and want a very stable and hopefully reliable router, that is easy to setup, this would be an excellent candidate.