- Up to 2.8X faster than N Technology
- New level of performance for reliability and coverage
- Compatible with 'N' & 'G' technology
- Dual-band for multiple device, multiple movie streaming
Can't Recommend
01/03/2016
This review is from: Belkin F9K1113 AC1200 Dual Band Wireless AC+ Gigabit Router
Pros:
Easy setup and configuration
Excellent Range
Excellent Speeds
Cons:
NO SSL Security on the web interface.
WPS Stays on even when switched off.
Overall Review:
I'm giving this router three stars for performance, but I'm knocking two stars off for security. Namely, there isn't any. You can't SSL secure the web interface of the router which means that it is wide open to basic attack types. In the age of Internet Of Things this is a pretty large omission.
I was also disappointed in the fact that upon accessing the router the web interface shows you the SSID as well as the first character of the WPA2 key. Even showing one character of the WPA2 key cuts down the time it takes to crack the password significantly.
I did like the fact that the router checks for a firmware update everytime you log into the interface. However this should really be something that the router is doing in the background at 2 or 3 in the morning by itself. I realize that you run the risk of bricking the device, however the risk of a security hole being exploited because of old software is just as large a problem. And let's face it, when was the last time your parents logged into their wireless router? Never. They had you set it up for them.
The good thing is that the performance of this device is really quite good. It throws signal all over my two story town house and it does a better job of getting signal to the garage which my previous router couldn't do. My speed stays up around 200 Mbps with only two bars of strength and the latency doesn't show a large jump.
I also liked the fact that the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands can be active at the same time. I have a bridge setup for my entertainment system on the first floor and my NAS and Plex server are on the first floor. I'm now able to use the 5Ghz range for these higher bandwidth streaming devices, and reserve the 2.4Ghz band for phones, laptops and tablets which are just consuming web traffic.
I'm not sure how much of this improvement is from the beam forming technology. When You reset this router from a full router to a simple wireless access point (which is how I used it for about 75% of the time) you lose many of the options available in the interface. To be honest I prefer this as I like using another dedicated device for firewall duties.
So let's put this in perspective. On one hand this router is fast, easy to setup, and it tries to do firmware updates for you. On the other hand it leaves the web interface open to man in the middle attacks and credential sniffing, and WPS stays on even after you've turned it off. I just can't recommend this router as WPS is a huge vulnerability and allowing continued authentication even when it is explicitly disabled is less than optimal.
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