Ratings: 5/5
Price: US$ 300
Website: www.dabs.com
Draytek’s Vigor 2850n is the first route we have seen
supporting the VDSL2 standard which is necessary for high-speed copper
connections as BT Infinity. It also supports ADSL2+ and its fourth Gigabit
Ethernet port can be as a WAN port to connect with another modem or router. You
can attach a dongle modem 3G with USB port to provide the third optional
internet.
Vigor 2850n
Utility of Vigor 2850n including preinstalled configuration
has menu quick-start, but in fact this is router for users who have more
experience like IT technicians or home users; they need the network that is
greater flexibility provided by ISP’s router. The configuration menus are
clear, not disordered, and easy to navigate but lack explanation or advices.
Firstly, we used Centrino 2 laptop on the 2.4GHz band to
check the router and achieved data rates of 42.8Mbit/s at a distance of 1
meter, 34.3bit/s at 10 meters, and 12.8Mbit/s at 25 meters. They are not fast
speed but over the average. Then we switched to on 5GHz band that is less
crowded and allowed channel bonding. The speed increases considerable up to
59.9Mbit/s at 1 meter, 61.5Mbit/s at 10 meters, and 31.9Mbit/s at 25 meters. The
speed on 5GHz band at a distance of 1 meter and 10 meters are beaten by
Belkin’s N600 DB but the speed at 25 meters is the best that we used to achieve
at Centrino 2 laptop.
When we turned off the laptop’s preinstalled Wi-Fi adapter and
plugged Draytek’s Vigor N65 Wi-Fi adaptor in, we can gain exceptionally good
results. We saw that the speed of 68.1Mbit/s at 1 meter, 59.9Mbit/s at 10 meters,
and 8.6Mbit/s at 25 meters on 2.4GHz band. When we turned into 5GHz network and
enabled channel bonding, we achieved the speed of 119.8Mbit/s at 1 meter,
101Mbit/s at 10 meters, and 30.3Mbit/s at 25 meters which are the best speed
we’ve meet.
The bother is Vigor 2850 cannot develop on 2.5GHz band and
5GHz band simultaneously – if you have the only 2.4GHz device, you must turn
off the 5GHz mode to get them online. It makes up with the impressive features
as its web portal option. This let you redirect users to a special URL when
they log in the router in the first time. It also has a web content filter,
which prevents users from accessing the special URL.
If you don’t use USB port to for internet access, you can
attach a USB flash drive, hard drive, or printer with Vigor 2850n to share via
network. Draytek provides some excellent directions to add the USB printer for
your network; we quickly configured a color laser printer. If you attach a USB
flash drive, any connected PC can be used as a networked storage. You can even
create the special users and accept them specific access rights to the storage.
The Vigor 2850n only recognizes drives formatted with a FAT32 and FAT16 file
system.
If you find the options on present router are limited, or if
you need a high-quality router with a range of WAN connection, you will need
Vigor 2850n. It connects with many internet sources and seriously fast. It is
not as user-friendly as Fritz!Box WLAN 7390 of AVM, but it is a powerful item
that deserves its Business Buy.
Conclusion
Verdict: A perfect, fast, and useful modem
VDSL2 for office environment.
Modem router PADSL/3G wireless. 802.11n 2
bands (300Mbit/s), four 10/100/1000Mbit/s LAN port, two WAN (ADSL/VDSL/3G
modem) port, UPnP, QoS, 44x165x241, guarantee in 2 years.
Power consumption on: 7W
