Hey guys, it’s about time for another review of routers available in the market. That’s right, this time the router set in our sights would be the Synology AC1900 router!

Synology is a rather new player in the market in terms of routers, but the available features on the router itself makes users who already have Synology NAS-es(Network Attached Storage) just right at home.

Performance & Throughput
First things first, let us take a look at the throughput of the router with comparison to previous routers compared alright?

For those not good with graphs, speedtest figures are also above in table format. The results are the average of multiple speed tests done throughout the day itself.

As far as we can tell at least, we can tell that the Synology is capable of reaching  well over 900mbps reaching between 930-950mbps.

Wireless performance wise, the Synology AC1900 is supposed to be a grade better than the previously compared Netgear, having a 5.0Ghz link speed of up to 1300mbps, and 2.4Ghz link speed of up to 600mbps. Performance for wireless tests below for both 5.0Ghz and 2.4Ghz.

As seen above the Synology gave a slightly better output than the Netgear in terms of Wireless output, but that is not the main attraction of this router.

Features & Functionality
The main core of the router, the SRM(Synology Router Management) would not be a stranger to any users whom have used their line of NAS before, as it is very similar to their DSM(Diskstation Management) that they utilize for their NAS.

With SRM, they were not only able to include common features that most consumer routers in the market have right now, but they were able to improve on most, if not all of the basic router features(DDNS, Portforwarding, Firewall, Mac filtering etc).

Notable Features
Apart from the typical features available on home routers at the moment, Synology has brought security and management up a notch by providing certain features.

More about them below :

Schedule based Internet access(per device) *Parental Control*With the Parental Control feature, you are able to schedule explicitly which times of a day a particular device is granted internet access, or blocked.

You are also able to setup web filtering for undesirable content by selecting which category of content that you wish to block.

Because the Synology router can be managed remotely, a proper firewall & filtering rules would be required to secure your home router.

The SRM takes care of that by explicitly allowing you to block/deny access to the router remotely by setting up filters.

Example above, access to remotely access the router is only open/allowed for Singapore IP address lists.

If you’re still worried, auto block can also be setup to ban any particular IP address from accessing such that when the username/password is entered incorrectly a number of times, the IP will be blocked from accessing the router.

Email Alerts
It is simple to setup email alerts for your Synology router whenever there is an event, such as HDD failure, IP address blocked etc in case you’re worried about unauthorized access while you’re away as well.

Examples of some events whereby you can setup Email notification alerts is as follows:

With all that, I believe you would have nothing much left to worry about even when away!

Easy to setup VPN/USB HDD functions
For setting up of VPN/External storage functionalities, it is as simple as installing the packages, and then configuring any specific credentials as you wish.

For example, if I want to setup a VPN server, I would do the following:

Open Up Package Center, Click on Install on the VPN Server

Once VPN server has been installed, click on the Application from the App Window(Top left)

For Example, if I wish to create a PPTP server, I just proceed to PPTP tab, and check on Enable.

Once that is done, I can go to the Privilege under “Storage and Printer” to create accounts for VPN access.

External Storage
As for connecting External Storage, it’s simply as plugging your HDD into the USB port available, and then utilizing the “File Station” to navigate the folders. You can also install the Download Station available from the package center to manage and download files automatically.

The best part of all these is that the Synology Applications mean for their NAS-es like “DS File” and “DS Download” can also be used to access your external HDD files.

There is also a dedicated application for the Synology router, called the “DS Router” that allows you to remotely control the clients, restrict internet access manually or even to setup portforwarding and router settings remotely.

Conclusion
Overall the Synology router would be a good-to-have for any security conscious people, or for any concerned parents whom wish to have more control over individual devices within the network. If you wish to have a cheaper alternative than buying a NAS, Synology router is also a good product that would suit your needs as well.

Retailing $235 at the ViewQwest E-Store , the Synology router is the recommended router for people who wish to do more with their home routers and have more control over their networks.