I’ve finally gotten around to replacing our router (around more than three weeks ago) with the N900 Central that WD and TBE has graciously lent me, and you can trust me when I say that it is surprisingly the easiest router transition that I have ever performed.
When the setup disc is ran, it asks you whether you want to setup a new router of replace one that is currently active. It was not detecting my connection until I disabled the firewall though so some people might be hitting that snag but right after that, you only need to tell it what name you want displayed and what password you want to put in to access it and pretty soon youll be browsing like nothing happened.
I was right when I said that the USB port behind the router wasn’t for transferring files, it is used to attach another external drive as a network storage but what I am not sure of is if it will allow the use of both the internal drive and the USB connected one. There is a management system on the dashboard but what is displayed on the user guide lets you choose which to make visible to network connected devices… or both at the same time I cant tell right now.
After the router is readied or even before you install it, you can put a host of WD programs to monitor and manage drives from the manufacturer that connect to your device and the network. It displays state and operating temperature at times which can be beneficial to those who delve on overclocking and such.
Amazingly enough, the Fastrack technology indeed provides a very nice streaming experience with minimal lag and near instantaneous jumps when scrubbing across the video timeline as if the file itself was native to the mobile device that youd be viewing content with. I tested both accessing through the explorer on a PC and through the WD 2GO app even downloaded one just to see how fast the data transfer is on both ways – its not USB 3 speeds but the throughput should be able to handle high bitrate videos just the same.
You could see it above being accessed through explorer on the PC and streaming video through an Android tablet.
There are plenty of options within the mobile app and it functions as a very nice cloud file explorer as well. There are a few issues like being able to upload from a pre-set folder as well as going through a maze to actually find the downloaded video which I think couldve been executed in a better way but who knows, maybe an update is right around the corner.
I’ve been operating with the N900 Central for about a month now and the convenience of having a network drive available provides a sense of security beyond conventional connected drives. The presence of a secondary frequency, as long as you have devices that can view and access it, appears minor but actually can be utilized to perform for specific data transfer to free up traffic for both web and network tasks.
The N900 Central is a little bigger than regular routers, understandably so because of the integrated drive; the profile isn’t imposing because it is flat but it will occupy a little bit of space because of its sprawling nature against upright models. As a router for the home there shouldnt be much anyone would be looking for beyond the capability of the N900 Central but this is not just a router – it is a network drive hiding in plain sight that has the capability of being accessible from anywhere with an internet connection if you have the proper code to pair with it and thus becomes a cloud. A truly remarkable feat considering alternatives occupy considerably greater space and much more electricity.
This particular model retails for about 9,790Php through the proper channels with a 2TB version at 11,690Php. Solid investments for SME’s looking to operate with a simple network solution that is sleek and unimposing. I’d definitely list one in if the setup requires it.
Here’s an unboxing for a more hands on perspective on the WD N900 Central:
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