There was a time when a wireless router did little more than, well, route. It took bits from the airwaves and put them on a wire, destined for the Internet or perhaps the local network. As the technology matured, product designers started adding things. At first, it was software like firewalls, quality of service controls, and port tunneling and forwarding controls. Then came the advanced things such as VPN and jffs-based file storage – sufficient for a small, static HTML site stored on a cordoned-off part of the router’s unused flash ROM. Then came the hardware changes, most relevant to this review being the advent of USB ports. This opened a whole new world of possibilities, generally USB Mass Storage devices and printers.
Then Western Digital joined the fray. It added a hard drive to the router.
Thus, we have the My Net N900 Central, a 450Mbps x2 high-end wireless router ready act not only as a shuffler of bits, but also as a storer of bits; a router and simple NAS all in one compact device.
Thanks to Western Digital for the review unit!
Features
- 802.11a/b/g/n support on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, up to 450 Mbps each band
- 2 TB hard drive with FTP, SMB, and AFP access and remote backup software
- Four gigabit Ethernet ports
- One USB 2.0 port
- WD 2go remote access via web or mobile apps
- Two guest networks (one each band)
- Push-button WiFi Protected Setup
- IPv6 support
- Internal antennae
Packaging
The My Net N900 Central comes in a primarily yellow and orange box with a black header for its top quarter. The router is depicted on the front, along with many of the capabilities of the router in icon form. Most importantly is the speech balloon: “I have storage inside.” This separates this unit from just about every other unit on the market and does so in a way that is immediately visible.
The rear of the box describes the FasTrack QoS system and the automatic wireless backup. It also shows a comparison of the other routers in the MyNet series, in case a router with a 2 TB hard drive inside isn’t the right product for the potential purchaser.
Inside the box is the router, a quickstart guide with a CD for Windows users, an Ethernet cable, and a power cable. It’s a very low-packaging product, relying on thick cardboard for padding.
For a full unboxing of the My Net N900 Central check out our video below.
