Synology RT2600AC Long Range Router Review

Synology RT2600AC router is a powerful and versatile router that is perfect for medium to large businesses. With its expandable memory and strong performance, the RT2600AC is a great choice for any business that needs a reliable router. Additionally, its simple user interface makes it easy for even the most novice users to navigate.

[lwptoc]

So what do you get when the world’s leading NAS manufacturer creates a wireless router? You get exactly what you would expect. A wireless router that functions like one of their award-winning NAS devices. You can use special Synology “packages” to add functionality to your wireless router and transform it into a media server, VPN server, or cloud server with the simple addition of a USB hard drive.

Design

The Synology RT2600AC design is sleek and practical not showy or garish. The rule of thumb when designing its matte-black lines was form follows function. The raised back and overly long rear legs is a design intended to promote good airflow. Good airflow keeps electronics cool and running smoothly. The tiny rubber feet in front and on the bottom of the rear legs keep it firmly in place on slippery surfaces.

The matte black finish won’t grab attention as much as the shiny surface found on some wireless routers but it won’t retain fingerprints either. Thankfully the RT2600AC hasn’t forgone the familiar array of blinking LED status lights for the single “glowing orb” many wireless router manufacturers are adopting as a cost-cutting measure.

The Synology RT2600AC router is a powerful and versatile router that is perfect for medium to large businesses. is not huge but it’s far from compact. It’s nearly a foot long, six inches deep, and 3 inches high not including the antennas. It can be wall-mounted but I would avoid that to maintain the good airflow the design permits when lying down.

Don’t be discouraged when you see the single USB 2.0 port in the back. You’ll find a USB 3.0 port complete with an eject button that displays the status of your USB hard drive tucked away on the left-hand side. The USB 2.0 port is best used for printers while the USB 3.0 port can be used for a USB stick or hard drive. There’s even an SD card slot in front that can be used for external storage. Not surprising when you consider this is a device created by a company that specializes in network-attached storage.

Synology RT2600AC Performance

In tests, straight-line WiFi speed was only slightly slower than the Netgear Nighthawk R7800 (X4S) and slightly better than the Linksys EA9500.

The signal strength of the RT2600 held up well when moving devices from 5 away to 30 feet away. Long-range performance is very comparable to the Netgear Nighthawk X4S due to the fact that the two share many identical internal components.

Features

The Synology RT2600AC router is a powerful and versatile router that is perfect for medium to large businesses. has all the bells and whistles you need in a high-end wireless router. The list includes MU-MIMO and Beamforming which both contribute to stronger, faster, and more stable connections to your wireless devices. Smart Connect allows for load balancing between wireless bands and prevents slower devices from slowing down your faster ones. A Hardware Acceleration Engine takes the load off the Dual-Core 1.7GHZ processor to maintain high throughput for high-definition video and games.

The RT2600 is a 4X4 router. That means it has 4 send antennas and 4 receive antennas. MU-MIMO allows these antennas to send and receive data to connected devices at the same time instead of waiting in sequence. This design allows for more connections at faster speeds.

In terms of WiFi speed, the theoretical maximums of this router are 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,733Gbps on the 5GHz band for a total of 2,533Mbps.

Extra Synology Goodies

Synology adds to the usual features you’re used to seeing on other wireless routers with its fantastic SRM OS and the use of Packages to expand the functionality of your router. The SRM OS is what you use to control and configure your Synology RT2600. It looks and feels more like a computer operating system than a wireless router’s web interface. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with computers should have no problem navigating their way through Control Panel, Package Center, Network Center, and WiFi Connect to do basic configurations.

More advanced functionality can be added to your wireless router with special Synology “packages” like Media Server, VPN Plus Server, Threat Protection Server, Download Station, and Cloud Server. Each of these packages deserves to be the topic of a separate review. Each comes with its own mobile app for your iOS or Android device. The best part is all this additional functionality can be added to your wireless router for free.

Synology RT2600AC – Video

Conclusion

The Synology RT2600AC is more than just a wireless router. It’s a new hobby! It can be transformed into multiple cool, new projects that enhance the functionality of your home network. It’s not cheap but if you’re looking for top performance, range, amazing flexibility, and want to get into more than just surfing and playing games the Synology RT2600 could be your favorite new device. It could have you well on your way to creating an Awesome Home Network.

Synology RT2600AC Alternatives

Sale

Synology RT2600AC IEEE 802.11ac Ethernet Wireless...

$171.58

Buy on Amazon

TRENDnet AC3000 Tri-Band Wireless Gigabit Dual-WAN...

$259.99

Buy on Amazon

Sale

ASUS AX6000 Dual Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router, 8...

$161.06

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2024-09-09 at 22:53 Affiliate links and Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Youtube