Router Zyxel Keenetic Ultra: reviews of specialists

The company ZyXEL is one of the most recognizable brands on the Russian market of communication equipment. This corporation is known as a supplier of high-tech and productive routers, adapted to the deployment of Wi-Fi infrastructure in home and corporate networks. Among the most popular solutions from ZyXEL, used for such purposes, the Keenetic Ultra router. What are its main advantages? What are the features of the configuration of this device?

Basic information about the device

The ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router, which you can often hear about, is released by a Taiwanese corporation along with 2 other technological models of the Keenetic line - Keenetic II routers, as well as Keenetic Giga II. They are united by the presence in the hardware of the high-performance microcircuit Mediatek RT 6856. These routers are distinguished mainly by some parameters of the communication interfaces. It can be noted that each of them is equipped with 2 USB ports in version 2.0, which makes it possible to connect various additional devices to the routers. All three devices from ZyXEL provide stable operation of the home network, reliable, versatile.

It can be noted that after the launch of the device in question, its updated version has already come out - ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra 2. Reviews about it are also very positive. Further in the article we will study its main competitive advantages. For now, let's take a closer look at the features of such a device as the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router. Let's start by studying its appearance.

Appearance and design

Made a router of glossy plastic black. The device has rather small dimensions - 186 x 121 x 38 mm, although they are quite typical for home routers. Experts regard it as a very successful decision of the manufacturer placing the WPS button on the top of the case. By using it, you can quickly connect devices to the router through a wireless channel. If necessary, this button also allows you to disable Wi-Fi interfaces.

On the right side of the device case there are USB ports. As the experts note, the distance between them is quite large, which allows you to simultaneously connect to the router almost any USB-devices - they will not be in contact. In the back of the case there are other communication connectors - WAN, LAN, power connector, FN button, which is used to safely disconnect USB-flash drives, as well as a switch.

The antennas of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router are not removable. It can be noted that they have a power of 3 dBi and are classified as external omnidirectional.

In the front part of the case there are various indicators of the device functioning, which signal:

- about nutrition;

- the status of the connection;

- the status of wireless modules, as well as USB ports.

The indicators of the router are green. If any of the interfaces are active, they start flashing. How do experts evaluate the quality of the design and assembly of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router? Feedback on this aspect is very positive. The device is assembled qualitatively, the main elements of its control are placed quite conveniently. Let's consider now what hardware components the router includes, and also how the experts estimate the equipment of their devices.

Hardware Components

As we noted above, the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router is equipped with a high-performance Mediatek RT 6856. It can be noted that the corresponding chip was developed by Mediatek after merging with another well-known electronic component manufacturer Ralink Technology.

The processor, which includes the communication device under consideration, operates at a frequency of 700 MHz, supports the connection of USB ports, as well as PCIe buses, through which the wireless modules also installed in the device are operated. We are talking about the RT5392L radio blocks, which operates Wi-Fi connections in the 2.4 GHz band at a speed of 300 Mbit / s, and also RT3593L, which is responsible for data transmission in the 5 GHz band at a speed of 450 Mbit / s . It can be noted that the second module of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router (feedback from specialists about this option is the most positive) allows using 16 channels within the wireless infrastructure.

The device in question is equipped with flash memory with a capacity of 16 MB, as well as with a 256 MB RAM module, which, therefore, has a rather large resource, experts say. The network switch is operated by the RTL 8367RB chip, which supports the Jumbo Frames interfaces.

Thus, the device ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra (reviews of experts allow it to be attributed to one of the most competitive solutions in the segment) has a high-performance processor, is equipped with a sufficiently large amount of RAM, as well as efficient wireless interfaces.

Configuring the router using the web interface: nuances

It will be useful to study the tuning features of the device in question. It is implemented in the models of the ZyXEL Keenetic-Ultra II line (reviews of specialists in general characterize the relevant interfaces as very convenient and versatile) through a special configuration panel, which is used through the browser.

This web interface, it should be noted, can differ in appearance from the models of routers with the old firmware. In it, the main menu, in particular, is located at the bottom of the page. The main groups of settings are only indicated by icons, but they are not signed - though, you can use the tooltips. To navigate between different pages, you can use bookmarks located at the top of the browser window.

Configure the basic options of the router

The considered web interface ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra (reviews of experts regarding this feature are also positive) is characterized by the presence of a large number of functions, successfully complementing those that are directly related to the configuration of the router. Among them are the "System Monitor". With its help, you can see if everything is in order with the current connections, get acquainted with the status of the main router modules.

In order to configure the network connection settings, you must enter the Internet settings group. It is noteworthy that the firmware installed on the router allows you to set several connection profiles, and also to set priorities for each of them.

Connecting to the network using a device such as the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra Wi-Fi router (expert reviews on this feature are the most positive) can be carried out by means of the main demanded interfaces, such as PPPoE, PPTP, 3G or 4G, when connecting a modem supporting the transmission Data through the appropriate channels, to the USB port of the router.

It can be noted that the router supports the IPv6 protocol, the DDNS interface, and also allows you to create your own network routes. You can also use VPN clients - for example, when organizing a local network in the office.

The web interface of the device in question allows you to configure both wired ports, which makes it possible, for example, to use several WAN connections. Another remarkable option of the router is the ability to switch between different providers. In this case, this procedure can be carried out either manually or automatically - depending on the priorities set by the user.

In the web interface of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router, the local network configuration is performed in the "Home network" option group. Here you can set the router's IP address, DHCP server parameters, NAT interfaces, and ICMP Proxy. The wireless modules are also configured in a separate section of the web interface. In it you can set parameters such as:

- name of the network;

- mode of data transmission encryption;

- region;

- channel type;

- power of the wireless signal;

- WPS.

The interface can not select the channel width, but this is not critical, since the corresponding parameter, determined automatically, almost always allows the functionality of the network. If necessary, the user can create a wireless guest network operating in the 2.4 GHz band.

As with many other modern routers, the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra Wi-Fi router allows you to set the filter to the MAC addresses of the connected devices. In addition, if necessary, you can also use a firewall, also often used when configuring modern local area networks. So, you can create access rules for it, which will take into account the parameters of the ports, network addresses, protocols, directly the communication interface. You can configure access to network resources by applying a special redirection table.

If we talk about other noteworthy network options, which allows you to use the router ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra, then you can pay attention to services such as SkyDNS, as well as Yandex.DNS. By using them, the user can greatly enhance the protection of computers from malicious content downloaded from the Internet. Both services allow you to define a separate filtering level for each device.

Firmware

The next noteworthy group of options for the web interface of the router is the "Components". Here you can find out which version of the firmware is installed in the device, and if necessary, update it. In addition, the user can select only those program modules that are required for him to solve specific tasks - for example, to provide connection through 4G channels.

Once the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra router is configured , the user will be able to use all of the hardware features of the device that are available, based on its configuration. Among these are the ability to connect additional devices to the router via USB ports. Let's study the features of this option in more detail.

Connecting USB devices

The device is equipped with USB 2.0 ports that support the connection:

- External storage;

- 3G and 4G modems;

- printers.

A total of 2 free ports of the corresponding type are available on the router, but if necessary, you can also use the USB hub and thus increase the number of connectors.

Connecting drives

In terms of working with drives, the router supports devices with common file systems, such as FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, and HFS +, if a compatibility module with it is installed.

If necessary, you can configure access to local resources through the SMB protocol or FTP. The user has the ability to select a specific access policy to the corresponding resources. So, he can allow all interested users to connect to the media. Another option - if you enter a separate login and password, allow access to the ZyXEL Keenetic router. The reviews reflect the experts' positive opinion on this possibility. If you use the FTP-protocol, you can limit the access of third-party users to resources to the level of a certain directory.

Connecting modems to access the cellular network

Among the most notable features of the device is connection to modems that provide Internet access via 3G and 4G channels. The device supports the appropriate communication infrastructure, manufactured by most of the leading manufacturers of equipment. The router is able to organize data transfer using a cellular network with the support of NDIS technology, so that it is possible to achieve high speeds of file sharing.

In practice, as experts say, the data transfer rate using 3G or 4G modems when connected to the router is almost the same as when exchanging files from a computer with the appropriate type of mobile devices directly.

Connecting printers to the router

Another remarkable feature of the router is the ability to connect printers and then organize access to it through the network. In this case, it is supposed to use mainly Windows network software in order to configure this option. In this case, the user is able to grant appropriate access only to certain users.

Estimate the speed of the device

So, we looked at the main features of the device and studied the features of its configuration. How do users and experts evaluate the efficiency of the router in practice?

Speaking of wired USB interfaces, experts note, first of all, a high data transfer speed when using them. Which is quite logical - thanks to the support of the router technologies CIFC, as well as NTFS. Of course, the fact that the router is equipped with high-performance chips plays a role. If we talk about the speed of data transfer when connecting to the Internet using the PPPoE mode, as experts say, it is quite possible to reach a speed of 420 or even 450 Mb / s.

In comparison with the performance of other routers of the corresponding segment, the results of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra device, the experts' reviews confirm this, look more than competitive. In a number of interfaces, the data transfer speed of the router is limited, this is due to the need to ensure the stable operation of a number of key functions of the device. In particular, this feature characterizes the exchange of data between the router and disk drives. As a rule, the speed of writing files using the appropriate channels does not exceed 5 MB / sec.

Features of the device in the Ultra II version

At the beginning of the article, we noted that a newer version of the considered device, Ultra II, was introduced to the market. It will be useful to study also its main features. The main competitive advantages of the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra II modem are the experts' reviews:

- equipped with a high-performance processor with 2 cores;

- Availability of 256 MB RAM module;

- support for 8 Ethernet ports;

- compatibility with devices connected to the USB 3.0 port;

- Provision of data transmission with a speed of up to 1 Gbit / s;

- availability of the possibility to use the file server, torrent client;

- compatibility with Yandex.DNS protection algorithms, as well as SkyDNS;

- Ability to control the device using a mobile application.

Among other notable options for the Ultra II device from ZyXEL:

- Support for the file server;

- Compatibility with DLNA;

- UDP support;

- providing shared access to printers;

- Support for dynamic DNS.

The router provides routing speed for PPPoE data transfer up to 1800 Mbps, when using the PPTP standard - up to 800 Mbps. This allows you to use the device in order to ensure the operation of wireless infrastructure in networks with a sufficiently large load.

The modification of the modem from ZyXEL is adapted to the operation of TVs in IPTV standards, as well as Smart TV. How do experts evaluate the quality of the device such as the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra II router? The experts' comments on the capabilities of this device are positive, as in the case of the previous model. The device perfectly copes with the main tasks, it works stably and quickly. The device is convenient to use, as well as to configure it - both using traditional interfaces and using mobile applications.

What do they say about such a device as the ZyXEL Keenetic Ultra II router, expert reviews? It is a modernized version of the device in question, which, on the one hand, retained the support of its main technologies, on the other hand it supplemented the corresponding solutions with a number of modern options. The router in the Ultra II version implies achieving even more impressive performance indicators due to the processor with 2 cores, as well as supporting high-speed data exchange standards.