Looking for a new router and a new network hard drive?
If you're still using the router your ISP supplied with your internet connection. You might be missing out. Wi-Fi technology has improved significantly in the last year or so, and while your ISP's router may have made it to the basic 802.11n standard, the latest crop of advanced models have oodles of extras, from faster networking to sophisticated additional features.
The My Net N900 Central is at the top end of the router hierarchy. It doesn't yet have the latest 802.11ac standard. But it is dual-band, so it can operate two simultaneous networks on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. But what makes the My Net N900 Central special is its built-in 1 or 2TB Hard Drive, which gives you a great router with a Western Digital network Attached Storage in one neat box.
Physical attributes
National devices usually look bulky, and Western Digital models are often designed to stand upright, so they can be stored like a book on a bookshelf. The My Net N900 lies flat, lies flat, like most routers, and despite encasing a hard drive, it's no larger than other high-end routers we've reviewed previously.
It has a fan in the bottom to cool the mechanical hard drive within. We didn't hear it operating system during our tests, so it may only kick in when intensive drive activity is making the device heat up.
The aerials are built into the device. We've never been convinced that this is the best idea, since routers with external aerials often provide better reception, but in this case it didn't seem to negatively affect performance.
There are five Ethernet ports at the back of the router one for the internet connections and four Gigabit ports to share the network, if you want to connect devices with cables. If you have ADSL broadband with as standard phone connection, you'll need an Ethernet modem (available for around $30 ) to transfer the internet to it, although you won't need one if you are using cable broadband. There's also a USB port for plugging in extra storage or temporarily sharing another drive across network.
Setting Up
Setting up the device is very straight forward. Western Digital has developed an interface with the essential settings revealed on the top layer, WHICH MAKES IT VERY EASY TO USE. everything is broken down into simple steps, so you can work through and set up the essentials, such as your internet connection and Wi-Fi then move on to optional extras, such as storage.
The internal hard drive can be set up as a standard Windows shared drive, as a DLNA ot iTunes server to share media files, or as an FTP server. It's also very easy to access from the internet, making it feel like your own personal cloud storage service. If you set it up as a network share, the public folder immediately pops up in Windows Explorer's Network section, both as a hard drive you can access as if it were sitting in your computer and as a media streamer.
If you find something you can't do in the basic settings, click the Advanced Settings icon, which gives a broad range of further options. Optional functions, such as parental controls and setting up a guest network, can be done from here.
If you're still using the router your ISP supplied with your internet connection. You might be missing out. Wi-Fi technology has improved significantly in the last year or so, and while your ISP's router may have made it to the basic 802.11n standard, the latest crop of advanced models have oodles of extras, from faster networking to sophisticated additional features.
The My Net N900 Central is at the top end of the router hierarchy. It doesn't yet have the latest 802.11ac standard. But it is dual-band, so it can operate two simultaneous networks on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. But what makes the My Net N900 Central special is its built-in 1 or 2TB Hard Drive, which gives you a great router with a Western Digital network Attached Storage in one neat box.
Physical attributes
National devices usually look bulky, and Western Digital models are often designed to stand upright, so they can be stored like a book on a bookshelf. The My Net N900 lies flat, lies flat, like most routers, and despite encasing a hard drive, it's no larger than other high-end routers we've reviewed previously.
It has a fan in the bottom to cool the mechanical hard drive within. We didn't hear it operating system during our tests, so it may only kick in when intensive drive activity is making the device heat up.
The aerials are built into the device. We've never been convinced that this is the best idea, since routers with external aerials often provide better reception, but in this case it didn't seem to negatively affect performance.
There are five Ethernet ports at the back of the router one for the internet connections and four Gigabit ports to share the network, if you want to connect devices with cables. If you have ADSL broadband with as standard phone connection, you'll need an Ethernet modem (available for around $30 ) to transfer the internet to it, although you won't need one if you are using cable broadband. There's also a USB port for plugging in extra storage or temporarily sharing another drive across network.
Setting Up
Setting up the device is very straight forward. Western Digital has developed an interface with the essential settings revealed on the top layer, WHICH MAKES IT VERY EASY TO USE. everything is broken down into simple steps, so you can work through and set up the essentials, such as your internet connection and Wi-Fi then move on to optional extras, such as storage.
The internal hard drive can be set up as a standard Windows shared drive, as a DLNA ot iTunes server to share media files, or as an FTP server. It's also very easy to access from the internet, making it feel like your own personal cloud storage service. If you set it up as a network share, the public folder immediately pops up in Windows Explorer's Network section, both as a hard drive you can access as if it were sitting in your computer and as a media streamer.
If you find something you can't do in the basic settings, click the Advanced Settings icon, which gives a broad range of further options. Optional functions, such as parental controls and setting up a guest network, can be done from here.
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