[the latest communication equipment of Inoue Fanshu] I O data "WN-AG450DGR" ~ 5 GHz band 450Mbps/USB sharing / wireless LAN router on VPN server

　"WN-AG450DGR" is two compatible wireless LAN routers in 2.4GHz/5 GHz band launched by IOC data equipment in December 2011. A wireless LAN connection (5 GHz band) that supports up to 450 Mbps can be used as a multi-functional model for VPN servers in addition to sharing USB devices within the LAN.

　In addition to the wireless LAN function in the 2.4 GHz band and 5 GHz band, the WN-AG450DGR is equipped with four wired LAN ports that support 1Gbps and one WAN port. The maximum connection of 2.4GHz band is 300Mbps,5 GHz. The maximum connection is 450Mbps (when both are in double speed mode). The throughput of wireless LAN is 213 Mbps in the measured value.

　It features two USB 2.0 ports. For example, you can connect HDD for use as a NAS and connect a printer for use as a print server. USB devices not only support HDD and printers, but can also be remotely shared by PC in LAN.

　In addition, as a convenient feature, you can use the PPTP server (VPN server) and the free dynamic DNS service "iobb.net", turn off the lights and slow down the connection speed to save power "ECO mode", and the free special application "QR connection" that can easily connect Android and iOS terminals. In addition, it supports a service called "Family smile", which will pay but block access to malicious websites and can be set on the administration screen.

　This time there are two kinds of speed: the speed of LAN and the speed of Internet connection. The following is explained in order.

　First, install the shared folder as a network drive and measure the speed of LAN with "Crystal Disk Mark 3.0.1". The PC of the measurement source is Windows7Home Premium 32bit (Celeron M723), and the PC of the measurement object is Windows7Professional64bit (Pentium G620T) and Ubuntu11.10 32bit (Atom D2700). In addition, the speed of the FTP is measured using the vsftpd installed on the Ubuntu machine.

　The PC of the measured object is directly connected to the WN-AG450DGR with the wired LAN of 1Gbps. In addition to the wired LAN of 1Gbps, the measurement source PC also uses the wireless LAN extension "LAN-W450AN/U2" of logic technology to connect directly to WN-AG450DGR. The test environment is one of the studio apartments with a large number of IEEE802.11b/g/n users. Open the list from the network icon in the notification area to confirm that there are more than 5 users in 2.4 GHz band and 0 users in 5 GHz band. The security function of the wireless local area network uses WPA2-PSK.

　Measurements are made in "router mode" (when PPPoE connections are in use and when they are not in use) and "AP (access point) mode". In general, FTP tends to be the fastest without PPPoE connections (light load), but this is not always the case. In a wireless LAN, there are many situations where the speed is the same or higher than the wired LAN of 100 Mbps, with the fastest read being about 179.0 Mbps and the fastest write being about 184 Mbps (both when using the 5-GHz band wireless LAN in router mode). Read about 493 Mbps when wired, write about 635 Mbps is the fastest.

　The second is about the connection speed of the Internet. WN-AG450DGR is equipped with a feature called the NAT Accelerator to increase the speed of Internet connections. In order to investigate its effect, the speeds of turning on NAT accelerator and closing NAT accelerator were measured. The measurement uses the "speed test" of "price .com". The line is Fraser Light Nixter.

　According to the results of 5 experiments each, the uplink speed is increased by more than 10% when using NAT accelerator. Although the downlink speed has not changed much, it may be because the speed limit has been reached and the numerical difference is not seen. However, due to the large fluctuation of speed in the Internet connection, even if the speed improvement seen in the test results can always be obtained, the actual advantages may be within the range of error.

　WN-AG450DGR is equipped with two USB 2.0 ports. The USB port 2.0 is used to remotely share USB devices from PC connected to LAN, and to be used as NAS when connecting to HDD and as print server when connecting to printers. In addition, a wide variety of USB devices are available, such as scanners and Blu-ray drives, DVD drivers, mice, display adapters, digital tuners and USB memories.

　There is also a limitation that other USB devices cannot be connected in the case of HDD. WN-AG450DGR can be used as a NAS when connecting to HDD, but you cannot take advantage of both the remote shared NAS feature and other USB devices called "net.USB" features. However, only the printer is an exception, and even if you use the NAS feature, you can connect the printer as a print server at the same time using net.USB.

　Using net.USB requires the installation of the "net.USB client" (Windows XP/Vista/7, which supports Mac OS) available on the support website. Drivers are required for USB devices connected using net.USB as if they were connected to the USB port of the PC host. USB devices in use will be in a proprietary state and cannot be used from other PC.

　The speed of using the NAS feature is shown in the table below. In the case of HDD that supports USB 2.0 connections, the read speed is about 87 Mbps and the write speed is the fastest, about 107 Mbps (when 1Gbps wired LAN connections). In a wireless LAN connection, when using the speed doubling mode in the 5 GHz band, about 68 Mbps is read and 69 Mbps is written at the fastest speed.

　WN-AG450DGR is equipped with a PPTP server. The PPTP server is a VPN server that connects to the LAN at home or office over the Internet. Take out forgotten documents outside, or they can be used as a means of handing over documents. On Windows PC, in addition to the standard installation of the PPTP client, it can also be used from Android terminals and iOS terminals. The number of connections is 3 at the same time.

　The dynamic DNS service "iobb.net" is used free of charge, so even if you do not use a fixed IP address service, there is no need for additional investment, and you can use the PPTP server at any time at the same address (domain name). Of course, iobb.net is not a service specific to the PPTP server, so if you use port forwarding, the website and the FTP server can also run at the same address.

　For iOS and Android smartphones and tablet terminals with cameras, it's convenient to use the QR code on the sticker on the back of the body to enter SSID and the encryption key app "QR connection". Not only the SSID, but also the encryption key does not need to be entered manually.

　If used on iPod Touch, it takes some time to identify, but it is still easier to set than manual input. In addition, because what can be set using a QR connection is the SSID1 and encryption key set at the factory, it cannot be used if the name and encryption key of the SSID1 are changed.

　As a wireless LAN router corresponding to 450Mbps, WN-AG450DGR belongs to the category of backwardness. Although the speed is not the fastest, but from the point of view of the functions carried, it almost includes the functions carried by other companies' products. As a positive alpha, it carries the net.USB that I / O data devices are good at. If you compare the functions in the catalog, you can probably say that it is the first product to care about.

　Compared with functional enrichment, the management screen is simple and low-key. Compared with the management pictures of other companies' products, which are as careful as the commentary book and rich in language, it may find it a little difficult to solve. However, reducing the amount of information and pursuing simplicity is also one of the directions. No matter which side you aim for, you are looking forward to brushing your teeth again.

　What is a little more convenient is the QR connection. This is a smart application that is simple and easy to use wireless LAN routers from smartphones and tablet terminals. But wouldn't it be too much to look forward to simply designing the management screen and phones and tablets to be easy to use? Then, I think it would be convenient to have QR code generation to change SSID and encryption keys?