The Cudy AC1200 Gigabit WiFi Mesh router is one of the devices of the Chinese manufacturer that is very popular: it fits in a small space, does not consume a lot of electricity, and its capabilities are more than enough to serve all the gadgets in a family. In addition, it is also cheap, you can buy it at a recommended price of HUF 9,000. It hides in the corner, and once you set it up, there’s a good chance you won’t have to deal with it again. The exact model name of the router is WR1300, it is the larger member of a two-member family. Another member of the family is the WR1200, which was equipped with 100 Mbps Ethernet connectors instead of gigabit, and also received less memory.
Outside
The router came in a white box of average size and shape. It has four antennas, two of which are located on the side and two on the back – all of them participate in the communication of the dual-band WiFi network. In addition to the antennas, there are four gigabit Ethernet ports on the back panel, and there is also a gigabit WAN port as the fifth connection. The modem and the router provided by the Internet service provider must be connected to the latter, so you get two separate networks equipped with a DHCP server.
“Reset” and “WPS” buttons have also been added to Cudy’s router, should they be needed. The front panel is a bit like a Christmas tree: there are a lot of indicator LEDs, but fortunately all light sources indicate with green, dim light. The small lights show the status of the LAN1-4, WAN connectors, as well as whether the router itself, the WPS function, the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks are on. The router has an external power supply, which of course is part of the package – and the box even includes an Ethernet cable.
During use
The router is capable of a speed of 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz frequency, and it can theoretically reach 867 Mbps almost three times that on the 5 GHz frequency. If we add the two together, we get the theoretical maximum speed of 1167 Mbps – that is, almost 1200 Mbps, which value is also included in the model number. The two bands can be used together, but the gigabit speed doesn’t match either way: we measured a speed of 690 Mbps on 5 GHz under optimal conditions, and 230 Mbps on 2.4 GHz. In an average apartment, however, in practice, half of this applies if the connected device is in the same room, and only a third if it is in another room. Of course, this is also enough for many things, if you can distribute the connected devices on the 2.4 and 5 GHz network, then the router can serve a family of four even if everyone wants to watch a movie via a streaming service provider at the same time. The signal strength and speed are also affected by the position of the antennas; that is why it is useful that all four antennas, which otherwise provide 5 dBi gain, can be rotated.
The easiest way to put the router into operation is to connect to the WiFi network it creates – or of course it also works if a wired connection is established with, say, a notebook or PC. The data required for connection (SSID and password) are printed on a sticker on the bottom of the router. The management interface can be accessed at the address 192.168.10.1, and the default password is “admin” – although the interface does not specifically call attention to this, it is definitely worth changing the password with security in mind! During the first use, a wizard appears, with which you can select the operating mode, as well as set a name and password for the 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi networks. The router can be used in several roles:
• As a WiFi router,
• As a WiFi repeater,
• As a WiFi access point,
• WISP routerként.
The basic difference between repeater and WISP mode is that in the latter case the router creates a second network, while as a repeater it only extends the signal – WISP can therefore be interpreted as the wireless equivalent of WAN. In addition to the above, it is also possible that if there is another product at home that supports the creation of a Cudy Mesh network, then the WR1300 should also be part of it.
After closing the wizard, the router can be used immediately, but it is worth waiting a little longer for the extra options. The list of basic services is almost complete; the DHCP server includes, for example, an address reservation option, and there is MAC filtering, port forwarding, and you can also set your own DNS if you want. WiFi encryption is WPA2-PSK by default, and given the price range of the router, it is not so surprising that there is no WPA3 option. To increase security, it is worth turning off UPnP and WPS, and it is advisable to create a guest network for smart gadgets and guests. The built-in VPN client function allows you to connect to a VPN service with the router, and with the help of DDNS you can have a web address through which the router can always be reached via the Internet.
In addition, it is worth highlighting that the 128 MB of RAM and 16 MB of internal storage space provide enough reserve to install open source software, OpenWRT, instead of the factory one, which Cudy not only allows, but also actively supports with the information on its website.
We borrowed the Cudy WR1300 from Hama for the duration of the test. Recommended end user price approx. HUF 9 thousand.
Source: geeks.hu
