Synology moves from network drives to wireless routers

When it comes to networking, you may not have heard of Synology, but there’s a good chance a geek friend of yours has, and if you need a new router, a company known for its high-end network drives is coming to show how routers can be done.

From network drives to routers seems to be the path Synology is taking, and this week, the company is revealing something made for homes and offices where network activity is a big deal.

The router is simply called the “Synology Router RT1900ac”, and it’s the first time we’ve seen a router from the company, which probably explains that “Synology Router” name plain and simple.

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Still, the first router from the brand will sport all sorts of useful learnings from Sinology’s past, including the specialised operating system that is normally run on the network drives, turning the normally flat browser-based interface of routers and network drives into something closer to Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.

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Essentially, this provides a familiar interface for getting around the settings of the router, providing access to bandwidth controls, download amounts, filter controls, and much more in a style that won’t need you to reach too far for a manual since it closely resembles an operating system, albeit one that loads inside of a web browser.

Because Synology is relying on this operating system, extra software can be added, turning the router into a media server if a USB drive or memory card is attached, as both can be with the ports found on the router.

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In fact, ports on Synology’s RT1900ac include four Gigabit Ethernet ports, one USB 3.0 port, and one SDXC card slot, making it ideal for several wired devices found around the home, as well as when you want to share images from a digital camera via the SD card slot.

Inside the router, Synology is relying on a dual-core 1GHz processor, and has bundled in support for 3G and 4G modems over the USB port, making it possible to rely on a mobile connection if your home broadband ever goes down.

Oh, and there’s that whole wireless thing, which connects on the high-speed 802.11ac technology, but will support older standards, like the more commonly found 802.11n.

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“Router is a critical element for any modern network, and yet it remains often complicated to use,” said Derren Lu, CEO of Synology.

“By leveraging our expertise in network-attached storage and maximizing user experience, Synology aims at providing a pleasant, efficient and advanced solution to enthusiastic and professional users.”

Pricing on the Synology Router is set to $199 with availability of the router set to come in from next week, though it won’t be with a modem inside the router.

In fact, Synology told GadgetGuy this week that it doesn’t have any plans for a modem router at this stage. Rather, a representative for the company said that it prefers “to create a dedicated router first that can seamlessly connect our NAS and other devices in homes and offices, and powerful enough for video streaming, online gaming, etc”, suggesting that a combined modem router with this technology would have a very high price tag.

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That suggests the modem router would approach the sort of pricing currently achieved by some of the other high end modem routers out there, which we’re not sure Synology is game to do, at least for its first attempt at the router space.

Regardless, you’ll find this one in select stockists soon across Australia.