Synology RT6600ax Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router

There are routers, and there are Synology routers. Dont be put off by the iffy design or plain brown cardboard packaging, here what's on the inside counts. Synology routers are the real deal when it comes to performance, flexibility, and security. I bought this as an upgrade from the brilliant Synology RT2600AC, which incidentally runs identical software through regular updates over the last 4 years. Moving to a larger house exposed the limits of the older model so an upgrade was on the cards. I considered several options, including a mesh system, which incidentally is still not ruled out with multiple Synology routers, but choosing the RT6600AX is proving that it is more than adequate on its own. The WiFi seems to be more consistent around the house with this unit, ... MoreThere are routers, and there are Synology routers. Dont be put off by the iffy design or plain brown cardboard packaging, here what's on the inside counts. Synology routers are the real deal when it comes to performance, flexibility, and security. I bought this as an upgrade from the brilliant Synology RT2600AC, which incidentally runs identical software through regular updates over the last 4 years. Moving to a larger house exposed the limits of the older model so an upgrade was on the cards. I considered several options, including a mesh system, which incidentally is still not ruled out with multiple Synology routers, but choosing the RT6600AX is proving that it is more than adequate on its own. The WiFi seems to be more consistent around the house with this unit, and client devices are holding to the 5MHz bands over a wider area. I've set up two additional networks to the primary and guest for work and iot equipment, network separation provides better security for the primary network that you can access the router from. The security settings for this router take a while to get to grips with and have many components. Background security updates can be automatically applied with no licensing fees required. Synology routers have become easier for novices to get online, but the real value in these routers takes patience to master. The web interface called SRM is accessible via secure login from any browser. You can also make the router accessible from the internet. An excellent online context-sensitive help system is available within SRM and also makes a good tutorial. There are also more limited but convenient phone apps both to access the router and your files stored on an optional attached USB hard drive. Highly recommended, just be prepared to put in some homework if you want to get the most from it.

Amazing software, WiFi performance acceptable

I'm coming from a Netgear Nighthawk RAX120 which had amazing wireless performance, but very lackluster software capabilities. Hands down, the Synology software is the best available in any consumer router. I didn't want the complexity of more prosumer or entry level professional gear, but I did want VLAN support as well as more advanced capabilities like a flexible built-in VPN. This router delivers very well in that regard. My disappointment is the range and speeds as compared to my old Netgear. The speeds of the Synology are a bit slower and the range just isn't quite as good as the Netgear. I've disabled Smart Connect so I can control which network I'm connected to, and have tuned the wireless channel and have decent performance, but not quite the powerhouse I ... MoreI'm coming from a Netgear Nighthawk RAX120 which had amazing wireless performance, but very lackluster software capabilities. Hands down, the Synology software is the best available in any consumer router. I didn't want the complexity of more prosumer or entry level professional gear, but I did want VLAN support as well as more advanced capabilities like a flexible built-in VPN. This router delivers very well in that regard. My disappointment is the range and speeds as compared to my old Netgear. The speeds of the Synology are a bit slower and the range just isn't quite as good as the Netgear. I've disabled Smart Connect so I can control which network I'm connected to, and have tuned the wireless channel and have decent performance, but not quite the powerhouse I hoped for. In the corners of my house that are furthest diagonally away from where the router is located I sometimes get dropouts which shouldn't be happening as I have a fairly small 1300 sq ft house. I never had a single dropout with the Netgear. I don't know if it's something that can be fixed with firmware updates, or if it's a hardware limitation. I can live with it, and have chosen to keep the router despite these issues. For anyone who wants the features, this is a no brainer. Especially if you are coming from a more modest router, I think you'll be happy with speeds, range, and most of all the SRM software.

Doesn't work directly with Frontier Fiber's ONT(s)

Long story short - over the course of most of a month of troubleshooting, Synology's SRM firmware has trouble recognizing internet from Frontier Fiber's ONTs. Frontier even came out and replaced the ONT with their latest and greatest with no effect. I was able to workaround the issue on Synology's older RT2600ac by hooking up my Spectrum Cable internet to the port first, and then quickly exchange it for the cable coming from the fiber ONT - after that the older router works perfectly including after reboot or removing the cable, but this workaround doesn't help with the RT6600ax. The company Synology went to great effort with me to try to fix the issue, but with my wife and I working from home remotely during the work, it was a lot of trouble re-shuffling both the ... MoreLong story short - over the course of most of a month of troubleshooting, Synology's SRM firmware has trouble recognizing internet from Frontier Fiber's ONTs. Frontier even came out and replaced the ONT with their latest and greatest with no effect. I was able to workaround the issue on Synology's older RT2600ac by hooking up my Spectrum Cable internet to the port first, and then quickly exchange it for the cable coming from the fiber ONT - after that the older router works perfectly including after reboot or removing the cable, but this workaround doesn't help with the RT6600ax. The company Synology went to great effort with me to try to fix the issue, but with my wife and I working from home remotely during the work, it was a lot of trouble re-shuffling both the new and old router constantly to allow them to remote in (without giving them access to my real internet data or credentials). I had to give up after three weeks. They may solve the issue eventually, but who knows when or if for sure. The fact that the issue happens with their older RT2600ac, whether on SRM v1.2.5 or the newer v1.3 Update 1, tells me it's a software issue. Thankfully, the workaround I accidentally found works great on the RT2600ac.

Excellent Router

This was bought as an upgrade to the Synology RT1900ac and as I also own Synology NAS I am familiar with there OS's. For those not familiar with them it is a very easy initial setup which you can use but I recommend installing the Threat prevention software and configuring the firewall and not just rely on the default settings which do not stop a lot of the attacks. The Threat prevention shows what is happening and drops major attacks but alerts on medium and minor which you can chose to deal with there or you can configure the firewall to stop the events from getting to the prevention software. (my preference). An example was an attempted hack of my iPad, the software dropped them so no problem but I configured the firewall to stop them there. Wifi is very good all ... MoreThis was bought as an upgrade to the Synology RT1900ac and as I also own Synology NAS I am familiar with there OS's. For those not familiar with them it is a very easy initial setup which you can use but I recommend installing the Threat prevention software and configuring the firewall and not just rely on the default settings which do not stop a lot of the attacks. The Threat prevention shows what is happening and drops major attacks but alerts on medium and minor which you can chose to deal with there or you can configure the firewall to stop the events from getting to the prevention software. (my preference). An example was an attempted hack of my iPad, the software dropped them so no problem but I configured the firewall to stop them there. Wifi is very good all around my house. 200mb broadband and I still get anywhere from 120-180mb download speed on my iPad. You can create different networks which is useful to keep some of the suspect IOT devices away from you main network.

Good router with rich security feature set with drawbacks

I upgraded to this router for my business because of the robust security features which include firewall, threat detection, safe browsing, automatic firmware update, and 2FA for login. Also VLAN support and multiple separated networks. You can use this device to separate your IOT devices (that typically have poor security practices) and the rest of your network. The router also seems very fast. Downside is that I had a few problems with setup. Setting up the router is not totally intuitive, even for someone like me who has a lot of experience setting up routers. I had a problem with ntp time synchronization that was very hard to debug and ended up being caused by the router's sensitivity to unreliable public ntp servers. It should have been easier, although I ... MoreI upgraded to this router for my business because of the robust security features which include firewall, threat detection, safe browsing, automatic firmware update, and 2FA for login. Also VLAN support and multiple separated networks. You can use this device to separate your IOT devices (that typically have poor security practices) and the rest of your network. The router also seems very fast. Downside is that I had a few problems with setup. Setting up the router is not totally intuitive, even for someone like me who has a lot of experience setting up routers. I had a problem with ntp time synchronization that was very hard to debug and ended up being caused by the router's sensitivity to unreliable public ntp servers. It should have been easier, although I eventually figured out that I had to pick a reliable ntp server. Reliable ntp is required to use 2FA which uses authenticator programs such as Google Authenticate. So I could not provide 5 stars, but wish I could.

Oh yeah...a fast router

Let's get the end of my story out of the way first...this was a massive upgrade over my Synology RT2600ac-based network. What was *NO* fun was getting the rest of my network devices (an MR2200ac unit or two) into the new network and then repurposing my 2600ac as yet another mesh station. It can be done (once everyone is on the same SRM version) but there's *NO* documentation in the box or on the Synology web about how you make that happen. Finally figured it out. You reset each device, unplug your computer/laptop from the net and attach to the synology network for each device as it comes out of reset mode...then (assuming you planned ahead and have already downloaded the SRM update for the device you're now connected to) you update the SRM software on the device. ... MoreLet's get the end of my story out of the way first...this was a massive upgrade over my Synology RT2600ac-based network. What was *NO* fun was getting the rest of my network devices (an MR2200ac unit or two) into the new network and then repurposing my 2600ac as yet another mesh station. It can be done (once everyone is on the same SRM version) but there's *NO* documentation in the box or on the Synology web about how you make that happen. Finally figured it out. You reset each device, unplug your computer/laptop from the net and attach to the synology network for each device as it comes out of reset mode...then (assuming you planned ahead and have already downloaded the SRM update for the device you're now connected to) you update the SRM software on the device. Reset it again (to wipe whatever was there...the SRM update persists) and you attach and connect it as a mesh device on the net. Leaving the hassle of that undocumented process aside, once I was done, I saw that my old RT2600AC unit was connecting--wirelessly--to the new base station with a faster throughput than I had when it was a 2600AC based network with a WIRED connection to the MESH outpost. That's amazing. So, if this is your first Synology router, go for it. It's amazing. If you have an existing Synology network with mesh add-ons and you want this to take over the management of your network, get ready for about 2 hours of pain (but in a good way considering the end state)

Powerful router, great upgrade from RT2600ac

Upgrade from Synology RT2600/MR2200 mesh with dual RT6600 routers, with a plan to add a third tri-band AP (MR2200 or another RT6600). Definitely a great purchase. Pros: *much* more responsive than RT2600, doesn't choke with the Threat Protection package running, still excellent Safe Access package (great for ad-blocking!), 5.9GHz band support (used for backhaul), mini NAS server works very well. Have not tested yet but a Pro: I plan to try out using the two routers as a multi-Gig media Bridge (I'm in the US, so should be able to use the 5GHz-1 for this). Cons, so far: I could not set up either router from a wired computer or using a computer with wifi, getting invalid connection feedback; I was able to see and set up two RT6600 routers (primary, then the mesh unit) ... MoreUpgrade from Synology RT2600/MR2200 mesh with dual RT6600 routers, with a plan to add a third tri-band AP (MR2200 or another RT6600). Definitely a great purchase. Pros: *much* more responsive than RT2600, doesn't choke with the Threat Protection package running, still excellent Safe Access package (great for ad-blocking!), 5.9GHz band support (used for backhaul), mini NAS server works very well. Have not tested yet but a Pro: I plan to try out using the two routers as a multi-Gig media Bridge (I'm in the US, so should be able to use the 5GHz-1 for this). Cons, so far: I could not set up either router from a wired computer or using a computer with wifi, getting invalid connection feedback; I was able to see and set up two RT6600 routers (primary, then the mesh unit) with the Synology iOS app, then updated each to the newest SRM update, no issues since both routers were updated. In mesh mode, not being able to utilize the slave router's USB port for NAS storage is still a disappointment to me. Shipping service from B&H was excellent and on-time from them plus UPS.

RT6600 -not the usual limited consumer routers

Synology RT6600ax initial Review and Rating The Good: - Excellent software packages (Network Center, Safe Access, Control Panel Package Center, Threat Prevention, Security Advisor and Network Tools) with straight forward menu interfaces - Solid OS platform SRM (much like Synology DSM for NAS), that stays up, has logging, alerting and excellent email support by a technical team that knows the product and answers the questions that most other router mfct don't answer. - VLANs are simple and work across many VLAN aware switches. I literally just tagged all VLANs to every port and used the switches to segregate ports to VLANs. Netgear bus switch much easier than DLink. So cool to manage each port to VLANs. - Use 2.5g LAN connection for the Netgear bus switch which has ... MoreSynology RT6600ax initial Review and Rating The Good: - Excellent software packages (Network Center, Safe Access, Control Panel Package Center, Threat Prevention, Security Advisor and Network Tools) with straight forward menu interfaces - Solid OS platform SRM (much like Synology DSM for NAS), that stays up, has logging, alerting and excellent email support by a technical team that knows the product and answers the questions that most other router mfct don't answer. - VLANs are simple and work across many VLAN aware switches. I literally just tagged all VLANs to every port and used the switches to segregate ports to VLANs. Netgear bus switch much easier than DLink. So cool to manage each port to VLANs. - Use 2.5g LAN connection for the Netgear bus switch which has 2.5, 5g and even 10g ports. That is used for select few users. - Firewall rules and routing across VLANs, I had to add VLAN IP network addresses to my system32\drivers\etc\networks. file. I also manually added the routes using Route Add (VLAN3 IP address) MASK 255.255.255.0 (primary Gate IP) metric [some number]. Worked for everything device on VLANs except for netgear router turned Access Point, but that was an exception even with other routers converted to access points. - Packages such as Safe Access and Threat Prevention have extensive functionality that I am still coming up to speed on. - Priority traffic control and custom speed allocated to gaming PC connected to 2.5g interface. - Enjoy the DHCP server configurations and DHCP reservations, which updates the name once saved. - Threat Prevention has some excellent details in statistics and events. The negatives - Requires USB as storage instead of utilizing a synology (or other mfct) NAS if present - Menu interface is slow on saving changes. - No logging on firewall rules - Firewall rules is only allow or deny - Threat Prevention logging is cumbersome with no intelligent controls or export capability. - USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A Port and compatibility is a misnomer, purchased compatible SanDisk 64g Extreme Go and it reported reverting to USB 2 due to potential interference with antennas... The Ugly - For WAN cable modem configuration, manual informs you to contact ISP. If you have comcast, this is notorious on something that should be simple. Comcast just kept telling me to reboot or contact netgear for the netgear cable modem specifications. Netgear support is even worse. The answer was for me: copy the MAC ID of the original netgear router into the Internet ISP Settings (MAC Address on bottom - don't use Clone button). Then it worked with no issues. Overall, this router blows away Netgear, Asus and DLink consumer wireless routers with real VLAN operation. More time intensive in trying to learn, but provides insights into what is actually occurring on the router and home network. The router app on the phone is quite useful and receives alerts from the Threat Prevention app. Unlike Netgear (even with Armor subscription), I have much better visibility into my network, threats and what each device connected to the network is doing. Is it as good as PFSense or Ubiquiti routers? No, but the user interface is more straight forward, has one 2.5g port and works with no issues. And the technical support is excellent.

Solid router, some edge issue

This router is almost exactly as I expected it, but with some snags. It supposedly offers USB tethering as a wan, I was not able to get this working through my Pixel 7 Pro running GrapheneOS. I was, however, able to tether via a USB to ethernet adapter, then use the second wan port. It also does not offer tethering over wifi (repeaters), which my previous router offered (power outage kill landlines? Hotspot, the router would pick it up, and all my devices are back online - but ethernet only here). The threat protection system it offers requires a USB drive (and there's only 1 USB port, so you may need a hub) - but not just any $10 flash drive off store shelves. Mine would crash the service due to slow read/write speeds, so I tested a portable hard drive, which ... MoreThis router is almost exactly as I expected it, but with some snags. It supposedly offers USB tethering as a wan, I was not able to get this working through my Pixel 7 Pro running GrapheneOS. I was, however, able to tether via a USB to ethernet adapter, then use the second wan port. It also does not offer tethering over wifi (repeaters), which my previous router offered (power outage kill landlines? Hotspot, the router would pick it up, and all my devices are back online - but ethernet only here). The threat protection system it offers requires a USB drive (and there's only 1 USB port, so you may need a hub) - but not just any $10 flash drive off store shelves. Mine would crash the service due to slow read/write speeds, so I tested a portable hard drive, which worked (but the drive is on the fritz, and I didn't want to risk knocking it off the desk), so I changed to a fast Samsung flash drive I was using, and bought myself a replacement for general use. The Samsung was around $80 last year for 256gb and speeds in the ~300mb/s read/write range, and the router has since been happy. I expected more packages available, but nope, just the basics. Oh well. There isn't a true QoS system here, and what it does it can only do for 6 devices - 3 prioritized, 3 deprioritized. For a router with a quite strong feature set, it's embarrassing light in this regard. Sometimes it will spit out messages of 'unable to do that thing, the network might be unstable, try again'. As the router, isn't it sort of, I don't know, *your job* to keep the network stable and working? Seeing this message repeatedly and thus not being able to *control the router* is akin to a pc that's totally frozen but you can still see blinking lights and hear activity. This is my biggest gripe. It's not often, but that it occurs at all is a problem. 2FA, multiple users, file sharing, printer sharing, scheduled reboots, scheduled various service/filter database updates, the UI is straight from DSM. 4/5.

Very Good Router

We recently upgraded our router to this new Synology RT6600 / AX6600 Tri-Band router. We found the setup to be fairly fast, but ran into some issues with this particular unit... it appears it had been programmed before and the instructions did not follow the screens. Following a complete factory reset, we were successful in setting up all of our port forwarding and firewall settings. The user interface could be better - we are used to a more industrial feel to UIs and this seemed more scattered in how the information in loaded. Never the less, it works reliably and we saw a marked improvement in our Internet traffic bandwidth. Our previous router was over 10 years old and was a bottleneck... this new router fixed that. The WiFi is excellent and works as ... MoreWe recently upgraded our router to this new Synology RT6600 / AX6600 Tri-Band router. We found the setup to be fairly fast, but ran into some issues with this particular unit... it appears it had been programmed before and the instructions did not follow the screens. Following a complete factory reset, we were successful in setting up all of our port forwarding and firewall settings. The user interface could be better - we are used to a more industrial feel to UIs and this seemed more scattered in how the information in loaded. Never the less, it works reliably and we saw a marked improvement in our Internet traffic bandwidth. Our previous router was over 10 years old and was a bottleneck... this new router fixed that. The WiFi is excellent and works as advertised... we are affectively future proofed with tri-band functionality. Not needed yet, but as more devices support the new standards, we are ready.