Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsThe ethernet cuts out during gaming disconnecting me from game
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2020
Despite having an Ethernet connection to the router, it has cut out during a game and disconnected me from the game, ruining the game, numerous times. I know it isn't an issue with the game servers, because I check the ethernet connection in windows 10 and it says it is disconnected. Then maybe ten seconds later it will say 'identifying' and then connected again. Its as if the cable was unplugged (but it isn't the cable). This never happened with the router I 'upgraded' to this one from. (Turns out it was a downgrade).
Another bad thing, sometimes the 5ghz wifi just plain doesn't show up at all. The router's 2.4ghz signal always shows up. For an expensive gaming router, it sure does fail at the ONE thing it needs to do reliably- STAY CONNECTED TO THE GAME/internet.
I also noticed the web interface is sluggish. It seems to take it a while to load the little applets in the duma os the router is running. I wait and wait for it to load to be able to see the information I want to see. And I have to disable my ad blocker plug in too. This router has a bunch of stuff you don't need, maybe that's why it fails to perform well at the basics. I also noticed that I cannot use my nintendo switch in my bathtub even though it is only 25 feet away wtih the router with just the bathroom wall between it. To be fair my other devices work fine in the bathtub, so I could be the fault of the Switch.
The supposed game optimization, well just forget it because chances are your specific game will not be supported by Duma Os. So don't factor that into your purchasing decision at all.
I will say the the automatic configuration and setup wizard is really really good. It automatically sensed my connection type, ppoe, and all I had to do was input my login info from my ISP. The best I've ever seen as far as a setup wizard goes. It also appears to have some really cool features such as a built in Plex server and USB drive support for file sharing. I didn't try really hard to get them to work but those didn't appear to work either.
So basically for a few hundred bucks I have a router that disconnects randomly for no apparent reason and which sometimes the 5ghz band, doesn't even show up so I can connect to it at all and offers no apparent benefit for gaming whatsoever. I would pick a $60 linksys tomato router over this any day of the week.
I tried several things to resolve the disconnecting issue (by the way I have a 100mbps fiber internet connection with very low ping) , resetting, updating firmware, factory reset, etc. I am switching back to something simple that is ultra reliable, I am going to try google wifi and just hook up a switch/hub to it for my ethernet devices.
Update: I tried a google wifi point with an 8 port switch hooked up to it and the performance of internet page loading is a bit snappier. That is reason enough by itself to switch to a google wifi point. No waiting for applets to load on Duma Os either, everything is snappy and responding instantly within the phone app. If I ever have any connection issues like I did with the xr700 I will return and update this review but I highly doubt I will. Do yourself a favor, save 300 bucks and get a google wifi point with a switch for additional ethernet ports if you need more than one free.
