Sitecom 300N X4 WLR-4000 Wireless router review

Posted by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 07/06/2011 01:00 PM [ 0 comment(s) ]

Final words and conclusion

Final words and conclusion

The WLR-4000 is interesting yet also a little substandard in the sense that the wireless range is "okay". The reality is that it remains a run of the mill router with a feature set that is very similar to it's predecessor, except Cloud security that is...

Overall wired throughput is really good for both WAN and LAN measurements, as well as the power consumption which is give or take 5 Watts (remember these devices are on 24/7/365) hence we measure it.

The WiFi range/strengths definitely should be a focus for SiteCom though as our bandwidth is getting more and more cluttered with WIFI signals these days and everybody simply pushes more through WIFI these days. You all have a wireless router, everybody has a WIFI smartphone and a lot of common household peripherals have some sort of WIFI, and that makes the most important denominator, the device that it all connects to is very important in terms of WIFI quality and range. For a little web browsing from your TAB, netbook or laptop ... the WLR-4000 obviously is more than sufficient.

Quite unique and perhaps interesting is the new cloud security feature, though somewhat limited when you break it down and look at it from different angles, it does add a layer of protection surrounding your network. You will still need a virus scanner on all your PCs though and as interesting and relatively cheap cloud security is, we do feel that the added cost of the subscript next to your anti-virus software subscription might be a bridge too far for most families. It is not expensive though, but yeah ... for the more mainstream and advanced end-users, I doubt it is interesting enough at this point in time. Cloud Security however could work quite well for families and as stated before, the web illiterate. Cloud security might be the first step to something bigger, and we do feel that SiteCom has something interesting.

So then, the X4 is an overall good and nice performing router. As stated we do feel that SiteCom should focus a little more on WIFI range, probably with some external antennas or more powerful internal antennas as for the modern age household I felt that was too lacking. For common internet browsing over WIFI it's plenty enough though, file-transfers ... not so much. The Firmware GUI is easy to use and setup, and the X4 all by itself ran pretty flawless. Though after two weeks of usage, we did have to reset the router once as it was completely frozen. Hopefully that was an isolated and non-common issue.

Massive props to SiteCom for the ease of installation though, everything is already done for you. You plug it in and it works. Even a unique wireless identification key (WPA2) is supplied for you. In the box you'll find a sticker with the accompanying code and at the backside of the router you can read that out as well. That's very well thought through and very secure alright.

Covered with an impressive 10 years warranty and a price tag of roughly 75 EUR we feel the Sitecom WLR-4000 offers good value for money and as such we can certainly recommend it.

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