ZyXEL WAP3205 v2 300 Mbps Wireless N Access Point

ZyXEL's WAP3205 v2, This router itself is superb, it just needs a bit of downtime to be setup correctly.Routers claim these days to be plug and play sort of thing, but dont forget its WIRELES, how many of your neighbours have wifi also? If like me i'm surrounded by other peoples wifi signals interfering etc. Most devices these days have wifi connectivity so having a strong and stable wifi signal to share your fiber internet to all your devices is essential. This router can do just that!I also purchased X2 : http://www.amazon.com/802-11b-Wireless-Booster-Amplifier-Antenna/dp/B00E8C1S8E2w 802.11b/g Wifi Wireless LAN Signal Booster Amplifier W Antenna 2.4g, These simply connect to the antenna ports then amplify your wifi signal for better throughput range.After I had read a little bit more into the wifi boosters I found that the antenna supplied is only cheaply made and is not capable of outputting more than 6dBi. So I was on the hunt again for a better antenna that could easily cover my entire house and be capable of outputting the full amplifiers dBi output. After a short hunt on amazon I found:  +9.5dBi Omni TurboTenna 2.4GHz WiFi antenna with RP-SMA for Netgear, Belkin, Buffalo, D-Link Routers & Adapters This antenna is capable of outputting 9.5+ dBi and spreads the coverage more evenly across your house to make sure everywhere has wifi signal. These antenna's simply screw on to the wifi boosters output port, if you don't think you need the ample coverage with the boosters then I highly recommend replacing the stock ZyXEL WAP3205 v2's with these antennas as the stock are only cheaply manufactured like I said above.Once all is assembled correctly and plugged into your network you will need to setup the router itself, I did this using a ethernet cable into the port #2. First off the bat I recommend this piece of software (inSSIDer Home) - (A google search will find you a free download) to scan for wireless networks available in the area - I used a laptop and went around my home to see what networks were available, I took note of how strong the signal was and what channel the router was operating on. - I highly recommend scanning where your going to place your ZyXEL WAP3205 v2 too, This eliminates other people's wireless networks interfering with your wireless bandwidth.(Note: My router is in access point mode.)Take your results and set the ZyXEL WAP3205 v2 to the channel with the least wireless networks operating on that channel, I set mine as far away from all the other networks as I could, For me that was channel 13. Yours may differ depending on the wifi points around your house. The rest of the setup for the router is straightforward just pick your SSID and password and it should do the rest for you. To also note I did not change any other setting on the router apart from the location I live and the admin password.After following all these steps you should have a secure and stable wireless network now setup, Join the wireless network you just setup and test to see if it is operating correctly, if you have any issues go back and check step by step if not leave a comment and I will get back to you. I have attached a fue screenshots of my setup: http://i59.tinypic.com/15481zd.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/2ufayh2.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/2r2vhhw.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/263em12.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/2czdoh2.jpgPro's:- Cheaper than most available access point these days not to mention 3 different operating modes!- Eazy123 - Guides you though the setup in 3 simple steps that anyone can understand- Green Eco router!- Very stable and reliable!- Small compact and modern look to it- Superfast wireless N chipset to get the speed to your device- Dual antenna's for a more throughput signal- Haven't needed to restart the device once!Con's:- Port and button labeling not as clear as could be- Antenna's supplied are slightly slacking for wifi coverage could be improved!- Router skeptical about operating on the same channel as another access point, (For full stability the device needs its own dedicated channel with no interference!) This is usually the same with every wireless access point.I will update more as how the device is doing at a further date!

The unit once working is excellent and I have no problems with the signal provided. Setting up this unit was a real battle and the information provided was poor. As an IT proficient person I needed to do a lot of research in order to get the system to work. For information I was trying to use this as a universal repeater and succeeded in doing so in the end. The software would not allow you to make the Universal mode selection and stayed in AP irrespective of trying three different PC's to access the software via the ethernet cable. In the end it required a firmware update and access through a fourth laptop.The manufacturer should take the time to update firmware in the stock in order to remove their bugs before sending the units out to suppliers. It is not fair to let the customer waste time with this process. Firmware should be for adding features, not for curing technical problems.If you can live with this it is worth the pain.

Normally I'm not one to write product reviews, be they good or bad. However, I had to break that habit for the WAP 3205. Allow me to summarise.Pro:- Compact- Looks nice enough- Comes with ethernet cableCon:- Couldn't connect to router via wireless; had to use ethernet cable. Tried manually (found it needed a PIN my router didn't have) and WPS (failed to detect the router).- Interface clunky and difficult to use- Manual essentially unintelligible owing to poor diagram labels and absence of information, along with conflicting information in different sections- When booster left 1 floor below machine from which I type, booster signal (Channel 8) was 10-20% weaker than original router signal (Channel 13). This is in a suburban terrace, not Kensington Palace.In short, I found the WAP 3205 to be difficult to understand (and I've been setting up wireless networks for about 8 years), unsuitable for its intended purpose in any case, and all in all supremely frustrating to attempt to use. It's now on its way back to Amazon.Two stars awarded because I have no doubt many other people have found it to work very well. Can't recommend but, then again, can't really condemn either, since I have no clue what the problem was.

I'm usually pretty good at these things and setup as a wifi repeater seemed to be going ok. I just couldn't access the admin screens! My laptop and other devices were in the same IP address range and it had locked in with a steady signal. Eventually, I discovered that the laptop needed a fixed IP address, even though it was always the same address and fixed at the other router settings, to always up use the same IP address for that MAC device. Once I fixed the IP address on the laptop, I was able to log into the repeater and continue the setup. Yay!

i am using this for a small office and it has much better up-time than our previous Netgear device (which was a full router / firewall). As a wireless access point only it is much simpler so less prone to software crashes, however that means that you will need to attach it to a network which provides all the other usual services like DHCP, DNS and routing. In effect this is a wifi bridge which sits on the safe side of your broadband router, rather than anything more sophisticated. plug it directly into a network hub which will bring your wired and wireless devices onto the same logical subnet.

This worked well, but for a limited time. The suppliers refunded the full price and postage without any problem, so grateful for that. I am fairly OK with IT etc, but did not find the instructions very easy to follow