Bountiful Wifi Router Review.

[WiFi.com]

The WiFi.com team had the opportunity to review the Bountiful Wifi router, sent to us by Bountiful Wifi. We were pleased to be able to test this router and see its capabilities. Although our experience with routers is limited we were able to compare it to some of the routers we have used, most specifically the Linksys WRT54GS with SpeedBooster.

We are going to jump ahead and talk about one of the high points of our evaluation. The Wifi signal range and speeds were undoubtedly the best features of this router. We were able to walk quite a distance with wireless devices and maintain the connection. It definitely has a larger range than your average Wifi-enabled router. Other devices did not appear to interfere with the signal (as we have found with some) and the connectivity is good, the connection only drops off occasionally probably averaging once or twice in a 24-hour period. Some of this may be due to the devices themselves but the connection is definitely more constant than the Linksys router we generally use. Because of the consistent connection and the signal strength, the speeds were greatly improved over the average everyday wireless router. You almost feel like you are on a wired connection!

Packaging & Design:
The packaging looks like most router packaging including router, network cable, power adapter and instructions. The instructions were a little hard to understand especially if you have never hooked up a router before. They are more geared to the technically savvy and not your average person, but since it is a pretty standard router, anyone with basic router/networking experience should be able to hook it up without any issues.

The router itself looks like your average router although the plastic casing surrounding it did not appear to be nearly as durable as some of the other routers we have encountered.

Administration:
Once the router was all connected and ready to go we did some initial testing including checking out the admin interface, the range and more. The first thing we noticed was the noise level on the router itself. The internal fan makes a great deal of noise although the folks at Bountiful did mention they were working on an improvement (upgraded fan) for the next model/release.

The admin is pretty straightforward and looks similar to other routers we have used there are however a few more advanced options for those again a little more savvy who would like a little more control over settings that some of the routers don’t provide.


Additional:
The wired connection appeared to be pretty run of the mill, no surprises there. We hooked it up to a switch as well and found no problems connecting it without the use of Wifi as well.

Although priced a little bit higher than expected compared to business-level routers and their functionality, this router would be a great router for a small to mid-sized office or a larger home that needs a range that can’t quite be reached with the typical router choices. It would also provide more advanced security and configuration options for the small business owner who doesn’t have the ability to keep a network administrator on-staff or the ability to configure the enterprise level routers and networks.

A couple of quick notes: Router firmware is updated frequently and is easily accessible from the Bountiful Wifi website. Furthermore, implementing those firmware upgrades is very straightforward.

The staff over at Bountiful Wifi was very receptive to our questions and are very motivated about their product. It is always refreshing to know the manufacturer believes in what they sell.

For more information about Bountiful Wifi, please visit thier website at:


http://www.bountifulwifi.com

for wath I NO HAVE WIFI? I have one HP iPAQ and no way.