The Wireless Simultaneous Dualband 300N XR Gigabit Gaming Router II from Sitecom is a feature rich product that has a nice quality and modern look and does not fail to impress with its wired and wireless performances. Its firmware interface is intuitive enough and if we want to go into its advanced settings, we can always read the Installation Manual located on the CD.

 

At first I would like to thank Sitecom for making this review possible.



About Sitecom:

“ Sitecom is one of the leading and fastest growing computer network brands for home and small business use. The Sitecom brand has a clear mission statement: “make it easy”. Sitecom makes it easy to set up a home network and to expand it, since it converts technical products into user-friendly solutions which can be used immediately without any problems.

Simplicity is what it is all about! The mission statement “make it easy” is put into practice throughout the organization and is expressed in both the solutions and the service which Sitecom offers. All of Sitecom's products, therefore, have a 10-year warranty. Making the latest technology simple, understandable and accessible is what Sitecom stands for and we make no concessions to that.”

 

Features

 

 

Specifications

StreamEngine technology network optimizer

New generation StreamEngine chipset ensures low latency online, Lag-free local network gaming
Automatic Quality of Service classifies time-sensitive applications and gives priority within the network traffic, ideal for gaming, streaming HD-videos and VoIP
Preconfigured Application Level Gateways for the most recent popular multiplayer games and customizable settings for new games
WISH: Wireless Intelligent Stream Handling for the internal wireless network
Advanced scheduled access control
Peer to Peer optimized and up to 30.000 simultaneous open connections guaranteeing ideal performance for downloading

Simultaneous Dual-band technology

Two access points with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless band which can be used simultaneously
Less congested 5 GHz frequency ideal for time-sensitive traffic such as gaming, audio and HD-video streaming and VoIP without any interruptions
Two internal + two external Dual-band antennas which reduce dead spots and guarantee an optimal coverage on all the floors of the house

Wireless 802.11n & Wired Gigabit Network

Superior wireless speed up to 300 Mbps on the standard 2.4 GHz and less congested 5 GHz frequency
Built-in full-duplex Gigabit WAN port which supports high-speed internet connections up to 400 Mbps (routing speed)
Built-in 4-port full-duplex Gigabit Switch to connect Ethernet devices at full speed
One USB port to connect an external USB storage device such as a hard disk or flash drive to share the content with all users
On/Off power button for saving energy

OPS easiest setup and security

“Out of the box” fully secured with WPA2
Smart One-Push Setup button: create a secured wireless connection with just the push of a button

The WL-309 Gaming Router II from Sitecom has arrived in a nice looking black box with some decorations; the “Gaming Router II” writing is embossed and in the center we can see a photo of the actual product; in the top right we can find the company logo and on the left part we can see a “Stream Engine” logo, along with a “2nd Generation” logo:

 

On one of the package sides, we can see an explanation regarding the StreamEngine feature, but also the benefits of having a simultaneous dual-band router:

 

On the opposite side, we have got explanations on how to operate the “one-push” wireless setup feature, along with the list of the technical specifications:

 

The back of the box gives us a product description in 7 different languages, a photo of the product explaining the ports, buttons and technologies inside, the package contents and the fact that this product comes with an amazing 10 year manufacturer warranty:

 

After we get the external box out, we can see that the product is further protected by an internal black box:

 

Right after opening it, we can see the router fixed in the middle, with protective cardboard material around it:

 

Besides the router, inside the package we can also find another little black box with the bundle:

 

The wireless antennas are packed separately from the rest of the accessories:

 

The router comes with an UTP cable, some screws for wall mounting and a power adapter:

 

The power adapter is manufactured by DVE and is rated on the output +12V, 2A:

 

The documents and manuals are located in a black envelope:

 

Along with the Installation Guide, we also get a little paper which helps us to drill the right mounting locations, a “Declaration of Conformity” , but also a registration card, to benefit from the 10 years of free warranty:

 

The Installation guide is very nice realized and keeps the same theme as the outside box; here we get all the information we need to start a small network:

 

 

 

At the end of the guide we can find the CD with extra documentation:

 

 

The wireless antennas are sword-shaped and can be orientated in any direction we want:

 

At the end of each antenna, we have the connectors that help to keep them fixed onto the routers’ body:

 

The router has a rubber top and on the margins we can find a metallic grey plastic frame; in the center we can find the Sitecom logo, debossed:

 

Also on the top of the router we can find the WPS button, that helps us to quickly connect the wireless adapters to the router, if they also support this feature:

 

On each of the product sides, we can find the golden antenna connectors and a ventilation space:

 

In the frontal part of the router, we can find some holes that have behind them the activity LEDs; the manufacturer has not decided to put their description on the routers’ body, to maintain the overall clean look of the product:

 

In the back, we can find the usual 4 LAN ports, one WAN port (all which are color coded), a USB port, a DC-IN 12V port and an On/Off button:

 

On the bottom, we can find a lot of “X” shaped ventilation holes, the mounting holes and a sticker in the center:

 

On each corner, we can find a rubber foot to avoid scratching the surface and also help the product not to slide on the surface we will sit it on:

 

On the central sticker we can get some information on how to operate the WPS feature, along with the default WPA2 codes:

 

Here is how the product does look with its antennas mounted:

 

When the product is operating, the frontal little LEDs look very nice; the indication of the LEDs is the following, from left to right:

1. Power
2. USB
3. 2.4GHz Radio
4. 5GHz Radio
5. WAN
6. LAN1
7. LAN2
8. LAN3
9. LAN4
10. WPS

 

 

 

If the StreamEngine feature is enabled, right before we access the router for the first time (with the default http://192.168.0.1 address) the firmware will measure the network connection bandwidth; after it finishes, we can access the interface:

 

The router interface is very nice designed, and retains the same colors as the body of the router; the menus are split into multiple tabs and on the top we can see the full name of the router along with the Sitecom manufacturer logo:

 

In the Device menu, we can see general information about the WAN, LAN, but also the Wireless 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks (if enabled):

 

The Wireless menu provides us with information regarding the connected clients on both 5GHz and 2.4GHz, along with the network SSID, the wireless mode and the rate at which they are connected; here we can also see the WISH sessions. A WISH session is a conversation between a program or application on a wirelessly connected LAN-side computer and another computer, however connected:

 

In the Logs menu, the router automatically logs(records) events of possible interest in its internal memory. If there is not enough internal memory for all events, logs of older events are deleted, but logs of the latest events are retained:

 

The Statistics menu shows us the number of received and transmitted packets passing through the router:

 

The Routing menu tells us the routing details of the router, but also shows us the full details of the active Internet sessions:

 

The Firewall menu shows us the firewall holes in our router:

The Network Settings menu allows us to configure the device as a router or as a bridge; here we can also set the IP address of the router inside the local network, the DHCP server settings and we can add DHCP reservations so each time we connect one computer to the network, it will get the same IP address:

 

 

In the Wireless 2.4GHz menu, we can enable/disable the Radio for this frequency, set the wireless mode (we can choose b,g,n or 3 mixed modes), the wireless channel (or we can let the router choose the best frequency with the auto channel scan feature), the transmission rate or channel width; here we can also set the SSID, the encryption mode and the pre-shared key; in the same menu, we can also define some “Guest” networks on the same frequency:



The same menu holds the options to enable/disable the Wi-Fi Protected Setup:



The Wireless 5GHz menu holds the exact same options as the 2.4GHz one:



In the WAN menu, we can configure the options regarding our Internet connection; here we can also enable the WAN ping feature so the router would respond to any external ping commands sent to its address:



In the same menu, we can enable MAC cloning, which helps in some cases if our provider has MAC filtering enabled, but we can also ping an external IP address to check the connection:



In the Advanced Wireless menu, we can fine-tune the wireless settings:



In the Advanced Network menu, we can set different options like enable/disable UPnP, allow users to disable Internet Access, modify the WAN port Speed and so on:



The Virtual Server menu option gives Internet users access to services on our LAN. This feature is useful for hosting online services such as FTP, Web, or game servers:



In the Special applications menu, we can set rules to open single or multiple ports on our router when the router senses data sent to the Internet on a trigger port or port range:



The Port forwarding menu can be used to open multiple ports or a range of ports in our router and redirect data through those ports to a single PC on our network:

The Access Control menu allows us to control access in and out of devices on our network. We can use this feature as Parental Controls to only grant access to approved sites, limit web access based on time or dates, and/or block access from applications such as peer-to-peer utilities or games:



In the Website Filter menu, we can prevent some Internet websites to be accessed from the LAN:



In the schedules menu we can create rules for various firewall and parental control features:



The Dynamic DNS menu allows us to host a server (Web, FTP, Game Server,etc.) using a domain name that we have purchased with our dynamically assigned IP address:



The StreamEngine is a nice feature of the router and helps improve the network performance by prioritizing applications:



In the Routing menu, we can add new routes to the routing table:



The MAC Filter menu is an added security option which allows us to specify the MAC addresses of the devices that we allow to connect to the router:



In the Firewall settings menu, we can enable the SPI, which is a dynamic packet filtering mode that helps preventing attacks from the outside; it validates that the traffic passing through the session conforms to the protocol; the TCP / UDP NAT Endpoint Filtering option controls how the router's NAT manages incoming connection requests to ports that are already being used; along other options, here we can also set the IP address of the DMZ host, which is a device on the network that has completely unrestricted access to the Internet:



WISH (wireless intelligent stream handling) prioritizes the traffic of various wireless applications:



Inbound Filters can be used for limiting access to a server on your network to a system or group of systems. Filter rules can be used with Virtual Server, Gaming, or Remote Administration features:

The Disk menu shows us what storage device we have connected on USB, its total capacity and the total free space; here we can safely remove it with the designated button. Unfortunately, only FAT12, FAT16 or FAT32 devices are supported:



When a storage device is connected on the USB, we can see a “Virtual Computer” on the network that has as a share folder the exact contents of the storage device:




In the Share menu, we can choose to share all folders with all users, or to restrict the sharing of folders. When Sharing-mode is set to “restrict”, shares can be added and changed:



The Users menu allows us to add new users and configure user rights for the storage device:



In the Time menu, we can set the date/time for the router, but can also assign a NTP server to it:



In the System menu, we can choose to save the current settings to the local HDD, load some previously saved settings or restore the factory defaults; from the same menu we can reboot the device:



In the Firmware menu, we can see the currently installed firmware information and we can upload a newer one, if it is available from the manufacturer website:



In the System log menu, we can specity a SysLog Server to sent the information to:



Finally, in the Administrator menu, we can change the login username, password or enable remote administration to the device:

Wired Workstation
CPU	Core i7 920
Cooling	Stock
Mainboard	Foxconn BloodRage X58
Memory	PVT36G1600LLK tri channel kit
VGA	ATI RADEON 5770
Other	Sound card : ASUS Xonar D2 PCI Wireless router : Sitecom WL-309

For the client wireless tests I used an Asus X55SV Laptop. For testing the USB Wireless LAN adapters throughput, I have connected the server ( I7 PC ) to the router with a UTP wire and the client ( ASUS X55SV ) had installed the Wireless LAN adapters.

For the client wired tests, both server and client were linked to the router with UTP wire.

The application I have used to test the speeds was Performance Test 7.0, fully compatible with Windows 7.

Wired performance

 

2.4GHz Summary Graph

 

5GHz Summary Graph

The detailed graphs can be found on the next page ->

Wireless adapter: Intel 4965AGN

2.4GHz 802.11b

2.4GHz 802.11g

2.4GHz 802.11n

2.4GHz 802.11b/g mixed

2.4GHz 802.11g/n mixed

2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n mixed

5GHz 802.11a

5GHz 802.11n

5GHz 802.11a/n mixed

Wireless adapter: NETGEAR WNDA3100

2.4GHz 802.11b

2.4GHz 802.11g

2.4GHz 802.11n

2.4GHz 802.11b/g mixed

2.4GHz 802.11g/n mixed

2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n mixed

5GHz 802.11a

5GHz 802.11n

5GHz 802.11a/n mixed

Wireless adapter: TRENDnet TEW-664UB

2.4GHz 802.11b

2.4GHz 802.11g

2.4GHz 802.11n

2.4GHz 802.11b/g mixed

2.4GHz 802.11g/n mixed

2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n mixed

5GHz 802.11a

5GHz 802.11n

5GHz 802.11a/n mixed

The newest gaming router from Sitecom has beaten two records compared with the previously tested products: the speed on wire (752939.1Kbits/s) and on wireless (5GHz 802a/n mixed -> 105620.7Kbits/s).

It comes with a feature rich interface that includes traffic shaping and prioritization, a configurable firewall, WPS, Web Filters, USB storage configuration, lots of logs to see what is going on in our network, and many more.

Another thing that I liked regarding this router is that it allows to do a lot of modifications like enabling/disabling the wireless networks or changing their modes without rebooting the device, which saves an important amount of time. The boot-time speed of the router is also much smaller than the previous dual-band Wireless router I have tested, the WNDR3700.

The materials from which the router is built are high quality and the manuals the product comes with are intuitive enough, so even people that did not work with such kinds of equipments before should manage to configure it. It even comes with the necessary screws to mount it on the wall and a little paper with signs so we will know precisely where to drill the holes.

The only thing that the product is missing out is the possibility to use the router as a print server; Sitecom have also for sale a standalone wireless print server that works on Wireless b/g and they will release till the end of the year the new Wireless N version.

The MSRP Price for the router is 169,99 Euros, it is not the cheapest router in the world but it really does its job well.

 

Sitecom 300N XR Gigabit Gaming Router II Recommended For:

I would like to thank again to Sitecom for making this review possible!