Synology RT2600ac AC2600 Wireless Router Review

1. Introduction2. Synology RT2600ac3. Synology RT2600ac Administration Interface4. Synology RT2600ac Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

We tested the Synology RT2600ac in two ways. First, we wanted to assess the raw throughput across the two different WiFi standards it supports – 802.11ac and 802.11n. We also tested the speed of the USB 3.0 port via the Gigabit Ethernet ports and 802.11ac.

For the first test we used the open-source iPerf 3.1.3 software, and for the second test we used a 3.7GB file collection (actually the Windows 10 installer). Three Windows systems were used. One was a self-built Intel Core i7 workstation running Windows 10, another an Acer TravelMate P648 N15C5 notebook, and a third a HP Folio 3 notebook. The Acer was running Windows 7 and the HP Windows 10.

For all tests, the workstation was connected to one of the RT2600ac's Gigabit Ethernet ports, and the notebooks via various WiFi connections (802.11ac for the Acer, 802.11n for the HP). The notebooks were then placed in four different locations – within 1m of the router, approximately 5m away with a wall in between, 10m away and on a lower floor (with multiple walls and a floor in between), and then 15m away on the same lower floor. We tested all four distances with the two WiFi standards.

With each WiFi standard and distance, we took 60 readings of throughput at one second intervals and calculated the average (iPerf does this automatically). We tested the RT2600ac against the Linksys WRT3200ACM and NETGEAR's Nighthawk X10 R9000.

802.11ac 5GHz

These are quite impressive results for 802.11ac with the RT2600ac. At 5m it actually beat the super-fast NETGEAR Nighthawk X10 R9000, although this faded a little with greater distance, and at 15m the signal was clearly unusable. But for a smaller flat or house, the RT2600ac should have no trouble providing decent 802.11ac performance.

802.11n 2.4GHz

Performance with 802.11n is also reasonably impressive, with similarly capable performance up to 5m and usable speed beyond that. In fact, beyond 10m the RT2600ac is a bit more credible than other routers we have tested.

USB 3.0 File Copy

For this test, we hooked up a 32GB SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Memory key to the RT2600ac's USB 3.0 port and configured it as network storage. We then copied the 3.7GB Windows 10 installer ISO (unpacked into individual files) to the Acer notebook via 802.11ac.

Performance wasn't that impressive, unfortunately. This is one area where the RT2600ac falls behind the competition.

Overall, though, the Synology RT2600ac provides solid performance that matches its mid-range price well. This is no speed demon, but it is more than capable of covering a flat or smaller house with 802.11ac or 802.11n.

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