Can Netgear deliver the NAS box and
router combination to rule them all?
Netgear makes the excellent WNDR4500, one
of the best Wi-Fi cable routers you can get. Building on that solid platform,
it has now released the WNDR4700 'Centria', which aims to weld NAS box
functionality to its router legacy.
Opening the packaging for the first time, I
was struck by exactly how big this device is. It looks like it might have eaten
many smaller routers to get this big.
There's a reason why it's so large, because
it can internally accept a 3.5" desktop SATA drive, which is then
available as part of its network attached storage functionality.
Netgear
Centria WNDR4700
To test, I located an unused SATA disk,
placed it inside the Centria as per the Netgear instructions, and powered it
up. That's where the fun started, because attaching it to my internet network
didn't actually allow me to administer the machine. Connecting by Wi-Fi did, so
I ended up configuring it using a Kindle Fire, oddly enough.
What soon became apparent was that the
Centria doesn't like to be one of many, but the kingpin, and it can get upset
if it's not the single portal to the internet and master of DHCP. I eventually
sorted this out, and most users who were replacing an existing cable router
with this one wouldn't encounter this problem.
Having established a network connection to
the device, I was able to copy files over to the drive I'd installed, which in
this case was a 4TB WD drive. It's worth noting that the documentation for
Centria doesn't include this in its compatibility list, but it seemed to work
fine in there initially. However, the Centria knowledge base admits that 3TB
drive capacity is truncated at 2TB, so putting one any bigger than that in here
is potentially pointless. As Western Digital launched its first 3TB drive over
two years ago, I respectfully suggest that Netgear needs to pull its finger out
on supporting bigger disks.
I
respectfully suggest that Netgear needs to pull its finger out on supporting bigger
disks
On the other side of that coin, the Centria
does support multiple file systems if the drive is pre-formatted, including
NTFS, FAT 1 6, FAT32, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, HFS+ and HFS+ Journal. So if you own a
3TB drive or bigger then formatting it externally using a file system that can
handle bigger than 2TB volumes would seem the logical answer.
LAN performance was a more than adequate
40MB/s on writing, and I was able to maintain a number of media streams to
other devices without overloading the system My overall impression of
performance rated the Centria as quick, though not blindingly so, hinting that
it has sufficient computing performance to achieve what it was built to do.
If you need more space than the single
internal drive allows, then two external USB 3.0 ports are provided, which
could be useful in securing the contents of the internal storage locally, among
other uses such as printer sharing. There's also an SD card slot and a button
marked. 'Backup' which automatically copies the contents to the internal drive.
However, the real selling point of this
system is the interconnectivity, through DLNA and other protocols. For Mac
users, this hardware is Time Machine compatible, and for the Windows fraternity
something similar is offered through ReadySHARE Vault. This extends into
ReadySHARE Cloud functionality, which allows you access to your data from
remote locations or while using smartphone/ tablet devices.
For
those who want a drive pre-installed, Netgear also sells the WNDR4720, which
has a 2TB
I can't be critical in terms of what the
Centria does, because it mostly works well, but what concerns me is how it
compares with dedicated devices that aren't trying to be a hybrid.
One obvious flaw in the design is the lack
of 802.1 1 ac support, which Netgear iself has exploited in its R6300 router.
If the Centria had that, perhaps I'd be more enthusiastic, but it doesn't.
I'm also less convinced by the robustness
of the internal drive slot, which has a very flimsy outer door. Netgear seems
to be hoping you'll only use this once, and therefore not break it, but it's a
prime candidate to be broken.
There's also insufficient ventilation, I'd
suggest, because after a couple of hours testing, when I came to remove the
drive it was quite hot to handle. Given that this is a 24/ seven powered
device, that's concerning, as it could impact on the life of the drive.
What I'm drawn to conclude is that while
the Centria is an interesting combination, it's not as good a router or NAS box
as dedicated units, including those made by Netgear itself.
For those who want a drive pre-installed,
Netgear also sells the WNDR4720, which has a 2TB disk and costs around $106.1
more than the drive-less version.
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Info
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Price: $302 (CCL Computers)
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Manufacturer: Netgear
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Website: www.netgear.com
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Required spec: Ethernet network, computers and mobile devices
using wi-fi, Windows 2000 or later. Mac OS X, or Linux
Key Points
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Automatic back-up, media server and wi-fi router - all in a
single device.
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Simplifies and de-clutters your home network.
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SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports for ultra-fast data access and
transfer of external storage.
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