QNAP is a well known producer of network-attached storage (NAS) models. Recently they’ve been testing the waters in allied areas resembling switches and Wi-Fi growth playing cards. As a pure extension, they just lately launched their first standalone Wi-Fi router – the QHora-301W. The client marketplace for Wi-Fi routers is a saturated one with a number of established distributors resembling Netgear, TP-Link, D-Link and so on., and up to date entrants resembling Google and Amazon (eero) jockeying for market share. QNAP’s technique on this house is to method the market from their established client base – prosumers and small and medium companies (SMBs). Helping their first-generation product stand out within the crowd is the inclusion of a headline-grabbing characteristic – two NBASE-T ports able to working at speeds as much as 10Gbps. The specs of the Wi-Fi 6 router are summarized within the desk beneath, adopted by an outline of the assorted {hardware} options of the unit.
The QHora-301W relies on the Qualcomm IPQ8072A Wi-Fi SoC – a member of the Networking Pro household of merchandise. A block diagram of the household flagship (IPQ8078) WiSoC is reproduced beneath.
The IPQ8072A WiSoC borrows components from throughout the product stack – whereas the quad-core Cortex-A53 cluster operates at 2.2 GHz, the Wi-Fi subsystem has solely two units of radio chains (as a substitute of the three within the IPQ8078 above) – one 4×4 5GHz, and one 4×4 2.four GHz. The 5GHz chain operates with 80MHz channels in a 4×4 configuration, however may also function with 160MHz channels in a 2×2 configuration for two.4Gbps of peak theoretical throughput. The 2.4GHz chain operates in a 4×4 configuration with 40MHz channels for 1.2Gbps throughput, putting the WiSoC within the AX3700 class. The IPQ8072A additionally fixes the uplink MU-MIMO characteristic that was lacking within the IPQ8072 WiSoC. In phrases of PHY-support, the IPQ8072A and IPQ8078 are equal. However, the QHora-301W solely takes benefit of 4 out of the 5 1GbE PHY interfaces (PSGMII) out there. Unlike current Wi-Fi 6 routers primarily based on the IPQ8072A, the QHora-301W opts to utilize each USXGMII 10GbE PHY interfaces – They connect with the Marvell Aquantia AQR113C PHY to allow the 2 NBASE-T ports (supporting as much as 10Gbps).
The software-defined WAN characteristic (SD-WAN) is likely one of the key promoting factors of the router to QNAP’s present SMB prospects. With its built-in site-to-site VPN options, it allows simple configuration of an extension of the workplace networks to a distant worker’s location. Creating a separate VPN profile for an worker’s cellular machine in addition to a desktop creates IT complications – transferring that to a single VPN occasion within the gateway or router on the distant website makes the job of the IT division comparatively easy. The QHora-301W may even scale properly sufficient for such objective in a distant location with 10 to 20 workers. The twin 10GbE ports may also assist with quicker distant backups, with the potential of a high-speed interface every within the upstream and downstream instructions.
The QuRouter OS / QuWAN characteristic helps mesh VPN for multi-site VPN deployments – this prevents overloading of the VPN on the HQ location. At the identical time, it additionally permits for centralized administration. QNAP at the moment advertises these options as subscription-free. The unit may also function in dual-WAN mode, permitting for WAN failover, load balancing, and aggregation too. The WiSoC’s community processor additionally allows deep-packet inspection (DPI), and QNAP is promising clever QoS in addition to L7 firewalling of their firmware roadmap. On the wi-fi facet, the router helps as much as six digital entry factors (VAPs). VAPs might be configured with completely different SSIDs, entry profiles, and routing insurance policies. This is usually used to implement visitor networks in residence client…
