Wireless Reviews

Buffalo WZR-1750DHP AirStation Extreme AC1750 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router Reviewed

Details: Published: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 11:03; Written by Scott DeLeeuw

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Features

Like most consumer router makers, Buffalo has a standard feature set and admin GUI used across its line. Here's the rundown:

Routing / Firewall

Static and Dynamic IP, PPPoE and PPTP WAN connections
MTU Adjust on all connection types
DHCP Server, lease time setting, default domain and primary/secondary DNS
DHCP Client list
DHCP reservation
Port forwarding for single or multiple ports with separate local and remote ports and TCP, UDP or all protocols forwarded. Enable/disable for each entry. 10 preconfigured common service ports
DMZ Host
UPnP enable/disable
DDNS support for Dyndns (www.dyndns.org) and TZO (www.tzodns.com)
IPv6 support passthrough support
Firewall enable/disable
VPN Passthrough enable/disable for PPPoE, PPTP and IPv6
Application Layer Gateway enable/disable for FTP, TFPT, H323 and RTSP
Ignore Ping Packet from WAN port
Remote Management with user configurable port and SSL
Static routes

QoS

Enable/disable bandwidth control with four preset policies (Video, Voice, Gaming and Custom)

Access / Parental Control

Norton ConnectSafe with 3 preset filters
Ability to exclude websites from filter
Ability to exclude individual addresses from filter
Internet access scheduling per machine

USB features

SMB storage sharing
Network USB Print server
Media server
User accounts for SMB and FTP access. No per-user folders

Note that the WZR-1750DHP does not support NAT loopback.

Logging in brings you to the Easy Admin page that provides a simplified view of key router functions. This GUI is a new look for Buffalo routers and similar to the approach Buffalo is taking in its new LinkStation and TeraStation NASes. Clicking on any of the panels takes you to a simplified setttings page for that function. Clicking on the Advanced Settings panel takes you to a more familiar admin interface with sections running down the left side of the page.

GUI response is pretty quick, except for the times when a reboot is required to activate new settings. Reboots aren't required for every setting change, though.

Buffalo WZR-1750DHP Easy Admin page

I've provided a gallery of the different admin interface features below. Check it out or continue on for a closer look at a few key features.

Here are just some of the wireless configuration options.
This is the initial device settings screen that shows all connected devices
This screen shows the current upload and download speeds of each device
The individual screen shows information about each device such as MAC and IP. It also lets you set separate QoS policy and exclude it from web filters.
This screen allows configuration of the USB storage. NTFS format is not supported.
One neat feature is the ability to use a non-network multifunction printer over the network.
The main QoS screen showing the 4 different preset policies.
The more configurable QoS screen which lets you custom tailor your policy.
Web filtering is via Norton ConnectSafe and has several different policies and options
From this screen you can enable BitTorrents, set ports and bandwidth restrictions
This is the BitTorrent Download Manager that shows all current connections.

QoS

Buffalo uses six-level priorty based QoS to control uplink bandwidth use only. The interface is simpler than others I've seen. Four default policies are provided (Video, Voice, Gaming and Manual) that you can see in the image below.

Buffalo WZR-1750DHP QoS entry page

The QoS Settings page allows you to set up a custom policy with simple dropdown boxes and limited, but adequate configuration options. The text of the different selections isn't terribly descriptive, but you can assume they are in hierarchial order and make your selections accordingly.

Buffalo WZR-1750DHP QoS Settings page

For further granularity, you can also go to an individual device under Device Settings and set the QoS policy per node. This is a really nice feature that could come in very useful for situations where a roommate or child is using all your bandwidth or where a media server should have highest priority for all uses.