Netduma R2 router review

Discussion in 'Frontpage news' started by Hilbert Hagedoorn, Oct 18, 2021.

  1. Hilbert Hagedoorn

    Hilbert Hagedoorn Don Vito Corleone Staff Member

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    We review Netduma R2, a router aimed at gamers, that was announced in July 2020. It has a dedicated router operating system developed by NetDuma called DumaOS – it was created from scratch with a co...

    Netduma R2 router review
     
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  2. tunejunky

    tunejunky Ancient Guru

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    great job Kryzystof.

    this is such a great idea i'm surprised (not surprised) it hadn't occurred to anyone before to write a new OS specifically for gaming.

    even though the name of the company sounds like some sort of website for the Russian Parliament i'm impressed.
    i hope they will put out WiFi 6 (ax) version as that to me would be worth the steep price.
    i'm always down to help pay for innovation as an early adopter so let's go! :p
     
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  3. Venix

    Venix Ancient Guru

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    Hmm indeed we forget that in the end routers are practically computers too !

    After reading the article i would say DumaOS seems intriguing !
     
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  4. SamuelL421

    SamuelL421 Master Guru

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    I don't know that it would work well for most modern competitive games, but that geofencing idea is great. AFAIK, a lot of modern games use some centralized bits or a load balanced system ahead of the servers hosting games, so I can imagine a scenario where you are in a matchmaking lobby (to an approved IP), then are matched to a regional server with an unapproved IP and then simply drop / disconnect. So you wait in queue, get matched, then drop with no explanation in the UI - could be frustrating... On the other hand, for games that have private servers and a server browser (like most older source games or counter strike), it should work well though - seamlessly filter servers based in blocked regions.
     

  5. Hapatingjaky

    Hapatingjaky Member Guru

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    Gigabit WAN & LAN?

    [​IMG]

    We need an upgrade on these already, the Asus GT-AXE11000 has both wan and all lan ports at 2.5G but it costs $1000.... Instead I have to use my ISP's supplied POS modem since it has 2.5G ports but the WIFI on it sucks...
     
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  6. =GGC=Phantomblu

    =GGC=Phantomblu Member Guru

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    As a owner of an XR 500 , I want to be honest and honestly do not recommend it . Instead I strongly recommend you to take either an Edgerouter from Ubiquiti or a modem that mounts OpenWRT as firmware since they have a very effective antibufferbloat
     
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  7. Noisiv

    Noisiv Ancient Guru

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    Edgerouter X + UAP AC Lite.
    Or something similar from Mikrotik. You set it and forget it, or you can tinker around.

    Brutally good, and it's even cheaper.
     
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  8. AlmondMan

    AlmondMan Maha Guru

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    For the cost of those devices you can buy a proper router and switch setup, with POE powered wifi access points to place in your house where needed. Rather than wanting to rely on those silly Asus gaming routers.
     
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  9. moriel5

    moriel5 Member

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    The NetDuma R2 is pretty much a cashgrab, with some of the hardware details (such as the Mediatek 7621AT SoC) already known 2 years ago, when it was added to the FCC's database.
    https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/Netduma_R2
    https://netduma.com/order/netduma-r2/
    https://fccid.io/2AR6UR2

    I have the V1 Xiaomi Mi 3G which came out earlier, and they are almost identical, spec-wise.
    https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/Xiaomi_MiWiFi_3G_(R3G)

    There is only one clear advantage for the NetDuma R2 over the Xiaomi Mi 3G, and that is the amount of LAN ports (the UniElec U7621 variants though also have that, as well as other improvements).
    And the only thing that may be be better about with the NetDuma R2 (something that needs to be verified with proper tools) is the soldering work and shielding between the USB port and the WiFi antennaes (particularly 5Ghz), since Mediatek SoCs of the time had a glaring issue in regards to interference between USB and WiFi (no idea how things are nowadays, since most Mediatek-based routers have unfortunately dropped the USB port).

    Also, in regards to DumaOS, they used to claim (and apparently still say this to reviewers), that is is a new OS, which is a blatant lie, as it is based upon OpenWrt (this was proven ages ago with people disassembling the firmware image), and now they finally show on their website that it is based upon OpenWrt, though they fail to show what parts are from OpenWrt, what is open-source from other sources (and they also do not link to any open-source contributions they have made, nor do they follow the GPL or the LGPL in regards to what they are required to publish) and what is proprietary.

    In short, NetDuma are being very dishonest, with any possible improvements specific to them being purely software-based, and it is ambiguous as to whether they actually did something in that regards or if they are merely piggybacking on top of the community even for the proprietary bits.

    If anyone want a good router with this chipset, some of the best options for this, while not cheap, cheaper than this (while being much better), are UniElec's offerings (UniElec is mainly an ODM, though they also sell directly to consumers).

    UniElec's website: http://unielecinc.com/q/news/cn/p/index/index.html
    UniElec's AliExpress store: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1496032
     
  10. moriel5

    moriel5 Member

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    By the way, the NetDuma R1 was superior to the R2, due to it using a Qualcomm chipset with the same featureset, and the real reason NetDuma switched supplier, was cost (Xiaomi also did the same thing with the Xiaomi Mi Pro/HD routers for the same reason, with the first two revisions using the Broadcom BCM4709A0 and BCM4709C0, respectively, the third revision using the Qualcomm IPQ8064, and the 4th revision relying on the Mediatek MT7621A, with 4x4:4 MIMO config, as opposed to the 2x2:2 on the NetDuma R2, although it appears that Xiaomi has returned to Qualcomm on the Xiaomi Mi 4 Pro, seeing as it has a QCA9563).

    Update: It appears that the R1 was using the Atheros (since bought by Qualcomm) AR9344, and was based upon the MicroTik RB951G-2HnD, so I was wrong about the featureset being the same on the R2 and R1, I had in mind the IPQ8064 for some reason, which is actually far better than the MT7621A.

    And regarding why Qualcomm is better than Mediatek, it is a result of the quality of the drivers and firmwares (there are firmwares for components as well), as well as how much effort they put into open-source, as opposed to to Mediatek being a known GPL offender.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2021

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