Thursday, July 18, 2013

Product review: Bolse® 300Mbps Wireless-N mini Router / AP / Repeater (802.11 b/g/n)


The Bolse 300Mbps Wireless-N mini router is very compact 3"L x 2"W x1.5"H (not counting the prongs). When it is plugged into a standard 2 plug outlet, the second plug can be used by slim standard plugs. I am attaching a collage of 4 photos showing the plug on 1" gridded mat for size reference.

It comes with a pretty good brochure that documents the set-up.

As the first step I needed to change the ip address of the device so my local subnet would see it. This is done using WI FI interface.

Once the IP address was changed I was able to connect to the router via web interface and change the configuration: password and the mode it functions in.

The mini router has three modes (1) router access point, (2) bridge and (3) repeater. I also change the Band to 2.4GHz(N) which is the fastest speed my devices are capable of so it does not default to something slower.

I ran Speedtest app from Speedtest.net from Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy 7.7 from different distance from the mini router. I ran a separate test for the router mode and for the bridge/repeater mode (showing the average of 2 tests below)

➨ Router Mode (connected by Ethernet)

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When I was near the mini route speed test showed

Download...........28,000kbps

Upload.............4,991kbps

When I was downstairs below the mini router location

Download...........23,060bps

Upload.............4,498kbps

When I was downstairs furthest away point

Download...........19,016bps

Upload.............4,575kbps

✔ These are very good numbers on par or better than connecting directly to my main router.

➨ Repeater/Bridge Mode (not connected by Ethernet)

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When I was near the mini route speed test showed

Download...........20,054kbps

Upload.............4,212kbps

When I was downstairs below the mini router location

Download...........14,718bps

Upload.............4,419kbps

When I was downstairs furthest away point

Download...........13,718bps

Upload.............4,377kbps

✔ As a repeater it did worse than the router mode, so using in the furthest away point did not give me a boost.

A friend of mine is using a similar type of mini router in combination with LINKSYS PLSK400 Powerline AV 4-Port Network Adapter Kit, which uses house wires to allow Ethernet connection at any power plug. In combination with a mini router this gives him a very speedy connection in the part of the house that otherwise gets a poor connection.

I received this mini router from manufacture for evaluation and review (be it positive or negative). My testing shows that this is a very capable router and less capable repeater. I think it will work very well in combination with powerline network adapter kit.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

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