QOTD: Review the Vizio Wireless Router?

vizio-wireless-router

Today’s question of the day comes to us by way of Jason M:

Any chance you guys might be able to do a review of the new wifi router from Vizio? They have been shipping for a few weeks now, but official reviews are extremely scarce. They seem to be inexpensive (cheap?) for what you are getting, but I have yet to see someone go through all the specs and report on it.

Jason’s right that the Vizio XWR100 is competitively priced for a dual band 802.11n wireless router ($80). And it does feature DLNA USB streaming functionality. But, generally speaking, this market has been commoditized — most devices provide mostly the same functionality. Sure, there’s various interfaces, security features, and even range could be a consideration. However, the vast majority of people I know are simply looking for a reliable wireless connection within their homes. So, unless you’re seeking out some very specific functionality (Powerline, Time Capsule, hackability, 3G, or that DLNA), I’d say take the safe route in going with a market leader (Netgear, Cisco/Linksys, D-Link) and grab a highly rated, yet discounted, model off Amazon.

Regarding reviews in general, we’re very selective in the products we request (or purchase) as in-depth coverage is very time consuming and most gear doesn’t motivate us enough (love or hate) to take that deep dive.

As far as my household, I overpaid for an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station a few years back specifically to turn any USB printer into a wireless printer or hang a USB drive from it for network storage. But, when HP’s MediaSmart Server failed to recover my imploded Macbook, I purchased the Time Capsule AEBS variant for a higher tier of insurance. At which point, I essentially reconfigured the original AEBS as a wireless bridge for the living room — our XBox 360 and TiVo Series3 are hardwired into that AEBS, which broadcasts to/from the Time Capsule at 802.11n. Given how I consume media and what we cover here, you’d correctly assume this config successfully streams all sorts of media (video, audio, Xbox Live, Slingbox) around and beyond the home.

10 thoughts on “QOTD: Review the Vizio Wireless Router?”

  1. Best router for most geeks is to get a WRT-54GL or early generation WRT-54G (widely available used), then flash the firmware with Tomato. Easy to use, huge amount of control. Although it only does 802.11g, it’s easy to add a wireless access point with N. I use this at home and have installed it for the rest of my team at work.

  2. DD-WRT is another useful replacement firmware. When I was still on Comcast, I thought about going down that path with one of them to roll my own bandwidth meter. I also have an older Fonera router that can be hacked. Was going to make into a my travel router, but I guess I never did.

  3. I will put in my regular plug for the cheap ‘n’ simple Netgear WNHDE111 Access Point for your 5ghz needs.

    At $50 a pop, the price can’t be beat. It’s got good coverage for 5ghz and kick-ass throughput. And since it’s not a full router, it’s simple, which means it never needs to be rebooted.

    Assuming you’ve already got a b/g wireless router, you can strategically add WNHDE111’s to your abode as needed, keep costs down, and get very robust 5ghz coverage.

    —–

    “I purchased the Time Capsule AEBS variant for a higher tier of insurance.”

    I’ve never understood the appeal of Time Capsules for folks with computer proficiency. They are pricey. Their failure rate is sky-high. They offer very limited backup flexibility. And if you run into a troubleshooting emergency, your options tend to be non-existent.

    Instead, best practices here are to lay out the extra couple of hundred dollars up front and buy a Mac Mini to use as your Time Machine backup server over AFP.

    If the Mini’s internal 320MB isn’t sufficient backup space, then you can easily attach a cheap external 2GB HD. At that point, you have a much more capable Time Machine backup server than what the Capsule provides, as well as getting a general purpose household server in the deal, which can also handle HTPC functions…

    (My Mini serves as household Time Machine server, archival backup separate from Time Machine, household media server, HTPC, low-traffic web server, screen sharing access while travelling, landline mini-PBX, dedicated machine for processor intensive or always-on tasks, and a couple of other functions in the mix.)

  4. I don’t disagree with what you’re saying. Let’s just say I have more than enough projects – this was a simple and efficient way of checking off in-home backups. My buddy has a similar solution as you – picked up a Mac Mimi from Craigslist and turned it into a NAS, tunnels home via SSH when on the road.

    (This comment typed via Logitech Revue.)

  5. I still wish I could find a router with really good range (802.11n required at minimum, 5GHz quite optional given how limited the distances are at 5GHz) that didn’t need to be rebooted every few weeks. I’ve tried quite a few and they all need to be rebooted much more often than I would have expected…

  6. I bought the Vizio XWR100 and have found it easy to set up; transmits on three networks at the same time b/g, 2.4N and 5N instead of having to choose one or the other. No dropouts or disconnects in 3 weeks. The regular price at Sam’s Club $49.95 + tax. Replaced an older Airport Express (non-N).

  7. I just bought the Vizio XWR100 to replace a NETGEAR WNDR3300, which was giving me various problems – the most annoying were slow internet-access speeds and frequent “server not found” errors. The Vizio router has cleared up all of that and appears to be working well. Granted, i’ve only had the Vizio router running for a few hours, but it was easy to set up, and the speed is WAY BETTER than the NETGEAR router (sorry to say).

  8. I’m trying to figure out why my new Vizio XWR10000 is terrible with streaming. I’ve tried it on both frequency and same results.

    Previously we had the TimeWarner combo modem-router, and streaming was usually fine, usless there was a long video. (replaced it to avoid monthly fee).

    This new router is set up correctly. We tested the speed and it says it’s faster than the speed was on the old one.

    I have a HP Pavillion Entertainment laptop — it seems to work a bit better on my husband’s laptop (a low-end Toshiba). Does type of computer even matter?

    Anyway, I should be able to find a router that works with mine.

    Why is it so slow?

    Also, I plugged my storage drive into the router to access my storage via wireless, but the device doesn’t show up anywhere on my computer. Am I missing something here too?

    I appreciate any feedback.

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