Western Digital WD MyNet N900 Central Storage Router Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2013-05-07
·
1,108 words · ~5 min read
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Today's unboxing will be the end all and
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be all of WD Minet unboxings. They're an
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uber premium product. None of these things.
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Today we're going to be having a look at the Minet N900
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Central. This is basically like the Minet N900 except it comes with a hard
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drive inside which means this is basically like a NAS that also functions
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as a router that also functions as a
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network switch that also functions as a wireless access point
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that also functions as an Apple time
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capsule. It just does everything. I mean, you'll still need a computer and
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like or like a tablet or something, but but it almost does everything. All
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right. Effortless entertainment. This refers to WD's FastTrack technology. So,
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what FastTrack or rather fasttrack plus, FastTrack uses profiles in the firmware
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to provide dynamic quality of service to all the traffic that's coming in and out
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of your network. Fasttrack Plus automatically detects what kind of an
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application is using this number of bandwidth and then automatically
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reserves it for applications that it deems to be more important such as Skype
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or gaming or whatever else where you don't want to have that extra latency
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while the packets wait for you know Jeffrey's uh you know My Little Pony you
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know TV show downloads that don't matter at all because you know well I don't
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know if it'll actually prioritize like house over My Little Pony if two people
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are watching TV But it'll prioritize that TV over like torrenting for
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example. All right, what else we got here? Auto backup. Very cool stuff.
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Because of the internal hard drive, that feature is enabled. So while their other
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routers do have USB ports for external hard drives, this is a more integrated,
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more elegant solution for sure. More reliability. Wirelessly back up personal
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files on all your PCs to one reliable location wherever you are on your
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network. Very cool stuff. I'm big into NAS unless you if you guys don't already
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know that. I believe in data backups because drives fail. It's just a reality
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of it. More control. Minet dashboard provides a simple view of your essential settings for easy customization and more
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advanced options such as advanced QoS, uh wireless security, parental controls,
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network diagnostic tools, auto sensing port technology, and antenna amplifier. So, this is an N900 router built in
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here. So, it's pretty much as fast as it gets on wireless end. And it also has 4
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gigabit Ethernet ports, which actually isn't quite as many as the regular Minet
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N900, which has seven gigabit Ethernet ports, but this one has a hard drive, so
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you have to decide which features matter. It's available in a 1 TB or a 2
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TB configuration at launch. We have the 1 TB one here, uh, because, you know, to
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test it, it's not like we needed higher capacity. Let's go ahead and open this bad boy up. So, we've got a technical
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support limited warranty guide, a start here CD.
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Do people even have optical drives in their like computers anymore? Do we
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still need this? I actually don't know.
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Power cable, power brick, Ethernet cable, Ethernet brick. No, there's no
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Ethernet brick. I mean, what would an Ethernet brick be? Maybe a switch.
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Don't be a Don't be a smart guy, Slick. He he contributed Switch at the same
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time as me, which basically means now he's going to think he's as clever as I
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am, which is he's going to be all putting on errors and I'm going to have to like pay him more and it's going to
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be problematic for everyone actually. Okay, so moving right along. Fasttrack
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Plus is awesome. Auto backup is awesome. It's both Apple and Windows compatible,
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which is very cool. Backup all at the same time. Stream Surf Play. Yep, good
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stuff. Your computers and stuff going on. Okay. uh view and share your files
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at home or away with the WD to go remote access. It's available as an app. Very
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cool stuff. Superior multifloor coverage with range amplifying technology. So,
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this one, the Minet N900 Central, does have the same wireless range as the
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N900, the same FastTrack Plus, the same gigabit Ethernet ports, but not as many
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of them. One fewer USB 2 port. Remember, it's got an internal hard drive already
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anyway, though. And all these features, including look, look at this. They
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actually they changed it. They just
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added this one. See, it wasn't even on there. See the central? It's not there.
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And then they just were like, "Oh, well, this one needs like more." So, I guess
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they didn't want you to compare the central when you were looking. Maybe by
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the time they launch this, they'll have revised the packaging. But, uh, they're both DNA certified, which means you can
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stream your media all over the place like a boss. Internal storage, auto
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backup, and remote access, all included because of that hard drive.
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Okay, I think that pretty much covers it for the box. It's slightly heavier than
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the regular Minet N900, which makes sense because hard drives are heavy. On
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the front, we've got a power switch or power LED rather, uh, wireless LED,
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internet LED, WPS LED, and hard drive activity LED. This is not present on the
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N900. We've got a WPS button for your
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easy wireless setup. We've got a power switch, power in, 4 GB Ethernet ports,
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one internet WAN port, one USB port, and a Kensington lock. The other ones didn't
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have a Kensington lock, but then they weren't as expensive. Cooling fan is in
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the bottom. I really hope it's quiet. There's your reset switch in the bottom
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as well. There's your part number, serial number, and Mac Address. And
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there's your sort of performancy looking matte top thing that's going on here.
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And I think that pretty much covers it. So, that is it. We have finally finished
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with the Minet N900 Central, the entire range of Western Digital routers.
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And well, we've unboxed them anyway. We're going to do more videos about them that actually show off these cool
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FastTrack features. But thank you for watching Lionus Tech Tips. Don't forget
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to subscribe for more unboxings, reviews, and other computer videos.