This QNAP QHora-301W is much more than a Wi-Fi 6 router. In fact, it exposes many useful features to simplify the life of those who have to manage a corporate network, even spread over multiple locations!
There are the Wi-Fi 6 routers and then there is the QNAP QHora-301W. This device is much more than just a Wi-Fi 6 router. The performance it offers, both on a wired and wireless network, is a notch above average. But what strikes us most is the wealth of features that this router offers within its dashboard easily accessible via the web interface from any browser. Let’s take a closer look!
QNAP QHora-301W review: design, build and set up
Despite being a product intended for businesses, it cannot be said that QNAP has neglected the design of the QHora-301W. It presents itself before the eyes a white, candid parallelepiped with some slits on the side to facilitate ventilation and a series of LEDs on the front that will indicate the status of the device. The choice to integrate all the antennas inside was a winning one it made it possible to avoid those unsightly protuberances often found on high-end devices. All connection ports are on the back so you can easily hide the cables. In short, the QNAP QHora-301W will look good even in an elegant office, frequented by customers or the public.
The construction is very solid, we are facing a good quality product, even if the plastic creaks slightly under pressure. The rubber feet allow you to have an excellent grip on any surface. The set up is very simple: connect the router to the WLAN network via an RJ45 network cable and then you can access the Wi-Fi network with the administrator password or we can connect via one of the 6 Ethernet ports available. With these credentials we can also access the dashboard to manage all the features we will talk about shortly. All really simple!
QNAP QHora-301W review: technical specifications in brief
- Number of Ethernet ports: 6
- 10GbE BASE-T (RJ45): 2 10GBASE-T (10G/5G/2,5G/1G/100M)
- 1GbE (RJ45): 4
- CPU: Qualcomm IPQ8072A Hawkeye 2 Quad-core 2,2 GHz 64-bit
- Memory: 1GB RAM, Flash 4GB eMMC
- Wi-Fi:
- 8 antenne interne (4x 2.4 GHz + 4 x 5 GHz)
- Standard wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (Wi-Fi 5 e Wi-Fi 6), Dual Band
- Wireless rated speed: AX3600
- Velocità wireless 2,4 GHz: 2,4 G (1182 Mbps), 4×4 (40 MHz)
- Velocità wireless 5 GHz: 5 G (2475 Mbps), 4×4 (80 MHz), 2×2 (160 MHz)
- Banda wireless: 20/40/80/160 MHz
- Porta USB 3.2 Gen 1: 2, only for storage for the router’s FTP service
- Buttons: Power, WPS, Reset
- Energy consumption: 24W
- Dimensions: 250×180×48 mm
- Weight: 1,9 kg
QNAP QHora-301W review: the main dashboard and features
This product is much more than just a Wi-Fi 6 router. Indeed it delivers a lot of features that make your life a lot easier to companies and organizations that want to create complex networks with advanced features. Let’s see some of the most important features that allow you to go beyond a simple LAN.
QuWAN: an extended mesh network
An interesting feature of QHora-301W – and other QNAP products – is undoubtedly QuWAN. This allows you to create an enterprise-scale mesh network, through the implementation of a VPN. Basically it will be possible to connect all your compatible QNAP devices in a single virtual network, even if they are physically located in different locations. Using an SSL VPN connection through the QVPN application it will be possible for an employee to connect to the corporate network from his home securely. This feature solves a problem that usually requires ad-hoc hardware and software and that instead this router offers by default.
Immediate network monitoring and management
Thanks to the very intuitive graphical interface, it will be possible to configure our network and monitor it in a very simple way. QNAP QHora-301W offers the ability to configure up to 3 wireless networks over WLAN for internal use, plus a guest network for any visitors. There is also the possibility to manage these networks in an advanced way, for example you can plan to deactivate them at night or on the weekend when the company is closed for security reasons.
Obviously local subnets can be easily defined going to work on NAT and set up a firewall. There is also the option to use a DNS service for their networks. Finally we have the monitoring and control features. You can view the traffic in real time, which devices are connected and to which sub-network and check who is connecting and possibly define filters.
QVPN – your business VPN
We have seen the benefits of creating a corporate VPN, such as the ability to create a large WAN without the need for dedicated hardware and adding the ability to connect remotely as well. This is possible thanks to QNAP’s QVPN technology that allows you to set up devices to work as servers or clients within the corporate infrastructure. This way you can easily scale by distributing the workload and adding new servers when needed and in a totally transparent way since everything is managed by the QVPN application. In addition, you can choose different VPN protocols.
The administrator has the complete control of the virtual network and can create reports and organize users by defining different roles with different privileges.
QNAP QHora-301W review: conclusions
If you want to set up a business network quickly, easily scalable and reduce management costs, the QNAP QHora-301W is a great device. In addition to the hardware specs which are high-end, the real added value is the software developed by QNAP thanks to years of experience in the sector that guarantees the management of advanced features in a simple and transparent way and above all without the need for additional hardware. Thanks to ease of usemanagement costs can also be reduced, especially for large networks as fewer staff are required. Certainly for companies and organizations such a solution is more than interesting. Obviously we do not recommend it for home use. The price of around 300 euros is important, but honest given the amount of features offered. That’s all from the hardware section, keep following us!
The router that makes your life easier
Points in favor
- QuWAN and QVPN functionality
- Graphic interface and usability
- Wi-Fi signal quality