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>> Dong Ngo: Once in a while, you run into a product that has great potential but gets bogged down by just one crucial shortcoming. I have here an example. Hello. My name is Dong Ngo, and this is the X-550N wireless router from Xyxel. First of all, this is a simple straightforward router that's about 50 percent larger in physical size than other router of the same specs. On the back of the 5 are the ports, one one and 4 [inaudible] as well as the 3 antennae. These antennas are detachable, which is only helpful when you want to pick the router up. In daily use, however, they are sort of in the way. It would be a much nicer design if these antennae was put on the side away from the ports. On the front, there's an array of LED light to show the status of the ports, the inner connection, the wireless connection, and the power. Though big, the router is wall-mountable with hooks on the bottom. Performance wise, the Xyxel is a very fast router with very long wireless range. It also come with gigabit Ethernet and has support for a virtual private network, or VPN. Unfortunately, its mediocre wireless ability prevents us from recommending it without any reservation. In our testing, the router wire has great through put speeds failing to hold a stable connection to wireless [inaudible] for an excellent amount of time. The connection which we set every couple of hours or so. This means you will be able to play online games or do tasks that require a constant connection such as streaming media over the wireless network. For this reason, we believe the Xyxel is best use as a wire VPN router, and its widest connection should be used only casually. We do hope, though, the connection issue will be addressed with a new firmware update. The router is available now and costs just over $100. For more information on its feature and performance, check out the in-depth review at cnet.com. My name is Dong Ngo, and this has been the first look at the X-550N wireless router from Xyxel.
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