MBR1000 Review

MBR1000

Cradlepoint has shipped us a pre-production unit to evaluate, but we have not had a chance to put it through it paces.

First impression though is that it does an awful lot, we like the signal strength display on the unit itself, dual USB slots, and an Express card slot. This is the first router we are aware of to support Express cards without an adaptor.

A couple of other things that jump out, there are 3 antennas rather than the 2 pictured in previous releases.  They are mounted on 90 degree swivels, but not removeable, so much for attaching an external antenna. 

Another endearing feature is the provision for wall mounting the unit, super for space saving in crowded areas, and should make it an absolute hit with the RV set.

There is an On/Off switch on the rear of the unit, which ONLY turns off the WiFi signal, a great feature for locations not utilizing the WiFi, or those RV parks that forbid it.

For those needing a seamless back-up for their internet connection, this unit is made to order! The unit will function as a wired and Wifi router, with a WAN input and 4 LAN outputs. It features automatic failover to the broadband card(s) should the primary internet source fail.  Unfortunately there is no 'load balancing' between modems, the unit will fail-over to only one source at a time.   Load balancing would require the cooperation of the wireless carriers, so  it is not likely to happen

More as we get into the workings.

Thanks KMH

 Here is a more extensive review, by Karl a system manager for sizable broadband/voip provider in our area:

 I found the Cradlepoint router to be very feature rich small office or home router.  It has 2 USB ports and 1  Express slot for EVDO cards, it also has an Ethernet WAN port and 4 LAN ports. It has N wireless as well.

I found that the router did a good job failing over from the Ethernet WAN connection to the EVDO connection. However it did not switch back to the Ethernet connection after it came back up. I had to unplug the EVDO card to
get it to switch back to the Ethernet WAN connection.  DONE! Failback has been enabled in firmware versions 1.3.1 and later.

 It would be nice if it had the ability to load balance between 2 EVDO cards.  DONE! Firmware version 1.3.1 and later will actually load balance between 3 cards and an ethernet WAN!   I tested it with 2 EVDO cards and it failed over very nicely between all three connections.  

Here are some of the features it has:
 
Virtual Server, Special Applications, Gaming, Traffic Shaping, Routing, Access Control, Web Filter, MAC Address Filter, Firewall, Inbound Filter, WISH, Wi-Fi Protected Setup, Failover, VPN Passthrough and Dynamic DNS.
 
I ran some speed tests through the router the results are below:
 
1.connected with my wireless card, using Ethernet for the WAN connection.
Download: 34265 (Kbps)
Upload: 37974 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 4182.7 down 4635.5 up
 
 2.Connected with an Ethernet cable, using Ethernet for the WAN connection.
Download: 90678 (Kbps)
Upload: 91603 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 11069 down 11182 up
 
3.Connected with my wireless card, using a Sprint Sierra Wireless 595U for the WAN connection.
Download: 1012 (Kbps)
Upload: 607 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 123.6 down 74.2 up
 
Overall I thought the Cradlepoint router performed very well.

Best Regards

Karl

Update 2/14/2008 New firmware release (v1.1.0) supports AT&T 881u modem! 

Update 4/6/2008  Latest firmware (1.5.1) supports the new 4G modems from Xohm and Clear!

Update 11/16/2008  We have now sold well over 1000 of the MBR1000 routers, and what a solid unit this had turned out to be!  Very versatile and fills so many needs! 

Update 8/21/2009  With over 5000 units sold, this has been our most popular router ever!

Call us with Questions!

877-642-9168 

 
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