Synology RT6600ax Router Full Review! Now with WiFi 6, VLAN Support

[@wylelias]

You had me at vlan

[@WRNPR]

I had the 1900ac then the 2600ac I couldn’t be more happy with a Router. Synology is the epitome of excellence. Their hardware is the Toyota of Routers with the best software of the segment. I’m going to buy this as soon as It become available as it’s always in back order

[@BenReese]

Great review as always! Two of the big negatives are probably ok: UPnP and 1x 2Gbps LAN port. If UPnP was disabled by default, they'd get a bunch of users returning it when their Xbox / Playstation showed closed NAT. It may be easy to turn on, but many users wouldn't try. Perhaps a better model would be to enable UPnP for game consoles only - identified by MAC and/or outbound connections to Microsoft / Sony / etc. For 2 Gbps, it would be much better to have 4 at 2 Gbps and 4 at gigabit. However, power users with multi-gigabit networks will have their own switches already so I think it's a wash. Extra LAN ports would be nice too, but easily mitigated with a $15 switch 🤷‍♂️

[@fgodek1964]

I wonder if you can turn UPnP on for a particular VLAN. Then you could just hook your game system up to that VLAN.

[@sinisterpisces]

This is an excellent review--I appreciate the focus on real-world applications vs. tech specs. It's hard to turn specifications into an understanding of how things will actually work in your place without help. I will admit--I want this. It's a great update to the RT2600ac. But I am still sitting here, once again, boggling at the bizarre places Synology chooses to skimp on hardware, especially for a $300 device released in 2022. The lack of a second 2.5GbE port means only your wifi really has a chance to take advantage of, e.g., a 2 Gbps full duplex fiber connection. With just one more 2.5 GbE connection, you could easily plug the router into a switch as an upstream connection provider, and enable 2 Gbps WAN across an entire wired network. (Part of me wonders if Synology's engineers assumed anyone who cared that much about multigig would buy this and just put it in WAP mode forever to use as the root of a mesh WiFi network. The single 2.5 GbE upstream port would make more sense then.) I'm not convinced doing a 2x2.5GbE ports and 3x1Gbps would have impacted the MSRP that much. Alas. As it is, Synology still has the best WiFi router OS that isn't built into ridiculous-for-most-home-users hardware (e.g., Ubiquiti, Engenius (sp?)). There's a good chance I'll buy one of these if I can confirm that I can connect a 2.5GbE ethernet-to-USB dongle to the USB port and connect it to a multi-gig switch that way.

[@newsmansuper2925]

I have the 2600ac and 2 MR2200ac all ethenet connecte (also tried wifi connect as that was good I just like eth connection) and it has saved me so much time. Before this I spent so much time messing around with my various rounters. This now just seamlessly runs. I have 20+ device connected maybe 30 or so from time to time. Very very would buy agian great coverage all around the house and even down in that backyard shed.

[@HPad2]

My problem so far in the week I've owned it, for 160Mhz it can only use the upperband DFS channels which is AWFUL! (channels 100-128) And in which I have many devices that don't support those channels forcing me to keep both 5GHz radios enabled and its always kicking back down to 80Mhz. My ASUS AX11000 I could set the 5GHz band & 160MHz on the lower channels (36-64) and this would never happen. And in a perfect enviorment the range is not as good as my old AX11000 either. From about 250ft away from the AX11000 I could still get just over 300mbps on 5GHz, while the Synology it wont even connect.

[@Phil-D83]

You need the china spec versions of haiwei or xaiomi for more 160mhz channels

[@qtran101]

Is this issue something they can fix with software upgrade?

[@chrisbearden1331]

I get what you're saying about the asus ax11000. However, keep in mind that you're comparing something that costs at least 1.5x the price of the synology router.

[@HPad2]

@@chrisbearden1331 A Linksys Velop AC1200 which can be gotten under $50 for a 2 pack used peforms better range wise than the Synology. I used one as an AP for my Guest vlan which I had only paid $5 for years ago at a thrift store

[@chrisbearden1331]

@@HPad2 @HPad I know as you go higher in ghz speed, the range also gets reduced. That wasn't what you're experiencing was it?

[@AudioMaverickcom]

Nicely done, Lon! I came across your video review while trying to find someone who has tested the VPN throughput. I am about to dump a soon-to-be-obsolete Cisco RV160W, and it seems to have the same trouble as the old RV320 making north of 150Mbps on VPN. I guess it is time for me to message Synology!

[@Evolved-]

Nice review! I would love to see a video detailing the "Safe Access" feature of this router. :)

[@guyteigh3375]

This was really interesting - thank you. As this is the hub being used by a 2.5Gbit fibre provider in the UK, I had figured (wrongly it seems), that it would 2.5GBit on the green WAN input - and then we would have a single 2.5Gbit output on the first yellow one. From what you are saying, the green WAN socket presumably cannot do 2.5Gbit - which does indeed seem utter madness!

[@damient9040]

Lon- love your channel, you do a great job. One thing I wanted to point out that wasn’t entirely accurate- 1.3 SRM was released to the other synology products a couple days ago (originally it was only avail on the rt6600) so not only does the old mr2200 mesh with the new rt6600, the RT2600ac router does so as well.

[@LonSeidman]

Thanks for the clarification that was not clear in Synology's documentation that they provided which indicated that only RT6600's could mesh with it.

[@gummibando]

"…soon be on the previous version, the RT2600ac" is today. 1.3.1 released with RC status, also for MR2200.

[@LubomirGeorgiev]

Quick correction: Unless they have changed something recently, the site 2 site tunnel uses IPsec and can be established between a third party router and the Synology. Your mileage may vary as different vendors implement those tunnels differently but I have successfully done PFsense to Synology tunnel without issues. Edit: I swear they used to charge for the site 2 site tunnels

[@CLTGeek]

Given how long it took them to bring this to market, I'm disappointed that it didn't ship with an 10-gig capable SFP port.

[@badpants]

Synology products are top-notch. The quality can't be beaten. Their major problem is they're obsolete on the day they're released. WiFi 6 is the last generation and new computers and routers have been coming out with WiFi 6E for a while. This is their top-of-the-line router, but it doesn't support the latest WiFi standard? You see the same thing in their NAS boxes, the CPUs are a few generations old when they're released and only a few have 10 Gbe support, still favoring multiple 1 Gbe ports. When I was upgrading my home network to 10 Gbe, I had to go with QNAP for price and features. I would love to have the H/W in my QNAP system running Synology's O/S.

[@teknerd]

Good review. I have a question about the VPN server. During the pandemic, Synology provided up to (I believe) 10 free VPN licenses to RT2600AC owners. Would those VPN licenses transfer over to the RT6600AX if you use the same Synology account or are those VPN licenses tied to the RT2600AC hardware?

[@SwissOliver]

nice review, what was the distance between the router and your macbook pro while you achieved that high speed of almost 1 Gbit?

[@AlexCruz-mv1gj]

I have a Ubiquit ER-X at home with several VLANs going to an old Cisco sg switch and really would like to replace this "complex" setup to this type of router in case something happens to me and my wife has to do something with the network lol. Does this allow you to do policy based routing to have certain VLANs use one WAN while other VLAN uses another WAN? Great review, I always enjoy your videos.

[@jasonhurdlow6607]

I was about to order one of these, until you showed that the WAN port isn't 2.5GB... I'm super confused... Why isn't the main WAN port 2.5??? I thought both "WAN" ports were 2.5 so I could hook up a 2.5 switch on the yellow one for all my 2.5GB devices, and the blue one to my internet. Ugh... so stupid!!

[@victorbalta1402]

Thanks for the Video. I want to setup a 2.5gbe switch for my internal traffic between NAS and PC. which switch would you recommend that works well with the Synology router?

[@adrianTNT]

11:40 When enabling VPN module, Synology is asking you to provide your personal details, name, email, etc, so they can associated all your online activity with you. One of the reasons I returned this router.

[@scottalexander8856]

great way to create a Vlan to get your wired poe cameras off the network. would you just check "port 4" and run that to your POE switch? would that take all of ur cams off ur network?

[@TechButler]

Is there a way to force a VLAN onto the 2.4Ghz band? Some devices only work this with that band and can't see the VLAN when I tried setting it up this way on the 2600ac.

[@davidshauck6886]

Nice review, thank you. I was hoping to get more information on how good this is at filtering naughty URLs? I have two boys 9 and 12 need to get something online soon. Thank you again.

[@thetanman2929]

Hey Lon, another great review! I have the RT2600ac but only 900 Mbps internet service so I am very happy to hear that they will be porting multiple VLAN support to this model. Quick question, does the WAN 1 port also support 2.5 Gbps? At least you'd be able to connect to an ISP offering north of 1 Gbps and have 1 wired device take advantage of the speed, if that's the case.

[@LonSeidman]

No unfortunately it does not ... the only 2.5 port is that secondary port.

[@cyberwasp461]

@@LonSeidman wait if only 1 2.5gbps port out and the Wan isn't. what good is the port than?

[@LonSeidman]

@@cyberwasp461 as I stated in the video the 2.5 port can be configured to be the wan port instead.

[@tonyvalenti6614]

Great video, as always! I cannot seem to find out anywhere what the max wired/wireless devices the RT6600ax Router/Mesh can support? Anyone know? I’ve got about 100 on my Netgear Orbi 5 Mesh and. An tell it’s lagging and disconnecting at times. 😞

[@azeliak]

I am still using first gen synology router and am looking forward to upgrade to newer product but kinda waiting for a device that will have 10gbe and wifi 6e

hello, can it do LACP Trunk? then you just could trunk 2 or 3 remaining 1gig ports into multigig switch where you can enjoy those 2.5 gig speeds.... THANKS!

[@valicta1]

Hello... I have a concern about making ipv6 work on this router... I mention that the ISP assigned me a native address (the connection is made via PPPoE).... I tried all the options to make it work and I didn't succeed, but I still succeeded with 6to4, which doesn't delight me. Is there any option to go in Native mode or is it a system problem? Thank you in advance.

[@JosephTyson]

I'm currently using an Asus RT-AX88U running Asuswrt-Merlin firmware. This router looks like a nice and would match up nicely with my DS918+. Too bad it isn't WIFI6e.

[@HoekNoot]

hello super youtube video. I'm just curious what you would choose. UDM or Synology router? and can unifi controller run together with Synology router ? so synology router with different networks that are also available via UniFi controller. I still have several access points from unifi

[@mstrickk1]

I hope Synology comes out with WAPs at some point. I already have an ERX and 2 switches, I just need a decently priced access point to replace my half dead Asus router set to AP mode

[@JSRJS]

Good review but you are wrong about the signal strength and mesh parts. You can use older version of this router (with the latest 1.3 Firmware) as a mesh unit and it works perfectly (just update your old synology units with latest 1.3 firmware). Also the signal strength on this is much better than the AC2600. I had 2-3 out of 5 bars in some rooms with the AC2600 and they are 100% full with this new unit. So double? Also my neighbor saw my 2600 with 1 bar and sees this new one with 4 out of 5 bars now....

[@stabbymeowkins]

I can not get the LAN1 port to be the default internet port so I can have a 1200 incoming from my modem. No matter what I do.

[@ewhite1546]

I have the older version, I know you said you need another one to use as an access point. Can you use the older one as an AP or do you need 2 new ones

[@LonSeidman]

I think right now only the new one works as a mesh point but you could always just set the old one to AP mode and use the same SSID. Not as elegant but it'll work.

[@johnstouchpad6437]

The RT2600AC and MR2200AC has the new version V1.3.1 available as of today 6/23/2023.

[@johnstouchpad6437]

V1.3.1 is available today for the 2 other models. As of today.

[@igeekone]

3:30 is the reason why I would never consider routers like this one. Makes no sense to only have a single 2.5Gb port.

[@ikjadoon]

This RT6600ax feels a lot like the RT1900ac, Synology's first Wi-Fi 5 router. RT1900ac made a lot of iffy decisions: only 3x3, only 256MB RAM, slower 1 GHz CPU, Wave 1 radios. Just one year later, the RT2600ac fixed those things for $70: full 4x4, 512 MB RAM, 1.7 GHz CPU, Wave 2 radios, etc.

[@Maine307]

399??? for that price, how well does it interact with the StarLink system?? and Mesh

[@fgodek1964]

Broadcast strength of the AP is far less important to supporting remote connections than the ability of the AP to "hear" phones and other client devices that have small antennas (and low gain) and low power.

[@dawningsun5667]

There is no more Cloud Station (= Synology Drive) with rt6600ax which was very useful from previous model rt2200ac. No reviewers mentioned about it.

[@madmex6526]

But how do you hook it up?

[@harpersneil]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've never understood the obsession with having so many ethernet ports on your router. I run 6 CCTV's over POE which no router could support, I also have 8 ethernet ports in my house... just buy a switch? I have a POE switch and another switch to run my house... only need two ports on my router. What am I missing?

[@TomWessel]

Does this have a VPN kill switch?

[@DarthVader1977]

That's the Darth Maul of routers...

[@franka76]

Wow. So no internal SD card reader for the Threat Prevention requirement?...so if you intend on using Threat Prevention you can't also use the external USB port for HDD/NAS feature at the same time? Dang...this seems to limit the combined features you can ultimately take advantage of -- including using a backup usb 5G device?...what a shame...I may stick to my "old" RT2600ac. Has anyone tested a USB 3.0 hub connected to the RT6600ax?

[@shadow.banned]

What kind of external drive is that?

[@LonSeidman]

This one ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoWYl4FthNFoabM

[@jerrywilkin8096]

You can find these for $299 from reputable online dealers (not Amazon currently). If you want VLAN tagging and need more ports, purchase a switch that supports it and connect to one of the RT6600ax ports. IoT devices are not secure (washers, grills, really any non-PC type of device ) - put these on a separate, isolated network - SRM makes it easy. Why are devices from Russia trying to access my network? Who cares, block IPs from foreign countries - again, SRM makes it easy.

[@AlexCruz-mv1gj]

Do you own this router? Im curious if it can do policy based routing to send specific VLAN/subnets out a certain WAN connection?

[@ARRITDOR]

@@AlexCruz-mv1gj Yes I own it and yes that is supported.

[@AlexCruz-mv1gj]

@@ARRITDOR awesome. Yep I downloaded the manual and saw it did that. Thanks for the reply

[@gregwilm9221]

I have RT6600ax when I do Tunnel to Tunnel , Only to another RT6600AX not some other Brand Cisco, Sonicwall etc. Anyone Try tunnel to Tunnel , My understanding is the older version firmware can go to other Brand using Tunnel to Tunnel VPN ? some please respond to this. If this is true just another lock down down from Synology

[@FTLN]

WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E ?

[@docat8095]

Make review of the lenovo chromebook duet 3 :)

[@foxa777]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@slappymcphee]

I am just confused why people pick up these AIO setups when going with something like PFSense along with a switch and APs is so much better especially from a longevity/ROI standpoint. Great review as always though Lon. Always loving your detailed content.

[@LonSeidman]

I think it’s because consumers want an out of the box solution

[@CLTGeek]

I'm a techie for a living, living and working remotely in a 950 sq ft house (house, not apartment) with gigabit fiber (and up to 5Gbps if I wanted to pay for it available). This unit would be perfect for me if they had included an SFP port or two. I don't need a switch and APs for my setup. I just need 1 good router, 1 good WiFi AP, and a few fast ports.

[@slappymcphee]

@@CLTGeek I get it, but in my experience of the long haul the consumer grade stuff is never as reliable or long standing as pro level. I moved over to standalone gear several years ago and with exception to when speeds higher than 1gb hits my neighborhood I still am able to be rockin the same gear I got in 13-14. PFSense router along with Ubuquiti gear. I did upgrade my APs to newer ones to up that throughput for wireless, but I try to avoid wireless as much as possible. I also have multiple APs to max that 5ghz signal bandwidth without turning it all the way up.

[@MichaelBelisle]

so confused. tell be about vlan...actual vlan

[@alexmaer3798]

Poor wifi range on 5ghz-1

[@theglowcloud2215]

Seems pricey for what it offers. If it has 2.5Gbit LAN ports, I'd say it's totally worth $400. But as is, eh.

[@johnstouchpad6437]

It's $299.00 USD

[@theglowcloud2215]

@@johnstouchpad6437 Looks like $399 everywhere I'm seeing it.

[@jerrywilkin8096]

@@theglowcloud2215 I bought mine for $322 shipped. They're out there for $299, just not on Amazon.

[@Phil-D83]

Review the gl.inet qx1800 that has built in adguard home and openwrt