ASUS RT-N15U "Black Diamond" Router

*UPDATE*
I've just flashed the custom firmware Tomato USB for this router and its been working fine. Best of all, I get the ability to overclock the Broadcom chip and boost the transmit power for increased range. QoS takes a little to get used to though (not as idiot proof as the original ASUS firmware).

This is a good blog detailing the steps required to flash one yourself: http://moonlightknighthk.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/install-tomato-firmware-on-asus-router/

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June is always the period of time when I start to feel the urge of getting some new gadget to fool around with. Why June? Well for one its usually the school holiday period, meaning I suddenly have lots of time to think about buying new toys, and secondly there's also the PC Show. Most of the time I resist the urge (haven't bought anything major since 3 years ago, when I upgraded my desktop), although there was an exception earlier this year when I bought my second-hand Toshiba laptop.

So anyway, every tech purchase has to have a reason behind it (my personal motto). I don't go around "hooting" stuff because its a blazing new technology, because everyone has one, or because its cheap/on offer. For one, I don't have the moolah to be able to do that (the reason why I call this blog "thebudgetgeek"). And of course, the most important thing - if you have a good reason to buy something, you'll make the most out of it (and reduce unnecessary wastage of money and resources).

The reason this time? My sis was complaining that the Wi-Fi signal kept getting dropped, and I had instances where my connection was dropped during Starcraft 2 games (rageeee!!). The problem could very well be on Starhub's side, but I then realised that the number of connected devices at home was mind-boggling -  desktop, 4 laptops (usually only 2 being used at a time), 3 iPhones, 1 Desire S (mine), and 1 iPad 2.

Its amazing how we survived on our old Linksys WRT54G. To be fair, it was working fine throughout, but I wanted to get a Wireless N router to cater to all those devices with N capability (all except 2 older laptops), and to prepare for a future fibre broadband network.

So I headed down to the PC Show on Thursday with a single target in mind - the ASUS RT-N15U "Black Diamond" router. There were other candidates from D-Link and Linksys with similar specs, but I chose the ASUS in the end for its lower price point. The main draw this time was of course, Wireless N, and the ability to connect a USB device direct to the router for sharing (printer, hard drive etc.)

The beautiful design on the router face

Features

Wall-mounting
Wireless N networking up to 300mbps, supports older standards
4 Gigabit LAN ports, 1 WAN port, 1 USB port
Printer sharing
FTP file sharing
UPnP media streaming
QoS, Firewall
Multiple SSID
3 networking modes - Router, Repeater and Access Point modes

Setting up

I must praise ASUS for this - the router was a cinch to setup. Normally the thought of setting up a secured wireless network would give me the shudders, but the RT-N15U surprised me. No installation CDs, no step-by-step procedures to follow - plug in the cables, open up a browser, fill up the SSID and Network Key, and you're ready to go!

Advanced settings can be tweaked using the webpage UI and is really quite foolproof (although the UI felt a little kiddish). I managed to setup MAC address filtering and QoS (quality of service) in a few clicks.

On the other hand, printer setup took a little more effort. I couldn't connect to the printer for a good 1 hour, despite running the printer setup utility and reinstalling the printer drivers. Eventually I gave up, left the house, and when I came back 2 hours later, it magically worked. /shrugs

Performance

Arguably the most important factor that everyone looks at. I wanted to take full advantage of the wireless N network adaptors in my Toshiba Portege and my sis's Sony Vaio. The smartphones and iPads all come with this standard so they'd benefit from the potential increase in speeds.

I was disappointed though. Firstly, I had to run my router on "Auto" mode instead of "N only", which means it could support wireless G devices (the 2 ageing laptops). This would cut down any potential speed improvements if both N and G devices were operating at the same time.

And secondly, even without the 2 old laptops connected, the wireless speeds weren't THAT impressive.

My desktop (Gigabit LAN) speedtest results:

Desktop YouTube test results (10:29 1080p HD video):

10 minutes of cheerful Irish music

My laptop (Wireless N, in my room 2 walls away) speedtest results:

Laptop YouTube test results:

Upload speeds were consistently low (Starhub -.-), but the download speed dropped drastically on Wi-Fi. Of course, these were just numbers, so to simulate a real-time test I loaded a 1080p YouTube video and waited for it to load (the grey bar). Surprisingly, not much of a difference! Of course, this could be due to the QoS settings of the router which prioritised online video streaming, which in this case proved extremely useful.

Looks

Not an important factor when it comes to routers, but this is one seriously sexy looking router.  It helps if the router is located on top my desktop PC with the exact same colour scheme - black with blue LEDs. Linksys first made the router sleek with its E series, but ASUS does it in a way that appeals to the inner tech "beng". If my earlier photo didn't do it justice, here's the official picture:

Sexy black with blue LEDs

Overall

In terms of functionality and value for money, this router is definitely the top choice among the budget-conscious. Almost all modern routers are now wireless N capable, so that isn't much of a deal-breaker; the ability to connect a printer or a hard disk for sharing/streaming certainly is. Linksys routers have the brand name behind them, and I don't doubt their quality, but that comes with a premium ($$$). I was torn between   this and a similarly priced D-link, but who could resist the looks of this "Dark Knight"?

Slightly disappointed with the speedtest results, but at least I'll be able to print wirelessly now :)
Hopefully with the arrival of fibre broadband over the horizon, the full potential of this router will be realised.

Would I recommend it?

If you're living with ancient Wi-Fi technology and thinking of an upgrade, this would definitely be a viable option - just don't expect too much in terms of performance.

Last day at PUB

Disclaimer: This post is not endorsed by PUB, nor is it part of my Industrial Attachment requirement. I might have quoted some information from my final report, but thats about it :)

And so 22 weeks of Industrial Attachment have blown by. While others were celebrating the end of exams 1 month ago, we were waking up at 7am daily to go to work (of course, I probably deserved it for emphasizing my lack of exams). Now, our turn has finally come; unless of course you're one of those who extended your attachment period.

Its been an interesting 22 weeks at PUB, and certainly an eye-opening experience for me in terms of having a taste of working life in the public sector as compared to my previous experience with a local SME. While work in Alpha Biofuels three years ago was characterised by its informality, the sheer variety of tasks and the groundwork involved, life in PUB has been very much different. Here's where you probably start listing down your stereotypes of a job in the public service:

1) Stuffy, boring
2) Nine to five
3) Formal
4) Old fashioned
5) Bureaucratic

I won't exactly say they're wrong, but its definitely not that bad (it helps if you're attached to an interesting department).

I was attached to the Catchment and Waterways department, which deals with our reservoirs and drains. Not too interesting, you'd think? Here's the catch - I was also attached to the ABC Waters division within that department. For those unacquainted with the promotional efforts of PUB (how could you not know Water Wally?!), ABC stands for Active, Beautiful, Clean.

Water Wally! So cute :3

Water Wally even has its own cartoon

Anyway, in a nutshell, the ABC Waters Programme aims to beautify our waterways (i.e boring, dreary concrete drains and canals) by integrating with the green landscape and  bringing people closer to water in the hope that they would take ownership and not contribute to pollution. While this all sounds all rosy and double rainbowish, what has my work got to do with any of this? Well for the past 22 weeks I've been involved in the more technical aspects of this Programme.

PUB is implementing what it calls "ABC Waters Design Features" in various areas around Singapore, and is also encouraging private developers to do the same. For new buyers of those expensive HDB projects along the edge of Punggol Waterway, your houses will have these features, look out for them :)

What exactly are "Design Features"? Known in other parts of the world as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), these "Design Features" aim to change the way we approach storm water drainage - which traditionally involves concrete drains, concrete canals and more concrete. For the uninitiated, too much storm water run-off is bad, bad, and did I mention bad? If you recall the previous Orchard Road floodings and the flooded drain that swept an Indonesian kid away, that's what too much run-off can do.

The root cause of it? Urbanisation. The problem with too much concrete is, it prevents rainwater from entering the ground; instead it flows over our roofs, our roads, our footpaths and into our drains, too fast too furiously. That's good you say, so it won't flood. True, but only if you're located near the start of the drainage system. For the people downstream though, this surge of water from further upstream quickly overwhelms their stretch of the drains (as was the case in Orchard Road, with the Stamford canal flooded beyond its capacity).

The "Design Features" are essentially natural drainage systems that mimic nature's way of controlling storm water run-off - by using plants. Rain gardens, bioretention swales and constructed wetlands all fall under this category and their main function is simple - to slow down the flow while removing pollutants, utilising the soil, bacteria and plants to filter out sediments and nutrients that might pollute our rivers. The benefits? Less floods, cleaner rivers and less strain on our treatment plants that treat the water which eventually comes out of our taps.

The interesting characters I run into during the course of my job

Before I start to sound like a PUB spokesperson, lets just say that from the day I started reading up about all these during my first day at work, I was sold. Replacing concrete drains with soil and plants? Hell yeah. Slowing down the flow and getting rid of nasty stuff so the poor folks downstream don't get flooded with polluted water?

I didn't sign up to be an Environmental Engineer for nothing. As you might expect, I loved going down to site. You would too, despite the hot weather and all, if your site looked like this:

The transformed Bishan Park

If I had any IA regrets at all, it would be me being the only intern in the department (and on a separate floor to boot). It got a little lonely and boring at times especially on those long, desk-bound days. Guess nothing can compare to the crazy things me and the other interns did back in those Alpha days XD

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So, its the end of my Industrial Attachment. I did feel a bit guilty that I didn't request to extend, considering that my colleagues will be very busy with the upcoming Singapore International Water Week (SIWW). But hey, I'll be heading to Japan with my parents in a week's time (more in a later post) and I'll finally have time to sit down and study for my JLPT N4 test ^^;. I did volunteer to help out for the SIWW though, hopefully I'll be able to attend :D