ASRock X10 AC1300 2-in-1 IoT Wireless Router 2020 Latest Updated Review
ASRock X10 AC1300 offers a smartphone app (Android and iOS supported) for router management, you’re steered towards a traditional, browser-hosted setup which doesn’t take too long to complete.
Budget networking with smart home savvy
Priced at just $139.99, the X10 is a compact, traditional-looking router that lacks the mesh-networking capability of Samsung’s new model, but it’s a bargain for a basic router with an integrated smart home controller.
Alongside dual-band, AC1300 Wi-Fi the router sports an integrated Zigbee radio that can control a range of devices.
They include smart LED bulbs from Philips Hue, GE and Sengled, various smart plugs and outlets, leak or door sensors, and more
ASRock X10 IoT Router
As a bonus, the X10 also includes Infrared (IR) support, allowing you to remotely control heating, air-conditioning, TVs, and other devices using a free smartphone app.
You’ll need line of sight between the device and the X10, but if you ever wanted to use a router as a giant universal remote, here’s your chance.
Dated design cues and disappointing build quality
While the latest whole-home Wi-Fi systems have revolutionized router design, with cute and compact hubs, the ASRock X10 is grittily old-school.
Fixed, external antennas provide a 1970’s TV aesthetic, while cheap plastics, sharp edges and pointy corners are a world away from the premium finishes and gentle curves of devices like Google WiFi and NETGEAR Orbi.
This isn’t a device that you’ll want to show off at home, but it could make a handy (and somewhat lethal) weapon in case of a break-in.
Connectivity includes four Gigabit Ethernet ports, a Gigabit WAN port, plus USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports for storage sharing.
Robust features let down by patchy app connectivity
While ASRock offers a smartphone app (Android and iOS supported) for router management, you’re steered towards a traditional, browser-hosted setup which doesn’t take too long to complete.
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) allows you to quickly connect a computer by pressing a large button on the front of the device.
At $139.99, the X10 is a bargain for a basic router with integrated smart home controller.
The X10’s management console, much like the router itself, tries hard to look fresh but, compared to modern competitors, comes across like your dad in a pair of skinny jeans.
Why you Should Get it
- The first router that combines 11ac Wi-Fi Router and universal IoT HUB including 2.4G / 5 GHz dual band Wi-Fi, Zigbee and Infrared.
- Very first router that can use single APP to manager multiple X10, multiple sensor, Philips HUE and home appliances with cross control.
- The first router that supports Transnational Remote Control. You can treat ASRock X10 AC1300 as your personal NAS through our P2P technology, upload / download files, playing music or watching movies from X10 anytime, anywhere.
- X10 supports IFTTT like rules and scenes across multiple ASRock X10 AC1300 , sensors and home appliances.
- X10 contains 3 different types of Cloud services: 1. P2P cloud with AES128 Encryption, 2. IoT cloud, 3. Infrared support list database cloud
WiFi and Networking
WiFi range performed exceptionally well, exceeding the range of my Linksys by a good 20% or more.
It easily reached to the far ends of my house with a decent signal, where my Linksys does not. An impressive performance.
Lastly, if you already like your current router but want the IoT functionality, add this router in either bridge or repeater mode, bridging to your existing network to the IoT network of devices.
While the overall performance was impressive for multiple users with less slow down, single user total speed was slower than the Linksys on average, even at short range.
IoT Support
This router supports 2 protocols as an IoT Automation Hub, IR and Zigbee.
Surprisingly, this router includes an IR blaster located along the router top, and can send IR signals to IR controlled devices in the same room. But why?
This was much more useful than I first expected. Beat the heck out of my old universal remote anyway.
One of the newest formats for home automation is Zigbee, and this router has a built-in circuits to support Zigbee devices and sensors.
The App: Add Devices and Actions
My evaluation router also came with two IoT devices. First up, a Philips Hue bulb. Attaching this Smart Home IoT device to the router was a simple task. Once attached, I could control on/off and dimming of the bulb.
I also received a Peanut Smart Plug, which easily connected to the router in a similar method.
This is a small module that plugs into any standard outlet, and controls just about anything (reasonable) plugged into the peanut.
With both added, the app now shows both devices, with the manual controls for each.
The App; Automate your devices
The app also controls automation, scenes, and notification of changes to attached devices.
Sadly these functions do not appear on the web interface even though the events live in router rather than the app.
These timers run even if the app is not running, so obviously stored in the router as well.
Basic home automation is doable, including triggers as well.
But I found the app a bit difficult to use, and would really rather have done this at my computer with a larger screen.
Security
In light of several attacks on home IoT devices in the recent past, the router restricts access to device control for users outside the local network.
At first I found this a bit disappointing, as I can currently control my lights and devices remotely, and often do.
Simple set up your phone to connect to the router’s VPN , which basically puts your phone inside your local network remotely.
You now have full control of everything from outside the network.
The router web interface
Like most modern routers, once turned on and running, it has a web interface for setup and preferences.
It has all the usual settings you would expect to find on a router at this price, including a decent setup wizard. Under advanced, you can manually set up all the typical settings for Wireless, Security, LAN, and WAN.
Quality of Service settings allow you to prioritize systems for bandwidth use.
The router provides a firewall, blocking things like Ping, Port Scans, DoS protection, and UPnP
You can also block specific devices from connecting to the Internet if needed
Whats More
The router also supports DDNS (Dynamic DNS). Most ISPs these days assign an ever-changing IP address to your router, much like DHCP does inside the LAN.
Without a static IP address, there is no way to access your machines inside your LAN from the Internet because you address could change at any time.
Using Dynamic DNS tracks your current external IP address and publishes it to a named service.
This is especially useful if you want to connect into your home network, as you don’t have to worry about the IP address changing.