ZyXEL Armor Z2 WiFi router: Pros and Cons

ZyXEL Armor Z2 (NBG6817) pictures

The specifications below are based on the official data published by the manufacturer, but we also take user reviews into consideration. If you found an error or something lacking in the specifications above for the ZyXEL Armor Z2, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

ZyXEL Armor Z2 (NBG6817) specifications

Body

If you have limited space available for your router, such as in a small apartment or office, the dimensions can determine whether it can fit in the designated area or not. It's important to consider the physical size of the router, including its height, width, and depth, to ensure it can be accommodated in your space. If you purchase a router online or have it shipped, the weight may affect the overall cost. Heavier routers can result in higher shipping charges, especially for international deliveries.

System

The Qualcomm Atheros IPQ8065 @ 1.7 GHz CPU, combined with other factors such as RAM capacity and firmware optimization, determines the overall performance and responsiveness of the router. The Armor Z2 has 512 MB of RAM. Some advanced router features and software functionalities require a certain amount of RAM to operate properly. For example, routers with more RAM can support advanced security features, VPN services, or QoS (Quality of Service) prioritization more effectively.

The Armor Z2 has 4 GB of flash memory. A larger flash memory allows for more storage space to accommodate future firmware upgrades. The process of upgrading the firmware on routers has become relatively simple and user-friendly over the years. The ZyXEL provides easy-to-use interfaces and instructions to guide users through the firmware upgrade process. The ZyXEL provides the appropriate power supply (12 V / 3 A) that matches the voltage requirements of the router. The power supply unit is designed to deliver the correct voltage to the router, ensuring its proper operation.

Network

The Armor Z2 router offers built-in security features to protect your network and connected devices. The majority of networking equipment, including routers, switches, and other network devices, is designed to support IPv4. The Armor Z2 router is also compatible with IPv6. IPv6 provides a significantly larger address space and offers various enhancements and improvements over IPv4. The Armor Z2 has 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN and 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN ports. The LAN ports of Armor Z2 router are numbered and are used to establish wired connections between the router and devices such as computers, gaming consoles, smart TVs, network-attached storage (NAS) devices, and other network-enabled devices.

This router has Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports. If you have a high-speed internet plan that offers speeds of 1 Gbps or higher, gigabit Ethernet ports are essential to fully utilize the available bandwidth. WAN ports often require specific configuration settings based on the type of internet connection provided by your ISP. The Armor Z2 router supports Gigabit speed on its WAN port, that can support speeds up to 1000 Mbps. This router ensures that you can fully utilize high-speed internet connections provided by your ISP.

Wireless

This router has 4 x 2.8 dBi, RP-SMA antennas. Many modern routers feature multiple antennas and use Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology. This technology enables simultaneous transmission and reception of multiple data streams, increasing overall throughput and improving the Wi-Fi performance. The Armor Z2 supports the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. It is one of the most common frequency bands used for Wi-Fi networks.

This router operates on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands, allowing you to connect devices to the most suitable band based on their capabilities and requirements. The Armor Z2 AC Wi-Fi router is backward compatible with older Wi-Fi devices that support 802.11a/b/g/n standards. The AC2600 refers to the maximum combined data transfer rate supported by the router across all Wi-Fi bands. The Armor Z2 is capable of a maximum throughput speed of 800 + 1733 Mbps. The real-world speed of a Armor Z2 router is typically lower than its theoretical maximum speed.

The maximum TX power of Armor Z2 router is 20 dBm. Adjusting the TX power of a router can be useful in situations where you want to optimize the Wi-Fi signal strength and coverage. The Armor Z2 router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPS. The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the first security protocol for Wi-Fi networks but is now considered weak and easily compromised. It uses a static encryption key and has known vulnerabilities, so it is no longer recommended for securing Wi-Fi networks.

The WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) was introduced as an improvement over WEP and provides stronger security. If WPA3 is not available, WPA2-Personal with AES encryption is still considered secure. The Armor Z2 router offers WPS. The WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) provides a simplified and convenient method for connecting devices to a Wi-Fi network. Instead of manually entering the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and password, users can use the WPS feature to establish a connection with the push of a button or by entering a PIN. Once the guest network is set up on your ZyXEL Armor Z2 router, your guests can connect to it using the specified SSID and password. They will have internet access, while being separated from your private network.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 2 port has a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), which is equivalent to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). The USB 3 ports provide a fast interface for external storage with data transfer rates of up to 4.8 Gbps. The Armor Z2 router has print server functionality. With a USB print server, you can manage printer settings, monitor print queues, and control access to the printer from a centralized interface. This can simplify printer management and administration tasks. The Armor Z2 router allows you to schedule automated backups of your important data to the connected USB storage device.

Administration

The ZyXEL router setup panel is accessed through a web browser. Connect your computer to the Armor Z2 router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable. In the address bar of the web browser, type in the 192.168.1.1 IP address. If you are unable to log in to the setup panel of your ZyXEL router, performing a reset can be a helpful troubleshooting step. It is highly recommended to change the default password of your Armor Z2 router after the initial setup. If you forget the new password in the future, you may need to perform a factory reset on the router to revert to the default settings.

ZyXEL Armor Z2 (NBG6817) comparisons

According to our statistics, the ZyXEL Armor Z2 router was most often compared on our site with the following routers.

ZyXEL NBG6503 ZyXEL Armor G5 ZyXEL Armor G1 ZyXEL NBG2105 ZyXEL Armor Z1 ZyXEL NBG6604 ZyXEL NBG4615 v2 ZyXEL N750 NBG5615

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