The Asus WL-700gE (test) should offer everything that could be needed in a home network: router, switch and network attached storage (NAS) combined in one. Apart from one or the other teething problem, the WL-700gE was able to shine in the test with good functionality at a reasonable price.
Table of contents
- 1 LAN, WLAN and an internal hard drive
- Top for Windows, a flop under Linux
- Moderately fast
- Conclusion
- Integrated switch: 4-port switch
- Wireless data transfer rate: up to 54 Mbps (802.11g)
- Frequency band : 2.4 GHz
- Line coding format: DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK, OFDM
- Data Link Protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
- Spread – Spectrum method: OFDM, DSSS
- Switching Protocol: Ethernet
- Remote Management Protocol: HTTP
- Status Indicators: Port Status, Link Activity, Power, HDD Activity, Hi-Speed USB Capable
- Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), MAC address filter
- Product certifications: IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.1x
- Antenna number: 2
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Total view diagonally above -
- Router – PC5.759
- USB – PC5.653
- PC – Router4.158
- USB – Router2.268
- Router – USB2.129< /li>
- PC – USB1.972
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LAN, WLAN and an internal hard drive
The WL-700gE could be connected to a modem via an RJ45 WAN connection and thus connected to the Internet. The built-in router had four RJ45 connections, each capable of transmitting up to 100 Mbit/s. Asus installed an external antenna for the WLAN capabilities of the WL-700gE, and transmission was based on the 802.11g and 802.11b standards. There were also three USB 2.0 ports available, for example to transfer data from a USB stick to the internal 160 GB Hitachi hard drive.
- < li>Connection technology: wireless and cable
< li>Features: Firewall, DHCP support, NAT support, Auto-Uplink (Auto MDI/MDI-X),
Apart from the external antenna and the WL-700gE itself, the scope of delivery consisted of a power cable, a 1.5 meter Cat5e cable, a stand for placing the device vertically, as well as a quick start guide and a support CD. With a price of around 200 euros, users did not save a lot of money compared to three individual devices. The appeal of the WL-700gE was not having three clunky devices with separate ports lying around.
Image 1 of 7
Total view diagonally above 
WL-700gE with the cover open 
Asus WL-700gE – Case open 
Asus WL-700gE: front view 
Asus WL-700gE: back side Total view 
Asus WL-700gE: portrait front view 
Asus WL-700gE: portrait side view However, due to the internal hard drive, the WL-700gE itself came across quite expansively: a surface 24 cm wide and 19 cm deep was required to set up the 1.4 kg machine horizontally. If the supplied stand was used, the footprint was reduced to 9 cm wide, 20 cm deep and 26 cm high, but it was not compact either.
For Windows Top, under Linux a flop
The software supplied by Asus was designed exclusively for Windows, so Linux users were largely left out and had to resort to the web interface where possible. One of the best features of the WL-700gE was the download manager. This made it possible to start a download via HTTP, FTP or BitTorrent and the WL-700gE continued the download on its own when the computer was switched off. In this case, files were written to the integrated hard disk. Especially in times of slow internet connections and inefficient computers, this function could save money on the electricity bill.
Apart from this practical function, the WL-700gE was equipped with spartan server functionalities. For example, a web server could be used to host photo albums online, or files could be shared using an FTP server.
Moderately fast
In the test 15 years ago, the WL-700gE had to prove its NAS capabilities. For this it was tested in different scenarios, each with a file transfer from and to a computer via Ethernet. For this purpose, the data rate of the transfer for the internal hard disk as well as a hard disk connected to the WL-700gE via USB were determined. The results attested the WL-700gE a high speed as long as the internal hard disk was addressed. When using the external USB hard drive, however, it depended heavily on the direction of the transfer. From the hard disk via the WL-700gE to the PC, it was extremely fast, the speed the other way around was low. This ruled out the USB port itself as a source of error, which raised suspicions about the internal administration of the interface.
Speed on the network
Unit: kilobytes per second (kB/s)
Conclusion
The WL-700gE was by no means perfect, and the test revealed many teething problems. In addition to the noisy hard drive, there was the unreliable WLAN display, the lack of WPS and VPN support, and the forced restarts after every small change in the web interface. Overall, however, the WL-700gE offered good functions for 200 euros, and the download manager in particular made a positive impression. If you didn't want to have three separate devices as a router, switch and NAS, it was worth taking a look at the Asus WL-700gE 15 years ago.
In the category “Im Test 15 years ago” the editors have been taking a look at the test archive every Saturday since July 2017. The last 20 articles that appeared in this series are listed below:
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