Wavlink AC3200 dual band WiFi Router 538A8 Review

Wavlink AC3200 dual band WiFi Router 538A8 Review

Buy it at Amazon: Wavlink AC3200 dual band WiFi Router 538A8 [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Quick and easy setup, fast speeds even when placed far from main router as a repeater.

You’ll receive the router, AC adapter with integrated power cord, 40 inch Ethernet cable, and a brief setup guide. The power brick measures 3 inches square and is 1 inch thick. The cord is permanently attached and measures about 4 feet long. The plug prongs store flat and flip open from the unit and are no polarized so can be plugged-in in either direction. This power supply is rated for use with 100-240V electrical systems at 50 or 60Hz, outputting 12V at 4 Amps.

The router measures 8.5 inches wide, 9 inches tall, and 3 inches at the widest point. The top is a glossy black, while the sides are a matte dark gray. The front of the unit features a glossy black grill as does the back which also has the ports and power button. There is a barrel style power input, WAN with 3 LAN Ethernet jacks, USB 3.0 port, power button, and pinhole reset. On the bottom of the unit is a rubber foot around the edges to help it stay put on your tabletop and information like the model number and web administration URL. To get started, plug the AC adapter into the unit and connect to a power outlet. Then connect one end of the Ethernet cable to the WAN port and the other to your modem for use as a router or upstream router if using as an access point. Then press the power button in to turn it on. The LCD on top of the unit will light up but it takes about minute and a half to fully boot up the router. When connected to the internet, the router will display the upload and download speed of data being carried over the network. Tapping the arrows below the screen will navigate to the different information screens.

The default network names will be “@WAVLINK_” and a number. To change the settings on the router, you’ll want to open the URL “wifi.wavlink.com” and it should redirect you to the router’s default IP address “192.168.10.1”. Because this is a dual band router, by default there are two separate networks created for each band, or you can toggle on “Single SSID” which will combine both into one SSID and allow the router to perform band steering to automatically connect capable devices to the faster 5 GHz Network. It’s a bit simpler since you’ll only have the one WiFi network and password. You can also change the SSID now, though you’ll have the opportunity later as well.

Updating the firmware for the router was fairly straight forward and there are a number of different security, network administration, and other utilities in the settings, for example, parental controls, and port forwarding. I tested the router in both access point mode and wireless extender mode with similar results. For a WiFi 5 router, it performed well since our service level is only 250Mbps from our ISP. I tested the speed on my original router which topped out at around 241 Mbps download and 17 Mbps upload when I was right next to it, and re-tested the speed on the Wavlink router, connected over WiFi, two floors down on the opposite side of my house and was able to achieve decent speeds of 130 Mbps and 18 Mbps download. Even at the very perimeter of my property, about 100 ft from the house, I was still getting usable speeds of 17/16 Mbps Down and Up, whereas previously signal out here was non-existent, so I’m pretty happy about the performance, ease of use, and reach of this 8 antenna router. We have more consistent WiFi signal inside and outside of the home, and have pretty much eliminated any dead spots on our property.


Buy it at Amazon: Wavlink AC3200 dual band WiFi Router 538A8 [Affiliate Link]