Synology's RT2600 wireless router is a major upgrade to last year's RT1900AC. At the suggested price of $230 (currently you might have to pay a bit more on the street,) the new model is about $80 more expensive than its older brother but it's totally worth the cost.

The RT2600 has long range, fast Wi-Fi speed and plenty of features; The router can host more than one broadband connection, and also works as a robust network storage server when coupled with an external hard drive.

There's no support for combining two LAN ports into a single superfast connection and you might wish the router had more than five network ports

We know Synology for their NAS devices, which are some of the best out there. About a year ago Synology ventured into the router market with their RT1900ac, which we reviewed. We liked it so much we gave it our Recommended Award.

– Good overall performance; – SRM software is the best out there; – Easy to setup & configure; – Two USB ports and SD card slot; – WiFi on/off button

– Legs make it impossible to mount to a wall

How many web-connected devices are in your home Give it some thought, as certain items - the TV or, these days, smart light bulbs - are easily overlooked. I'd have guessed at around a dozen or so in my own home, but I've just counted and there are a total of 16 gadgets that can connect to the...

Solid Wi-Fi performance; MU-MIMO provides future proofing; Excellent SRM operating system; Can double as a capable NAS; App store has potential

Costs over £200; Ungainly form factor; Not available with built-in modem

With Synology's second entry into the router market, they cleaned things up quite a bit by adding in new features and much more powerful hardware. This has led to a more refined product with performance that tops my charts.

Synology apparently thinks the Wi-Fi router market is worth pursuing, because it's back with more grist for the mill. This time, it's a Qualcomm-based 4x4 MU-MIMO enabled model dubbed the RT2600ac .

Synology is a name more usually associated with NAS drives than routers – and when you first open up the RT2600ac's web portal you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd accidentally logged into a storage device, because it looks an awful lot like the company's DiskStation Manager software.

Consistent speeds; User-friendly design; Packed with useful features

Not the fastest speeds; Closest rivals cost less

A compelling mix of NAS and router, though you do pay more for those advanced features, and needs more third-party apps.

OS-like; easy-to-use web interface; Built-in and downloadable apps extend functionality beyond most other routers; Great hardware extras; such as SD card reader and functional buttons

Needs more third-party apps; Higher price than other AC2600 routers; Not the fastest 802.11ac Wi-Fi available

Synology has approached the router with the same design ethic as their excellent NAS range, and the RT2600ac is the stunning result. Where other router makers talk-the-talk of security, flexibility and performance, the RT2600ac unequivocally delivers on those words.

I needed extra capacity as my superhub 3 would not alway reliably give me the 3 ethernet connections concurrenlty. Also the Wifi was spotty and my Sonos system would overload it. After biting the bullet and upgrading to the RT2600ac, I am very happy.

Easy to set up and quickly in place.