In the routing world, the Securifi Almond has successfully tapped a distinct, competitive edge. Touchscreens aren’t commonly seen on routers, but the Securifi Almond is one exception to the rule. It offers a simple, hassle-free way of setting up and managing the router without the need to connect to a PC. The attractive, compact router manages to deliver a stable Wi-Fi signal too.
The Securifi Almond seems like a lucrative deal despite its single-band capabilities. While even the most affordable wireless routers have embraced the dual-band concept, the Almond apparently prioritizes features differently. It is the first compact routing device available on the market that is entirely manageable via the touchscreen interface.
The Securifi Almond’s basic settings are easily calibrated without the need for an additional device, such as laptop or computer connected to the router. The responsive 2.8-inch touchscreen takes care of all the basic setup. As for the router’s advanced settings, you do require logging on to its Web interface.
It’s a reliable single-band router that yields a stable Wi-Fi signal. Unfortunately, the range of the router is somewhat shorter than what many other routers offer. Also, it lacks a gigabit Ethernet and support for IPv6, all of which can have a serious impact on your networking requirements. For its price, you’ll easily find more powerful routers that are true-dual band. That said, if you’re interested in a hip router that easily stands out from the rest, investing in the Securifi Almond makes sense. It can come in handy at a shop or a small apartment.
Design
You can easily mistake the Securifi Almond for a digital alarm clock owing to its compact size. It features two LAN ports for wired clients and a WAN port for connecting to an Internet source. It doesn’t use gigabit ports, so there’s no point in expecting high speed connectivity using this router. Below the ports are the power connector and the reset button.
Touchscreen Interface
The 2.8-inch touchscreen borrows Windows 8’s Metro interface. It organizes the buttons as tiles. It allows you to configure the basic settings, such as Wi-Fi Protected Setup, Wi-Fi network and firmware upgrade. The basic objective is to allow a user to configure the network without the involvement of a computer. To apply the changes fed via the touchscreen, the router has to be restarted. The reboot can take up to 45 seconds, which may be disappointing for some users.
Web Interface
The attractive touchscreen doesn’t provide access to the advance settings though. For instance, if you’re looking to configure firewall, content filtering or port forwarding, you will have to connect to the router’s Web interface. On your Web browser, point to the default IP address of the router, which is 10.10.10.254. Use ‘admin’ as the default username and password. You can also set your own username and password from the touchscreen interface.
The Web interface gets a similar Metro layout as the touchscreen. However, there are some bugs and errors in its Web interface, which may also not work properly with every Web browser.
From its Web interface, a user gets the option to select the 5GHz band or the 2.4GHz band, making it appear like a dual-band router with option to connect to either frequency band. In reality, the router only features a 2.4GHz band.
Setup
It is easy to set up the Almond owing to the user-friendly LCD. If you’re still not comfortable using the LCD, the router offers pre-configured main Wi-Fi network and Guest Wi-Fi network. To access the settings of these networks, simply tap the Wireless button on the touchscreen.
The Securifi Almond supports up to 50 guest networks.
