Did you know? Walmart now has their OWN brand of ROUTERs? ("JetStream")

[VirtualLarry]

TL;DR: MediaTek chipset, made in China. 'Nuff said

https://www.walmart.com/browse/electronics/jetstream-routers/3944_3951_126297_1690325

This is kind of neat. I wonder who makes them? (Guessing TP-Link or Netgear? Or maybe Walmart went to Chinese ODM/OEMs and had them made specifically for them?)

Any reviews? If the quality and firmware updates (that's the big question I have from the big WM) are there, then these could be a decent deal, like their laptops that I've started a thread about in Hot Deals.

I know that there are quite a lot of semi-knowledgable and not-quite-knowledgable networking consumers, out looking for routers, at their local Walmart stores. This could be the start of something interesting.


https://www.walmart.com/reviews/product/647841846

This is the one I ordered, but not what was shipped - they sent me the black one - are they the same? Maybe, maybe not. I'm an IT guy so install was simple - worked great for one day. It dropped signals all week - very unstable, would not stay connected for more a day. Had to reboot, reinstall. Finally returned it. typical import product from china - no quality at all - you are better off getting a name brand Dual Band router than this cheap Tri-band. I was really hoping this would work, great deal at $89 - but not if it cashes all day long. Walmart should do more testing on the products they bring it. It makes for a terrible customer experience - imo. Hope this helps, good luck!

Hmm, that person said that they were an "IT guy", and basically said that these were cheap Chinese crap. Not that I expected anything less, although the hardware specs, about that of an Asus AC68U, roughly, are decent. But as we all know, "firmware is KEY" for routers. (Hence the proliferation of so many third-party firmwares.)

I'm really curious what mfg makes these routers, and IF they are able to take third-party firmware, like some of the (Chinese-made) Tenda routers (AC1200 and AC1900). In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that these might be made by Tenda, who knows. Off to check DevWiki.

ematicjetstream.com -> https://ematic.us/jetstream/ (firmware updates) (Edit: Seems like they only host manuals online, no firmware updates (yet?).)

Hi Mark, thank you for taking the time to share your review of the Jetstream AC3000 Router. It is our goal to satisfy the expectations of each and every valued customer, so we are very sorry to hear about your negative experience with our product. In order to properly address this matter, please contact Ematic Escalation Support: 1) Email: escalation@ematic.us 2) Web: ematic.zendesk.com 3) Phone: 1-888-968-1985 M-F 9am-5pm PST. We hope we can work to earn back your business.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Jetstream_ERAC1900

Edit: MediaTek chipset, oh well. No Tomato support. Maybe DD-WRT, in the far future. My (limited) experience with MediaTek routers (*a cheap Buffalo one), was that they were pretty poor in the firmware dept., and even DD-WRT didn't make them decently usable, still had issues with the chipset.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Meh, not interested. Likely garbage and crap firmware support. I'm sure I'll find one at a relatives house sometime

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm sure I'll find one at a relatives house sometime

LOL, yep.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm surprised they didn't brand it "great value" and put it in the grocers section since folks seem to be eating them up.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, call me crazy, I bought one for $49.99 @ Walmart.com. Wanted to get some feedback on the AC1900 Jetstream model. Says for "Gaming / Streaming" on it. Have a friend that does just that, on a single-core AC66U (not B1) router, thought maybe he might like to try out this one. Granted, the AC66U has proven mostly reliable AFAIK, though runs kind of hot sitting flat. This one has a 880Mhz 2C/4T (SMT!) MIPS CPU, which I thought would give him more "oomph" for gaming, than the AC66U, which was really just an N66U upgraded with AC wifi tech. Granted, maybe one of those Asus routers with the 4C ARM CPUs might have been a better choice, but WikiDev says that this Jetstream can route 2Gbit/sec WAN-to-LAN, and has HW IPSec VPN acceleration (200Mbit/sec), and HNat + HWQoS. So, what the heck, going to ask friend if he wants to test it out for me, gaming and streaming, and give me the yes/no on it.

Edit: I returned that one, and just bought another one, because the price dropped from $49.99 down to $29.99. They're practically giving them away; OTOH, that's probably what they're worth.

 

[Steltek]

Did they even put a heat sink on the CPU?

 

[JackMDS]

Ask ((or pay) someone to designee Nice "Larry" logo and trnsparent Vinie stickers.

Log here, and buy as many as you think that you can sell, "Boom" you are in Business.

High Innovative Shenzhen Router For Connection - Alibaba.com

Alibaba.com offers a large range of wholesale shenzhen router for reliable connections in the home or office. Our suppliers will help you find the right Routers for your networking needs.

www.alibaba.com

This can be nice for under $100.

This product is no longer available.

This product is no longer available.

www.alibaba.com

 

[mxnerd]

Ask ((or pay) someone to designee Nice "Larry" logo and trnsparent Vinie stickers.

Log here, and buy as many as you think that you can sell, "Boom" you are in Business.

High Innovative Shenzhen Router For Connection - Alibaba.com

Alibaba.com offers a large range of wholesale shenzhen router for reliable connections in the home or office. Our suppliers will help you find the right Routers for your networking needs.

www.alibaba.com

This can be nice for under $100.

This product is no longer available.

This product is no longer available.

www.alibaba.com

TRUE. But I would rather sell soaps that don't need any tech support.

 

[Ranulf]

Comfast eh? Is it Comtastic?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Comfastic, you mean?

Actually, I'm using some Comfast AC 433 + BT w/antenna dongles (USB2.0) that I got mostly-direct from Comfast on ebay, for under $10, and they work pretty darn well, actually.

 

[JackMDS]

BTW, my previous post did not meant to put down the Tech aspect of the Hardware, some of them are just as Good as Brand names "Plastic Boxes". E.g. Linksys turns /Cisco / Belkin is a name game Not technological innovation.

The reality is that Tech knowledge among consumers is Not any real Tech knowlegde but "fake" assumptions dominante by Marketing.

The power in this case is Not Good (or bad) Tech, it is the Word Walmart.

 

[Amol S.]

Majority of the stuff Walmart has, is never made in the US or any higher tier country. When it comes to electronics, it probably was made in one of the following countries, China, Japan, or Taiwan. I do not think Walmart sells any electronics that were made outside of those countries, otherwise the product would not be cheap.

Stuff usually from China are not that good of quality and don't last long. This is true for electronics as well.

 

[VirtualLarry]

These Jetstream routers are made by Ematic, which also makes tablets and laptop/2-in-1s (really cheap ones).

The thing that really concerns me, is, .... if a company is "getting into" the "router game", then they need to provide timely updates to the firmware. Thus far, I have only seen the manuals posted to the ematic page, no firmware updates yet. Which would give me serious pause in using this router for my own personal usage.

I'm hopeful, that somehow, someday, there will be an OpenWRT or DD-WRT available for it.

In fact, the given price of $49.99, I wouldn't mind buying a few for those projects, just to see that happen.

I wonder if these saless are because routers are moving to "AX" (and Walmart is an exclusive supplier of the TP-Link AX1500 for $69.99), or if this is just an adjustment of price designed to move product, because these have been on the market for a while.

 

[mxnerd]

Don't expect these Jetstream routers to have 3rd party firmware support. It's not going to happen.

Also don't really understand your obsession of cheap routers., what exactly do you want to achieve with them?

 

[mxnerd]

Well, as a side note, Wikidevi.com has been shut down last year.

WikiDevi shutting down 10/31/2019

FYI... impending loss of a great resource... WikiDevi will be going offline 2019-10-31. For historical dumps of the database, see 'WikiDevi' @ the Internet Archive (MW XML, Files, Images). Final dumps will be made available after the site goes offline. There is no chance the data will not...

www.snbforums.com

archive site:

Main Page

...

wikidevi.wi-cat.ru

==

Alternative device info source:

TechInfoDepot

Looking for information on a specific router or access point? Try Hardware Specific.

en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com

 

[VirtualLarry]

I returned mine.

 

[mxnerd]

Ematic Online Store

EMATIC — HOST TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE TABLETS AND ELECTRONICS DEVICES. We at Ematic would like to take a moment and sincerely thank

ematic.us

2231 Colby Ave · 2231 Colby Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90064, USA

Gebäude

www.google.com

Looks like an international trading company, not a tech company

 

[Nick99]

This is a rebranded Winstars router: http://www.win-star.com/en_us/product/WN536A8.html

 

[VirtualLarry]

Bought another one, they're now $29.99 on walmart.com . We'll see how horrid these really are.

The only other router that I have used with a MediaTek SoC, was a really el-cheapo Buffalo router model (remember them?). Factory firmware was basically literally unusable. Flashing a version of DD-WRT that I found for it, it became "almost" usable. Had periodic "lags" on the wifi though.

But that was like 5-6 years ago. Maybe they've gotten better since then. There were some glowing positive reviews of this Jetstream AC1900 router.
But a few bad reviews too.

I'm mostly concerned about the lack of firmware updates entirely for Jetstream routers. Unlike most pieces of consumer electronics, routers need to be updated more-or-less regularly.

 

[xbliss]

Doesnt look good even now..

 

[Harry_Wild]

Yeah, I saw this in research! It is a standalone router that is highly rated for the $$! It is the second generation router, the news model in August? The return policy is good too since do it at the nearest store!

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yeah, I saw this in research! It is a standalone router that is highly rated for the $$! It is the second generation router, the news model in August? The return policy is good too since do it at the nearest store!

Ummm... I think you completely misunderstood xbliss's meaning. These Jetstream products have a HUGE remote backdoor, allowing it to compromise your entire network.

See the following:

Chinese routers with backdoors sold in Walmart, Amazon & eBay | Cybernews

Walmart-exclusive Jetstream routers and Wavlink routers contain hidden backdoors. The routers are actively being exploited by Mirai malware

cybernews.com

 

[VirtualLarry]

Holy Begeezus, thanks for bringing that exploit to my attention! Guess now I had better not sell that Jetstream router that I purchased. Waste of money, apparently.

Makes me also wonder, about the security of the Wavlink USB3.0 hubs that I purchased.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Ugh, what a garbage device lol

 

[Harry_Wild]

Ummm... I think you completely misunderstood xbliss's meaning. These Jetstream products have a HUGE remote backdoor, allowing it to compromise your entire network.

See the following:

Chinese routers with backdoors sold in Walmart, Amazon & eBay | Cybernews

Walmart-exclusive Jetstream routers and Wavlink routers contain hidden backdoors. The routers are actively being exploited by Mirai malware

cybernews.com

Seem to be the prefect holiday gift to get back at your boss, ex-girlfriend or future potential enemy!