Norton by Symantec Granite Gray Norton Core Secure WiFi Router, Built-in Network, Device and Antivirus Security, Smart Parental Controls, Replaces Wireless Router

This is one of the best routers I have ever bought for my house. Speeds and signal strength are excellent across multiple floors. Handles multiple devices seamlessly (over 25 devices at any given time, we have many Sonos speakers and Hue lights). All of those are features you would expect in any router but the areas where this little guy really excels are:1. Application level threat detection on ALL devices. This is very hard to do from a technical standpoint.2. Packet inspection on incoming and outgoing traffic but with an IPS level external definitions list. Equivalent enterprise solutions that offer this kind of thing for businesses can range in price to the tune of thousands.3.The app is simple but has gotten progressively better over the last year with IP reservations for static network devices like a NAS or printer. Device priority is great if you have competing devices that you need to override for maximum bandwidth. QoS is effective and provides noticeable improvement when you have a 4K stream going or use VOIP.4.The Norton Cote automatically updates! No maintenance, no unnecessary notifications. It just sits there looking pretty and self sufficient. This is very unusual because generally the more a security appliance offers the more upkeep it requires, this is not the case with this router and honestly that in itself is incredible.5. Full set of norton antivirus for the entire house... unlimited devices. If you have 5 devices to install on it just paid for itself.6. Norton secure DNS is fantastic for day to day protection prior to loading pages. The phone app allows for on demand VPN prior to viewing pages on the phone. Both of these feature have seen brief interruptions but they have short lived and very rare. This protects you before you get content on your device. It’s a big deal.In today’s word of IoT there are so many ways to get into a home network and Core effectively protects all your devices.As a side note we wanted coverage on a separate building on our property so we used a managed switch and vlans to allow a core in each building and it’s been working fine.

So I started to set the norton core up about 20 hours ago. The entire process was a hassle, the core would not recognize my modem, would not connect to my phone, and then continuously reported that it was already regestered under a different account. After two hours of resets, repowering and factory resets, I managed to get the core through the setup process but it would not allow me to connect to the internet (I could still connect with my modem and old router). I called customer support during the next 16 hours a total of 9 times, I sat on hold for a total of just under 5 hours during which they disconnected me 6 times. I finally go to norton core service and they told me to unplug and plug the core back in. Then they asked me if the core was also a modem or just a router. I then asked to be upgraded to a service tech that actually knew what the core is and was not just reading from a script. I was put on hold for 30 minutes and then disconnected. I called back later and got through quickly ( only 15 minutes hold) and got to a superviser quickly. The supervisor then proceeded to tell me that the norton core has a lot of problems and that he can only help me if my problems are the ones they deal with like unplugging the router. He did inform me that I could wait a minimum of 2 days to see if anyone at norton could think of a solution and maybe he would get back to me then. I told him I would be returning the core and cancelling my norton subsctiption. He implied that a single customer wasn't very important and told me good bye. I then was put in touch with billing and they tried to transfer me back to norton core because "they are not allowed to cancel norton core" I told them I would file fraud with my credit card and they cancelled the subscription.Other than not having a clue and trying to stonewall me the service reps were professional and polite.

I was somewhat reluctant to replace my DSL Router/Modem, but I was experiencing quite a few incidences where it would drop connections and require a power cycle to reconnect service. I became quite frustrated with that exercise, so I read about this new Norton Core device and since I'd used Norton security products for years, thought it would be a good idea to look into what it had to offer. I did not know whether a hardware device coming from Norton would be as reliable as I would expect, but knew that I could return it if it was unreliable. I read all the reviews and it seemed as if a lot of the hardware issues were addressed as well as any buggy functionality that existed early on. I work from home and require the best service possible, so I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, the installation and transition from a combined router/modem DSL setup went off without a hitch. The only issues I've experienced with this device in the beginning were a couple of times I had to reboot in order to get Wifi devices like the Smart TV in different rooms connections to stabilize. Once that was done, I've not encountered any other connection problems. Speed is better than I expected and no buffering goes on when watching movies on any device in the house. I can say that I am very pleased with this purchase and look forward to it getting even better as time goes on.Consistent reliability - No more Modem/Router headaches. Easy setup and the ability to control access to devices connected works like a charm. I have an 11 yr old grandson in the house and even he has accepted the limitations I've put in place. It becomes a way of life without much complaining since, "it's the system" that enforces it.Thank you Norton, my life is so much better now!