ALFA Network 300Mbps AIP-W525HU All-Around, Multi-Function 802.11n USB WiFi Extender Router (Next generation R36)

I bought this item to replace an ageing Alfa R36 USB router. I had hoped that the MCU would have been faster and that this device would improve on the routing capability of the R36. Unfortunately, this is not the case, the AIP-W525HU also has several other issues as well which make it completely unsuitable for Motorhome or Yacht use - folks requiring a USB WiFi Extender should instead buy the R36.I tested this with an Alfa Tube U-V and a AWUS036NHR - both 'N' '150Mbps' USB adapters. Connecting these directly to the laptop resulted in speeds of around 20Mbits/sec each way. Connecting the same adapter to the AIP-W525HU degraded the performance to around 3Mbits downstream and 6Mbits upstream. If you are simply looking to extend WiFi into another part of your fixed premises, this compromise may well be acceptable. The speed differences highlight the poor routing performance of the MCU (and/or) firmware design in the AIP-W525HU - eg, its adding huge latency vs using the USB adapter direct at the same location.Unfortunately, this is not the only issue. The Alfa AIP-W525HU requires to reboot for basically EVERY setting change that you might make in its configuration interface, and that includes changing the USB WiFi network via a site survey! It takes 75s to reboot. The remaining issues are listed below:- Web UI does not offer much configuration - it is not possible to have it pass user-selected DNS servers via DHCP for instance. Generally, I would set the Alfa as the primary DNS server (it acts as a DNS forwarder to the DNS server of the USB WiFi Network), I would also have the google dns server 8.8.8.8 as the secondary - this aint possible.- To change the SSID used by the USB adapter requires re-configuring the router via the 'easy setup' option. This includes the 'site survey' stage, and then pressing 'next' to accept pre-defined LAN information before allowing it to reboot and connect to the chosen network.SLOW- The site survey shows the wifi channel of the remote network, but unlike the Alfa R36, it does not show either signal strength or quality.- The UI is some consumerified thing that offers no settings for the 'power user'- IP Routing performance is very poor indeed.- Like the R36, no on/off switch on the box (this would be handy for Motorhome/Yacht users- No 'live' status screen like the R36 which showed the status while connecting, signal strength etc. There is a separate screen, but its not live.- On the Plus side, it does provide basic POE @ 12V note that this is not 803.Xaf POE, just a 12V passive POE solution. This would be handy if you were to forget the USB and use POE wifi device instead.So... For fixed household/business users willing to accept poor routing performance, but routing a fixed SSID this may well be OK. For Motorhome/yacht users where the SSID frequently changes, and there is a need to choose the SSID based on signal strength from the site survey screen, this is a poor choice, buy an Alfa R36 instead.