For a new company and a recently released product, the installation was incredibly smooth. First step is to download the app and get it installed on your device.
Once you open it you simply follow the step by step instructions to set up your Portal router. It will even automatically update the firmware if needed. Below are several screen captures of the process. I did have one issue getting the device set up but this was not the fault of the Portal router or the app. My network requires the router to be installed in Bridge mode and this device has that as a setting in the app but only after the configuration is complete. To complete the process it must be verifying the internet connection and without a valid IP it couldn’t. To get around this I connected a device to one of the SSID’s I created and logged into the web GUI. Once I changed the slider all was fine.
Once your Portal router has the basic settings complete, you can further tweak some settings in the app or the web GUI. One thing to keep in mind is Ignition Digital Labs is constantly working on updates to add features and address bugs. I give them a lot of credit for their transparency on this front. On the Portal website you can find a current list of known issues and a feature timeline mentioned previously. Going through this info you can see the updates are frequent, unlike some manufacturers. In fact just as I was about to publish the review they pushed a new update; among other things it adds their band steering. This allows you to merge your 2.4 and 5GHz networks under one SSID and let the device/router negotiate the best connection. To me this is a huge advantage for things like tablets that are streaming media. Typically I want those to be on a 5GHz band, but as they reach the outer edges of the house the signal strength is poor and the 2.4GHz band would provide better performance. With a single SSID the device can move back and forth as needed to maintain the best connection.
