EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT IPTIME WIRELESS ROUTERS
This BLog contains an extensiF guide AND some of the most solutions to choosing, operating and fixing popular models from South Korea’s monopolizingly dominant wireless network router brand ipTime . still questions keep rollin’in with mostly the same inquiries, over and over . thus here gathering some of the issued questions and answers – ofcourse : regularly updated .
THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION : WHY USE IPTIME ?
- Situation : you bring your beloved device which is a common model back home, to use here,
- Situation : you are accustomed to using hacked firmware on the cheapest device,
- Situation : you are a haute connoisseur and insist on using the most advanced wireless router in the whole World – mostly Taiwaniese and American top-of-the-line products, costing more than twice the most expensive ipTime model .
on all cases above : there will come a time – rather sooner than later – your router simple won’t work or at least connect but notoriously unstable, and you won’t be able to figure out why nomatter what firmware you install in sequence . all this while only ipTime constantly updates their firmware in uncomparable regularity than other manufacturers, domestic and imports . sure ipTime – a relatively new company and affordable – has its short-comings but its the best chance you have circa Post-Millennium in retaining a stable connection to the Virtual World which South Korea is much dependent upon daily, as well as at work .
▶WHERE CAN I PURCHASE IPTIME MODELS OUTSIDE SOUTH KOREA ?
– ipTime sells only in South Korea and has no plans even as of 2014, to export .
▶DO IPTIME OFFER WARRANTY AND REPAIR IN AMERICA ?
– No and No .
▶WHERE IS THE CHEAPEST PLACE I CAN BUY IPTIME PRODUCTS IN SOUTH KOREA ?
– like any other product sold in South Korea : On-Line would have the most discount, and I recommend buying from a large site operated by a conglomerate, with lenient refund as well as exchange policies – as many things can go wrong on wireless routers .
14.12.17 ▶WHICH ELECTRIC VOLTAGE DO IPTIME WIRELESS ROUTERS USE ?
– all products made by EFM Networks under the brand name ipTime, are multi-voltage (marked “100~240V”) so you can use it on the either of the most used 110 and 220 voltage systems around the World – as noticed on their Official website . ofcourse you will need to fit-in appropriate plug thongs at the end, to match your country’s electric plug outlet . ( post-war South Korea was overtly 110V.however gradually switched around 1988 SEOUL Olympics and now use the same 220V.as Western Europe but the pair of nodes are slightly thicker in diameter )
*shown above : power adaptors for ipTime’s two top-of-the-line wireless routers A2004NS, Left and A3004NS in the year 2014
▶WHERE CAN I GET ENGLISH MENU FIRMWARES ON MY IPTIME MODEL ?
– ipTime only offers Korean language menu on all their models, and they have stated until 2014 : they do NOT have plans to make them in English nor any other language . however a few English menus have been spotted among higher-end models throughout 2014, in irregular frequency – covered several times on Post section on the center of this BLog . *so many questions have been asked AND answered here, that we do not deal with this subject any more .
▶IS SET-UP MENU LAY-OUT THE SAME AMONG ALL IPTIME MODELS ?
– Yes, they are common within the same category that the device is intended to function . but for those that have multiple functions, such as MULTI which can act as LAN card, wireless router, AP OR extender : the hardware switch on the exterior will (interestingly) change its menu appropriately .
▶HOW DO I RE-SET MY ROUTER BACK TO BASIC FACTORY SETTINGS ?
– most models have a tiny hole where you can insert the tip of a paper-clip (much like the SIM-card slot on the iPhone). push it in for about 10 seconds until you notice a sudden-quick flicking of LED lights drastically different from its usual blinking . let it go, and it will turn OFF completely and ON (re-boot) again by itself . *this will turn-back your router to its latest firmware : if you have updated it, instead of reverting completely to actual settings when it was manufactured .
▶WHAT IS THE DEFAULT ID OR USERNAME AND PASSWORD TO ACCESS MY SET-UP MENU ?
– this used to be NONE, meaning NO ID or user-name NOR password set when you buy a brand new device . but has changed late-2014 to a more secure (albeit complicated for the novice) setting :
- ID or user-name is admin (you can change this, or disable by leaving it empty)
- password is admin (you can change this, or disable by leaving it empty)
- CAPCHA code verification (you can disable this on the row below it)
▶WHERE SHOULD I BRING MY IPTIME DEVICE FOR REPAIR ?
- immediate replies On-Line as well as telephone support is one of the service that brought ipTime to swift popularity, so it be best to get someone who can communicate in Korean in front of your computer set-up and call them for virtual step-by-step check-up .
- if it needs to be sent-in : ipTime only has a single address – their head-quarters in the satellite city of BunDang about an hour’s drive South of the Capital of SEOUL . most correspondence in the small Korean Peninsula is done by over-night courrier costing about W4,000 for a small box the size of a moderate wireless router . they will pay freight if it is within their one-year Warranty period, or else you will have to pay both-ways . they work very fast on this too, so you will usually have your fixed or exchanged device after four business days from your initial ship-out date .
- but I recommend you bring-it in yourself if you live anywhere around this artificial town, full of nothing but endless rows of apartment buildings – a sight worth seeing if you come from a small town . directions are well described on my visit Post on December 2013 .
– Korea Tech BLog on the coldest night of the Year 2014 -17 degrees Celcius below freezing temperature –
[ TOTAL GUIDE TO SETTING-UP, CONFIGURING AND USING IPTIME WIRELESS ROUTER ]
THE most extensif information on ipTime WireLess Routers among the Solar NetWork in the Milky Way, only comparable to Krispy Kreme donuts :
- How to UpGrade FirmWare to latest version
- How to ReSET to Default Factory Settings
- internal Device Manual Set-Up for Basic Security
- Semi-Advanced Security Functions
- NAS network-attached storage on ipDisk to share your files
[ UPDATE LINKS ]
due to over-whelming popularity and ensuing questions : ipTime-related contents are regularly updated and supplemented, even when you recognize no new Posts on our Front Page . and considering quite an amount of ipTime topics throughout this BLog : you have to search efficiently to find what you are looking for . to do this, you have to understand the layout of this BLog mentioned times-over on our initial guide on Top Menu .
- topics deemed to hold true over a year : are written as specaially dedicated “Pages” found on Top Menu with tier levels depending on how extensive they are,
- Monthly and Seasonal head-lines are narrated as regular “Posts” shown on central content of this BLog : separated under appropriate “Categories” and recorded by its initial date into “Archives”
- “Category List” of Posts are found on Side Menu,
- and “Archive List” of Post are also found on Side Menu,
– Korea Tech BLog on New Years 2014, appended in September and November –
Can you tell me which store I could go to to purchase a iptim e a3004ns or a5004ns on a Sunday? I prefer somewhere near Central Seoul..Jongno area
dead-center of old downtown SEOUL : Subway No.5 KwangHwaMun Station Exit 2 contected underground to your Right, is Kyobo Building just before the American Embassy . haute stationery boutique HotTracks operated by KyoBo MunGo known for mammoth bookstores with largest English and Japanese selections – two often co-exist like here .
http://info.hottracks.co.kr/company/store/kwanghwamun/main
:
they might not have A3004NS though but JongRo nor MyeongDong is rarely the place to purchase electronics . On-Line is (slightly in this case) cheaper and iPark Mall on top of YongSan KTX Station – a few bus stops-or-subway stations South-West of downtown : has endless varieties (still not as cheap as On-Line).
Hi,
My iptime A3004 router has stopped working overnight. This morning there is just a blinking blue light next to the universally recognised symbol for power. Reset button isn’t fixing it and unplugging didn’t work either.
It’s new (2 weeks old) and I’m in Seoul so could send for repair. Before I do does the Korean manual have an easy fix for this problem? No other lights are displaying, just the power (flashing maybe every 2 seconds)
Best,
Tim
this would be for their Support Center, as long as your in-coming modem from your iSP internet Service Provider is working all-right //
(moved) Hi,
I bought one wireless router i.e. IPTIPME N604 PLUS. Can you please confirm whether I will be able to use in India or not. Also unable to understand how to install, as all are showing in Korean Language.
BOTH have been answered over a dozen times on this BLog, and replying only because I luv Samosa : from your basic and general inquiry, I can only advise you sell it before you return OR sell it to someone with more knowledge-base in india – who should still be able to make it to good use .
Hello, can u help me to fix a problem ?….i am not a very skill of IT. I have an iptime router N604R ( just buy from shop yesterday , acually my place now they have one router already( Netis ) and that router had plug with the jack network on the wall and it ( netis ) works well, but when i use the iptime router insteated then it didnt work as well, i can connect to the wifi network but the internet connection not come in ( maybe ) i cant’ don anything , my notebook notification say * No internet connection *
So do u have any advice ?
Thank in advance
Fun fact; if you log into your IPtime router and trigger a firmware update, it might download other languages for the menu. My A604V now has English menus with the 10.0 something firmware!
Hey just wanted to know what would be the best iptime router to buy to get fast and efficient wifi in my apartment for a year ? Also if i have internet set up in my apartment how do i set up the wifi with the internet installed ?
Yes I understand as there are so many models on the local market, even South Korea’s monopoly on ipTime alone. but the answer gets simple if you decide how big an apartment you want to use it in, and for how many devices. if you’re in a one-room or studio: set the price at W10,000~20,000 2~3rooms (total) W20,000~30,000.
most popular one in the former category: N702BCM W14,000 or N704QCA W15,000 and the latter: A1004NS W37,000 – note the numerics in ipTime model numbers are identical line, where they add alphabets with a tweak on parts to make manufacturing dates more recent.
p.s., it is tempting to just buy the cheapest one at the nearest super-mart, or a used-one from an Expat community.. but I recommend buying a NEW popular one so you can sell when you leave the country – no point bringing it abroad, as ipTime warranty don’t exist abroad to-date. but most-of-all because a wireless router is just about the most important device at home in this technical age, especially in much-advanced South Korea.