Home > Consumer Reviews > TRENDnet 300Mbps Wireless N Home Router ( TEW-632BRP Version A1.0R)

I bought this wireless router for a small home network. It took a while to set up -- an hour or so initially and then a week's worth of tweaking -- but now it's working relatively reliably.

PROS:
- It's an n router, so it has at least the potential to be as fast as your wired connection.
- Aesthetically, it looks decent.
- Compatible with both Windows and Macs.
- For Windows computers, setup is probably pretty simple (so long as you don't want to fully customize the install) since the router comes with an easy install CD.
- The range is good. I have strong signal throughout my apartment and a good distance outside it as well.
- For the technology, the price is great.
- Nice options for security, whether you want firewalls or encryptions, etc.

CONS:
- For Mac users: It's compatible, but you'll have to go through manual setup, the steps for which aren't yet up on the Trendnet site. For either platform, though, just plug your modem into the router's WAN port, plug the computer into one of the router's LAN ports, then type 192.168.10.1 into your browser's address bar to take you to the manual setup.
- The router disconnected too frequently for my tastes (say, two or three times a day, at least) when I had its n capabilities enabled. The speed was great, but the disconnects weren't worth it. After restricting it to b and g only, the disconnects stopped. While the drop in speed is hardly significant, it is something to keep in mind.
- Constantly blinking green lights on the front are a bit annoying if you keep the router facing you.

I've used one of these routers for a few days, and although the wired connectivity seems to work fine, I am disappointed with the wireless connectivity. I lose my wireless connection fairly frequently, and sometimes my laptop has a hard time re-connecting. I also tried changing the channel of the wireless, which helped a bit, but it still disconnects too often, in my opinion. Another thing I don't really like is that in its configuration pages, it uses different terminology for port forwarding (port forwarding is set up under "Access", and then "virtual servers"). I tried setting up some port forwarding with it, but it does not appear to be forwarding.

I've set up port forwarding with 2 different routers (a Linksys and a Netgear) without problems, and I've had better wireless connections with other routers. This router has been very frustrating for me.

Previously, I have written a review about this router, and am now making an update three months after usage. And all in all, I guess the wireless-n draft works and MIMO does manage to get a signal to my machine down a floor. However, with two laptops, a desktop, and a gaming machine connected to this device, this router is pretty weak. It works ok for the first few weeks with a couple disconnects, then it disconnects 5-6 times a day, and now it either disconnects often or it just takes forever to load a page. I changed the WPA password, and the same behavior persists (to insure that no one was hijacking the wireless).

If doubtful, this is after I tried using four wireless cards, two being wireless-g and the other two being wireless-n, using different laptops. I move the laptops around a lot, even close to the router, and the same behavior persists.

My consensus: the router is not worth anyone's time. As I write this review, I'd invest more money than get lured to an abysmal, unreliable router.

- Requires Windows CD to setup - This is LAME!
- Once setup, it is unreliable and flakey
- Mac Address Blocking is Flakey - Some systems worked, most could not connect with filtering on
- Caused problems with Remote Desktop within my network
- My Virtual Machines on the Mac would not connect
- Had to set for Wireless G networking to get G network devices working

Yes I downloaded and installed the latest firmware successfully. This thing is just not ready for the market if you want to use all of it's features or do anything advanced. I put my Netgear back online and all is good. This piece of junk is being returned to the store (I didn't buy it through Amazon and now I'm glad I didn't. Nothing against Amazon at all, I love them. Just posting my review here where it will be seen).

I bought this router at J&R in Manhattan, NY for about $60. All I have to say is that ti is a good buy. Though it is wireless N, I mostly use wireless G. This router is hooked up to a Playstation 3 (WIFI Wireless G), 2 ASUS Eee PCS(running linux...and it works!!!), and an HP Media Center. As far as range, the wireless G can go from the top floor of my house (2nd Floor) to the basement about 60 feet away and it could possibly go farther. The speed is quite good. It makes online multitasking good. It also is good for gaming. I hardly ever lag which is good. The oonly reason I gave it 4 stars was because of the installation. The installation was a little hard considering the installation software did not find the router. (For linux users, you have to configure the router manually via 192.168.10.1. This is because the instalaton disk is NOT linux compatible.) Luckilly, I know how to configure routers so it was fast and easy. For the price, It is pretty good considering other N routers are 100 plus dollars.