Home > Consumer Reviews > TRENDnet 4-Port Gigabit Firewall Router-Grey (TWG-BRF114) Version 1.0R

Compact and easy to install. Consumer oriented wireless routers have not kept pace with consumer needs whereas this device offers support for up to 253 devices requiring IP addresses. Further it provides a firewall and a low price point. Gigabit network provides a noticeable peformance improvement to desktops, laptops, Media Center and XBox.

I did not have any of the problems with this product that Mr. Phillips said he had. He may have purchased a defective unit or his unit may have been incompatable with the rest of his hardware. In my own experience this router is a well-designed product. It is not a Cisco, but at its price, and at $54.56 from Amazon it is a steal, it is a great deal. Its user interface is well laid out and easy to configure for all basic home and small business router applications, save VPN. I contacted Trendnet's pre-sales department to inquire about the unit's WAN to LAN throughput before purchasing it, since that particular spec is not in their product literature. They quoted me ca. 60 Mbit/sec with fast ethernet, and ca. 100 Mbit/sec with gigabit ethernet, devices connected. The first figure is consistent with Small Net Builder's test of Trendnet's equivalent wireless version of this product, so I think it is trustworth as the same processor is likely used in both units.

The product makes a nice presentation with its metal case and integrates well with Trendnets gigabit green desktop switches. I am so pleased with it I just placed an order for a second one.

I have no reservations about recommending this product. Trendnet may not have been esteemed for their home/small business routers in the past, but this product definitely puts them on the map.

4-PORT Gig Firewall Router

Exactly what I wanted. Wired router, gigabit speed, simple, easy setup. Worked right out of the box, exactly as described.

I purchased this router for my company's network. We moved from our old (non-wired) building to a new (pre-wired) building, so we needed to switch from our old Linksys Wireless router to a new Gigabit Firewall/router. I was a little wary of the price of this unit for Gigabit service, but it has performed like a champ so far (2 months) without a single outage or need to reboot!

I am very pleased with this little router and would gladly buy from TRENDnet again.

At first install, speeds were capped well below my ISP's capacity. After upgrading the firmware (which can ONLY be done using I.E. since their code is not compatible with Firefox yeah, major yellow flag!) to v1.0 Revision 04 the speeds were acceptable, however the router disconnects if idle and for some reason you cannot turn that feature off. It also does not return ping requests, there is a serious bug in the firmware that tech support could not overcome after over an hour on the phone and 3 different techs.

Also there is no way to save the original Revision 02 firmware, and they don't host it on their site so it can't be downloaded. Once you upgrade the firmware (as their tech support insists!) there is no way to go back! Their top tier tech support never called back like they said they would. 24/7 tech support my A$$!

The NAT implementation is horrible, it does let you open port ranges manually but cannot forward them to a specific host on your network without jumping through hoops and creating a "virtual server" why can't they just do like everybody else does?

Also you cannot delete or edit "default services" that they bind to certain ports, what if you want to use that port for another application?

Overall, save yourself the trouble and jog on over to Radio Shack and get something that works, something you can take back within a few minutes rather than have to get an RMA, ship the item, wait for credit, yada yada.