Trendnet TEW-812DRU review
This excellent 802.11ac wireless router doesn’t cost too much but you can get more consistent performance for a little less money elsewhere
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The Trendnet TEW-812DRU is a bit smaller and lighter than most of the 802.11ac routers we’ve seen, but this AC1750 simultaneous dual band device is still specified with a theoretical maximum 5GHz transfer speed of 1,300Mbit/s. It’s equipped with a Gigabit WAN port and four Gigabit Ethernet ports, but beyond that, your extras are limited to a single USB port, a hard power switch and a WPS button.
The router’s wireless networks already have passwords set by default and the router’s web interface includes wizards to help you configure your internet connection and customise your wireless security.
The web interface is clear and well designed, with the advanced settings kept separate from those that’ll be of most interest to day-to-day users. However, some features are obtusely designed by any standard. The QoS settings, designed to prioritise the most important types of traffic that go across your net connection, are a case in point. Where other routers let you choose specific programs or general types of traffic, here, you have to add rules based on IP address, protocol and port. Even these settings are buried under configurable traffic class settings that all but the most hands-on network administrator is likely to find virtually incomprehensible.
Clear and largely well presented, but some features are obtusely designed
The wireless settings are much clearer, although once again it’s easy to stumble across very advanced settings such as beacon intervals, which most people will want to steer well clear of. You can enable extra wireless guest networks on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, so you can give visitors access to the internet without letting them have freedom to roam your local network at will. In the advanced settings screens, you can configure firewall rules that are only active at specified time, which is good for jury-rigging a scheduler to keep the kids offline at night, and set up all the usual port forwarding rules and static IP addresses that you might desire. We’ve seen better-documented and more user-friendly interfaces, but at least everything’s clearly labelled.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | ***** |
Modem type | none |
802.11b support | yes |
802.11g support | yes |
Draft 802.11n support | yes |
Draft 802.11n 5GHz support | yes |
MIMO | yes |
Turbo mode | channel-bonding |
Stated speed | 1,300Mbit/s |
Security | |
WPA | PSK (TKIP, AES), RADIUS |
WPA2 | yes |
Firewall | yes |
MAC address filtering | yes |
DMZ | yes |
Physical | |
Size | 180x48x155mm |
Antennas | 6 |
Internal/external antennas | internal |
Upgradeable antenna | no |
Number of WAN ports | 1 |
Ethernet ports | 4 |
Ethernet connection speed | 10/100/1000Mbit/s |
Other ports | 1x USB |
Wall mountable | no |
Power consumption on | 8W |
Other Features | |
Dynamic DNS | yes |
Universal Plug and Play support | yes |
DHCP server | yes |
MAC spoofing | yes |
Port forwarding | yes |
WDS Support | yes |
USB device support | yes |
QoS | yes |
Buying Information | |
Price | £85 |
Warranty | three years RTB |
Supplier | http://www.dabs.com |
Details | www.trendnet.co.uk |