Review on TRENDnet TEW-631BRP: High-Speed 300Mbps Wireless N Broadband Router by Sam Duppa

This is a great router with great performance. Incredible value for money for a Draft 2.0N wireless router. I was deciding between this router and the D-Link DIR-655 and am glad I chose this one because it offers similar features at a much lower price (according to MIR). I was intrigued by the polarity of reviews on this router - lots of 5 stars as well as some 1 stars. My experience was extremely positive and I felt compelled to visit again. My conclusion - do not touch this router if you have limited experience in setting up and configuring computer networks. In this case, it is better to use one of the Linksys WRT54G series. As mentioned before, there are 3 versions of this router (with the same name). Revain.com sent me the latest version (V3.0) a few days ago. The first thing you want to do is update the firmware - I updated from 1.0.3.0 to 1.0.3.5 from Trendnet. Initially there is no password for the admin account (although the documentation says it is "admin"). The router interface is also a bit confusing, since port forwarding is labeled as "Games" in the "Additional Features" section. You can run the emulator available at Trendnet if you want to understand the interface better. If you want advanced features like QoS, port triggering and forwarding, WPA2-PSK security, Draft 2.0N wireless, static DHCP assignments, dynamic DNS, etc. at a reasonable price (less than $50 according to MIR), this router might be right for you. I have many complexities for my home network (including this Trendnet router, my old Dell Truemobile 2300 acting as a hotspot - with WEP and MAC access control to access Nintendo DS Lite, 2 wired ethernet switches and 2 homeplug AV Powerline Ethernet devices act as a network bridge). I haven't used any wizards in the UI so I can't comment on them, but I was able to get to 100% in a few hours with manual tweaks. The QOS feature works very well with VOIP. (My home phone line is VOIP). Wireless performance is also very good (I'm currently using 54G with WPA due to older devices on the network) - a significant improvement in range and reliability over my old Dell Truemobile 2300. Cons: No GigE ports, which is confusing. User interface and documentation, kind of cheap blue plastic. Once again, highly recommended for users with intermediate to advanced networking skills who are looking for value in their purchase.