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Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH wireless router

Fast speeds when channel bonding, but no 5GHz mode

Buffalo’s latest router is a sleek-looking device, aimed at cable broadband users, since it has no built-in ADSL modem.

It is surprising that the WZR-HP-G300NH doesn’t feature a 5GHz 802.11n mode, relying on the more congested 2.4GHz spectrum only. But we still experienced some decent speeds during testing.

When using the router with Buffalo’s Wireless-N USB adapter, we transferred a 349MB file in 63 seconds, giving a throughput of 44Mbits/sec.

Switching the channel bonding mode on, the same file transferred in just 33 seconds (an impressive 85Mbits/sec), however your neighbours won’t thank you for hogging two wireless channels. These speeds were achieved at close range, and when we moved to around 30m away speeds dropped to under 15Mbits/sec, which is still respectable.

Buffalo has furnished the WZR-HP-G300NH with a few useful extras, including a Bittorrent client that allows for peer-to-peer downloads requiring a PC to be switched on. To use this feature, you will need to attach some form of storage to the USB port at the rear of the router. Once attached, the router will also function as a basic network-attached server (Nas) device.

A switch on the front of the router lets you turn the Movie Engine mode on. Essentially a quality of service (QoS) feature, this prioritises media traffic to reduce the likelihood of video stuttering. However, we had no trouble streaming HD video through the router, whether the setting was enabled or not.
There’s plenty to like about Buffalo’s latest router, but it’s rather disappointing it can’t manage 802.11n on the less-cluttered 5GHz spectrum.

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Our verdict

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Pros Decent throughput; Bittorrent client; Nas functionality Cons No 5GHz 802.11n mode Overall The Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH is a good router let down by the lack of 802.11n 5GHz support is a good router let down by the lack of 802.11n 5GHz support

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Computing terms explained in plain English

Bittorrent

A technology for downloading files. Allows even very large files to be downloaded quickly.

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