Review: Trendnet TEW-631BRP

Of a similar size to the D-Link, but better looking, the Trendnet TEW-631BRP is also wall mountable. The status lights on the front are visible whether it is on the wall or on a shelf.

The only other physical element of note is that, like the Buffalo, there is a handy external switch to turn the wireless on and off.

The web interface is attractively designed, although there’s little information on the home page. There are two wizards available, one for the internet connection and one for the wireless network.

A helpful function is the ability to automatically select a radio channel based on a scan of your environment.

The most impressive part of the wireless wizard is that selecting an encryption technology is mandatory. The selection is based on the other clients on the network support and the level of security offered.

The Trendnet is firmly targeted at home users and particularly gamers, with a wide range of game-specific virtual servers, port forwarding, DMZ and other assorted settings intended to optimise Lan and Wan performance.

One such feature is the Stream Engine, which is a QoS feature that helps you optimise your internet connection for applications such as online gaming or VoIP (Voice over IP). It can run in automatic mode or you can set individual rules for particular ranges of IP addresses.

Access controls are also pretty comprehensive, if not particularly well designed. For instance, there is a web URL filter that works on the basis of a white list of allowed websites rather than a blacklist of disallowed sites.

You can also set up time-based access rules and policies, and assign them to individual clients.

The menu system is easy to navigate, but the Advanced section is not for the faint-hearted, giving access to settings that will appeal to the enthusiast.

This article is part of a group test of draft-N routers.
See also:
Belkin N1
Buffalo Airstation Nfiniti
D-link DIR-635
Linksys WRT300N-UK
Netgear Rangemax Next
Trendnet TEW-631BRP
Graphs and table of features can be read via our pdf downloads above.

You can also read an introduction to this group test and discover the Editor's Choice of product.