TRENDnet TEW-633GR Wireless N Gigabit Router (802.11b/g, draft 802.11n, 300 Mbps, 128 Bit WEP, WPA2)

TrendNet TEW-633GR 300Mbps Wireless N Gigabit Router

TEW-633GR Wireless N Gigabit Router (802.11b/g, draft 802.11n, 300 Mbps, 128 Bit WEP, WPA2) Review, by Becky Waring, PC World May 25, 2009

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• Reviewed by: tc17

  Strengths: Ubicom Firmware for great QOS, with a ton of firmware options. Nice looking, and VERY stable.

  Weaknesses: NONE

  Overall: This is easily the best router I have ever owned. Previous routers I have owned were the Linksys WRT-54G, Dlink DGL-4500, Zyxel X-550.This router is FAR more stable than any of the other routers I have owned. For example, in both the Dlink and Zyxel routers, the "User access control" would always eventually lock up the router if I turned on logging. This router never locks up when I do that.The firmware is actually written by Ubicom. I knew that before I purchased it, otherwise I would not have purchased a router from Trendnet. Its very similar to the very popular Dlink DIR-655 router. Only this router has larger antennas, more memory (according to an xblitlabs review).The lights on this router are also just the right brightness. One thing I always hated about the Dink routers was the super blinding blue lights... which were cool at first, but quickly you wanted to cover them up because they become annoying. The lights on this router are just the right brightness... orange and green. Also if the light is orange, it means its a gigabyte connection... green means its not a gigabyte connection.The wireless signal is even a little strong than my previous Zyxel router. Although I'm only using it in 54g mode (no mixed mode).If you do buy this router, make sure to update the firmware before you do anything. Mine shipped with firmware dated last year... and its the reason the router gets some negative posts. I didn't install any of the software, I just type the router address of 192.168.10.1 into my browser address bar and accessed the config from there. I have my router sitting in its included stand, sideways so that the heat escapes easier.This is easily the best router I have owned, and I honestly mean that. I am not a Trendnet fanboy either.

• Reviewed by: bennychan49

  Strengths: Cool appearance and easy to install. Compact and does not take up too much space. The Gigabit Ethernet works great.

  Weaknesses: Wireless signal strength is not consistent.

  Overall: The installation process is painless, very straight forward. However, if you are a beginner to install a wireless network at home, I strongly suggest you go thru all the material that comes with the package. I have a MacBook Pro which has the draft 802.11n mode. However, after a few attempts, I could not get it going and needed to go back to 802.11g mode. I had a Netgear WGR614 router which had been giving a very good and consistent performance. However, to my disappointment this TrendNet TEw-633GR drops signal periodically on 802.11g mode. Even though I am only 10 feet away, the signal strength could drop from 54 to 36 Mbps once every 10-15 min. When I am in my other room which is 25 feet away, the signal easily drops down to 24 Mbps. I tried different encryption mode: WEP-128 bit and WPA Personal; the result is the same. However, the Gigabit Ethernet works great.

• Reviewed by: icebox93

  Strengths: draft-N with a trendnet card worked well; our house is small, but good reception (at least 150mbps) even at the most distant point on a different floor.

  Weaknesses: Software installation program installs "network magic"; an unnecessary program.

  Overall: The only issue I have had with this has been with the WAN port speed, which must be limited to 10MBPS for full bandwidth to be passed the gigabit wired ports, but as the same problem occurred with a different router, the problem doesn't seem to be specific to this one. It's likely an incompatability with hardware on my end. I flag it so if others have bad bandwidth through wired ports with this they know they're not alone. Otherwise, no complaints with this router.

• Reviewed by: rufa33

  Strengths: Nice Firmware, No need to refresh the page everytime you make changes, Wireless On/Off switch

  Weaknesses: Tech support sucks as any other company now a time, Do not install the network magic software that is included

  Overall: The router worked beautiful. So far, This router works great and I can get a signal on almost the very edge of my property. I'm setting it up with a gigabit server soon.

• Reviewed by: moolman

  Strengths: N wirelss, gigabit LAN, slick design, supereasy to set up for beginners.

  Weaknesses: Too much orientation toward beginners when setting up.

  Overall: That is the address to access the router. Dlink likes to use 192.168.0.1, well that's the address for the Trendnet. Now why is it so important? Because they don't bother to tell you what it is until after you install all this crazy network monitoring crap that you don't need. They force you to use the CD to setup the router, ok fine, if you are a total newbie and have no ideal what you are doing, then I can understand how the CD would help with step by step instructions. I did as the tutorial said and it kept not finding an internet connection. After repeated attempts, I finally found the 192.168.10.1 address online and manually configured the router and it worked instantly. This company needs to just let people know what it is in the manual that comes in the box because not everyone is a router newbie. Wasted 30 minutes of my life on that stupid tutorial. The worst part of it was that it installs some program called Network Magic that stinking takes over your network settings in windows. Fine, but the worst part is that it's a 30 day trial. It's not even that great of a program. Windows is simple and fine, I don't need extra crap on there slowing the computer down. Overall, nothing else to complain about, the router works just like any other router. Please remember to use WPA2 encryption. Good luck and don't forget 192.168.10.1