TRENDnet 108Mbps 802.11g router (TEW-452BRP)
We've all bought the cheapest router there is on the market one time or another. Once the old one hits the bucket, we just go to the nearest store and get another one. Besides, they are all the same are they not? Unfortunately, not really.
The TRENDnet 108Mbps 802.11g router (TEW-452BRP) is an interesting piece of hardware, especially considering the price point (around $20 CAD/USD). It offers 108 Mbps speeds, when used with another Atheros based card supporting the technology, along with 4 wired ports for the LAN. It also has a built in firewall, support for WPA2 (both PSK and EAP), and VPN tunneling support.
The old adage "you get what you pay for" applies to most things in life; routers are not an exception. Can a $20 router really be worth the hassle? TRENDnet is not exactly the most well known router manufacturer. However, they are well known for their pricing.
Overview
This particular router is build on an Atheros AR2316 SoC. This is essentially a MIPS CPU with the whole kitchen sink thrown in (baseband, mac, and radio all built in). It also offers some key Atheros features, such as 108 Mbps and Atheros XR extended range technology; both of which the router makes use of. Interestingly enough, the CPU also provides cryptographic acceleration for various encryption standards. Atheros also makes the base firmware, which is used by most manufacturers that create products based on this chip. For example, the Linksys DI-624 revision C firmware is interchangeable with this router and vise versa. As a side note, it appears that fed up DI-624 users are reporting the TRENDnet firmware is actually the best for the platform.
One thing to notice from the start, is that the processor is not ARM based, as are a majority of routers out there. Does this really make a difference? Probably not...
The box itself contains the router, an external antenna, power adapter, CD-ROM, and a network cable. It also includes 2 guides on how to set up the router. Traditionally, setting up a router was not a trivial task for most novice computer users. This is why TRENDnet created a CD based setup program which sets up the wireless router and configures it for you. A big thumbs up for creating this, as it practically guarantees the router will be set up properly and that technical supports costs will be cut in half.
Should you choose not to use the program, you can easily access the web interface at 192.168.0.1. The web interface is quite straightforward, and actually looks decent for a router.
Design
The design of the router itself is quite simple. It has 3 status lights: System, WAN, and WLAN. The System LED is a bit a mystery, and most likely indicates the status the router. The WAN/WLAN indication wireless and internet activity. The case itself is made of plastic, and has an overall appearance of cheapness. Lets face it, dull plastic painted blue is not exactly very appealing. There is also a light at the top of the case lighting up the "Wireless Router" text at the top of the case. Either way, it's not something you would want to put in a very visible area.
The back of the router has 4 LAN (local) ports and 1 WAN (external) port. They are all auto MDIX which, thankfully, is standard on every single consumer router nowadays. For those of you that don't remember "uplink" ports used to connect switch/hub <-> router, consider yourself lucky.
There is also a "standard" female RP-SMA connector on the back. I use the term standard loosely, as they were initially used because of the lack of any compatible connectors for a "female" male connector due to FCC issues. Legally, you aren't allowed the attach any antenna except the one certified for the device in regions covered by the FCC, although hardly anybody cares nowadays.
Web Interface
The web interface is quite straightforward, and you can easily access all the features that the router supports. There is a wide variety of controls for many things like setting the DHCP server range, dynamic/static routes, and custom firewall rules. While many may not change these settings at all, it is good to know they are available just in case.
One interesting feature, which is mostly found in enterprise grade routers, is SNMP support. This allows for the collection of a variety of information about network traffic and status, and allows for generating very interesting graphs with tools like RRDTools.
Another very handy feature is an "AP mode." This essentially turns the router into an accesspoint that can be attached to an existing network. Simply set this mode and plug in any port into your network to instantly add wireless support to your current network. While you can do this with other routers as well, setting a simple check box is easier than going to a bunch of pages and enabling/disabling the proper services.
In terms of wireless features, this router pretty much has everything you need for a G network. It supports the classic 54 Mbps and uses the optional 108 Mbps when using a compatible wireless network card (must be Atheros based and support SuperG). It allows you to set the transmit power and enable extended range mode among other cryptic settings provided. Security wise, the router supports WEP, WPA, and WPA2. It supports EAP extensions, which allow you to authenticate against a RADIUS server so that every user has their own login information instead of using a single password for everyone AKA PSK (Pre Shared Key). It supports 2 cipher types for WPA and up to 128 bit keys for WEP.
Interestingly enough, some pages in the router configuration do not group items having to do with the name of the page. For example, you use the "Remote Management" page in order to enable/disable UPnP, PPTP, IPSec, and IDENT features. Although they are not in the right section, at least they are present and configurable...
One feature that I like about this router, and any other routers which support it, is Dynamic DNS support. This allows you have a domain name point to your IP address. This is especially useful when using tools such as VNC to remotely connect to your home PC. Instead of remembering 24.115.101.230, you only remember something like myname.homeip.net. The router supports 3 different providers: DynDNS, EasyDNS, and No-IP.com.
Performance and Stability
While all the features this router supports seem very handy, the real question is how they impact the performance of this router.
When using the router for regular web surfing, it is quite fast and responsive. No issues came up while using it for a couple of days, and it performed quite well. One issue we did notice was that download speeds were a bit lower than we had previously, and there was a small delay before making connections to a web server. Perhaps the DNS relay built into the router has some issues.
In terms of using BitTorrent, you will be very disappointed by this router. It seems to drop many connections, and is virtually non-functional if you are downloading a torrent with a very large number of other downloaders. Some people have also reported that the router may reboot if there are enough concurrent connections. While this can be somewhat fixed by lowering the number of connections allowed in your BitTorrent software, it will greatly impact your download speed. Compared to other "cheap" routers like the CC&C WA-2204 clones mostly under the Gigafast WF719-CAPR and other names, this router is a bit of a disappointment. While these routers also have a similar issue, a simple command can fix the problem easily.
When using this router as a wireless access point, it performed remarkably well. We used a TRENDnet TEW-503PI 802.11a/b/g card w/SuperG support, and we had no issues connecting at 108 Mbps. The wireless connection proved to be very stable, and unlike the other CC&C router, it had no rebooting issues during intense wireless use. This is probably due to the hardware supporting WPA encryption natively and not emulating it using software as the CC&C router does.
Overall, the performance was decent. Depending on what you want to use it for, the router is either great or horrible. Wireless throughput was around 21.6 Mbps through the local area network to a wired PC, which is around 20% of 108 Mbps. The test was done with the router behind a standard wood stud wall. The signal was reported to be maximum and Windows connection info stated 108 Mbps was the connection speed. Although it may seem slow, keep in mind that your internet connection is likely to be around 5 Mbps. Wireless ping times were minimal, and less than 1 ms to the router.
Value
No question about it. For a $20 router, this is a great value: 10/10.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a router just for web browsing, this router has it all. However, if you plan on using it for gaming or file sharing, it may be a bit of a disappointment. Overall, you certainly get what you pay for, maybe even a bit more.
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