
N° and issue date : 314 - 01/04/2014
Circulation : 49071 Page : 107
Frequency : Monthly Size : 100 %
ComputerShopper_314_100_19.pdf 7358 cm2
Website: http://www.computershopper.com
TENDA
W1800R
* * *
*
*
£76
inc
VAT "
From
www.ilgs.co.uk
VERDICT
The
cheapest
802.11ac
router we'
ve
yet
seen was
also
one
of
the
most
consistent
performers
in
our
challenging
test
environment
THE
TENDA
W1800R
is
one
of
the
cheapest
802.11ac
wireless routers
you
can
buy
.
This
is
surprising
as it uses
the
fast
AC1750
standard
,
with
a
theoretical
maximum
throughput
of
1
,300Mbit /
s .
Like most
AC
routers
,
it'
s a
bit
larger
than its
80211n
predecessors
. It
sits
flat
and
has
three
replaceable
antennas.
There'
s a
bank
of
status
lights
on
the
front
,
while at
the
back
you'
ll
find
a Gigabit
Ethernet
WAN
port
,
two
USB
ports
,
four
Gigabit
Ethernet
LAN
ports
and
a
button
that
serves
as
both
the
factory
reset
and
the
WPS
button.
It'
s
not an
ideal
combination
of
functions
,
but
we
had
no
problems
with
it
during
our
tests.
The
W1800R provides
simultaneous
dual-band Wi-Fi : a
2.4GHz
802.11n
connection
,
still
required
by
many
laptops
and
mobile
devices
,
and
a
5GHz
802.11ac
connection
,
which
is
faster
but
requires
a compatible
Wi-Fi adaptor
for
the
full benefit
of its
faster
throughput
.
Neither channel
is
secured
by
default
,
so
the
first
thing
to
do
is
log
into
the
router
and
add
a
wireless
password.
TRENDNET
TEW-812DRU
* *
* *
7-
£85
inc
VAT " From
www.dabs.com
VERDICT
This
excellent
802.11ac
wireless router
doesn'
t
cost too
much
,
but
you
can
get
more consistent
performance
for
a
little less
money
elsewhere
TRENDNET'
S
TEVV-812DRU
IS
a
bit smaller
and
lighter
than most
802.11ac
routers
,
but
this
AC1750
simultaneous
dual-band
device
is
still specified
with
a
theoretical
maximum
5GHz
transfer
speed
of
1
,300Mbit
s . It
has
a
Gigabit
WAN
port
and four
Gigabit
Ethernet
ports
but
,
beyond
that
,
you'
re
limited
to one
USB
port
,
a
power
switch
and
a
WPS
button.
Wireless
networks
have
passwords
set
by
default
,
and
the
web
interface'
s
wizards
help
you
configure
your
internet connection and
customise
your
wireless
security.
The
interface
is
clear
,
with
the
advanced
settings
kept
separate
from
those
that
will
interest
most users
.
However
,
some features
are
obtuse
.
The
QoS
settings
,
to
prioritise
the
types
of
traffic
on
your
connection
,
are
a
case
in
point
.
Where
other
routers
let
you
choose
specific
programs
or
types
of
traffic ,
here
you
have
to
add rules
based on IP address
,
protocol
and
port
. Even
these
settings
are
buried
under
configurable
traffic
settings
that
most
will
find
virtually incomprehensible.
ISSUE
314
COMPUTER SHOPPER
APRIL
2014
The
web
interface
prompts
you
to
add
a
security
key
when
you
first
connect
to
it
,
but
as
the
suggested
option
is
12345678
,
you
should
change
it
.
Enter
your
chosen
key
,
click
OK
and
you'
re
almost
ready
to
go
.
Click
on
the Advanced
section
of the
web interface
,
select
the
Wireless
tab
and correct
the
country
entry
.
The
router
annoyingly
defaults
to
America
,
which
uses
a
slightly
different
set
of
wireless channels
.
There'
s
no
UK
option
,
but
France
uses
the
same
ranges
as us
,
so
pick
that
.
The
5GHz
settings
option
is
locked
to
America if
you
want
to use
802.11ac
mode.
Once
again ,
the
US
and
European
authorised
ranges
differ
,
but
you'
ve
got
no
choice here.
Luckily ,
these
quirks
have little
impact
on
performance .
We
used
Tenda'
s
£20 W900U
Wi-Fi adaptor
,
which supports
80211ac
and
our
laptop'
s
integrated
wireless
chipset
,
which
supports
both
the
2.4GHz
and
5GHz
bands
but
only
uses
the
older
80211n
standard.
At
2.4GHz
,
we saw
similar
performance
from
the
laptop'
s
integrated
Wi-Fi
and
the
Wireless
settings
are
much
clearer
,
though
again
it' s
easy
to
stumble
across advanced
settings
that most
people
will
want
to
steer
well
clear
of
. You
can
enable extra
wireless
guest
networks
on both bands
,
so
you
can
give
visitors
access
to the
internet
without
letting
them roam
your
local
network
at
will
.
In
the
advanced
settings
screens
,
you
can
configure
firewall
rules
that
are
only
active
at specified
time
,
which
is
good
for
keeping
the
kids
offline
at
night
,
and
set
up
all
the
usual
port-forwarding
rules
and
static
IP
addresses
.
We'
ve
seen more
user-friendly
interfaces
,
but
at
least
everything'
s
clearly
labelled.
The
router
also
has
network
share
(
SMB
)
and
FTP
server
features
,
which
you'
ll
find
in
the
Administrator
settings
and
can
use to
share
a
USB
hard disk connected
to the
port
at
the
back
,
turning
the
router into
a
simple
NAS
device
. You
can
also
share
a
USB
printer
,
but
will
have
to
install
the Windows
WIRELESS
ROUTERS
adaptor
.
The
laptop
managed
39.5Mbit
s at
1m
,
38.2Mbit
s at
10m
and
14Mbit s at
20m
.
That last
figure
is
particularly
good
.
With
the
adaptor ,
we
saw
a
slight
improvement
,
to
42.7Mbit /
s at
1m
,
40.7Mbit
/
s at
10m
and
15.3Mbit
/
s at
20m.
Performance at
5GHz
was
good
all
round.
Transfer
speeds
at
20m were
a
little
slower
than
some
,
but
the
connection was
strong.
Using
integrated
wireless
,
we
got
87Mbit
/
s at
1m
,
80.6Mbit
s at
10m
and
12.6Mbit
/
s at
20m
.
The
adaptor
took
it to
119Mbit s at
1m
,
158.5Mbit
s at
10m
and
25.2Mbit
/
s at
20m.
This
is the one
of
the
cheapest 802.11ac
routers
we'
ve
reviewed
,
and
proves
you
don'
t
have
to
sacrifice
performance
or
features
to
save
money
. You'
ll
need a
compatible
wireless
adaptor
to
get the
most
out
of
its
802.11ac
performance
,
but it
worked
well
with
our
Centrino
2
laptop
in
all
our tests
.
It'
s a
great
router
,
but
its
lack
of
UK
settings
means
it
just
misses
out
on
an
award
.
If
you
can
afford
it
,
the
BT
Home
Hub
5
is the
better
choice.
only
Trendnet
control
utility
on
every
system
from
which
you
want
to
access
the
printer.
We
tested
wireless
performance
with
our
Centrino
2
laptop'
s
integrated
wireless
chipset
and
a
£25
Trendnet
TEW805UB
USB
Wi-Fi adaptor .
Using
our
laptop'
s
adaptor
,
which
supports
80211n
5GHz
but not
80211ac
our
5GHz
test
produced
speeds
of
82.4Mbit s at
10m
,
but
the
connection
was
unstable at
20m
in
our
busy
labs
.
Our
2.4GHz
test
using
the
same
internal
adaptor
gave
us
37.7Mbit
/
s at
10m
and
15.9Mbit
/
s at
20m.
When
we
tested
with
the
Asus
PCE-AC68
PCI-E
wireless
adaptor
,
we saw
an
amazing
transfer
speed
of
80.4Mbit
/
s at
20m.
With
a
clear
interface
,
effective
wireless
performance ,
lots
of
features
and
a
low
price
,
the
TEW-812DRU
is an
excellent
choice
if
you
want
to enter the
world
of
high-speed
Wi-Fi.
However
,
the
BT
Home
Hub
5 maintained
a
more
stable
connection
during
its
testing
in
the same
interference-filled
environment.
105
8 / 12
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