TRENDnet TEW-672GR Router Author: Gh0sTly -- Posted: 2009-02-06
In today's networks, we all want speed. Fast LAN networks, fast Wifi networks, and a quick and easy way to get it all connected to the internet. TRENDnet has delivered this with the TEW-672GR Router.
The first thing you notice out of the box, is that it has a very attractive design to it, and is very glossy and there is plenty of large indicator LEDs to show activity. You also have 3 non-removable Wireless N antennas on the backside, as well as 4 gigabit network ports as well as a gigabit WAN port for your modem. Thats right, gigabit Ethernet. You can finally make use of that gigabit Ethernet port on your motherboard. There is also a hardwired switch on the backside of the router to disable all wireless access.
The wireless n that this router has is a dual band wireless n(802.11n DRAFT). This lets you hit wireless speeds upto 300Mbps when using a wireless card that also supports 300Mbps wireless N. You can also connect other Wireless standards that have been around, as in wireless a/b/g(802.11a/b/g) devices. Also, if you use if you choose WEP or WPA/WPA2-TKIP encryption, you will not get a full 300Mbps connection for wireless n, because 802.11n does not support these encryption types, so if you intend of rolling out a full 300Mbps network make sure that your wireless a/b/g devices can handle a WPA2 with AES or WPA-PSK with AES encryption. Any other encryption will cause your wireless n devices to run at 130Mbps.
The router does support WPS(Wi-Fi Protected Setup) and can very easily simplify your wireless encryption needs by a simple push of a button. You can set this up by either PIN or PBC(Push Button Connect) and will make connection to a secure wireless network much easier.
Upon a closer look at the indicator LEDs, you get a better sense of what is going on with your networks ethernet side. With the LAN 1-4 leds, you could see one of the 3 possibilities. A LED that is off means that there is either no connection, or the Cat5 cable is bad. A green LED means that there is a 10/100 network capable PC connected. A orange LED means there is a 10/100/1000(or gigabit) capable PC connected.
The TEW-672GR does support all of your traditional router features, including NAT, Traffic control, UPnP, DMZ, easy web management, and supports all Cable/DSL modems with Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP, and Russian PPTP.
The interface is straightforward and easy to use, and offers all the features you would want. You can even setup a remote access ability using a number of different free dynamic IP web services, like No-IP.com, or dyndns.org
Overall, I would easily suggest this router to someone looking to expand or move up to wireless n, due to is simplicity of setup and mass amount of features and backwards compatability. It features many easy management settings, and can offer a crazy fast network for both wireless and wired PCs.
I would like to thank TRENDnet for letting us review this great product, and I hope to review more from them in the future.
