Review of the Trendnet TEW 633GR Wireless "N" Router

I would have preferred to find antenna connectors rather than the fixed masts provided, but this is an economical router intended for in-home use. Some nice touches are simply not needed for the majority of users.

It first advises you to collect all the needed components...

And then the installer looks for the Internet connection. (At this point, you should have the modem plugged directly into the PC.)

Here's where I ran into a problem. The installer correctly detected that my ADSL+ modem, a BellSouth/AT&T Motorola 2210-10, is also a router. However, it then gave me two options, neither of which I wanted. One was to use the 633GR to replace the Motorola. The second was to add the 633GR "behind" the Motorola and use them both.

To make a long story short, I discovered that the Motorola modem can be used as a router. Since it only has one Ethernet port, however, that didn't make much sense to me. Happily, it can be switched over to a "Bridged Ethernet" mode, and then the Trendnet wizard will find it as a regular modem.

I also wrote about that, so if you need help with a Motorola 2210-10 (BellSouth version only, as the setup menus are different in other AT&T service areas), please see Trendnet TEW 633GR Router vs. AT&T/Bellsouth Motorola 2210 Modem.

Assuming that your cable or DSL modem will be detected as a modem (and not as a router), the installer next guides you through the steps of hooking up and configuring the router. Along the way, you'll be specifying a password to access the router, a (hopefully strong) password for accessing the wireless network, a name for your new network, deciding whether or not to broadcast the SSID (network name), and a choice of network security - WEP or WPA. WPA is preferred unless you need to connect older hardware.

On the other hand, if your equipment is all very recent and capable of draft N connections, you can go into the modem settings (as is well described in the manual on the CD) and turn off mixed environment mode. This refers to the router providing a mix of A, G, and N connections. A slight performance benefit will be provided by specifying N only.

At this point, the installer program sends the programming to the router. It warns that "This may take a moment." Actually, it may take several minutes. When you see the activity light on your modem flash, the router setup is almost half over.

The installer also offers to install a trial version of Network Magic, a home network manager by Pure Networks.

Next: Wireless Performance, Testing Method, Testing Results, and Conclusion