TrendNet TEW-633GR Wireless N Network with Gigabit. Options?

[rage_311]

Hey everyone,

I currently have a TrendNet TEW-633GR Wireless Draft-N Router which has gigabit LAN ports in my office. In my family room, I have a myriad of devices (most are wired) that I would like to get networked with draft-n speeds (this has to be done via wireless connection as I don't have Cat5+ run through my house). I've been looking around a little bit and I've seen some draft-n bridges that would serve this purpose, but they only have a 10/100 LAN port on them. What's the point of going 300mbps over wireless only to be bottlenecked by the 100mbps wired connection?? That doesn't make much sense to me, other than taking advantage of a speed throughout (100mbps at max) that is faster than G speeds (54mbps). So... seems like a "bridge" is out of the question, unless anybody knows of one that will suit my needs here. Is there an N router with gigabit LAN ports that can double as this type of bridge (aka "ethernet client" bridge)? My TrendNet seems to have a bridge setting, but I think it's for a WDS. Is that anything like what I need? Thanks in advance for any help!


Matt

 

[pender]

Real world 802.11n throughput at appreciable range and 40Mhz (2.4Ghz) mode maxes out at about 80Mbps - well under 100Mbps ethernet.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_wireless/Itemid,200/chart,31/
300 or 270Mpbs is just a link speed (MIMO) built into the 802.11n spec.

A 802.11n bridge is a great idea. Dlink DAP-1555 or DAP-1522 or Linksys WGA600N (only one LAN port so you need an ethernet switch for more devices).
Both are Dual Band too.

You can also build your own 802.11n wireless ethernet bridge too with DD-WRT firmware if you can find a used WRT150N, WRT300N (v1.0) on craigslist for $30-$60.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

Real World 802.11g speed maxes out at about 17Mbps and has poor range compared to 2.4Ghz 802.11n.

 

[tipstir]

I got N stable here with 3 N routers two are used as access points. I find it weird how the N protocols work. I am able to install Office Enterprise 2007 over the wireless N from wired gig Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise SP2. That worked great. Did again on another box using a different N access point that works great. So you can see installing works. The problem I see is the way you get on the internet but that is solved now by using the OEM mini-pci drivers for the chip sets instead of using old outdated drivers from the cards manufacturer.

 

[pender]

The Bridge Mode on the trendnet is not Wireless Ethernet Bridge. It just disables the gateway function on the router so it acts as a Wireless Access Point or/and Ethernet switch (with the WAN port bridged to the LAN). So, DHCP, firewall/NAT and routing between LAN<-->WAN is disabled.

You need a Wireless Ethernet Bridge
WGA600N or DAP-1522

 

[rage_311]

Thank you all very much for your replies. That definitely helps me out a lot. I think I may look into the DD-WRT option, that sounds promising.


Matt

 

[pender]

Yes, If you buy a DD-WRT router, the only two 802.11n that I know will work straight out of the box that can be purchased in US are the Linksys WRT310N (single band) and the Netgear WNDR3300 (Dual Band but poor 5Ghz range) and Netgear WNR834B (single band only). This is at the time of the post on March 1 2009. Manufacturers may change hardware of these models very soon so be alert before buying and make sure you get the appropriate hardware revision of the right model.
They are expensive though (cost as much as a dualband bridge), so perhaps find a used WRT150N, WRT160N, WRT300N on craigslist for much less money (only version 1.0 of these Linksys models).

If you have money and subscribe to terestrial cable TV, consider the Netgear Coax networking kit that SNB just reviewed. It is much more reliable than Powerline networking and the throughput is quite impressive for a 1st gen consumer device (sustained 70Mbps single connection 130Mbps multiple). Future firmware updates may permit QoS etc...
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30743/51/
It doesn't work if you use cable signal amplifers, but works with cable splitters.