TRENDnet 54 Mbps Wireless G Broadband Router TEW-432BRP (Blue)
by TRENDnet
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List Price: Our Price: $22.95 You Save: $27.04 (54%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $15.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TRENDnet 54 Mbps Wireless G Broadband Router TEW-432BRP (Blue)
Customer Review: Excellent value after rebate! Great low budget wireless G router.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was shopping for a good low-budget router with wireless-G. Mainly it's used for a wired LAN and occasional notebook connection. For the price i paid (just mere tax after rebates), i didn't expect much out of the TEW432BRP. However, the overall experience has by far surpassed my expectation.
First, the installation is too easy and bloatware free. I consider myself computer savvy and have always been trying to avoid using the installation CD from any device i have purchased in the past. The reason, i just don't want any junk software installed along with the device driver on my computer. When i got this Trendnet router, i was curious and pop the installation CD in to see what's in it. It is absolutely clean and contains just a install wizard and a trial network software. You can choose not to install the trial software. The instruction is easy to follow and i successfully installed it in one shot. One thing that surprises me. I use DSL connection. The wizard didn't even ask me for my DSL login/password for the PPPoE setup but connects away successfully. My other routers did. Trendnet is Awesome!
Second, the wired connection is as stable as any major brand's routers. Of course, nobody expects anything less. (I do have a Belkin router that disconnects/reconnects every 5 seconds. Yes, 5 seconds!)
Now the wireless part, i use a Linksys wireless-G adapter and a Airlink+ wireless-b adapter. I set the WLAN on the router to Auto and both notebooks connect fine. I have not thoroughly tested the range yet but from my bedroom to living room, there's no problem so far.
For everyday basic needs, this router delivers. For hardcore gaming network configurations, Linksys or Netgear is your safer bet. I am extremely happy with this Trendnet wireless-G router, and the 3-yr warranty is very generous. The price i paid couldn't even get a Linksys antenna. Instead, i got myself an awesome low-budget wireless-G router.
Customer Review: Can't beat it, for the price...
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this for my mother. She has a desktop with no wireless and I got her an ipod touch for Christmas, so my requirements were pretty basic. I needed a router with wireless and wired functionality. I didn't need anything blazing fast, and I didn't need it to support a lot of connections. This gets the job done, cheap. I had it shipped to my mother's house, and since she was very excited about using her ipod with the internet, she tried to set it up herself, and failed miserably. My stepfather also tried, and failed. Together, they had it so messed up that the desktop couldn't even access the internet when they removed the router from the setup and just plugged the computer back into the cable modem. When I got there, I reset everything, opened the setup page (192.168.10.1 or something... it's in the instructions.) and went through the wizard. I had them up and running again in about ten minutes, and I'm terrible with networking stuff. Two days later, my mother called me again, and said that the internet wasn't working. I went back to her house, and sure enough, something was wrong. I didn't take the time to figure out what. Again, I reset everything, went through the same process, and it worked again. It's been about two weeks since the last reset, and it seems to be working fine. I'm assuming either my mother or stepfather screwed something up, and that's why there was trouble again.
Pros:
-cheap
-works fine
Cons:
-Don't get this if you want blazing fast network speeds for file sharing or anything. If you want to access the internet, it's plenty fast for that; your internet connection speed is the bottleneck there, not the wireless g speeds.
-Somewhat sub-par instructions/setup wizard.
-Not the sturdiest constructed router I've ever seen, but it's not like you'll move it around much.
Customer Review: Vista x64 Buyer Beware!
Summary: 1 Stars
I have a 2 month old Dell desktop with Windows Vista x64. I've been unable to use most hardware peripherals that I previously used on XP, for example, the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector and Pinnacle DVC 80 were not compatible with x64. I was hoping this router would have a flawless install process, but that was not the case.
I spent three hours attempting to install the router. I inserted the CD, followed the instructions, and hooked up the router, but then I would get error message after message. Even after rebooting and trying and then shutting down and trying again, I got no where.
On the last attempt, I accidentally installed Network Magic. When I tried to uninstall, I got an error message that my Vista User profile became corrupted and I was asked to complete a System Restore. I clicked yes, and the problems continued.
I was on the line with Dell tech support for over three hours when they determined that the hard drive became corrupted following the uninstall process because Network Magic tried to link to my User Profile.
I am currently using my XP computer, waiting for a new hard drive to arrive from Dell.
When the new harddrive comes in, I'll be calling Trendnet tech support to assist with the installation. If I get it working again, I'll be sure to write another review.
UPDATE: The new hard drive was installed, Vista was reloaded. I tried to install the router as directed, but continued to get Error 302. TrendNet has an online ticket system for customer support. I opened a ticket and received an email the next day stating the provided CD does not support x64, but I could manually set it up. After an hour of tweaking, I got the Wi-Fi up and running and I was able to connect my phone and Wii console.9
Customer Review: Don't let the low price or bad reviews here fool you..works great as an Access Point also
Summary: 4 Stars
I waited one full week of operating the unit before writing this review.
This was my first Trendnet product - to use as as a wireless ethernet bridge. I was worried about the quality and other things based on some really bad reviews on this site. But other than some shortcomings in the documentation, the product itself works very well. Don't know what chipset the product is based on but it is possible that I got one with a good chipset inside with a stable reference design. Compared to the Linksys and D-Link products I own, this is as good. Configuration is a breeze if you have basic understanding of networks, IP settings, etc.
Took it out of the box, skimmed the printed guide that came with it for the default IP address (192.168.1.100), user ID (admin) and password (admin) information. Connected my laptop to the router, fired up IE, typed in 192.168.1.100, and got connected to the router web page. Configured it to support Access Point mode, setup the SSID, WEP key and bingo, it connected to my Wireless G network and worked like a ethernet bridge that I wanted. Compared to Linksys and D-Link wireless ethernet bridges, this is almost 40% less expensive. And based on my experience, it's worth it.
Some tips:
1) Helps to initially not connect the wireless antenna while setting it up.
2) Helps to have a dedicated computer (like a laptop) to configure things. That way, you can avoid any IP address conflict issues while setting up the Trendnet.
3) Make sure that the configuring computer has the same IP subnet address (192.168.1.X) where X is any number between 1 and 254 that is not 100 (since this is the default address of the Trendnet).
[...].
Customer Review: good router, with unique options in firmware
Summary: 5 Stars
Upgrading finally from my B router. Probably the last one in the neighborhood to do so.
There are three versions of the TEW-432BRP (the outer casings look slightly different). They're roughly labelled A, B, and C. I wound up with the C one. Its the best G router i've ever seen, for a few reasons:
1. "Easy CD" actually worked and led me through a wizard that had me running in under 5 minutes. It was even intelligent enough to figure out that my cable company's router needed a reset.
2. When you go into the firmware, there are some interesting and unusual settings you can tweak. It has the usual things like 'dont broadcast ssid' and all the rest of it. But it also had unusual settings that I'd never seen before, like the ability to set the output of its signal at "full power" or "half power" or "quarter" or "eigth" or "minimum". Seemed like an interesting option; I usually sit 10 feet from it, maybe I can reduce the microwaves bombarding my brain? I tried it on the various levels and did throughput tests. Interestingly, it was at "quarter power" that I had the fastest throughput. I dont know why, but I can live with that. I was glad to have that option to reduce the output signal's power level in the router, though.
3. Excellent transmission spread, strong signal, and fast. I know the bottleneck is supposed to be the dsl/cable conneciton itself, but I would swear my browsing is faster and snappier now. And my connection speed to my local network drive improved five-fold (which was why I got a g router in the first place).
Its a great deal under twenty-five on sale.