We would first like to thank TRENDnet for sending out a sample of their AC1900 Dual Band Wireless Router for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About TRENDnet:

 

“TRENDnet's vision is to build innovative, easy to use, and reliable Networks People Trust™. TRENDnet solutions network the countless devices which enable your connected lifestyle and workplace. Building award winning networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet connects you with what you value most.

 

Founded in Torrance, California, TRENDnet has grown to become a leading global networking hardware brand. From the network core to the periphery, TRENDnet's expansive product portfolio includes Wireless, Wired, Surveillance, Connectivity, and Peripheral device categories. An emphasis on continual improvement and our ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification (click here to view certificate) is an essential component of TRENDnet’s success. The TRENDnet brand is consistently recognized for exceptional quality, superior performance, and responsive support.”

 

Product Features:

 

Ease of Use

 

Easy Setup - Get up and running in minutes with the intuitive guided setup

 

One Touch Connection - Securely connect to the router at the touch of the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button

 

USB Share Ports - Plug in a flash or storage drive into the 5 Gbps USB 3.0 port or the USB 2.0 port

 

Multi Language - Multi Language Interface: English, Spanish, French, German, and Russian

 

Security

 

Encrypted Wireless - For your security the router arrives pre-encrypted with its own unique password

 

Guest Network - Create a secure, isolated network for guest internet access only

 

Parental Controls - Control access to specific websites or types of content

 

Performance

 

Next Generation Wireless AC - 802.11ac provides uninterrupted HD video streaming in a busy connected home

 

Simultaneous Dual Band - High speed 1300 Mbps Wireless AC band + 600 Mbps Wireless N

 

Gigabit Ports - Gigabit ports extend high performance wired connections

 

Wireless Coverage - Whole home wireless coverage for average size homes

 

Backward Compatible - Compatible with legacy wireless devices

 

Open Source - Compatible with DD-WRT open source firmware***

 

Targeted Beamforming - Increased real-time performance by directing stronger wireless to your specific location

 

Product Specifications:

 

Standards

 

IEEE 802.3

IEEE 802.3u

IEEE 802.3ab

IEEE 802.11a

IEEE 802.11b

IEEE 802.11g

IEEE 802.11n (2.4 GHz up to 600 Mbps TurboQAM*, 5 GHz up to 450 Mbps)

IEEE 802.11ac (draft 2.0, up to 1.3 Gbps)

 

Hardware Interface

 

4 x Gigabit LAN ports

1 x Gigabit WAN port

1 x USB 3.0 (Storage FTP, Samba, Printing)

1 x USB 2.0 (Storage FTP, Samba, Printing)

Power switch (EU only)

WPS button

LED indicators

 

Security

 

Wireless encryption up to WPA2

Firewall: NAT, SPI

Parental (Access) Controls: MAC, URL, IP Filter

 

System Requirements

 

Optional USB Printing utility: Windows: 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP; Mac OS X: 10.9, 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, 10.5, 10.4

 

Special Features

 

QoS Management

IPv6 support

WDS support

Up to 2 additional SSID per band

1 guest network per band with option for Internet access only

Dynamic DNS support for dyn.com and no-ip.com

Samba/FTP server support

Multi-Language interface: English, French, Spanish, German, Russian

 

Open Source

 

Compatible with DD-WRT Firmware

 

Antenna Gain

 

2.4 GHz: 6 dBi (max.) internal/5 GHz: 6 dBi (max.) internal

 

Wireless Output Power/Receiving Sensitivity

 

802.11a: FCC: 22 dBm, ETSI: 18 dBm (max.)/ -68 dBm (typical) @ 54 Mbps

802.11b: FCC/ETSI: 19 dBm (max.)/ -84 dBm (typical) @ 11 Mbps

802.11g: FCC/ETSI: 18 dBm (max.)/-72 dBm (typical) @ 54 Mbps

802.11n: FCC/ETSI: 18 dBm (max.)/-68 dBm (typical) @ 600 Mbps 2.4 GHz

802.11n: FCC: 22 dBm, ETSI: 18 dBm (max.)/ -68 dBm (typical) @ 450 Mbps 5 GHz

802.11ac: FCC: 23 dBm, ETSI: 19 dBm (max.)/ -55 dBm (typical) @ 1.3 Gbps

 

Power

 

Input: 100 – 240 V AC, 50 - 60 Hz, 0.8 A

Output: 12 V DC, 2 A

Consumption: 22 Watts (Max.)

 

Operating Temperature

 

0 - 40° C (32 - 104° F)

 

Operating Humidity

 

Max. 90% non-condensing

 

Certifications

 

CE

FCC

 

Dimensions

 

48 x 155 x 180 mm (1.8 x 6.1 x 7.1 in.)

 

Weight

 

395 g (14 oz.)

 

Warranty

 

3 year limited

 

 

In order to update its wireless offerings to the latest speeds, TRENDnet saw fit to release a new router model, the TEW-818DRU. The box art has been re-designed compared to the previous products we have taken a look upon and the packaging is fully sealed on the outside:

 

 

 

On the frontal side of the box we will be able to see the router design, along with some of the product highlights which are represented by small icons:

 

 

 

On the side, the manufacturer has placed a small list of product features, along with the package contents:

 

 

 

The back side of the box is featuring a product comparison along with a description of the router components in more detail:

 

 

 

After removing the top packaging layer, we will be able to see the cardboard mold in which the router along with the rest of the bundle is held:

 

 

 

We will get a bunch of documentation, but also a disk, the power adapter and one black LAN cable:

 

 

 

Inside the multi-language Quick Start Guide, we will learn the initial steps in order to get everything going:

 

 

 

As we have seen with the Sitecom routers nowadays, the TRENDnet TEW-818DRU comes preloaded with a custom administrator password, but also with encrypted 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks; the small sticker is placed on the plastic protective film which covers both sides of the router:

 

 

 

Even if the router is fully made of plastic, the paint on both sides has a high quality finish which imitates brushed aluminum. In the center we can locate a larger chromed company logo:

 

 

 

On the top side of the unit we have a ventilation grill present:

 

 

 

The bottom is pretty similar, but in the middle we have a sticker with router details but also the Reset button:

 

 

 

Here we will also get to see four small rubber feet:

 

 

 

In the frontal side of the unit we have got the LCD arrangement for the USB interface, Wi-Fi, LAN interface, WAN but also Power:

 

 

 

Now, if we look at the back, we will be able to spot one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0, four LAN ports in black which are accompanied by one yellow WAN port, the On/Off switch but also the DC-IN port. Between the USB 2.0 port and the first LAN port we have also got one WPS button:

 

 

 

The power adapter which accompanies this router was produced by HON-KWANG and is rated 12V – 2A on the output:

 

 

 

After typing in the URL for accessing the web UI, we will end up to the login screen where we will have to enter the specified user/password we have mentioned earlier in the review:

 

 

 

The software interface has been heavily redesigned compared to the previously router we have reviewed from TRENDnet. The menu is now divided in two major sections, Basic and Advanced and on the right side we will get the Network Status area, which shows us the WAN connection status, Guest Networks, USB device status, Wireless Network status and encryption type, but also a list of connected devices:

 

 

 

The Wireless Settings menu contains options for both 2.4 and 5GHz networks like SSID name, wireless N mode, SSID broadcast, Frequency, Channel bandwidth, Encryption and so on:

 

 

 

We can enable and configure Guest networks on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz interfaces:

 

 

 

Parental Control section has its own dedicated menu:

 

 

 

We can define IP Filter Rules, but also MAC Filters:

 

 

 

Inside the Status menu, we will be able to see info regarding the current firmware build, system type, but also WAN configuration, LAN configuration, 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless settings:

 

 

 

 

System Management menu will let us modify the default “admin” password, the device name, URL, but also DDNS settings:

 

 

 

We can also set up Remote Management:

 

 

 

If we have a new firmware upgrade file available, we can use then the respective section from the interface. Here we will be also to load the Open-Source DD-WRT version too, but we highly advise to perform a router hard-reset afterwards:

 

 

 

From the Settings Management section, we will be able to export the current settings to a file, import them back, load the factory defaults or perform a system reboot:

 

 

 

We can configure the Time Settings from the next menu:

 

 

 

Firewall features can be scheduled daily:

 

 

 

If we have IPv6 enabled, we will be able to see the current configuration inside the next menu:

 

 

 

If we want to find out what happens “under the hood”, we can enable the System Log:

 

 

 

From the Advanced Network menu, we will be able to Enable/Disable UPnP or WAN Ping Respond:

 

 

 

LAN Settings menu allows us to specify an IP address for the router on the network, assign DHCP range, but also work with the DHCP reservations list:

 

 

 

WAN Settings menu can be populated depending on our ISP connection:

 

 

 

In the next menu we will be able to specify Static Route settings:

 

 

 

In case our ISP supports IPv6, we can enter up the details here:

 

 

 

QoS settings can be also specified from the next menu:

 

 

 

Same thing goes for VLANs:

 

 

 

If we need more SSIDs on the same frequencies, we can configure them from the next menu:

 

 

 

WDS can be also enabled with this router:

 

 

 

TRENDnet allows fine-tuning the Wi-Fi interface via the Advanced Wireless Settings menu, for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz:

 

 

 

WPS configuration can be enabled if needed:

 

 

 

For filtering packets, we have Access Control menu available:

 

 

 

DMZ can be specified for a single IP address inside the network:

 

 

 

Virtual Server and Port Trigger rules can be also defined from the next menu:

 

 

 

 

We can open multiple ports when gaming in order to avoid errors which could pop up:

 

 

 

From the Application Level Gateway Configuration menu, we will be able to enable or disable specific services:

 

 

 

Samba Server menu takes care of the USB storage interface; we can modify here the name of the server, workgroup, description, administrator credentials, but we can also add extra users with different permissions:

 

 

 

Same thing goes when enabling the FTP server options:

 

 

 

In order to remove the storage device safely, we can use the next menu:

 

 

 

Wired Station

 

CPU: Intel I5 3570K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional

RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)

Video: Sparkle X560 Calibre

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

For testing the router on wireless, we have used a Shuttle DS437 mini-PC to which we have connected the TRENDnet TEW-805UB USB 3.0 adapter. The throughput was measured by using PerformanceTest 8.0, by uploading data to the wired server.

For the wired client tests, both stations were linked to the router via UTP wire.

 

Wired Test

 

 

 

We have tested the router while switching to different channel widths, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies:

 

 

 

 

 

To test the USB Storage speeds, we have connected one Patriot Memory 32GB Supersonic Rage XT USB 3.0 Flash Drive to the router and performed file transfers both ways.

 

Copy

 

Read

 

 

2.4GHz

 

802.11 20MHz

 

 

802.11 40MHz

 

5Ghz

 

802.11 20MHz

 

 

802.11 40MHz

 

 

802.11 80MHz

 

The latest TEW-818DRU router from TRENDnet has proven to be quite stable and is offering good wireless speeds on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. This is another router we are seeing with USB 3.0, but the internal hardware is not capable of delivering speeds which could benefit for this type of bus. This is also actually the first model we are seeing for which the manufacturer is providing on its website an alternative open-source firmware. This time we are talking about DD-WRT, which sports a ton of settings and also offers much more diagnostic info compared to the stock software but also monitoring like CPU temperatures, load levels, buffer status and more.

 

While DD-WRT is easy to be flashed via the web GUI, after the first reboot we have experienced very slow speeds on both wireless interfaces, while the wired tests were unaffected. What solved it was a 30-30-30 reset but after some days of use we have seen that the router automatically resets itself randomly at times so we did not get a full day up-time yet. While on the stock firmware version stability was not an issue while using torrents, on DD-WRT the router restarts and the CPU reaches over 80 degrees Celsius, while in normal mode it hovers between 74.5 and 76.5 degrees Celsius. We think that this issue is only temporary and we are hoping to see a more improved DD-WRT version for this model…oh, and one more thing: USB 3.0 storage does not work on the open-source firmware so if you need this one badly, do not switch yet.

 

TEW-812DRU (1st version) we have first tested which sported the same external chassis and since then the coverage has been improved considerably.

 

While the routers have progressed considerably in terms of performance, we cannot say the same thing about the USB / internal Wi-Fi adapters. More of these will be available on the market in the coming months and we will be excited to check them out.

 

The TRENDnet TEW-818DRU wireless router can be found online for about 120 Euros.

 

TRENDnet AC1900 Dual Band Wireless Router (TEW-818DRU) is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to TRENDnet for making this review possible!