Trendnet TEW-827DRU

amazon Trendnet TEW-827DRU reviews

Designed for homes with multiple WiFi users, the TEW-827DRU Trendnet AC2600 StreamBoost MU-MIMO WiFi Router is a full-featured mid-range router that delivers blazing fast speeds in transfer speed tests our download. It supports all the latest 802.11ac technologies, including Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) streaming technology, beamforming, and Qualcomm’s StreamBoost bandwidth management technology. Its interface can be complicated to use, but it still offers a wide range of management settings.

Design and features

At 1.8 x 9.8 x 7.1 inches (HWD), the TEW-827DRU is slightly smaller than the Linksys EA7500 (2.2 x 10.1 x 7.2 inches). It has four adjustable and detachable extra-long external antennas. There are a series of small blue LEDs on the front edge for Power, 2.4GHz and 5GHz band operation, Internet connectivity, port activity wired, and USB connection. The back panel houses four Gigabit Ethernet ports, one WAN port, two USB 3.0 ports, and Power, WiFi, and WPS buttons.

TEW-827DRU is an 802.11ac Router powered by a dual-core 1.4 GHz processor. It can reach theoretical speeds of 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band. It supports MU-MIMO streaming, sending data to multiple MU-MIMO users simultaneously instead of sequentially, and burst format, sending signals directly to users wirelessly instead of the overbroad spectrum. It also supports Qualcomm’s StreamBoost technology, a bandwidth management feature that intelligently allocates bandwidth to each user based on their running application.

The Trendnet management console is relatively easy to navigate, but it could use a few tweaks. For example, when you make a setting change, you are asked to tap Save, and after a few seconds, the status bar turns to 100 percent, indicating that the change has been saved. However, you must also click the Apply Changes button at the top of the toolbar; otherwise, any changes you have made will not take effect. When you press the Apply Changes button, you have to wait about a minute and a half for the Router to save the changes and reboot before you can log in again.

Trendnet AC2600 StreamBoost MU-MIMO WiFi Router (TEW-827DRU)

A panel opens to a home page with toolbars for Basic and Advanced settings on the left and a Network Status panel on the right. Here you can quickly view the status of your Internet, Wireless, Guest Network, and USB ports. Basic Wireless settings allow you to turn each band on and off, select the wireless mode, change the SSID, and select the channel width and frequency. Other basic settings include Guest Network, Parental Controls, and Qualcomm’s StreamBoost.

The Advanced Settings section is full of wireless, security, firewall, and other management settings. The Administration menu allows you to check the status of the Router, view the Syslog, change the password, and run diagnostics, and the Setup menu provides LAN, WAN, Routing, and VPN settings. It also has a calendar generator to restrict Internet access and enable parental controls and guest networks. Advanced wireless settings let you adjust things like Signaling Time, Fragmentation Threshold, and TX Source (transmission), and Firewall settings let you open the ports needed to play some of the most online games. Configure and enable Denial of Service (DoS) protection. The USB menu offers FTP and iTunes file sharing and DLNA media servers. It also has a built-in bit torrent client to download torrents to the attached hard drive.

Settings and performance

Installing the TEW-827DRU is quick and easy. After I connected the Router to the cable modem and to the PC (using the included Ethernet cable), the Web-based Setup Wizard automatically launched, confirming the Internet connection and making any changes. What is required for wireless security?

When it comes to performance, the TEW-827DRU goes beyond the norm. Its 108Mbps score on our near 2.4GHz (same room) transfer rate test led all products, beating the Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU-MIMO Dual-Band Wireless Gigabit Router ( NBG6817) (97.2Mbps), Linksys E8400 AC2400 Dual Band Wireless Router (82.2Mbps), and Linksys EA7500 (97.3Mbps). At a distance of 1 meter, the TEW-827DRU’s 75.3Mbps transfer rate once again leads the pack, outperforming the Zyxel Armor Z2 (69.9Mbps), Linksys E8400 (71Mbps), and Linksys EA7500 (52. 1Mbps).

The results in our 5GHz transfer rate tests are equally impressive. The TEW-827DRU hit 590Mbps in the proximity test, compared to the Zyxel Armor Z2’s 558Mbps, the Linksys E8400’s 549Mbps, and the Linksys EA7500’s 495Mbps. At a distance of 1 meter, the TEW-827DRU has a processing speed of 260Mbps, beating the Zyzel Armor Z2 (251Mbps) and Linksys E8400 (171Mbps), but not the Linksys EA7500 (298Mbps).

Trendnet AC2600 StreamBoost MU-MIMO WiFi Router (TEW-827DRU)

We used three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm’s QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuit to test MU-MIMO transfer speeds. The TEW-827DRU’s 238.3Mbps score on the proximity test is second only to the D-Link AC5300 Ultra WiFi Router (DIR-895L/R). The Zyxel Armor Z2 has a speed of 150Mbps, and the Linksys EA7500 has a transfer rate of 176Mbps. In the 30-foot MU-MIMO test, the TEW-827DRU hit 127.6Mbps compared to the D-Link DIR-895L/R’s 134.5Mbps, but it beat the Zyxel Armor Z2 (72Mbps) and Linksys EA7500 (81.2Mbps) easily. The Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router (also a high-end and very expensive model) holds the record with a score of 162.3Mbps.

The file transfer performance of the TEW-827DRU is another story. We test the file transfer speed (read and write) by moving a 1.5GB folder containing a mix of music, videos, photos, and office document files between the USB hard drive connected to the Router and the PC connected with one of the Router’s Ethernet ports. The TEW-827DRU’s read speed of 53.7MBps is similar to the Zyxel Armor Z2’s score (51.2MBps) but slower than the Linksys E8400 (74.5MBps) and the D-Link DIR-895L/R (78, 3MBps). Its 30.3MBps write speed falls behind the Zyxel Armor Z2 (35.1MBps), Linksys E8400 (38.2MBps), and D-Link DIR-895L/R (39.5MBps).

Conclude

With the Trendnet TEW-827DRU AC2600 StreamBoost MU-MIMO WiFi Router, you get all the latest 802.11ac technologies, including StreamBoost, MU-MIMO data transfer, and beamforming, as well as outstanding performance across the board. It delivers one of the fastest 2.4GHz scores we’ve seen, and its 5GHz and MU-MIMO transfer speeds are on par with the more expensive high-end routers we’ve seen tested recently. However, its file transfer writes speed is not particularly fast. My biggest concern with this Router concerns its user interface; while easy to navigate, it takes a long time to save changes and requires a full reboot, and you must remember to save, then apply any changes before they take effect.

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