TRENDnet TEW-633GR: 802.11n Draft 2.0 to the Rescue

Test Setup

Even though there are industry standard benchmarks such as IXIA IxChariot available for use, we decided to try something different for the consumer market equipment. Our primary testing will be comprised of a simple two-way data transfer, once from a wireless N enabled host machine to a D-Link DNS-323 network storage enclosure connected to one of the TEW-633GR's Gigabit LAN ports, and then a second transfer (again initiated by the host) but this time from the network drive to the host system in order to complete the circle. The host machine consists of an Intel Dothan-based notebook with Windows XP Pro SP2 and TRENDnet's matching TEW-621PC Wireless N PC Card installed in order to provide Draft-N wireless functionality.

Since these products are typically designed and marketed for the home or small office environment, our tests are run with appliances, cordless phones, and other devices in the 2.4GHz spectrum operating as they would in any real-world environment. While this test scenario is not perfect, nor void of any and all RF interference, it does place the product in a real-world setting where obstructions, interference, and other items can and will affect the capability of the product. You will experience better results in spacious open-wall office settings or large open-air buildings with a direct line of sight to the router which may be somewhat representative of some small business environments. However, home users are virtually guaranteed to be in a much less ideal environment.

During the course of testing the TEW-633GR router, with attached NAS drive, remains in the same test room while our host notebook location is varied in order to establish the appropriate testing distance from the router location. Benchmarking was performed by recording the time required to transfer a 100MB file from a distance of 10 feet, 25 feet, and 50 feet. Our ten foot distance path was performed with a clear line of sight between our two test points. The 25 foot distance transfer path requires the signal to span two inner walls. The longer 50 foot path, initiated from a second floor office, involves up to four walls and a floor (depending on the exact signal propagation path). We will expand our test conditions and file transfer sizes in the next article, but for now we are focused on the home setting with an average data transfer result.

Transfers were conducted unsecured and again with the use of WPA2-PSK/AES encryption to determine if encrypting the bit stream had any appreciable effect on transfer rate. All resultant rates are reported as an average of a minimum of five timed transfers in order to account for inconsistent, non-representative data points collected during the course of testing. Finally, the TEW-633GR was tested in a pure 802.11n mode and mixed 802.11g/n mode to measure the effect, if any, of supporting slower wireless G connections to the router.

Of note, we had to install this HotFix in order to properly utilize the WPA2-PSK security protocol under Windows XP SP2.