FYI, uplink port is only 100M, not gigabit.

Yeah, this is pretty lame. At least it's cheap.

Unless most your LAN is wireless N, that uplink port is lame. So wireless I get 300mbps, but I can't get fast then 100mbps on my gigabit hard wired LAN....

I'll pass.

Folks,

First, unless you've got some miracle wireless N network you're never going to 300mbps. Realistically I see speeds more like 50-60mbps when I transfer and I DO have gigabit ethernet to my wireless router (a DLINK DIR-655). 300mbps is a marketing statistic. With real life wireless LANs you never even get close to that.

Second, I've used this access point and I thought it wasn't such a bad deal at this price for those who just want to add wireless and have a open port in their existing router setup. It's not fancy, but it got the job done for me until I decided to get the DIR-655.

Third, what *I* would like to know is what the heck is the diff between the TEW-637AP and the TEW-638APB. They both are access points so they both bridge between wireless and ethernet. They also both support WDS. Yet newegg wants ~$23 more for the TEW-638APB. What's up with that?

-irrational john

Apologies. Answered my own question.

Apparently the 638APB can function either as an access point ... in which case I assume it IS the same as the 637AP ... and also as a wireless client. In this mode you can plug in an ethernet cable from a device like a game console make it "wireless".

Strikes me as a bit pricey for an extra "one trick pony" feature, but to each their own.

-irrational john

John is right on the money. 100Mb wired > 300Mb wireless. Copy a large file over a 100Mb wired network and it will get done noticeably quicker than going over a 300Mb wireless network. The 100Mb uplink port on this "access point" will not be the bottleneck in data transfers.

Just remember if you pay a cheap price for something (like a trendnet product) you will get junk.

the box is actually good and provides good range; had it for almost a year. if you use it with a 2.4ghz g device you better keep them far apart or else their respective radio receivers will get saturated and you'll get crap performance; better yet only use one radio in your dwelling unless one is 5ghz and other 2.4ghz.

Reply to #4

Wouldn't it be good for networking? for example, I can play my music, video, etc on my XBOX, from my PC- faster, better.

Although, I think G network is fine, I'm more curious to know of people who have N network? Is it really worth it?

#7

Trendnet makes great routers. Far better than D-Link or any recent Linksys model, that's for sure. My TrendNet Wireless-N 631BRP is probably the best router I've ever owned out of the box. I was perfectly satisfied with all the built in options/features that were included. On many others I have to install custom firmwares (DDWRT) to get half the stuff that I need.

#4 The 638-APB not only works as a AP (like the 637-AP), and as a client as you mention, but also as a wireless bridge (thus the B) when using two 638-APB's, or it supports WDS with other AP's that support that capability to do bridging. Very few people need to bridge two wired networks, but it can come in handy for some scenarios.

Top speed of 802.11g wifi is about 27Mbps (over short range, no interference) with around 8-16Mbps more typical. That's plenty of speed if you are using it for accessing the internet using just about any connection short of fiber (FIOS).

Top speed of 802.11n is about 120Mbps (ideal conditions, no interference, no .11g within range as that causes .11n to slow down) with 40-60Mbps more typical. That's overkill for residential internet access. But it can help for high volume LAN traffic, like moving large files around (backups).

Also, .11n has better range than .11g.

.11n probably won't make video or music play faster on your xbox, because then it would sound like chipmunks singing.