TP-Link TD-W8951ND review
Fiddly to configure and disappointing speeds at long distances, but at this price it's hard to be critical.
We were impressed by the range of features, which include advanced routing options, QoS and UPnP support. Wi-Fi speeds via our Centrino 2 laptop were excellent except at very long range. However, using TP-Link’s own USB dongle (TL-WN821N, £10) caused speeds to drop dramatically. Channel-bonding is enabled by default, which may produce higher speeds but will interfere with surrounding Wi-Fi signals. TP-Link’s “Auto” Wi-Fi channel selection is either broken or mislabelled, as it always chose Channel 1, which wasn’t always the fastest available.
Advanced users who know what they’re looking for may be able to navigate TP-Link’s unintuitive interface, but this isn’t the best choice for novice users. Long-range performance was poor, but fast speeds at shorter distances, a low price and a wide range of options make it worth considering. Even so, we’d pay a little more for the TP-Link TD-W8961ND.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | **** |
| Modem type | ADSL2+ |
| 802.11b support | yes |
| 802.11g support | yes |
| Draft 802.11n support | yes |
| Draft 802.11n 5GHz support | no |
| MIMO | no |
| Stated speed | 150Mbit/s |
Security | |
| 128-bit WEP | yes |
| WPA2 | yes |
| Firewall | yes |
| MAC address filtering | yes |
| DMZ | yes |
Physical | |
| Size | 29x174x120mm |
| Antennas | 1 |
| Internal/external antennas | external |
| Upgradeable antenna | yes |
| Number of WAN ports | 1 |
| Ethernet ports | 4 |
| Ethernet connection speed | 10/100Mbit/s |
| Other ports | none |
| Wall mountable | yes |
| Power consumption on | 6W |
Other Features | |
| Dynamic DNS | yes |
| Universal Plug and Play support | yes |
| DHCP server | yes |
| MAC spoofing | yes |
| Port forwarding | yes |
| WDS Support | yes |
| USB device support | no |
| QoS | yes |
Buying Information | |
| Price | £26 |
| Warranty | three years RTB |
| Supplier | http://www.redstore.com |
| Details | www.tplink.com |