ASUS EA-N66U vs TrendNet TEW-680MB for 450MBps bridge?

[shrike4242]

I'm going to be moving my RT-N66U from where it's currently located on the ground floor of my house down into my basement. In my basement is my entertainment center with a number of devices needing network connectivity:

* HTPC
* Xbox 360
* PS3
* Wii
* Tivo

All of those devices are connected to a 16-port Gigabit switch and they're connected to my internal network on a MoCA adapter. I previously had a wireless 802.11G bridge connecting it into my network, though when I went to my RT-N56U and currently the N66U, I switched over to the MoCA adapter. I tried PoE adapters and they didn't work very well before using the MoCA adapter.

So, as running an Ethernet cable along the ceiling and drop it down behind the switch isn't an easy option once everything is on the basement floor, I've been looking at the EA-N66U to bridge the entertainment center items into the network. From what I've read in the review here, it seems like it might work for my needs, though the user reviews for it on here, plus some of the threads here on it, it sounds like it's not quite as good as the SNB review makes it out to be. The firmware seems to have come a good way in the last few revisions, though unless you use it as a

I know in the SNB review they mention that it's pretty close to the TrendNet TEW-680MB in chipset and function, plus the SNB review on the TEW-680MB seems to be better as do the user review comments.

Anyone able to provide some feedback on the EA-N66U + RT-N66U pair or the TEW-680MB + RT-N66U pair?

 

[SoCalReviews]

You have probably read my positive comments about the RT-N66U + TEW-680MB combo in this forum. In fact I have this combo set up at two different locations and both are working great. You have the option of with this combo of using either the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz frequency for a theoretical wireless N maximum throughput of 450Mbps. I saw very good throughput with both frequencies (in 5Ghz 40Mhz dual channel mode up to 415Mbps Tx and Rx in the same room and between 120Mpbs and 250Mbps one or more rooms away). If you have a crowded 2.4Ghz band in your location and you don't need to broadcast indoors too much father than about 60 ft. (or more than 20 meters) the 5Ghz range in 40Mhz bandwidth mode should be more than adequate for a 100Mbps down internet connection for HD streaming and very sufficient for LAN to LAN media streaming and copying. I can't say whether the EA-N66U would be as good or better but I have read that they both use basically the same RaLink wireless N radio chip. The TEW-680MB does have an advantage in that it has four Gigabit LAN ports for all your media devices to plug into. If you already are using a 16 port Gigabit switch then this feature may not be as important to you but the Gigabit ports are still to have. The only other router + bridge/router combo I would bet is probably better would be using another RT-N66U as an AP or media bridge.

 

[shrike4242]

You have probably read my positive comments about the RT-N66U + TEW-680MB combo in this forum. In fact I have this combo set up at two different locations and both are working great. You have the option of with this combo of using either the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz frequency for a theoretical wireless N maximum throughput of 450Mbps. I saw very good throughput with both frequencies (in 5Ghz 40Mhz dual channel mode up to 415Mbps Tx and Rx in the same room and between 120Mpbs and 250Mbps one or more rooms away). If you have a crowded 2.4Ghz band in your location and you don't need to broadcast indoors too much father than about 60 ft. (or more than 20 meters) the 5Ghz range in 40Mhz bandwidth mode should be more than adequate for a 100Mbps down internet connection for HD streaming and very sufficient for LAN to LAN media streaming and copying. I can't say whether the EA-N66U would be as good or better but I have read that they both use basically the same RaLink wireless N radio chip. The TEW-680MB does have an advantage in that it has four Gigabit LAN ports for all your media devices to plug into. If you already are using a 16 port Gigabit switch then this feature may not be as important to you but the Gigabit ports are still to have. The only other router + bridge/router combo I would bet is probably better would be using another RT-N66U as an AP or media bridge.

I know from the SNB review of the EA-N66U, it looks pretty good though from what I've read in the forums, it looks like people have had issues with it as well as the user reviews on the SNB review page.

I know since I want to use this wireless bridge as a bridge, client mode would be fine with me, though the EA-N66U seems to be finicky running in this mode as well as being the least configurable. There's multiple people in the forums complaining about slow throughput when using the EA-N66U, though less so for the TEW-680.

The entertainment devices will be about 20-30 linear feet from the RT-N66U, through a couple of walls. I was going to use the 5GHz 40Mhz config for best speed, as the only 2.4Ghz devices I have using that band are ones that can't use 5GHz (cell phone, Sony Dash, printer). From what you're telling me, it looks like the TEW-680 would also work for me. The 4 Ethernet ports aren't an issue with the 16 port switch I have on the entertainment stand, though it would be a nice boon if I used another one elsewhere in the house.

The reviews of the 680 seem better than the EA-N66U from what I've found on the Internet. The review of the EA-N66U on here seems to show similar performance between it and the 680, so that's a good thing since they use the same chipset. I know that the common complaint is a perceived slower upstream speed than downstream.

The only thing I'm curious about is that the 680 hasn't had any firmware updates and the EA-N66U has had more than a couple. I guess TrendNet just got it right out of the box?

 

[SoCalReviews]

The reviews of the 680 seem better than the EA-N66U from what I've found on the Internet. The review of the EA-N66U on here seems to show similar performance between it and the 680, so that's a good thing since they use the same chipset. I know that the common complaint is a perceived slower upstream speed than downstream.

The only thing I'm curious about is that the 680 hasn't had any firmware updates and the EA-N66U has had more than a couple. I guess TrendNet just got it right out of the box?

The upstream from the TEW-680MB is a notch lower in throughput than the downstream coming from the RT-N66U but I found it to be noticeable only if the two devices are near the maximum edge of their connection range. This is probably due to the RT-N66U having large external antennas and a stronger Tx power signal. When the two devices are closer using 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz there is less noticeable difference in Tx and Rx. I would say though that the TEW-680MB has better range than most wireless g or n devices so it's not really a situation where the TEW-680MB has bad Tx or upstream to the router. It's just a case where the RT-N66U router has a stronger downstream Tx signal to the wireless bridge.

I also noticed that the firmware goes back to late 2011 and wondered the same thing myself as to why it hasn't been updated since that time. I did some searches for information and I believe there was one revision of the firmware after the initial release that successfully corrected a bug. While it is simplistic the current firmware seems to run perfectly. Most TEW-680MB owners don't have any problems with it and that is why it hasn't needed any other updates to its current firmware. One other thing to consider is that I read it uses common open source Linux code that has been used on many previous RaLink chipset based wireless bridges, APs, routers, etc. which means that the firmware is already based on matured code.