Tenda Wireless N ADSL 2+ Modem Router W300D Review

Many of the routers on the market are just that, routers. Today, we are looking at the Tenda W300D router which is not just a router, but a modem router. While lots of our readers will have modem routers, these will have been provided by your ISP to make initial setup very easy and their deals attractive. These 'free' modem routers rarely have the power and range of similar but standalone routers like the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti Dual Band router that we reviewed a while back, and as such it is often hard to find a good compromise, this may result in a separate modem and router. The Tenda Wireless N ADSL 2+ Modem Router claims to be the best of both worlds as it is a fairly high-powered modem router, which offers nearly all of the features of the more expensive wireless routers with the benefits of a built-in modem. Specifications Standards IEEE802.11b, IEEE802.11g, IEEE802.11n IEEE802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3x ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+ Annex A, Annex M Band 2.4Ghz Wireless Rate 300Mbps Interface & Speed WAN Interface: 1 RJ11 port /1 10/100Mbps auto-negotiation RJ45 port (Auto MDI/MDIX） LAN Interface: 4 10/100Mbps auto-negotiation RJ45 ports (Auto MDI/MDIX） /3 10/100Mbps auto-negotiation RJ45 ports (Auto MDI/MDIX） Button Reset LED POWER/ADSL/WLAN/LAN/SYS/WPS Antenna 2*5dBi Non-detachable omni-directional antennas Power 100-240V 9V Dimensions (LxWxH,mm) 171.95*110.12*31 The Tenda W300D comes in an interestingly coloured box which emphasizes the impressively long antenna reaching to the top of the box. While the front of the box didn't have much information about the product, the rear has a very easy and simple to read table showing the improvements from the W150D. There is also a diagram of all the applications that this router could be used for. Opening the box up we find a protective inner box holding everything from the router to the CD and user guide. The bundle for this router includes; the power supply, a network cable, two ADSL cables, a phone/internet splitter, a CD and a quick-start guide. There are also two antennas. Taking a look at the router, its a lovely bright white, and has been kept very simple in its design. The back of the router is slightly higher than the front, allowing space for the 4 Ethernet ports as well as the modem port and a power socket. The first page that loaded when accessing the router via the IP address was not quite what we expected. This page gave us some very basic network set-up options. Luckily, we spotted the Advanced Settings page. Once on the advanced settings page, we came across the status and device info page. On the left, we have a menu which includes; advanced setup, wireless, diagnostics, management, exit and back to wizard. The router offers plenty of details about the device and its connections, very useful for finding any problems or for checking that it all works. Moving to the advanced setup part of the menu, we can see this further expands the menu quite significantly and includes everything you'd expect. The wireless settings are separate to the advanced settings and while unusual this at least keeps it clear. On the management pages you can perform several key router operations including the most useful, reboot. Certainly, the user interface has options for everything you'd expect from this kind of router and does so in a simple and to the point manner. It doesn't however, describe or explain what most of the options are for and as such this product is orientated more to the advanced user. While it is very hard to quantify the performance of a router, we did test all of the possible features and analysed the overall interface to report any glaring issues. We did compare to several other routers we have at hand, such as the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti (WZR-HP-AG300H) model, a Belkin N+ Wireless Modem router and our 'free' Virgin Media modem router. Firstly, in terms of bandwidth performance we were initially impressed as the Tenda W300D consistently beat our Virgin Media router. The Tenda W300D didn't fare quite as well against the Buffalo or Belkin as they offered a full 300 Mbps all the time, while the Tenda W300D would occasionally drop down to ~260 Mbps. The performance from the other side of a house was not quite as conclusive, with the Belkin, Tenda and Virgin routers all delivering similar results - reading 'Fair' on signal strength, while the Buffalo only dropped to 'Good' when we ventured into the garden. At this distance, the Buffalo was providing 200 Mbps of bandwidth, compared to the Tenda W300D which was running at a more measly 120 Mbps. For comparison, the Virgin router was struggling to maintain 65 Mbps and the Belkin router maintained a fairly impressive 150 Mbps. Unfortunately, this Tenda router doesn't have Gigabit Ethernet, and that is a real shame as otherwise this could be the perfect, low cost solution for many users. The performance is sadly unremarkable but it did fare quite well when compared against the 'free' Virgin router. The interface is clean and simple to use with plenty of options available. Our only criticism was it lacked descriptions and explanations as to what each option actually changed. Inexperienced users would find the interface bewildering. The retail price of this modem router is a very competitive £27.35. That said, unless you are severely restricted by budget, I would aim slightly higher to get improved wireless speeds and Gigabit LAN ports. Pros Very cheap. Fairly reliable bandwidth speeds. Looks good. Has most key features. Cons No Gigabit Ethernet. Lacks descriptions and clarity on setup pages. Wireless performance could be better. Kitguru says: There are better options available online, but this is a cheap alternative if you are on a very strict budget.