14 DAY TRIAL // Beside all of those high-end multimedia devices that made their way to CES 2011, we've also come across plenty of networking gear, including here a new wireless router from TP-LINK, the TL-WR2843ND, that's touted as being as the world's fastest of this type.
The 450Mbps Simultaneous Dual Band Wireless Gigabit Router (TL-WR2843ND), as this thing is officially called, sports three spatial streams using MIMO technology that can reach a maximum throughput of up to 450Mbps (of course, whether such a speed is actually achieved in real-life is a whole different thing).
Another interesting selling point of the new router from TP-LINK is the fact that it offers simultaneous dual-band capabilities (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), meaning that the chances of dropping signals due to network “overcrowding” are significantly lower.
Furthermore, the router packs an USB Share Port to attach an external hard drive or other USB storage device for sharing and backing up files, as well as 4 x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN Ports and one 10/100/1000Mbps WAN Port.
Plus, the TL-WR2843ND has a Wi-Fi Protected Setup Button, which makes adding a new device to the network a very simple process, users having to simply press a button and the wireless device will automatically receive the network security information and securely configure itself.
The device also includes several modulation technologies, including DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK, OFDM, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, plus a few wireless security options, including WEP, WPA, WPA2 encryptions, MAC Filtering, etc.
The router also offers users a few advanced firewall features, such as Network Address Translation (NAT), VPN Pass-through (PPTP / L2TP / IPSec) / SPI Firewall, Access Control, etc.. while having a fairly compact form factor, since it measures 1.4 x 0.7 x 0.3in.(36.8 x 17 x 8.4mm).
Pricing for the new router from TP-Link has been set at around 85 pounds sterling (135 US dollars), while availability is estimated for May 2011.