INTRODUCTION

   After testing the DIR-880L Wireless AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router by D-Link roughly a week ago some of you asked us if you should prefer external antennas over internal ones when purchasing a router or a modem/router so that you can have the best possible wireless performance. Unfortunately we don't have a valid answer for that since to date we've recorded very good numbers with models using both types (although models with external antennas seem to be doing just a tad better). My recommendation is to check our charts (or charts from other media for that matter) to see for yourselves which models do better in that area and decide based on that and not on the type of antennas used. With that out of the way today we'll be testing yet another model with internal antennas, the TEW-824DRU AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Router with StreamBoost Technology by TRENDnet.

   Founded in Torrance, California, TRENDnet has grown to become a leading global networking hardware brand. From the network core to the periphery, TRENDnet's expansive product portfolio includes Wireless, Wired, Surveillance, Connectivity, and Peripheral device categories. An emphasis on continual improvement and our ISO 9001:2008 quality management certification (click here to view certificate) is an essential component of TRENDnet’s success. The TRENDnet brand is consistently recognized for exceptional quality, superior performance, and responsive support. TRENDnet's vision is to build innovative, easy to use, and reliable Networks People Trust™. TRENDnet solutions network the countless devices which enable your connected lifestyle and workplace. Building award winning networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet connects you with what you value most.

   Unlike the previously reviewed TEW-818DRU AC1900 modem-router again by TRENDnet which used a Broadcom processor the brand new TEW-824DRU AC1750 model actually features one by Qualcomm Atheros and more specifically the QCA9558 dual-band, 3-stream 802.11n system-on-chip (SoC) clocked at 720MHz. The TEW-824DRU also features the QCA9880 3-stream 802.11ac radio solution, and the AR8327 Gigabit Ethernet switch again by Qualcomm Atheros along with 256MB of DDR3 RAM and 16MB of flash memory. As with pretty much every AC compatible router the TEW-824DRU makes use of 2 different bands to reach the advertised speed of 1750Mbps (2.4GHz/5GHz) and to do that it makes use of three 2dBi for the 2.4GHz band (N-450Mbps) and three 3dBi for the 5GHz band (AC-1300Mbps) antennas all placed inside the housing. So the time has come for us to see just how good this new router by TRENDnet based on the Qualcomm Atheros platform really is.