Edimax nMax Wireless 802.11n Gigabit Router

Testing the BR-6574n

Here is our test system setup:

Testing of data transfer rates
I will be transferring a 701MB AVI file from the host to the client PC, testing the router for data transfer rates. The transfer will be run at 802.11n mode and via gigabit ethernet. At the time of writing this review, I did not have another router to be able to draw comparisons with, but the test results will be a good indicator of performance. As the only wireless 802.11n adaptor I had to hand was the Edimax nLite USB adaptor, the maximum data rate would be limited by the wireless adaptor to 150Mbps. Full speed 802.11n offers a maximum of 300Mbps, and the router is capable of this. 

Testing of Wireless Signal Strength
As in the previous test, I can only test the router’s wireless signal strength at 802.11g and half speed 802.11n modes. The results will still indicate the improvement of 802.11n in terms of signal strength though. I set fixed locations at set distances from the router and recorded the strength in dBm. It should be mentioned that the results shown here are not conclusive, as environmental factors can affect results. I tested in a victorian, 2 story house, with solid brick partitioning walls, and it does put any wireless network through it’s paces. 

The router clearly offers an increase in working range when in 802.11n mode, and I did not experience any network drop outs in either 11n or 11g mode anywhere within my property, something I have experienced with other routers and wireless adaptors. The data transfer rates were entirely acceptable, and the wireless connection would have shown an increased speed if I had been able to use a full speed 802.11n adaptor.

On the next page, I will give my final thoughts and scores.