SmallNetBuilder

Routing Features - more

• Advanced > Firewall—includes some pretty advanced settings. Options include enable/disable SPI, configure NAT endpoint filtering, enable a DMZ, and ALG settings. The ALG pass-throughs include PPTP, IPSec, RTSP, Windows Messenger, NetMeeting, FTP, SIP, Wake-On-LAN, and MMS. An interesting option is "Non-UDP/TCP/ICMP LAN Sessions," which allows the NAT to track a session even if it doesn't recognize the protocol, allowing use of applications without configuring an ALG.


• Tools > Dynamic DNS—provides support for Dynamic DNS service. Note that you can only select from a list of 12 services, you can't enter an address yourself. The services are: changeip.com, DynDNS.org (Custom, Free, and Static), EasyDNS.org, EuroDynDNS.org, no-ip.com, ods.org, ovh.com, regfish.com, tzo.com, and zoneedit.com.


• Tools > Admin—sets administration options. No HTTPS access, but you can set the port, use inbound filters, and set the inactivity timeout.


• Status > Logs—sets options for logs and allows you to view the logs. Logs can be filtered over three What to View categories with three View Levels. If you enable traffic logging, however, you'll have to search through the main logs to find the traffic, because there is no separate traffic log.


• Advanced > StreamEngine—contains QoS configuration options for the Ubicom StreamEngine, successfully used by many other routers.


• Basic > Network Settings > WAN Port Mode button—switches the router between Router Mode and Bridge Mode. Bridge mode disables the DHCP server and requires setting a static IP address and entering a default gateway, which lets you use the 633GR as an access point.
• Basic > Network Settings > Enable RIP button—allows the router to communicate route information via RIP. Supported versions include V1, V2 Broadcast, and V2 Multicast (default).

Routing Performance

Testing performed by Tim Higgins

After running the TEW-633GR through the test suite, I created a table pitting it against the DIR-655. The results in Table 1 show a virtual dead heat between the two routers. Seeing that the routers use the same basic hardware, the slight differences in results might be due to the firmware implementation. Of course, to create your own comparison, just use the Router Charts.

Table 1: Router performance comparison

Figure 6, below, is a composite of the WAN to LAN, LAN to WAN, and simultaneous up/down throughput tests in IxChariot. You can see that the routing performance is pretty uniform. Its overall performance puts the TEW-633GR near the top of the charts.

Figure 6: Composite throughput test results