Review: Trendnet 621 PC Card

Boost your notebook's wireless range and speed

The Trendnet 621 PC Card is a rather ordinary looking wireless PC card that supports the draft-N spec. Although the final 802.11n standard isn't set to be ratified until later this year - this draft-N card should be compatible, but there's no guarantee.

The 300Mbits/sec speed figure plastered over the box should be taken with a pinch of salt. When we tested it in a relatively noise free home environment, and at close proximity to a draft-N router, we achieved average TCP transfer speeds of 28.5Mbits/sec. In comparison our one-year-old, tried and tested 802.11g laptop card managed 21.1Mbits/sec.

At these speeds the 621 PC Card could do HD streaming, however, as soon as several walls were put in the way speeds plummeted. When the router and card we separated by two floors in a house with thick walls, our 802.11g card repeatedly lost its connection.

The Trendnet card maintained a reliable connection throughout and, although speeds dropped as low as 3Mbits/sec during file transfers, it remained usable for surfing and downloading.

Finally, the range was slightly better than the 802.11g card when used with an 802.11g router too, suggesting it is generally a well-designed card.

It's not a perfect design though. It sticks out a couple of inches beyond your laptop, exposing it to damage. There are also two yellow LEDs on the top of it continually flash which can be distracting if you're watching a film or trying to work.

To get the card working you must use the bundled Trendnet software, which disables the inbuilt Windows wireless connection software.

The Trendnet software doesn't automatically remember the security keys of the different routers you might have connected to during your travels. Instead you must create a profile and manually enter the service set identifier (SSID – the name of the router) and security key, something we haven't had to do in years.

The performance of this card is among the best we've seen in a laptop, but you can buy 802.11g cards for £15, which makes the price premium Trendnet is charging over the top. If, however, you've already got a draft-N wireless router then it's definitely worth considering.
The Trendnet 621 PC Card can be bought online from Scan.

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