With a rather garish design and a vertical orientation, the WZRG300N is the cheapest router on test, but it’s a good performer and not lacking in useful features.

The home page of the web interface is designed a little differently from the other routers, with less information available by default, although this makes it less daunting for the inexperienced user. The Lan and Wan settings are on separate pages.

There are three main sections to the interface, labelled Internet, Wireless and Other.

The first option in Internet is port translation (forwarding), used for setting up game servers and applications such as FTP and email servers – you’ll need to know what you’re doing with this as there are no presets as in most of the other routers.

The second option is the firewall, which is, rather worryingly, turned off by default. This is a shame as while it might make initial setup less troublesome for users running a software firewall, leaving it off isn’t a good idea if you want the best security.

When turned on the SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall can log attempted intrusion events or notify a PC at a particular IP address.

Further logged events can be activated in the advanced setup pages including the DHCP server, AOSS (Airstation One-Touch Secure System) connections and changes to the router settings

Setting up devices is easier than average with the Buffalo thanks to the AOSS button. Once pressed there are two minutes to activate any AOSS-compatible device you want to connect to the wireless network.

Although convenient, it’s for establishing secure links and doesn’t configure the firewall or other security settings.

If you can live with the unusual design, the Buffalo is easy on the pocket, yet has all the features you’ll need and gives decent performance as well.

This article is part of a group test of draft-N routers.
See also:
Belkin N1
D-link DIR-635
Linksys WRT300N-UK
Netgear Rangemax Next
Trendnet TEW-631BRP
Graphs and table of features can be read via our pdf downloads above.

You can also read an introduction to this group test and discover the Editor's Choice of product.