Today we once again welcome our friends TENDA, a great company that was founded in 1999, the Chinese company Tenda Technology may not have the same brand recognition in India that companies like Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Netgear and D-link enjoy, but it has been working hard to change that. The company has been active in the Latin American, European and curiously Indian market for a few years and some of its budget routers are in the list of the best sellers in the online market.
Tenda recently introduced its Nova range of mesh Wi-Fi routers in Colombia. Mesh Wi-Fi router systems are becoming increasingly popular as the number of devices in the average home increases, underscoring the need to have good wireless coverage everywhere. The days of only one "main" PC being connected to the Internet are gone, and the focus is now on ensuring uninterrupted Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home.
This is where mesh Wi-Fi router systems come into play, consisting of two or more nodes working together. They are ideal for covering large areas with a Wi-Fi signal. As is often the case with new technological solutions, mesh routers started out as expensive products like Netgear Orbi, although in recent months we have seen the launch of more affordable systems such as the which we review in our Unboxing .
Today, we have the Tenda Nova MW3 for review, a mesh Wi-Fi router system that starts in its pairs-per-package version with two nodes. So, is this the affordable mesh Wi-Fi system you've been waiting for? Let's find out.
Tenda Nova MW3 design and specifications
The Tenda Nova MW3 Wi-Fi system consists of two (or three, depending on the package you buy) small cubes that form the backbone of your Wi-Fi network. There's not much in the retail package apart from the nodes, their respective power adapters, a quick installation guide, and an Ethernet cable.
The nodes themselves are quite small (90mm x 90mm x 90mm) and can be easily hidden. They're extremely light and feel quite empty and hollow, and the overall build quality doesn't inspire much confidence. That said, routers are devices that should be put in one place and forgotten, so this isn't really a problem, but rather something we found strange. White is the only color option available.
All nodes are identical, meaning there is no concept of master and extender nodes, as we've seen in other mesh Wi-Fi systems we've tested. Each node has a LAN port and a LAN/WAN port, and you connect your modem to the LAN/WAN port on either node to share the Internet connection over the network.
Interestingly, both Ethernet ports max out at 100Mbps, making the Nova MW3 not work if you have an internet connection that's faster than 100Mbps. It's true that most broadband connections in the country don't come close to that speed, but on the other hand, ISPs across the country are now offering faster plans, meaning this router system isn't exactly up to par. future proof. If you have a desktop PC or NAS and rely on Ethernet for fast file transfers within the network, this router system is also not for you.
Fortunately, wireless connectivity is faster (at least on paper), with claimed maximum speeds of up to 867Mbps using the 5GHz band and 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz frequencies, with dual-band support.
Tenda Nova MW3 Configuration, Features and Performance
Setting up the Tenda Nova MW3 is fairly simple , although you will need a smartphone. That's right, to start using the router, and even manage it when necessary, you will need to download and use the Tenda WiFi app to iOS either Android , since there is no web-based interface. This doesn't bother us much, but it is something worth pointing out with certainty.
The router automatically detected our Internet connection type (as we would expect from any modern router) and guided us through setting up the additional nodes. The next step was to place the additional nodes in our home, with each node having an advertised coverage area of approximately 1000 square feet.
We initially placed all three units in our 1,750 sq ft duplex apartment, but then we also tested with just one unit on each floor (i.e. two total) and there was no decrease in range or performance, which suggested that They were up to the task . to his claim, at least as far as rank is concerned.
The Tenda Nova MW3 mesh Wi-Fi system has most of the features you'd expect in a home router, including guest networking support, port forwarding, UPnP, QoS to prioritize certain types of Internet traffic, and more. You log into the app to receive a network overview, showing you the status of each node and the overall upload/download internet bandwidth that is currently being used, as well as the number of connected devices.
The app allows you to give each node a name (such as living room, bedroom, etc.) to help you identify them, and you can turn the status LED on or off on each node if they bother you, although they weren't bright enough to be annoying in our experience.
With the app, you can see the name of each device that is currently connected to the network, how long it has been online, and other details such as its IP and MAC addresses. You can group your devices into "groups" and define periods when these devices can and cannot access the Internet, or block Internet access for an entire group with just one tap. Tenda says this feature can be used to control internet access for your children's devices, for example.
You don't need to create a Tenda account to manage the router, which is a relief in an age when every company wants your personal information. However, you will need to log in to the router if you want to be able to manage it remotely, that is, when you are not on the home network. Interestingly, the router is set to reboot at 3am every day by default, but you can change that through the app. Software updates can also be managed through the app.
As we said earlier, the Tenda Nova MW3 does a good job of making sure each and every corner of your house has a Wi-Fi signal. However, the actual performance is not great. With our laptop connected to the "main" node (the one with the Internet cable plugged in), we recorded Internet speeds of 95 Mbps on our line, but this dropped to anywhere between 36 Mbps and 45 Mbps when we were connected to the "child" nodes. . As a comparison, we recorded speeds of over 110 Mbps (using speedtest.com) throughout the apartment when using the Tenda AC23 and the D-Link dir-636L.
Our experience transferring large files over the network was quite similar. With two computers placed right next to the “main” node in both cases, we were able to transfer 1.87GB of data in 3 minutes while using the Tenda Nova MW3, while the Tenda Ac23 allowed the transfer of 3.94GB of data at the same time.
As we noted before, the Ethernet ports on the Nova max out at 100Mbps, so it wasn't a surprise that the gap between the AC23 and Nova was even larger when we tested data transfer between a wired and wireless computer. The Nova recorded 1.92 GB in 3 minutes, while the AC23, which has Gigabit Ethernet ports, allowed 7.88 GB to be transferred at the same time. In other words, using the Ethernet ports on the Tenda Nova MW3 offers no real advantage over Wi-Fi in terms of performance.
Verdict
The Tenda Nova MW3 has a very affordable price compared to what the market offers for the two-unit package and the three-pack, making it a relatively affordable entry point to the world of mesh networks. That said, some of the decisions made in an attempt to keep costs down prevent us from wholeheartedly recommending the product.
While the range is great and the feature set is decent, the overall performance isn't good enough. What's worse, with the WAN ports limited to 100Mbps, it's not future-proofed at all - not that it comes close to the maximum speed over Wi-Fi, based on our experience with the system. If you are looking for a mesh Wi-Fi system on a budget, we recommend spending a little more and getting the AC23 Tenda which is the brand's most efficient line .
Pros
- Excellent range
- Full Featured App
- If you do not have the possibility of wiring and providing a functional internet range, it is the best option.
Cons
- Ethernet ports max out at 100 Mbps
- Low Medium Performance
Ratings (out of 5 ):
- Design/build: 3.5
- Features: 3.7
- Performance: 3
- Value for money: 4.2
- Total: 3.6