Gigabyte B49GU Router Review

Gigabyte's B49GU wireless router includes a number of business-class features and supports speeds of up to 108Mbps. Read on to see how it performs.

Summary

With a host of advanced features, Gigabyte’s B49GU is a SOHO router with a lot of promise for business users. Unfortunately, its lack of quality documentation and its issue with wireless dropouts and a general lack of wireless speed make it a less than stellar performer.

 

Based on the Atheros 802.11g chipset that supports Extreme-G speeds of up to 108Mbps, the B49GU was just as disappointing and erratic as the very similar D-Link DI-624. As a wired router, the Gigabyte B49GU is a solid performer with a lot of useful enhancements. But when you dig deeper into its feature set and take the wireless performance, or lack thereof, into account, the B49GU looks like a good idea that was poorly implemented and rushed to market.

 

We had hoped for more from Gigabyte because they really do make some high quality components. However, one poorly performing product shouldn’t doom a company. Hopefully Gigabyte (or Atheros) will straighten out the issues with this chipset in the near future and come back with a stronger product.

Introduction

 

Known mostly for its enthusiast motherboards and graphics cards, Taiwan’s Gigabyte Technology is actually a manufacturer with a rather diversified product lineup. From laptop, desktop and small form factor computers to optical drives to LCD displays, Gigabyte has one of the broadest product ranges of the companies known to the enthusiast community. Gigabyte also has a diverse networking collection, with the majority of its newer products featuring wireless technology.

 

Gigabyte’s B49GU (also known as the GN-B49G – the “U” represents the U.S. model) is the company’s latest wireless broadband router. The B49GU is based on the Atheros 802.11g chipset and supports Atheros’ Super-G, a technology that allows for improved throughput on 802.11g networks. While standard 802.11g devices boast a 54Mbps maximum transfer speed, Super-G-enabled networks can reach a theoretical maximum of 108Mbps. Of course, as we have shown in reviews of other 802.11g products, such as the D-Link DI-624 which also uses Super-G technology, the maximum speeds are only theoretical numbers and real-world results are usually significantly slower.

 

Features and Design

 

As is the case with most other 802.11g SOHO routers, the B49GU features four wired Ethernet ports in addition to its wireless capabilities. The model is what we’d classify as average-size for today’s wired/wireless routers and can be placed horizontally on a flat surface or, with the included bracket, can be stood vertically or mounted to a wall. With a plain white top and a light grey bottom, the relatively featureless B49GU won’t win any design awards, but it also won’t look out of place in your office.

 

The B49GU can be mounted on a wall, stood up vertically, or laid horizontally on a flat surface.

Features and Design (continued)

 

Incorporated in the B49GU are many of the same features we have come to expect from wireless routers: WEP and WPA encryption; NAT and DHCP (obviously); port forwarding; DMZ hosting; and MAC address control. As a default, broadcasting of the wireless SSID is disabled