We’ve already seen a plethora of MIMO kit at PC Plus. Indeed, we rounded most of it up in PC Plus 235. But we’ve seen a few newcomers to the scene recently: D-Link delivered its kit three issues ago, and we criticised the company for delivering MIMO to market rather late.

Arriving even later, this Trendnet router employs the Atheros VLocity AR5005VL MIMO chipset also used by XyXEL and D-Link. Atheros says one of the AR5005VL’s main strengths is its ability to boost wireless signal on non-MIMO reception devices such as a Centrino laptop or 802.11g wireless card.

Trendnet’s solution isn’t pretty, but it is functional. In addition to the standard four 10/100Mbps LAN ports and single WAN port, there’s also a handy switch on the back of the router. It enables you to toggle the wireless signal on and off without bothering with configuration screens – handy indeed. Trendnet claims an 800 per cent increase in wireless coverage with the 611BRP, compared to standard 11g equipment. We’re sceptical that this is the case – most MIMO devices provide coverage increases of 300 to 400 per cent.

The 611BRP is joined by three other items on Trendnet’s MIMO range. Like the 611BRP, the TEW-610APB access point costs £130 while the TEW-601PC PC Card and TEW-603PI PCI adaptor are both £80. All products have an impressive three-year warranty. These prices aren’t competitive, but they’re RRPs. Most competing routers are well under the £100 price mark, with most MIMO routers now settling around £80. It’s in manufacturers’ best interests to keep the kits at this level: MIMO is, after all, a premium technology, and it remains important for manufacturers to keep the kit separate from its 802.11g options. Many still have Super-G accelerated 802.11g options available, too.

Apart from price, Trendnet’s main problem is that it won’t be too long before many manufacturers’ MIMO products are refreshed: most are over a year old, and chipset providers such as Atheros and Airgo are developing better MIMO boards. How long these take to reach market is also how long Trendnet has left to sell this kit.