Trendnet has stuck a superfast wireless router into the shops which can manage 450Mbps, if it is going downhill with the wind behind it.

Most Wireless-N routers can only manage 300Mbps, but Trendnet claims the TEW-691GR is the first 450Mbps Wireless-N Gigabit router on the market. The TEW-691GR has three antennas which broadcast in three spatial streams. This is 50 percent fastest than exciting dual-stream Wireless-N routers.

It uses the only the 2.4GHz band and is fairly similar to the TrendNet TEW-673GRU and Trendnet TEW-639GR  routers. However, there are some difficulties in taking advantage of the new technology. You need to have adapters that support the same three-stream standard.

Intel's integrated 5300 wireless chip which is used in laptops appears to be the only one on the market that offers this. Otherwise the the router is compatible with all existing 2.4GHz Wi-Fi clients while it waits for the market to catch up.  Trendnet said that new TEW-691GR also helps maintain high throughput speeds when used with multiple dual-stream wireless-N and legacy Wireless-G clients.

Trendnet says it will also launch new USB and PCIe-based three-stream Wireless-N adapters by the end of the year. The TEW-691GR router will be in the shops soon and will be around $200.