3Com Office Connect Wireless Travel Router

3Com's Office Connect Wireless 54Mbits/sec 11G Travel Router may be small on the outside but it packs a lot inside, enabling it to be used as a wireless internet gateway, access point or bridge.

It's also good value, allowing mobile workers with an internet connection to create their own wireless hotspots for the price of a more conventional home or small-business solution.

Little bigger than a pack of playing cards, the device incorporates a single fixed Ethernet port and 54Mbits/sec wireless network interface with a switch to select one of three modes of operation.

The first of these is a full wireless router with built-in DHCP server, a firewall and Network Address Translation (Nat) for shared internet access. Local wireless networking is also supported here as well as in the second mode, access point, where the DHCP and Nat servers are disabled leaving clients to use the host network resources to connect to the internet.

Finally, in client mode, the Travel Router acts as a bridge to wireless enable any device with a free Ethernet port.

Set-up in each case is via a browser-based GUI with the usual wireless configuration options including 128bit Wep or WPA encryption. The Wan port can also be configured and the level of firewall can be managed and port forwarding configured for public-facing servers.

We did have one small gripe: you need to carry around a separate AC adaptor because there's no Power over Ethernet support. Still, that's a minor niggle on an otherwise excellent wireless router which will appeal to mobile and office-bound users alike.

Contact:
3Com 01442 438 000
www.3com.com

Specifications:

• Single 10/100Mbits/sec Ethernet port
• Wi-Fi-compliant 54Mbits/sec 802.11g wireless interface
• 128bit Wep/WPA security
• Hardware selectable Nat router with firewall and DHCP server
• UPnP and Dynamic DNS support
• AC adaptor, pouch and Ethernet cable