BT On-Air 1800

Wireless local area network systems for the home are still in their infancy, but for £250 including VAT users can take advantage of Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (Dect) technology to surf wherever they fancy.

The system isn't especially presentable, consisting of a rather tacky base station which acts as home to a BT Dect phone, in this instance, its Classic model which is a re-badged Sagem.

It is accompanied by a modem attachment that connects to your PC via a USB connection. It is also powered by your computer. The attachment is slightly bigger than a PDA yet considerably thinner. BT has provided some Velcro strips to keep the attachment in place, which look stupid but do the trick.

Set up is relatively simple. Once the software installation is complete, the user chooses which internet service provider connection they want to make wirelessly and then connects to the internet. A modem monitor screen appears on the PC and gauges signal quality.

The modem works well. Dect technology can deliver the full 56Kbps of an analogue modem connection wirelessly. The unit has a range of 100m and, in our tests which involved wandering in and out of various rooms, our notebook remained connected to at roughly the same speed as if we had been hardwired.

The Dect system has a few other tricks up its sleeve. It features a built-in answering machine - including the option of recording your phone conversation - and sports a caller display option. Voice call quality is excellent too.

It is certainly easy to use, although when you can pick up a proper 11Mbps Wifi (802.11b) card for under £100, it loses some appeal. If you are thinking of upgrading to a Dect phone, however, the BT On-Air 1800 is well worth considering.

Contact: BT 0800 800 150 www.bt.com