3Com OfficeConnect Wireless 11g Cable/DSL Router - wireless router

Author's product rating:   

Speed	Very fast
Reliability	Excellent
Ease of Installation	Excellent - very quick and easy
Ease of use	Very easy
Value For Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Awesome Value for Money, Great Setup Utility
Disadvantages:	Not the best looking object in the world !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

When you purchase an all-in-one solution for broadband in your home these days, you want something that will sit in the background, quietly providing you with fast broadband - whether wired to your desktops, wireless to your laptops or networked to a whole range of bandwidth hungry appliances. You want it to work and you want it to be reliable and of course it must be simple to set-up.

The 3Com OfficeConnect Wireless Router ticks all these requirements. I originally purchased one for a client, and I was surprised at how easy the installation was, especially since they used dreaded AOL! Many manuals for routers are usually of two distinct formats: horrendously complicated jargon-spewing bohemoths aimed at network professionals with accreditation from Cisco, or are partonising pamphlets covering the "perfect" install, which we all know never happens. So, it was refreshing to read something that was direct, to-the-point and written in "middle of the road" language.

Now, after my second successful install of this router for another client, I can safely say they're great products. There's no point boring you with the technical specifications, as they're all listed here and in more detail at the manufacturer website. Briefly, however, the unit features a 4-port ethernet bay for hardwired connections and wireless capability for something well in excess of 100 clients.

This second install was a little more tricky than the first. Mainly because the property to which I was installing it, was really two properties located about 60 metres apart from each other. I checked over the wireless range which rather optimistically, (I thought), suggested a maximum obstructed range of 100 metres. Seeing as this network would have to span two outer walls, I was a little concerned that the unit wouldn't be able to perform. Nevertheless, convinced by my earlier experience with the first one, I pressed ahead and ordered it.

Upon opening the box, the contents were spread out on the table, and once again I was impressed with 3Com's offering. The unit itself, the PSU, rubber feet, a long RJ11 telephone cable, a long RJ45 ethernet cable, and various certification stickers for safety use (if installed in a public/business location).

Following the manual's instructions, I connected the router to the mains and powered on and verified the correct lights were on. I then plugged in the first computer via the ethernet cable and immediately the lights on the front panel indicated a hardwired connection had been made.

Now I could configure the unit. The setup utility is not a program as such, but a communication with the router. By typing the address: 192.168.1.1, it contacts the router and brings up the setup in your browser. All the settings are well laid out and easy to follow and in under 10 minutes, I'd physically connected the router, established how it should connect to the internet, and configured encrypted wireless networking. The help utility within the setup is extremely useful and explains in full what each setting does and why you'd need it. I found this particularly thoughtful of 3Com, when often manufacturers supply products on a certain level of assumed knowledge.

Anyway, it was time to trudge over to the second building and configure the other computer to connect wirelessly to the newly created network. As I walked over, I was racking my brain to think of all the possible excuses I could use to tell the client why the wireless network wouldn't reach him. Luckily this was in vain!

On configuring a USB wireless adapter and setting Windows to manage the network settings, sure enough the network appeared in range (albeit after a few trial and error positioning escapades!) After establishing an encrypted and solid connection, I returned to the main building to clean up any remaining settings.

Suddenly, I had a strange sense of unfulfillment. I was mildly upset I hadn't had to figure out some strange or intermittent problem, all too often rearing its ugly head on an install of this kind. Everything had worked, and first time - no hassle!

This is what we want! I marvelled that the unit has cost less than £40 from Dabs - that it had been a joy to set-up and reportedly after being installed for 3 weeks now, not a problem has occurred, adding nicely to the year of uninterrupted broadband internet my first client has experienced.

This unit DOES sit in the background. It DOES provide fast and reliable networking in your home and it DOES have a very powerful wireless range. For under £40, I doubt you will find a better deal.

Now all 3Com need to do is work on the unit's looks ;)