Ericsson Router Shares Mobile Broadband

Forget about USB dongles for your wireless broadband, the Ericsson W35 allows you to connect multiple devices via Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi simultaneously, share a printer or storage device, make calls, and even receive fax.

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This mobile broadband router is perfect for users who are always on the go, renters, or for households that lack fixed line infrastructure. The Ericsson W35 provides voice, fax and high speed internet using the mobile phone networks and utilises the 2G/3G mobile network.

The W35 is easy to set up: all a user needs to do is to put a SIM card into the slot located on the left side of the router,  connect it to a PC (via Ethernet) for the initial configuration, and/or hook up a telephone to receive and make calls. Typing in mbr or 192.168.1.1 on Internet Explorer will take you to the main interface. From there you can see an overview of the system, view traffic statistics, turn the Wireless LAN on/off, share storage device and printers, and view event logs.

As soon as that is done, users can connect devices via Ethernet (up to four) and/or Wi-Fi, call anyone using the phone connected, and share storage devices and printers.

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Up front, users can find six indicators: signal quality, voice mail, computer (which means that it is impossible to establish a connection to the mobile network), wireless LAN, globe (lights up if an Internet connection is established), and telephone (lights up when a connected telephone is off-hook). The standby button at the bottom of the front shows a steady blue when the W35 has finished the start-up procedure.

Although not as fast as the recently launched Telstra Wireless Broadband Router, the Ericsson W35 still provides decent broadband speeds. During our test, the W35 produced download speeds of up to 4.3Mb/s and upload speeds of up to 1.13 Mb/s (using speedtest.net and connecting to the Sydney server).

The W35 is available now for $517, with accessories such as a battery pack ($67.32) and antenna cables ($16.50) sold separately. See the Powertec website (www.powertec.com.au) for more information on the product.