Five Routers That Enable Data Card Sharing

The high speed HSDPA data cards are getting popular by the day for broadband
access on the move. But the biggest limitation of these cards is that they can
only be used with just one device (a laptop or computer). And there is no
straight forward way to share this connection across multiple machines. Imagine
a scenario where you can actually share a data card connection across your
phones, iPods, netbooks, PCs, etc. Sounds good?

To facilitate this need, a new breed of WiFi access points have arrived.
These points come with one or two USB ports and can take one or two data cards,
and instantly share the Internet connection over WiFi. Now any WiFi enabled
device can be connected to it for accessing Internet.

These devices come with different functionalities. For instance, there is a
device which can get power from a USB data cable, or a car charger or even from
the wall socket. You can even use this device to turn your car into a WiFi
hotspot. You can carry it in your bag with a battery pack and create a mobile
hotspot with high speed bandwidth.

There are models which can take two USB data cards and even aggregate their
bandwidth. This means you can get an Internet connection which has speeds of
upto 6.2Mbps over WiFi by simply buying two HSDPA data cards.

Some other usage scenarios can be Internet sharing both in a small office or
on the go. One can also have a redundant WAN connection for critical usage as
two WAN interfaces are present in these routers (the USB data card and
conventional WAN). One of the great features of having two WAN interfaces is the
fail safe mode; ie if one of the WAN connection fails, the other can pitch in
giving uninterrupted wireless connection to users. We tested five such dev ices
and here's our analysis.

SMC WBR14-3GN

Besides data sharing and the important fail safe feature, other noticeable
features in this neat looking IEEE 802.11n draft based router are three 2dB
fixed antennas, dedicated buttons for WPS, 3G, and WLAN, and WiFi multimedia
support (WMM-802.11e). For security, SMCWBR14-3GN comes with inbuilt firewalls
like SPI and encryption standards like WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK, and WPS with push
button and PIN configuration methods.

To test this device we created an isolated N network by connecting one
machine using Ethernet wire and the other wirelessly (using N based USB adapter)
to SMCWBR14-3GN. In the first test we checked the throughput using 'Qcheck 3.0'
and found out that  SMCWBR14-3GN gave an average throughput of 65Mbps using a
payload of  1000KB. This result is lower than TENDA 3G611R+ which managed a
throughput of 80Mbps. In the other test we transferred 50 MB of data from one
machine to other and the time taken to transfer was 14 seconds which is the same
as that of TENDA 3G611R+.

Bottomline: The router has
good features but is an average performer.

TENDA 3G611R+

This is the second IEEE 802.11n based router that we tested in this issue.
When we compared it with others, the first noticeable feature we found was that
it comes with a single antenna. The 3G611R+ is similar to other wireless devices
in this story, and comes with a single USB 2.0 port for connecting data cards.
For security, the router comes with a WPS button on the back, and supports WPA/WPA2,
WEP, 802.1x encryption standards, URL monitoring and MAC and IP based filtering,
and protection against known  network  attacks like SYN Flooding etc.

To test this device we created the same setup as used in testing
SMCWBR14-3GN. In our first test, we checked throughput using 'Qcheck 3.0'. The
SMCWBR14-3GN gave an average throughput of 80 Mbps using a payload of  1000KB.
In the second test we transferred 50 MB of data from one machine to the other.
The time taken to transfer the same was 14 seconds.

Bottomline: If
performance is your sole criteria then go for this.

DOVADO FZ-LLC

This router comes with advanced features. It has a fail
safe mode where the user gets an option to select his primary WAN interface
(data card or Ethernet) and if the primary connection fails, it automatically
switches to secondary mode. The router also enables home automation via SMS as
signaling medium and position tracking using a USB-based GPS receiver. One can
also turn on/off an Internet connection using SMS commands. The device comes
with all  security features normally present in a wireless router, like WEP,
WPA-PSK, WPA-Enterprise encryption standards, MAC address filters, etc. But the
only missing element in this device is support for IEEE 802.11n standard.

To test wireless capability of this device, we created an
isolated G network by connecting one machine using Ethernet and the other
wirelessly to the FZ-LLC router. In the first test, we checked the throughput
using 'Qcheck 3.0', and found that FZ-LLC gave an average throughput of 22 Mbps
using a payload of  1000 KB. This result is the lowest among the three G routers
we tested in this story. In the other test, we transferred 50 MB data from one
machine to the other. The time taken to transfer the same was 35 seconds, the
highest among the three.

Bottomline: The
product is packed with features for maximum utilization of your data card and
can be used across multiple data usage scenarios.

HAME HM-432R

One of the two devices from HAME that we tested in this
story. Both devices come with an almost similar set of features. To start with,
HM-432R comes in a small form factor with a single LAN and USB port. The
wireless router is similar to its twin brother and FZ-LLC, and is based on
802.11g standard which is a bit disappointing. For security, which is critical
for a wireless device, HM-432R comes packed with WEP, WPA-PSK, and WPA2-PSK
encryption standards, inbuilt firewalls for SPI, DoS attacks, etc.

To test the wireless capability of this device we created
the same setup as used in testing FZ-LLC. In the first test, we checked
throughput using 'Qcheck 3.0' and found that  HM-432R gave an average throughput
of 30 Mbps using a payload of  1000 KB. In the second test, we transferred 50 MB
of data from one machine to the other. The time taken for this transfer was 21
seconds.

Bottomline: A
high performing G-based router that meets the requirements of a smaller group of
users.

HAME HM-433R

Among all the devices we tested in this story, this one comes in the
smallest form factor and can draw power from a USB port which adds to its
utility as a mobile device. The HM-433R,  like the other HAME router, comes with
a single LAN and USB ports and supports IEEE 802.11g standard. The security
features include WEP and WPA encryption standard and built in firewalls to
mitigate common attacks from Internet like DoS.

To check the wireless capability of this device, we created
the same setup as used in testing FZ-LLC and HM-4332R. In our first test we
checked the throughput using 'Qcheck 3.0' and found out that  HM-433R  gave an
average throughput of 30 Mbps using a payload of  1000 KB. The result is exactly
the same as that obtained through the HM-432R router. In the other test, we
transferred 50 MB data from one machine to the other. The time taken to transfer
was 21 seconds, the same as the time taken by the other HAME router.

Bottomline: With
the ability to charge this device via USB, the device offers added value to
people on the move.