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Get a WiFi router with built-in USB dongle support

Published by Ewan on Tuesday 29th July 2008, 14:52 | Filed under: Mobile, WiFi

Regular reader, MarkW knocked me over this email on the subject of routers and USB dongle backup support.

Hope you’re well. Great stuff going on at SMSTextNews. Still enjoying it hugely. Love the vodcast (is that the right word?!).

Just wanted to flag up something I stumbled across while looking for a new router which might appeal to SMSTN audience. It’s a Draytek model with a USB port that allows you to plug in your HSDPA modem and use that as either primary or backup net connection (along with the usual ADSL). Cool. In theory then, as long as you could find power, you could create a portable wi-fi network pretty much anywhere. It costs less than 200 quid and has VOIP prioritisation to boot. It gets very strong reviews too.

http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor2820.html

I’ve never seen anything like this discussed on the site, so I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but I thought your dongle-dangling audience might be as fascinated as I was! I’m on the brink of ordering the 2820Vn…

In case it’s of interest…

draytek 2820Vn

Muchos, muchos interest Mark. Nice one. Has anyone tried out the 2820Vn? It’s a smart idea to include USB dongle support. Indeed I wonder if some of mobile operators would consider selling the device along with their dongles?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Mobile, WiFi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Oooooh want one!
  • MarkW
    And now I've gone and ordered it! Of course I wouldn't have needed it if I'd unplugged the (now fried) one before the storms hit last night.... Still, great excuse for a new toy!
  • Let us know how you get on with it, Mark?
  • MarkW
    Be my pleasure, Ewan.
  • There are several brilliant things about this router.
    You can run PTSN and VoIP through the same phones! VoIP via DECT FTW :-)
    The USB port will run a printer as well as a 3G dongle or an N70.
    Wonder if it will work with a USB hub?

    Nice
  • No, it's printer or 3g functionality, not both simultanously :(
  • I've been using this very same router since it came out a few months ago... Love it, great bit of kit!
  • Tim
    Every time I turned the corner to my office in London and saw a BT van (clumsy engineers), or a small puddle in the road, I knew that the office SDSL line would be killed for days on end (aluminium cabling is the worst for cracking after 30 years under the road). A tree was in the way of an early WiMAX type service, pesky leaves, so this would have been ideal.
    So ideal in fact, I bought one 9 months ago for a mate's business and it's been absolutely diamond. With the added advantage of a VPN server inbuilt and dual failover ADSL2+ connections at 20Mbps at £100 or so quid.
    Just waiting for my DLink to curl up it's toes so I can buy another.
  • Tim
    PS. The second connection can either be Ethernet (linked to a cable or ADSL2+ modem) or the USB dongle. You can also load share between the two. I also updated the firmware recently as there were a few issues with initial VPN connectivity.
  • Mike42
    ...Huawei do a battery-powered one...
  • AJ
    Hey - I posted a comment about this ages ago. Hmmm.
  • Did we miss it, AJ? I think I must have!
  • AJ
    Used the search box, tried all sorts of keyword combos but...nothing. Maybe I was thinking of another site but I dont really do any other tech sites on the whole.

    If I hadnt screwed up my disqus registration somehow maybe I could have searched that way.
  • It's a bit similar to a product Vodafone launched in Italy recently, called the Vodafone Station, and made by Huawei - http://www.telecomsitaly.com/2008/05/fmc_servic...

    I blogged about it a couple of months back
    http://disruptivewireless.blogspot.com/2008/05/...

    I've also had discussions with another vendor back in March, who mentioned much the same thing in their pipeline.

    Dean
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