Huawei Wi-Fi Router

Huawei’s E5 router, sold by 2degrees, is essentially a hotspot that allows you to connect to mobile broadband from any Wi-Fi-enabled device, and multiple different devices at once. At first I thought that sounded useful, but not particularly fascinating. Then I actually used it.

The setup takes maybe ten minutes, and starts before you even put the battery into the router. First you have to write down the SSID and the security password which are under the battery slot – there’s no way of changing the security password, by the way – then plug it into a free USB port on your computer to charge it. After that, you’re golden – when you turn it on, your computer gives you the option of installing some mobile broadband software but you can use the Wi-Fi without it. You also don’t have to keep the router plugged in to your computer as it runs off of a rechargable battery with a four-hour working life.

It takes longer than average for the SSID to show up in your list of detected wireless networks, but once it does you can connect and surf away. There’s a 512MB data pack to get you started, and 2degrees is currently offering you 2GB extra (though there’s no telling how long that deal will last). The 2degrees data only works in the company’s designated broadband zones – Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown – but we tried a Vodafone SIM card and it still worked, so you should be able to use another 3G network or buy one of 2degrees’ nationwide data packs.

Since you can swap out SIM cards, you could, in theory, go to Australia, the US or elsewhere and buy a local SIM to pop in the router, then connect your smartphone to the E5 via Wi-Fi. That would let you keep your regular phone number for calls and SMS, while using local 3G data instead of incurring expensive roaming charges.

While you don’t need to install the software that comes with the device, it’s actually a pretty handy little extra. The best part is you can top up the SIM with extra credit by sending a text message from your computer. Or you could stick your regular phone’s SIM into the Huawei device and just use it as an easier way to text when you’re at home. It imports your contacts and everything.

We ran a little test here in the PC World office and hooked up the maximum five devices that can connect at any one time – four smartphones and a Nintendo DSi. Everyone could surf the internet with no issues, although there was some slowdown. At various times we also connected a laptop, a netbook, and a Sony PSP, all with no problems.

The 2degrees network gets quite good speeds by New Zealand mobile broadband standards. I tested it on speedtest.net and got 1.23Mb/s at about 6pm. It was only 0.35Mb/s up, but I didn’t notice it being significantly slower than my Orcon connection at home.

Sometimes it’s the simplest gadgets that we like the best. The E5 does exactly what it says it does, and the software it comes with gives you a couple of little extras, such as text messaging. At first I thought it was a little pricey at $279, but after actually testing it I’m convinced it’s worth every cent.