Design
The 3G18Wn is a mid-sized router that shares NetComm's recent obsession with small white boxes that feature front blue panels. The big visual difference between the 3G18Wn and other NetComm routers is the presence of a USB port at the front to accommodate a 3G modem. At the rear you'll find four 10/100 Ethernet ports and a single 10/100 WAN port for attaching a secondary internet source such as ADSL or cable. That does, as the box proudly proclaims, make the 3G18Wn a "five-Ethernet port" router, although we suspect anyone buying it on that selling point might expect it had five outbound ports rather than the more regular four plus one WAN port. Two antennas stick up from the rear of the 3G18Wn. Aside from the router and its power adapter, all you'll find in the box is a very slim set-up sheet, some advertising material for other NetComm products and a CD containing product manuals.
Features
Installation of the 3G18Wn is entirely web-based, via the set-up sheet that comes with the unit. Wireless security is enabled by default, which is a nice touch, although the standard password isn't that unique and should be changed by any user in short order, especially as it's only a WEP password. The interface is logical and easy enough for even first time users to configure, although the set-up sheet omits to mention that the router comes with the preconfigured APNs for most popular 3G wireless vendors. On the 3G modem side, NetComm maintains a list of compatible modems here.
On the wireless front, the 3G18Wn is 802.11n capable, albeit only in the 2.4GHz spectrum.
The 3G18Wn sells itself as a 3G router, but it's also capable of acting as a router that uses 3G as its backup service if the Ethernet connection via the WAN port falls over. That's a handy provision if you absolutely must have net connectivity at all times, although you'd want to be careful in its usage if you're on a severely data-limited 3G plan, as you could potentially switch over to 3G while in the middle of a data intensive activity and rack up some serious charges, especially on Telstra's pricey Next-G network.
Performance
Our first test with the 3G18Wn encompassed our standard signal and throughput tests. As it's 2.4GHz locked and only features two stubby antennas, we suspected the 3G18Wn might be a bit of a fizzer, but we were pleasantly surprised.
| Distance from router | 5m | 15m (minor walls) | 15m (multiple walls) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetComm 3G18Wn | 83% | 59% | 59% | |
| Belkin N+ Wireless Storage Router | 88% | 63% | 62% | |
| Edimax nMax AR-7265Wn | 77% | 58% | 55% | |
| NetComm NP802n | 72% | 49% | 52% | |
| Linksys WRT610N | 79% | 50% | 53% | |
| Netgear WNDR3300 | 85% | 45% | 44% | |
| Netgear WNHDEB111 | 84% | 50% | 55% | |
| Linksys WAG160N | 70% | 53% | 48% | |
| Billion BiPAC 7300N | 75% | 59% | 54% | |
| Conceptronic 300Mbps | 92% | 62% | 60% |
The NetComm 3G18Wn performed essentially identically to other 2.4GHz routers in terms of signal throughput in our test environment. As always, your figures may vary depending on the environment in which you're running the 3G18Wn.
| Distance between PCs | 2m, no barriers | 20m, multiple walls |
|---|---|---|
| NetComm 3G18Wn | 27.6Mbps | 27.6Mbps |
| Belkin N+ Wireless Storage Router | 31.75Mbps | 31.35Mbps |
| Edimax nMax AR-7265Wn | 2.95Mbps | 3.09Mbps |
| NetComm NP802n | 18.2Mbps | 16.4Mbps |
| Linksys WRT610N | 22.3Mbps | 7.91Mbps |
| Netgear WNDR3300 | 11.8Mbps | 9.81Mbps |
| Netgear WNHDEB111 | 18.4Mbps | 16.7Mbps |
| Linksys WAG160N | 19.8Mbps | 15.2Mbps |
| Billion BiPAC 7300N | 21Mbps | 13.3Mbps |
| Conceptronic 300Mbps | 15Mbps | 7.7Mbps |
While it didn't beat our absolute best performer in this category, the 3G18Wn acquitted itself very well, especially as it managed to maintain a solid throughput even through obstacles that do normally strain most wireless routers. Naturally, it doesn't live up to the over-hyped "300Mbps" claims of 802.11n's performance, but then nothing actually does.
The second part of assessing the 3G18Wn's performance was to hook it up to some 3G wireless devices. While you could use it as just a regular 802.11n router, nobody's going to buy it just for that purpose. We tested the 3G18Wn's performance with a Vodafone 3G USB K3715 Modem. The router comes preconfigured with the APN details for Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and 3 Mobile, at least with the current firmware.
Getting the 3G18Wn to actually connect with our chosen modem was something of a chore. At first, it recognised the modem, knew the correct APN settings but would resolutely fail to connect, and checking the modem itself in the same location plugged directly into a host PC strongly suggested this wasn't a signal strength/carrier issue. We then attempted to update the firmware downloaded from NetComm, but for whatever reason trying to do this via a MacBook caused the 3G18Wn to lock up — but thankfully not brick itself. Finally, updating from an MSI Wind running Windows 7 worked, and once we'd done that it finally connected cleanly. We did find that it tended to take a fair bit longer to negotiate the initial connection than you'd see if you just connected it on a single PC basis.
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