Mobile broadband is very user friendly for phones but hasn't really taken off as an alternative to ADSL except where there's no other option. This is partly because of the flaky coverage but also due to a little affordable 3G routers. An expandable number of mainstream routers helps USB 3G dongles as do a clutch of low cost mini routers but dongle price and compatibility is a high headache with both these reaches.

Enter the Solwise NET-3G-434T. This bad little black router appears a four-port 10/100Mbps switch 2.4GHz 802.11n WI-Fi and an studded 3G modem so all you require is a suitable 3G SIM. The affoerdable alternative we could search with a same spec costs over 350 and that only has 11g WI-Fi.

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So on the face of it just over £120 is a blinding bargain. We can live with bad plastic and a budget feel as long as the product runs. The 434T clearly works but with its bright blue, red and purple status lights, at times it looks more like a 70s disco accessory. Manufactured by Hame it utilizes a Ralink RT2880 system-on-a-chip and BusyBox stored Linux.

After joining the great 3G antenna at the rear setup is naturally a issue of appearing a SIM card into the slot at the side and turning it on. We were impressed that the auto-APN works correctly separated out joining the details for our 3 SIM with no requirement for us to enter any settings no other 3G router we've used has ever worked that out.