OzCableguy

I’ve been everywhere man, I’ve been everywhere… Or so the jingle goes. 3G wireless Internet is starting to really take off in Australia and I get a lot of requests from people about how to share it with multiple PCs on a network, preferably wirelessly.
The easiest way to go is with a router and there’s a few emerging on the market now to suit both the PC Card and USB types of modems.

The Billion 7300GX has been on the market for a few weeks now but for some reason is yet to take off. Strange, as over the last few months I’ve been virtually inundated with requests for this one and there seemed to be a queue forming for it. Where’d everyone go?
Besides being a wireless modem + router similar to the 7300G, the 7300GX adds the ability to accept PC Card style wireless modems and at under $200.00 it’s an absolute bargain.
Compatibility has been tested and proven with the Vodaphone 3G card and Telstra’s Turbo Express card but there’s an issue with the Hutchison card that should be resolved mid-November. No word on the Optus card at this stage.

Linksys led this market with the introduction of the WRT54G3G a couple of months ago but it’s a little more expensive and lacks the built-in ADSL modem. Mind you this means if you ever do switch to another type of broadband service you can plug whatever modem you like into it, chances are it’ll be ADSL anyway due to the minimal Cable coverage in Australia. But if you have Cable already and want to use a 3G connection for backup or failover then this one is the way to go.

Draytek focused on USB 3G modems and upgraded the existing USB Print Server port on the 2800 and 2910 series to accept them. USB 3G modems must be the more popular choice because these have been extremely popular.
Gabriel from Draytek Australia told me how he travelled across Taiwan by bus during the recent Draytek Distributor reunion and had a 2910G plugged into a power inverter in the bus’s cigarette lighter sharing a 3G USB modem wirelessly so everyone on the bus had wireless Internet on their laptops as they traveled. Neat stuff! More on this and other 3G sharing applications from Draytek here.

Update: In response to some of the questions I’ve been getting I have created a basic FAQ about 3G networking including a quick summary of the current 3G capable routers here.