When it comes to networking products, in our minds ease of use is paramount, as these matters can easily get bogged down in a technical morass. Just as well then that the Vigor 2200 is simplicity itself to set up.

But before we get into the installation process, what's a USB DSL Router when it's at home? Basically, it designed for those of you who have a LAN of PCs and an ADSL connection via a USB modem (as most ADSL users do).

Essentially, the Vigor is a router with four Ethernet ports and two USB ports. You plug your ADSL modem into one of the USB ports and hook your PCs up via a network card to the Ethernet ports; et voila, your 512K connection is shared evenly across all PCs.

Installation is a breeze. You hook the unit up to the network card of the PC which hosts your USB ADSL modem. The router will automatically detect the PC and assign it appropriate IP and gateway settings. The router software is then installed on the PC, which when run uploads the ADSL modem firmware to the router. Technical novices may now be cowering in fear, but honestly, it's a simple step-by-step process consisting of a few mouse clicks.

With that done, you use a simple Web browser menu to enter your dial-up username and password details into the router and lastly, plug the USB modem in. And that's it - the other PCs can then be plugged in via their network cards and they're automatically assigned IP configuration details.

One caveat worth mentioning is that your USB ADSL modem must be supported by the Vigor 2200 - supported models include the Alcatel Speed Touch and Fujitsu USB, the USB modems being deployed by BT this year.

Our tests proved the unit worked very smoothly. On a LAN of 2 PCs it performed pretty much flawlessly, providing simultaneous downloads of 30Kbps. Gamers will also be pleased to hear that Quake III and Dark Age of Camelot ran as slickly as they did when using the whole 512K ADSL line, even being split across two machines; in fact it improved our "ping" times considerably. The configurable firewall (featuring IP packet based filtering and IP anti-spoofing) of the Vigor 2200 didn't interfere with gaming packets.

It must be said that you can pick up software which is much cheaper than this router to share your ADSL connection over a LAN, but it's not nearly as easy to use, can be prone to cause complications (especially with games), isn't as stable, secure or efficient at sharing the connection. You pays your money and takes your choice.

This is one slick solution for sharing your USB ADSL connection over a small LAN. It's easy to set up and provides impressive results for home users, gamers and small office users - we didn't encounter a single problem. The Vigor is one of those rare products that manages to blend user friendliness with a high level of functionality.