The ZyXEL Prestige 650 Series of routers provides everything needed to share an ADSL broadband connection on a home or small business network. That includes a built-in ADSL modem, ready to plug straight into the phone line, and an integrated 4-port Fast Ethernet switch. In addition, on the 650HW model reviewed here, 11Mbps wireless connectivity is included.

About the same size as a standalone Ethernet hub, the ZyXEL router is powered by an external AC adapter. The RJ-11 cable needed to connect to the ADSL line is also included, along with an Ethernet patch lead to get you started. A splitter to share the connection with a telephone isn't provided, but then most ISPs offer to supply these when you order the ADSL service.

You'll need at least one PC with a fixed Ethernet port to configure the router, which can be plugged into any of the 10/100Mbps switch ports using the cable provided. The device can then be set up and managed via Telnet if you want, although most users will opt for the browser-based configuration as it's easier and includes a wizard to guide you through the process.

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That said, you do have to manually enter a number of obscure ADSL parameters such as the protocol to use and associated virtual circuit IDs which, according to the manual, will be supplied by the ISP. In practice, however, that's not always the case and we had to put a support call into the UK distributor Electronic Frontier to find out what settings to use with our Tiscali-supplied service. However, that done, all we then had to supply was a user name and password after which the router connected first time.

Attaching other PCs to the 650HW is very easy, circuitry in the switch doing away with the need for crossover cables when daisy-chaining hubs and switches to handle more than just four users. A built-in DHCP server also makes for simple client setup, while the wireless interface is supplied in the form of an 802.11b compatible PC Card which simply plugs into a slot in the side of the router. That too requires some configuration work, but it's all done using the same browser interface and is no harder than for any other wireless device we've tested.

There's no built in firewall as on some broadband routers, although you can block specific types of inbound traffic, such as Telnet and FTP. Plus there's support for Network Address Translation (NAT) to hide internal IP addresses from users on the Internet. And you get 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption for wireless users.

Price is important in this market and the wireless connectivity makes the ZyXEL Prestige 650HW a lot more expensive than most fixed LAN routers, many of which are now well below £100 (ex. VAT). However, for home users and small businesses wanting wireless connectivity it's still a lot cheaper, and easier, than buying a separate access point and it costs about the same as similar products from other vendors.

The ZyXEL Prestige 650HW provides everything needed to share an ADSL broadband connection on a small network. And that includes 11Mbps wireless connectivity, doing away with the need for a separate wireless access point. Setup isn't as straightforward as on some devices we've seen and there's no firewall, but it does what it claims once configured and is competitively priced.