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Despite being one of the largest networking vendors, 3Com has never forsaken the home and small office user and its OfficeConnect products have always offered a fine range of features and good value. For a shade over £115 you get good Internet and wireless security, easy installation and one of the longest model names in the industry.

It may be one of the smallest routers on review but build quality extends to a solid steel internal casing. Installation blues are eased by 3Com’s wizard-based configuration routine and the web interface is simple enough to navigate with all menu options arranged down the left-hand side. Both NAT and SPI firewall protection is enabled by default and each can be disabled if required. The router keeps an eye out for common Internet-borne attacks although unlike SMC’s Barricade it can’t send any warning messages if it detects these.

Up to eight virtual DMZs (demilitarized zones) can be created which allow specific systems such as mail or web servers to be accessed from the Internet. DMZs are used to circumvent the firewall if it is blocking incoming access to these systems but, of course, it means they are no longer protected from hackers.

In common with the other products on review you get Internet access controls that comprise service and URL blocking on a per user basis. You can add up to thirty URLs or keywords and schedule each rule to be active at certain times during each day. However, note that as with all other routers on review these only apply to the name of the web site being visited. None can filter words in the actual content of the page and most products capable of this cost a heck of a lot more than those on review.

The latest wireless security features are all present and a list of up to 32 MAC addresses can be created and used to either allow or deny wireless access. The OfficeConnect posted good performance results in the wireless throughput tests and was one of few routers that handled the longer distances well. We also noticed that the 3Com produced the best results for the WPA encryption test over ten metres.

Verdict

Not as good value as the Belkin router but the OfficeConnect is just as easy to set up and use. It offers all the features we would expect to see at this price and delivers top wireless performance into the bargain.

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