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Draytek’s comprehensive range of router products have always impressed thanks to a fine combination of security features and excellent performance. The 2600G is no exception and a quick glance at the performance chart shows it vying with Belkin and Solwise for the top spot in each test. Also of note is that the 2600G maintained a comparatively high throughput over longer distances.

Setting the 2600G up won’t take long and the router even provides a USB port for connecting a printer and sharing it over the network. You don’t get any wizards to help with Internet access but the router will attempt to automatically discover your ADSL settings and the main configuration screen is easy enough to navigate.

Security features are among the best on test with the wireless connection endowed with 64 and 128bit WEP plus WPA, SSID masking and MAC address filtering. One smart feature is the use of predefined schedules to control what services the router provides at any given time. You create up to fifteen call schedules that determine the time and days of the week they are active and whether they will close a service down or open it up. Up to four different schedules can be applied to both the ADSL modem and access point giving you complete control over when Internet and wireless access will be made available.

Web content filtering options are above average as you can stop access to URL lists, stop specific LAN IP addresses from accessing the Internet and block ActiveX controls, Java applets, cookies and Web proxies. Other useful controls are also provided - you can stop executable, multimedia and compressed files from being downloaded and all filters can be scheduled to be active during certain times of each day.

Yet another unusual feature is support for up to four VLANs (virtual LANs) which allows specific ports to be placed into groups so only PCs physically connected to these ports can see each other. It gets better as the rate control feature allows you to decide the amount of incoming or outgoing bandwidth for each LAN port so you could easily stop certain users from hogging the Internet connection.

Verdict

A fine choice for small businesses that need high security, good wireless performance over distance and support for site-to-site and remote client VPNs. The Vigor2600G is reasonably easy to configure (although not for the complete novice) with good web management, while the scheduling and VLAN features are particularly impressive.

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