EnGenius ETR9350 review

EnGenius sells two 3G travel routers. The 9350 has a mains power input and doesn’t include an internal battery, which makes it lighter and much cheaper. The other model, the ETR9360, should be available from Solwise by the time you read this, has a mini-USB charging port, a power switch and an internal battery, but costs £40 more.

Despite having a LAN port, the setup guide advises you to connect initially via the pre-configured wireless access point. The ETR9350 has three modes: access point (AP) router, AP and client bridge mode, but sadly the setup guide doesn’t fully explain these. Instead, it takes you step-by-step through the process of getting either your 3G or wired internet connection set up, including advice on how to set up security.

Client bridge mode connects to another wireless access point (AP) to extend its range. If you don’t run the wizard to specify in advance the AP you’re connecting to, and simply switch modes, you’ll find you can no longer connect to the ETR9350 and have to perform a reset. Although the wizard does explain the three modes briefly, it doesn’t warn you of this possibility.

The ETR9350 has more features than you should ever need while on the move, including Dynamic DNS, UPnP and QoS. It’s an impressive travel router, but the Tenda 3G150M costs the same but is more user-friendly, smaller and lighter.