Tenda 3G150M review

This 3G travel router can act as a wireless access point (AP) or repeater, connect to a WISP (Wireless ISP) network, and share its 3G connection via Wi-Fi. Unlike some other models, it doesn’t come with an internal battery but is powered via it mains adapter or a USB connection. That makes it extremely light and compact – and cheap – but it does mean that it can’t be used with smartphones, iPads and other WiFi devices that don’t have USB host ports when you don’t have access to a mains socket.

Setup is fairly easy, although after initial setup it’s important to be aware of which mode the 3G150M is in. Thankfully there’s a row of small indicator lights, and a small button on the side lets you cycle between modes. The setup interface looks basic but the amount of features supported by this little device is truly staggering. Thankfully, it’s split up into sections based on the four modes.

Each mode has its own setup wizard, which takes you through the initial steps of entering your username and password (for WISP or 3G connections) and setting up the wireless network. As well as advanced wireless options – including WPS, WDS and MAC address filtering – there’s support for a DMZ, port forwarding, UPnP, QoS and access controls.

Amazingly, the 3G150M outperformed conventional wireless routers at close range, although it lost its advantage as we moved our test laptop further away. For smaller homes, it may even be worth using it for WiFi duties at home by plugging it into an ADSL or cable modem. At £32 it’s amazingly good value, and wins our Budget Buy award.