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Well, this review has been very long in coming, and I do apologise for it.  I bought the device in February and it was only recently that I managed to find the time to turn it on, and plug my old but trusty Huawei E220 USB wireless broadband modem into it, for a test drive.  So, here’s a review of the Sapido GR1100 for people who are looking for 3G based wireless routers.

Click here for the product page.  Specifications:

What is it?

The GR1100 is a 3G wireless router.  It allows you to share a single 3G connection amongst many PCs/notebooks/netbooks.  Typically, a USB connection is only meant for one user only, and this device takes this single connection and “shares” it, using WiFi, so that any WiFi enabled device such as smartphone, phone, MID, netbook, notebook or PC can use it to go online.

Other features

1. the GR1100 can also function as a Samba server and an FTP server.  A Samba server’s “shared directories”  will be visible in the network neighbourhood section of Windows Explorer under its workgroup name (which you configure on the GR1100’s configuration screens).  An FTP server can also be accessed using Windows Explorer by typing in “ftp://IP_address” where IP_address = IP address of the GR1100 router, whose default is 192.168.1.1.  What this means is that you can hook up a USB thumbdrive or USB hard disk to one of the two USB ports on the GR1100 and share out the contents on that USB thumbdrive or USB hard disk – very useful for file sharing within your own network!  See Figures 2a and 2b.
2. the GR1100 also supports a webcam as well as a network printer.  You connect both using USB (obviously).  Since there are only two USB ports, and if you already “reserve” one for the USB broadband modem, you only have one left for either of your USB thumbdrive/USB hard disk, webcam or printer.
3. the GR1100 has a host of other configurable features which may not be present in other 3G routers – virtual servers, DMZ, IP filtering, URL filtering, email alerts, UPnP support, etc.

The good

1. very comprehensive configuration pages – check out Figure 1 for the complete array of options!  There is a wizard that can help you configure the unit quickly – see Figures 3a and 3b.
2. although it only has built in antenna and doesn’t support an external antenna, the WiFi signal is quite strong.  I could still get at least 50% signal strength one floor down and through a couple of walls with no line of sight to the tiny router!
3. it supports a wide variety of USB based wireless broadband modems.  See the list here.  Although there is mention of support for PCMCIA/PC Card based devices, I fail to see how you can use these since there is no PCMCIA/PC Card slot on the router!
4. setting up your USB wireless broadband modem to connect to the internet is as easy as ABC – specify your APN (access point name) of your wireless cellular provider (Celcom = celcom3g, Maxis = unet, U-Mobile = my3g, DiGi = digi3g), username and password (if required).  You don’t even need to specify the brand or model of the USB modem.
5. allows easy sharing of files using the Samba server or FTP server.  Plug in the USB storage device, enable sharing, enable Samba and/or FTP server(s) and that’s it.
6. allows connection of a webcam.
7. allows connection of a USB printer.
8. firmware seems to be updated twice already to support new USB wireless broadband devices.
9. in my testing, over WiFi, I could download a large file from my megaupload premium account at a sustained download speed of around 1.8mbps using my Maxis 3G account and the Huawei E220 modem.  Pretty impressive stuff, considering there’s two “wireless”  hops – one from the E220 modem to the Maxis base station, and another from my WiFi’ed netbook to the wireless router.
10. there is a rather comprehensive user manual available for download online.

The “bad”

1. the web based configuration program is slower than other routers I own.  When saving a setting, it takes some time for the configuration “success message” appear, and there is no progress bar to let you know the status – the first few times, I assumed the configuration had been saved only to discover later that it hadn’t.  So, you have to wait until the configuration success message to appear before doing anything else, and this can take up to a minute or two, which is very long!
2. no support for external antenna, which means that if you have blind spots in your home you can’t really boost the coverage area by attaching an external antenna.
3. because the unit plugs directly into a power socket and doesn’t have an AC adaptor like most notebooks, you are limited to placing the device where there are power sources, whether these are low on the walls, on the floor, or on power extension strips (power strips, as the Americans call it).
4. since there are only two USB ports, and you have to reserve one for your USB broadband modem, you have to choose between using the other one for a webcam, thumbdrive/harddisk or printer.

Other notes

1. USB thumbdrives/harddisks may need to be formatted using the device’s built in formatter before usage.  At least that’s what I discovered in my testing.  This is going to pose a problem especially if you’re planning on sharing the contents of an almost full 1Tb hard disk of course!
2. each FTP and Samba user are assigned their own user directories.  Users cannot access other users’ directories.  I could see no easy way to specify an entire root directory as being public.  Perhaps I didn’t dig deep enough in the configuration pages!
3. The retail package is very basic – it only contains the router, installation CD (there is a easy configuration program to help you configure the router) and a quick start guide!  See attached screenshots.

Verdict

If you need to share files using FTP or Samba using those easy to find USB based devices, this is a useful device to get.  The same advice applies when you have a need to share a USB webcam or a USB printer.  The support for these functions and features are not even found in more expensive “traditional wireless routers – have a look round and see how many (non 3G) wireless routers you can spot with USB ports, and even if you do find one, see how much it costs!

If you don’t need the functions/features above, this wireless router may be an overkill.  But then again, in online marketplaces, it is selling for around the same price as other competing 3G routers from DLink (DIR451), Aztech (HW831) and the CNET at around the RM 400 mark.  And these other 3G routers do not support USB harddisk/thumbdrives, webcams or printers!  If you want “brand-name” backing, then obviously Sapido is not as well known as DLink, Aztech and perhaps CNET.

It is a useful device to get for an office so that you can use wireless broadband without pulling any wires, and share this single connection out to multiple devices, although the overall surfing experience will degrade as more users share one connection.  It is extremely useful for an away-from-office project team.

Disclaimer: This unit is my own.  It is not a review unit which semi-obligated me to write some nice things about it.  Since I have too many 3G wireless devices, I may be selling this one off soon, so stay tuned!

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