New gadget: Super compact wireless router

I am staying a few weeks in Japan, and it seems that here, most of the hotels still offer wired LAN as the only way to connect to the internet, instead of WiFi (I'm sorry, are you from the past?).

I usually travel with my smartphone and tablet (and a laptop of course), and they don.t have RJ45 connector, so I .need. a wireless network for them.

Last week, I spent a few hours walking around in Akihabara, the electronic district here in Tokyo, and I bought this cheap (around 24Eur) AP/wireless router: LAN-W300N/PR5 (by ELECON Logitec).

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Inside of the package you will find the power adapter (micro USB 5V/0.6A), a LAN cable (really short), and instructions (in a perfect Japanese):

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The device is really small, I would say it is the size of a old cassette tape. It has 4 LAN 10/100 ports, 1 LAN port for WAN and 2 USB ports (mini and micro USB) for the power supply:

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The device is working just out of the box, acting as AP and as neutral router. This is the default configuration:

External network: DHCP client Internal network: LAN: 192.168.2.1/24 WLAN:
SSID: logitecuser Encryption: WPA2/PSK (You will find the password written under your device.)

Unfortunately, the router utility setup is completely in Japanese, which makes any change a little bit more difficult (but Google Translator does the job).

{% img center http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBxvqRC1NkA/T8oaCzDNi3I/AAAAAAAAN7s/LU1RJn1_BkY/s320/logitec_homepage.JPG %}

You can access the web setup using admin/admin

I have to say that this gadget is not meant to be a .top performer.. Actually, I had a few issues using Skype video-call, so keep that in mind before buying it. It is very cheap, and I would say that it is enough for web surfing and connecting your smartphone, tablet, microwave (-: when you are traveling, but not for being used on a regular basis.

Conclusions: PROS: Cheap, really portable, works with a USB (5V), 4 10/100 ports, and oh yes, cheap! CONS: Configuration utility in Japanese, average performance, not easy to buy outside Japan.

Sayonara!

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