While manufacturers love to bang on about specifications and product performance, for many users the real Holy Grail is ease of use. This is especially true in areas such as networking and communications, and it's something newcomer Ozenda has taken to heart with its Wireless ADSL Firewall Router.

Combining a four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch, ADSL modem and an 802.11g Wifi access point, the Ozenda is very easy to get going. Plug the accompanying leads into their sockets, enter an IP address into your browser and follow the instructions that pop up.

There are predefined settings for some of the larger ISPs, and the option to get more advanced. There are no drivers to install and we managed to get everything working, including 128bit encryption, in under 10 minutes.

The device is designed around a single integrated Texas Instruments chipset and includes a Stateful Packet Inspection firewall, URL and Mac address filtering, and both Wep and WPA security. You can drill down into status pages to check specific details, and up to 253 users can share the internet connection.

In tests the unit coped well with both 11g and mixed-mode environments, happily talking to a Sony Vaio notebook, a Linksys gaming adapter and the host PC simultaneously. Signal strength was good and the two adjustable aerials can be tweaked to improve reception.

The hardware firewall proved sturdy, with important ports registering as secure during online scans with Hackerwatch.org and Sygate.

We were impressed with how easy it is to set up Ozenda's product. At just over £70, including a micro-splitter, it's good value. The quick-start guide is packed with jargon, but most users won't need to look at more than a few pages.

Contact: Ozenda 01442 263 800
www.ozenda.com

Specifications: