Review: Billion BiPAC 7800GZ router

Using 3G mobile broadband dongles as a backup for a standard DSL-based internet connection is nothing new, but is an increasingly popular way of adding simple WAN redundancy to routers for smaller offices or teleworkers. There are many models now available with USB ports that will take a standard 3G dongle, but compatibility can be an issue. Billion's 7800GZ gets around this problem by using an embedded modem that accepts any standard 3G SIM.

The unit is chunky but very light, with an all-plastic construction. The antennas are rather oddly located, with two for the 3G (HSPA) radio at the back and one side, plus a single Wi-Fi antenna at the opposite side. This arrangement could prove awkward in some installations as it adds 6cm to the nominal width.

The large status lights at the front are welcome, although the lack of an indicator to tell you when WAN failover is in operation is surprising.

There are four 10/100Mbit/s LAN ports at the rear, one of which can be configured as a WAN port. Also at the rear is a power toggle switch plus the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) and reset buttons. The spring-loaded SIM slot lies next to these. The router measures 22.9 x 15.5 x 4.3cm.

The 7800GZ's features are adequate, but not wildly exciting for the price, hinting that there's a premium placed on the embedded 3G capabilities. With no Gigabit Ethernet and only 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, it's not exactly cutting edge. It does have some useful extras such as the 4-tunnel IPsec VPN server and comprehensive Quality-of-Service (QoS) settings, though.

Initial setup is made almost idiot-proof by the Easy Sign On wizard that starts the first time you launch a browser. There is a similar Quick Start wizard within the web management interface that helps you configure the WAN and Wi-Fi settings, although oddly you can't enable dual-WAN mode from here.

Failover and failback worked well, but even when the 3G to always-on mode was set at 'minimum timeout' we experienced a delay of a few seconds - we measured four to six lost pings either way. There's no load-balancing capability between WAN interfaces, which is a shame.

The management interface at first glance looks harmless, but as you dig into it you discover quirks and inconsistencies that make it annoying to work with. For example, changing some settings requires you to press 'Apply'. Fine, but if you then don't press a separate 'Save Config' button, changes will be lost on restart; and since sometimes pressing 'Apply' causes an immediate reboot with no warning, you need to keep your wits about you. Individual settings pages can't be reset to defaults, only the whole router.

There's no context-sensitive help in the interface and little explanatory text, so if you're not familiar with the jargon you are reliant on the manual, which frankly doesn't help much. It assumes far too much technical knowledge and suffers from poor English.

Basic setup and installation are covered adequately, but it rapidly peters out after that. There are very few examples to give less technical users a nudge in the right direction. Expert users may eventually figure things out, but that can never justify poor documentation. For a product costing this much it's very disappointing, even though the router's underlying capabilities are fine.

To summarise, it's a product for the technically competent, who will find it works well and offers a decent feature set. It's not cheap for what you get, but if you really need embedded 3G broadband capability there are very few alternatives at present.

Embedded 3G and ADSL2+ WAN interfaces; 4 x 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports (1 configurable as WAN port); 802.11b/g Wi-Fi; 4 IPsec VPN tunnels; SPI firewall; WPS and WDS support; measures 22.9x15.5x4.3cm