Ericsson's W3x Series HSPA Mobile Broadband Routers don't slouch on looks

3G routers aren't a new idea, and they still aren't for the everyman, but at least Ericsson has realized that they don't have to look hopelessly generic. The Ericsson W30 Data Router (left) and Ericsson W35 Data and Voice Router (right) just slipped past the FCC, and they seem to be near the pinnacle of their genre. They can nab HSPA / UMTS / GSM data and sling it out over WiFi and Ethernet, as well as share a USB printer, while the W35 adds in voice and fax capability. There's naturally no word on price or availability just yet, but we're mainly just excited to see this genre get the sort of aesthetic sensibility it deserves.

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 2:41AM]

The problem is that the people that buy these things don't buy them for aesthetic sensibility. In fact on yachts they are hidden under a seat cushion or in a helm under cabinet. So now the question is - how do you hang this thing on a wall or a bulkhead? Elsewhere in business - portable construction sites and such. I doubt they either care so much about how it looks. Probably hanging it in a communications closet or some other out of the way place.

In a vehicle it would probably normally be hidden as well. These just work - normally not much to look at - unless it's NOT working for some reason. Even then they have a web page that you hit first before crawling in to go look at the main box.

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Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 4:42AM]

The W35 will be wall / bulkhead mountable as well. The bottom bracket will come off allowing it to be mounted vertical on a flat surface with 2 screws (or strong velcro or similar.)

Ericsson video up on the below link (and my blog) ...

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Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W35

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 2:52AM]

Also the fax won't work on US carriers. It's T.38 FoIP. And AT&T and such don't support it. You have to have a FoiP provider (another monthly bill) to be able to fax. So we just recommend getting on 3G and use Efax.com.

I've been selling, servicing, and installing the predecessor to this - the W25 - for a couple years now. It's real work horse. Works with PBX's as well as Analog phone equipment. 4 port ethernet makes it very expandable.

Watch out for AT&T's 5Gigabyte a month limit though on the Internet over 3G. The bill can be a real killer for going over that limit. And they don't do much (yet?) to warn you. They do send an SMS. But not many people using this kind of box are viewing their SMS messages. They might also shut you off ... but IMHO they shut off after the bill is already $1500.00 or more. They need to shut you off right when it goes over the limit. And then offer you to turn it back on (during that month) and pay rediculous per-Kilobyte pricing to continue to use it.

Also Security Cameras, Web Cameras, and any kind of Servers are blocked. They just won't work. They say they are not supposed to work, and are not allowed. Most inbound ports (TCP, UDP) - if not all of them - are blocked.

AT&T does not offer any plan for anybody at any price that allows over 5Gb per month - according to what I've been told.

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Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25
http://www.marinetelecom.net/ERicsson_W35

[(Unverified) Posted May 8th 2009 3:06AM]

They will be available right after June 6th, 2009. I've been told also that they have the FCC and such certifications for the U.S. all ready this time. Back with the W25 it took a little longer to get them into the U.S. We still went through some "issues" with Fedex and Customs to get them cleared until they got used to seeing them coming in. We started having all the documentation in the shipping pocket.

They will be around $800 - with around $72.00 of shipping. I will have them available in June after that date. We don't know the exact pricing yet.

P.S. Oh, HSPA - came out first with HSDPA - High Speed Downlink Packet Access. Which went through 3.6Mb/s and 7.2Mb/s series. Noone will actually see that kind of speed because it's a shared medium. Unless your up at 3am. Even then probably not that much.

HSUPA is what's added (different from W25) which is higher speed on the Uplink or Uploading side. Which most people don't care about anyway.

Anyway what's the point of so much speed when you can't send too much per month? All this technology and you have a speed limit. Like owning a very fast car driven by a very bad man (**** oh wait that was the beginning of that movie I am Legend) - well a very fast car that you can't drive fast.

I predict that eventually wireless Internet will become so widely used (critical mass) that the infrastructure of the cellular companies will have to allow for increased channels on the wireless side and increased backbone network capacity - to where this 5Gb limit stuff will go away.

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Alan Spicer
http://www.marinetelecom.net