Billion BiPAC 7800DXL review

WIRELESS SPEEDS
We initially connected our test laptop to the 7800DXL on the 2.4GHz band, and achieved data transfer rates of 33.2MB/s at one metre, 24MB/s at 10 metres and 12.9MB/s at 25 metres. Our lab is a challenging environment for any 2.4GHz-band device and router, but even so, we’ve seen better speeds from devices such as the Securifi Almond and the D-Link DIR-826L under the same conditions.

We also used a Billion BiPAC 3010ND Wi-Fi adaptor to connect to it on the 2.4GHz band, and saw a big improvement at 10 metres, with the transfer speed rising to 61.5MB/s, but a lower speed of 4MB/s at 25 metres. The 7800DXL’s transfer speeds were much better on the 5GHz band, with speeds of 97.2MB/s at one metre, 93.2MB/s at 10 metres when we used our test laptop’s built-in Wi-Fi adaptor. However, we again experienced a low 4MB/s at 25 metres. The speeds improved yet again when we used the BiPAC 3010ND adaptor to connect to the 7800DXL on the 5GHz band, with speeds of 133MB/s at one metre, 90.1MB/s at 10 metres and 22MB/s at 25 metres.

From our speed tests, we can see that the 7800DXL is best suited to open-plan offices and living rooms where users aren’t likely to be more than 15-20 metres away from the router.

CONCLUSION

The Billion BiPAC 7800DXL may be unattractive, but it’s still a good general purpose router. There’s no reason why it can’t be used in the home, but its ability to use 3G and 4G Wi-Fi adaptors as a means of connecting to the internet makes it better suited to offices. If you’re looking for a home router then the Netgear WNDR4500 is a good alternative. It has better Wi-Fi performance on the 2.4GHz band and a more user-friendly web interface. If you need a good router for your business, however, you should consider the BiPAC 7800DXL.