D-Link MyPocket 3G HSDPA Router DIR-457 review

The D-Link MyPocket is a 3G wireless router the size of a smartphone. Sliding off the back cover, you find a SIM card slot, a microSD card slot and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts for a couple of hours when using 3G, and for just over four when used simply as a wireless router. It can also be used as a simple 3G dongle, and the contents of the memory card can be shared across your network.

Setting up the MyPocket is reasonably simple. There’s a Quick Start guide on the CD, which you’ll need to read to find out that the connection manager software only installs correctly when the MyPocket is in modem mode. Once installed, the software lets you choose from a huge list of pre-configured connection profiles, so you don’t have to know your 3G carrier’s details.

You can also simply connect to the MyPocket via wireless, accessing the setup web page at 192.168.0.1. Both wizard and manual setup are available, and the wizard again lets you choose your country and then your ISP – most major UK carriers are listed. Wireless support is the key feature for portable routers. Using it you can access the internet on the move from any wireless device, such as an iPod Touch.

3G speeds are highly dependent on your carrier and location; but with a maximum bandwidth of 3.6Mbit/s (using HSDPA) it isn’t ideal for downloading files or streaming video. As 3G speeds are so limited, wireless speed isn’t an issue if you’re only accessing the internet, which means the lack of support for 802.11n isn’t a big deal. Using 802.11g is more than sufficient, with 4.7Mbit/s even at a range of 10m.

The wireless connection supports Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) and provides basic Quality of Service capability using WiFi Multimedia (WMM), which prioritises voice and video over other wireless traffic. You can also reserve up to 20 DHCP client slots, which is more than enough. Port forwarding rules and general filters, based on MAC address or IP, are also limited to 20 each, and there’s support for a DMZ, multicast streaming and UPnP.

Support for Dynamic DNS is included, using either D-Link’s own service or the popular DynDNS service, both of which are free. You can also specify an IP address from which you can connect remotely. These are useful if you use the MyPocket as your main router at home, although you’d need to leave it plugged in to a power socket.

It’s the price that lets the MyPocket down: while it has a full set of features and works well, it’s a lot more expensive than similar devices. Edimax’s 3G-6210n (What’s New, Shopper 267) costs almost half the price, has faster WiFi, and has a LAN port as well, so you can use a wired network (say in a hotel) to save on 3G costs.