If you’re living in a house out in the sticks that doesn’t have fixed-line internet, or even a house in the city with a terrible ADSL connection — like me — then you have an alternative, provided your download quota requirements aren’t too high. D-Link’s DWR-921 is a router that you can plug a SIM into and have instant fast 4G access, as long as you’re happy to pay Telstra or Optus or Vodafone for mobile data.
The D-Link DWR-921 only has built-in 802.11n rather than the current, faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard that other D-Link home routers like the Viper and the Taipan do, but it’s not the kind of device that you’d hook a whole house worth of connections to. D-Link says it’s the kind of stop-gap solution you’d use if you didn’t have access to higher-quota fixed-line services like ADSL or cable.
It’s a lot easier and faster for Australia’s mobile telcos to build out fast, reliable 4G services than it is for those same telcos or their fixed-line competitors to roll cable and fibre down streets and highways. That was once one of the arguments against the NBN. But since mobile data limits are much smaller than we’re used to on fixed-line services, it’s not a perfect solution.
The DWR-921 is $249.95, and you can find it at D-Link’s resellers around Australia. [D-Link]