Combining the modem, router and VoIP adaptor in one package does reduce the clutter, although if you’ve got more than four Ethernet devices you’ll need to add a switch.

VoIP support for two handsets makes for a very economical setup for a small office, and we were glad to see provision for failover to a regular PSTN line as we aren’t yet convinced that an all-VoIP setup is sufficiently robust for small business users. (We experienced significant power outages during the test period.) If you need additional VoIP lines, you could add stand-alone IP handsets providing your ADSL plan provides sufficient bandwidth.

The USB port on the back panel can be used to connect one storage device. The router can then act as an SMB file server, an FTP server, and a web server, giving significant flexibility. Different partitions on the device can be associated with different services.

If required, both the FTP and web servers can be accessed from the Internet. Unless you have a fixed IP address, you’ll likely combine that with the dynamic DNS support.

It would have been nice to see a print server as well.

The F1PI242EGau also comes preloaded with Tomizone software allowing the router to be used as a pay-to-play hot spot. Members of the Tomizone network receive half the fees paid by users accessing their hot spots. Whether this is a good deal depends largely on the expected level of usage and the amount of spare capacity you have before excess charges kick in.

One minor criticism is that the power pack is on the bulky side and you may find it impossible to use anything other than a standard plug in the adjacent socket of a powerboard. Another is that the shiny black surface is especially prone to fingermarks.

Wireless performance presented another mystery. The first two trials in the same room took 25 and 26 seconds, but after that we couldn’t copy the folder in less than a minute. The long-range test bombed out completely, as we were unable to get a solid connection. Connecting from the next room gave an average of 33 seconds with little variation.