Time was when we covered 54Kb/s 802.11g wireless routers by the dozen. But then they all reached a point where they became practically identical. Virtually all now use similar hardware and offer exactly the same features leaving minor differences in performance, configuration screens and price as the only real differentiators. In short, they're boring, and any one you buy will do a job from about $130.

Now there's a change in the air. For a long time our A-Listed Draytek 2600VG held its title for offering something out of the norm - built in VoIP features. With two RJ-45 phone sockets you can plug in a regular DECT phone (or two) and make VoIP calls without even realising you weren't using a land line. It all came at a hefty premium though - $279 - for which you got one of the most polished web interfaces in the business and full Virtual Private Network (VPN) terminations.

Draytek is no longer standing on its own, with Netcomm offering up a rival product. It doesn't offer full VPN functions (passthrough only) but most home users will never use this. It does, however, sport two RJ-45 connectors. The only niggle is that you have to plug in an additional RJ-45 cable (in addition to the main Internet RJ-45 cable) to get them to work. Fortunately, Netcomm supplies two, plus an Ethernet cable and an ADSL splitter.

There's no partnership with a SIP company like Draytek and Draytel, so you'll have to find a company yourself and enter the details manually. The details are clear but the unexplained jargon will scare those unfamiliar with basic networking. However, once we'd set it up with our Draytel details we were happily making calls. The QoS feature ensured that even when there was high data throughput, our voice data packets were unimpeded and the call remained clear.

In terms of security WEP, WPA (with RADIUS authentication for business) and WPA2 are supported. MAC address filtering is also supplied. Other potentially useful features include the ability to turn wireless off and switch the router into an (albeit expensive) wireless bridge to boost the range of your network (though if range is your priority you should see the adjacent MIMO routers).

So far the Draytek just edges it thanks to its ease of configuration and VPN but Netcomm isn't finished. The NB9W works with ADSL2+. While our test Internode account doesn't support this yet, it works fine with regular connections and is a great upgrade path to have.

Putting the wireless throughput to the test, the NB9W also came out on top. You won't notice much difference in web navigation speed (or much for file transfers) within a few rooms though. Up close Netcomm managed 53Mb/s to Draytek's 55Mb/s. However, out in the garden the NB9W managed 2 minutes 24 seconds, while the Draytek could barely hold a signal.

Neither can hold a candle to MIMO's range, and if this is your priority see Netgear and Linksys. However, we believe the VoIP features are worth paying for and the cheaper Netcomm, with its ADSL2+ compatibility, ousts Draytek from the A-List.