Verdict: Multifunctional doesn't begin to describe this little box - it has more tricks than R2-D2.
Broadband routers have been gaining features over the last few years. First, they became wireless access points, then facilities such as print servers and Voice over IP were built into some models. However, the WL-700gE Multifunctional Broadrange Wireless Storage Router (to give it it's full name) takes the notion of integrating extra functions to a whole new level. It can leap small buildings, juggle, has X-ray vision and can prepare cordon bleu cookery at the touch of a button.
Actually, we're lying about all that, at least according to the information in the manual, but the WL-700gE does have rather a lot of built-in capabilities. The use of 'Multifunctional' in its name is an understatement. Aside from being a wireless broadband router with a firewall, Asus also integrates a 250GB hard disk, a range of servers (file, FTP and web), and a digital media server. However, the headline act is the 'Download Master' utility, whereby the WL-700gE independently acts as an HTTP, FTP and BitTorrent download client. You can leave this device grabbing big files from the Internet overnight while your noisy PC has a well-earned rest.
Before it can do all that, however, the WL-700gE must take its place as the gateway between you and your Internet connection. An Ethernet WAN interface is provided for this, so the router must be attached to an ADSL or cable modem via an Ethernet port.
Asus provides a Wizard utility for configuring the router's settings. Once loaded on a host PC, you simply press a button on the back of the WL-700gE and run the software. This leads you through setting up a cable modem or PPPoE ADSL, plus a few more options that you're unlikely to use. It then maps a Windows drive letter to the router's hard disk, so you can access it over the network from a PC as if it's locally installed. As the WL-700gE is also a wireless router, the wizard creates a WEP or WPA key and SSID for your wireless network, and finishes by giving you the option to print these or save them to disk. The WL-700gE offers 802.11b/g WLAN, plus a special 125Mb/sec mode, which requires an Asus high-speed wireless adaptor (the WL-100g PCMCIA card, for example, should cost around £20).
The remaining functions, such as managing file shares, must be accessed via the Web interface. This provides surprisingly advanced features such as bandwidth management, and support for dynamic DNS allocation from DynDNS.org, TZO.com, or zoneedit.com so that you can host a website on the WL-700gE. The webserver has a messageboard function, and the separate PhotoAlbum Exporter can transfer images to the site in photo albums.
There are also several tasks that you can perform without using a PC at all. For example, plug a USB storage device into the USB port on the front of the unit, press the Copy button, and its contents will be copied to the local hard disk.
The twin USB ports on the rear of the device offer further options. You can attach and share a printer, so you don't need to use a PC as a host, and you can also hook up extra external USB hard disks to increase storage, either for backup or simply sharing their content over the network. The WL-700gE can even host a webcam. Asus hasn't published a list of supported cameras, but we've heard that the Logitech QuickCam Pro will work.
The WL-700gE's media server supports iTunes and UPnP AV (including the DLNA standard), so clients supporting either of these standards should connect without any hassle. We had no trouble using a Terratec Noxon iRadio to stream music, and the iTunes media-streaming client worked perfectly.
So what of the aforementioned Download Master BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP file download utility? This hooks into the host PC's web browser and should kick off an HTTP download directly to the WL-700gE's hard disk. The file download should then appear in the Download Master utility, which you use to initiate FTP and BitTorrent downloads, manually entering the site and file details. However, we had trouble getting this to work. Fortunately, you can also use the WL-700gE's web management interface to cut and paste remote file locations into the queue, and we found this method worked well, although it's fiddlier to carry out.
Interestingly, the web interface leaves off Download Daemon and Download Sharing by default, with a warning that sharing certain types of files with the Internet may be against the law. There's no mention of BitTorrent here, but this is clearly what Asus has in mind.
Conclusion
There are cheaper Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices on the market, but most of them are more expensive than the Asus WL-700gE. Couple this with the huge range of features the device offers, and it's excellent value. Not everything worked exactly as intended - the Download Master's problems were a particular annoyance. However, while the 250GB will quickly fill up, you can easily attach external USB disks to boost the storage. In fact, there's so much on offer that the Asus WL-700gE will significantly add to the range of tasks for which you can use your network. We just wish it had X-ray vision and excellent cooking skills too.
