Cute home router "Web Cube" that fashionable girls want to put in the room

Updated at 12:00 on October 02, 2013

Sentence ● Yasuhiro Yamane Edit ● Gian Suzuki

Recently, I think that many people have mobile routers that can use LTE and WiMAX lines. A mobile router that can be used not only when you are out but also at hotels is very convenient. However, if you want to use it at home, a stationary home router is also convenient.

At the serviced apartment in Berlin that I visited the other day, LTE-compatible home routers were installed in each room. Some people live in their own homes in the apartment, so for owners who rent a room that is out of the ordinary, they can access the internet from inside the room just by placing it, and they can use the power supply of the home.

However, the home router is generally called a wireless device style, and it is not installed in a conspicuous position such as in the back of a bookshelf even at home. If anything, the existence of shadows from the table. However, there are products that dare to put the spotlight on such home routers.

This transparent cube is Huawei's home router. The product name is B183, but it also has a slightly sneaky name called "Web Cube". With this design, it doesn't feel strange to put it as a room interior.

The SIM slot, reset button / external antenna, USB terminal, and power button on the top of the Web Cube are very simple. Some home routers have some "RJ-45 terminals" to connect PCs, but this Web Cube only supports WiFi and does not have a wired connection. Also, since the USB terminal is for manufacturer maintenance, it cannot be connected to a PC. The reason why all cables other than the power cable are excluded is that we are also considering using the interior.

Easy to use. After inserting the SIM card, just plug it into a household power outlet. Overseas, the European carrier "Hutchison" sells this Web Cube. Therefore, the logo of the company's brand "3 (three)" is greatly included in the upper part of the main body.

After that, like a general router, open a browser after connecting to WiFi from a PC etc. and connect to "192.168.1.1". On the management screen, you can check the connection status and set the APN and connection method. As a slightly interesting feature, you can also turn off the blue light on the Web Cube itself.

This light is a blue LED light and has only one color. It would be interesting if it lights up in yellow or red where the radio wave condition is bad. However, the blinking pattern changes when searching for radio waves or connecting with WPS, and it also serves as an indicator.

Web Cube is convenient for home use, but there may be times when your home is large or there are many small rooms and WiFi is weak to other rooms. In such a case, you can lift the top of the Web Cube to divide it and carry only the top.

Actually, the lower part of the main body including the transparent cube part is a power supply base station, and there is no other function. On the other hand, the upper part of the main body has a built-in router function on the back side, and the lower part is connected with a European standard power outlet. In other words, you can remove only the upper part and plug it directly into an outlet in another room.

A Web Cube with a design that makes you want to place it in a place where you can see it indoors, even though it is a stationary home router. The current model is only compatible with 3G, but I would like you to release LTE compatible products as well. And for example, Vodafone is red, T-Mobile is pink, and depending on the specific carrier, the color of the built-in light also matches the corporate color, and it seems interesting to come up with variations. I hope Huawei, which develops and sells routers that support various communication methods, will continue to release products with good taste, such as the Web Cube.

Yasuhiro Yamane's Official Site Hong Kong Mobile Information Bureau

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