There are lots of good reasons for buying a Billion BiPAC 7404VGO, which turns out to have a lot more to offer than your average Internet router.

To begin with it's got a built-in ADSL modem capable of handling the latest ADSL2/2+ services and working out what you're connected to automatically. It's also got a 4-port Fast Ethernet switch and an 802.11g wireless access point to make it easier to share that connectivity.

Then there's the stateful inspection firewall and VPN server for remote LAN access, capable of supporting up to 16 concurrent connections. And, as if all that that wasn't enough, it also has a couple of phone sockets, enabling you to make and receive Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone calls using ordinary analogue handsets.

Price is yet another compelling reason for considering the Billion router, as it's remarkably affordable for a device with so much functionality. Plus it performs well, doing everything claimed for it in our tests. Indeed, the only issue we had was on a poor quality line - known to cause problems with virtually all such products - where it would hang after a few hours of use.

But, and it's a big but, there's also a number of good reasons for not buying the BiPAC 7404VGO and, perhaps, choosing something else instead.

Key among those reasons is usability, or rather a lack of it. We found the Billion router fairly easy to install, but then we've configured a lot of similar devices before and a novice could find it a little baffling. The slim Quick Start guides provided are a help but they only cover the basics, while the manual on the CD-ROM is aimed at techies and doesn't, in any case, add much to the mix.

The Web-based management interface, too, takes a little getting used to, with no wizards or context-sensitive help as on some other products we've tried. Plus you have to remember to manually save your changes to flash memory or risk starting again should you have to re-boot for any reason.

We were also concerned to discover very few of the security features turned on by default. The wireless interface, for example, was up and running as soon as we turned the router on, giving unfettered access to our network until instructed otherwise. Likewise, we had to turn the firewall on ourselves, after which we had to add custom rules to allow common protocols such as IMAP4 through.

For those able to live with such shortcomings then the BiPAC 7404VGO does have a lot going for it. That's especially true when it comes to the VoIP functionality where you can connect two analogue handsets to make and receive calls via hosted SIP services or a standard PSTN landline, with least cost routing and automatic failover to the PSTN when the Internet connection isn't available.

The VPN functionality is similarly impressive, with support for IPSec, L2TP and PPTTP tunnelling and an embedded 3DES encryption accelerator. However, unless you've had plenty of experience you're, again, likely to find the VoIP and VPN features hard to setup, with the lack of VPN client software another drawback to bear in mind.

If you know what you're doing and think you could use the functionality then it's worth considering. But if you're an Internet newbie who just wants an easy life, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from.

An impressive package that combines an ADSL modem, Ethernet switch, wireless access point, VPN server and VoIP gateway in one affordable device. However, a high level of technical expertise is required to take advantage of all this functionality, with a lack of documentation and a quirky Web interface making this one for the experts rather than the novices.