Netgear WGT634U 108 Mbps Wireless Media Router

Rating:
Summary: waste of time
Review: Just didn't work in my network. Kept dropping the DSL internet connection. My network: Yahoo SBC DSL, SlipStreem DSL modem, one wired PC, and one wireless laptop. Every 30 minutes or so the internet connection would drop. And the laptop would hardly ever pick up a signal. I bought the equivalent Linksys (minus the USB port) and everything worked fine.

Rating:
Summary: My last Netgear router
Review: Like other reviewers, I have been a previous Netgear owner. I noticed that their tech support has diminished over the last two years and they now rigidly enforce a 90 day rule. Yet when I upgraded my home network to 802.11G, I still purchased the familiar Netgear brand. I wish I hadn't.

While set up was easy, the extra expense of the USB drive support router was a waste of money. The external drive I connected to the USB port was 'visible' to my network computers only occasionally. When I contacted Netgear support, they told me I had to format a one week old drive. I did, but it still was only occasionally available from my networked computers.

More importantly, I began to have connectivity problems in the last month and even computers hard wired to the router cannot find an internet connection. After 45 minutes on the phone with Netgear support, they have concluded that my modem is not working correctly. Wow, thanks!

My choices are to return it and wait for a replacement in 7-10 days, or pay $15 for a five day turnaround or $30 for a 3 day turnaround. No thanks. I'd rather throw this expensive router away, cross Netgear off my list and buy something reliable. Save your money, save your time, save your hair and buy elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Your Previous Reviews Helped
Review: Reading the previous reviews really helped educate me on internet protection. First of all, I think this is a great product. I havent had a single failure or problem yet, and I'm doing every test I can to try to get it to hiccup. Based on the previous reviews, I scanned my ports to see if there were any open. And the default was to have port 21 open and 113 closed but viewable. It also returns a ping which isn't totally internet stealthy. But after going thru proper set-up, and actually READING, I learned to change the default to stealth all my ports and turned my ping return off. Now I am totally secure and have an awesome fast wireless machine. And on a computer knowledge level. 10 being Super Computer Geek, 0 being No knowledge, I would rate myself a 6.5, just a tad above average. Anyone that takes the time to read this and research products is smart enough to set this up.

Rating:
Summary: Linux ?
Review: Since it can only read NTFS and not write to it, I am assuming that the router runs some version of Linux kernel in its Firmware.

Rating:
Summary: Easy setup and Future Expansion Possible
Review: The Netgear WGT-634U Wireless Media Router was very easy to install and setup. I successfully connected three laptops (1 wired, one wireless and one both wired and wireless) within 15 minutes. The router works great with good range. Although 108g is great, I've had to back down to 54g for the sake of my laptop with a 54g card built-in.
The router's setup is a web of java-enabled web pages stored inside the router itself. You access it via IE or other java Browser. Very nice. The first thing I did was to update the firmware to the latest version: 1.1.0.6
I do not have a USB drive as yet to test the media applications of the router. I plan to get one very soon because it is a great idea with many possibilities.
I purchased this router with a PS121 printer server and WAG511 802.11a/b/g Dual Band PC Card. The printer server was a snap to setup requiring only a CD-ROM installation on all three computers. I was able to free up a USB port on one computer by doing this. Now I can print from anywhere on any computer.
The WAG511 card is for one laptop that I will use wirelessly only and offers access to a wider array of networks outside my home.
One of my laptops is wired only via a NIC/Modem PC Card and is in a permanent location.
My primary laptop is wired at its main location but can easily be switched to wireless via a built-in 54g Wi-Fi card.
It's great having all three computers running streaming media. Also, I can now burn DVDs/CDs and more on one computer and still access my cable modem to get online with the others.
The router looks great too. Runs warm but that's mentioned in the manual.

Rating:
Summary: Netgear Equals Superb Service
Review: This holiday season I was a good santa and purchased numerous wireless networking products for my various family members. Sure it was partially a selfish act as I wanted to be able to easily connect when I went to visit, but for the most part it was just an act of giving. I purchased mainly G products and they varied from routers to USB adapters to PC Card adapters. I did also purchase a couple of B products for those in the family that already had some wireless networking products (yes, I know they are backwards compatible but I didn't want to take any chances).

Only two members of the family had installation problems (considering my family is very non-technical I was quite impressed) and those two people both had yet to upgrade to Windows XP SP2. The rest of the family members were up and running within minutes.

As for the couple of family members that did have problems, well they called me first (of course) and I told them to just run back through the installation procedure again. This solved the problem for Uncle Dennis but Grandma Joyce still couldn't get it to work properly. I reluctantly told her to call Netgear's technical support (hey the reviews on Amazon haven't been too pretty for their tech support). I however was quite pleased when an hour later I got an email from Grandma Joyce thanking me for the great gift. I called her back and she told me that after fiddling with the settings with the Netgear people she was up and running within 30 minutes.

Overall, I consider this the ultimate test of product quality and support and I would give Netgear two thumbs up.

I hope this review was helpful to you in putting your mind at ease regarding ease of setup and trust of technical support if needed.

Rating:
Summary: Useless
Review: This router crashes every day or two. It has to be cold rebooted and all the connection details reloaded each time.

I have already returned the first unit, but the replacement is just as bad. Even with a new unit and the latest software upgrade, this router is very unreliable.

Rating:
Summary: It works fine for me.
Review: This router works great for me. I am glad I bought it.