Netgear MR814 802.11b Wireless 4-Port Cable/DSL Router

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Last 6 Weeks
Review: I hate to write this review because I once thought Netgear was a better-than-average network hardware manufacturer, but I have been completely disappointed with this router. I have had a home network for 5 years now and have used several routers. When I decided to add wireless I chose Netgear because I have had good Netgear hardware in the past. When I first installed the router I was surprised at how poor the range was. Now that it has quit working after 6 weeks, I feel that I should post a warning. I called Netgear's technical support and found out that they have put a number of obstacles in the path of anyone seeking warranty service. I have decide not to through the trouble of returning the router - I don't want another one. I am planning to replace it with a Motorola router.

Rating:
Summary: Dont buy this even if you get it for free!!
Review: Got this router 2 months back. Was very happy to see the design of the router and mis-understood that it will even perform to the same level. First time I insert the configuration CD into my laptop, BOOM!! my wireless network went for a toss!!! Thankfully, my laptop has 'restore' functionality which allowed me to restore the settings prior to the netgear installation. I'm saved.

It worked so-so for about a month. After that, everytime i want to connect to the net, I have to shutdown my laptop for atleast 10 minutes and then start it again. After repeating this for 3-4 times, 'it might connect'!! Feels pathetic. I would prefer a dial-up connection over this router.

I'm giving one star, since i'm able to connect to the internet atleast few times a day!!

Rating:
Summary: A decent little router for the price
Review: Pros:

- Relatively small form factor, easy on the eyes. I live in an apartment full of ugly beige boxes, but if you value aesthetics, this router is definitely better-looking than their comparable D-Link or Linksys counterparts. Won't look out of place in a room full of pretty Macs.

- Very easy to set up and configure. If you're a power user, you could set it up inside of five minutes without reading so much as one line of documentation. But if you're not so accomplished, fear not--the Quick Install guide that comes in the box is well-written and easy to follow.

- Pretty good web-based configuration interface. For those of you who have wisely ditched MS Internet Explorer as your default browser, you'll be happy to know that it works just fine in Mozilla Firefox or Opera. There's no need to open a separate Help window to decipher all the available options (and there are many)--there's a handy Help pane on the right-hand side that updates automatically every time you navigate to a different section.

- If you're configuring restricted wireless access or DHCP, you can assign device names to MAC addresses. If you're administering a dozen or so computers (including friends' laptops when they come over to mooch off your DSL), this comes in really handy.

- Built-in SPI firewall, which provides automatic defense against denial of service (DoS) attacks, among other things. Trust me, you need this.

- It just works. If you find yourself power-cycling yours often, try upgrading the firmware to the latest version. It makes a world of difference (and you might get a modest performance increase as well). And it's not very hard to do.

Cons:

- No WPA support. WEP security may deter a casual snooper, but a more determined hacker can crack it pretty easily. I wouldn't deploy this anywhere where data security is paramount.

- The built-in keyword and domain blocking functionality is one and the same. I tried blocking a domain name but wound up blocking any page that just mentioned the domain name (including Google search results). If you need serious firewall functionality, you'd be better off with a dedicated solution like Zone Alarm.

- Signal strength plummets if too close to certain electronic devices like CRT computer monitors, televisions, or cordless phones. I wound up placing the router on the opposite side of the room as my computer. That helped a lot.

- Signal strength is 70% in the same room as the router. My old D-Link did 93% in the same room before it died. Your mileage may vary.

- No way to attach an external antenna or replace the built-in antenna. If you want improved wireless coverage, you'd have to get another wireless access point. Luckily I live in a small apartment, but if you live in a multi-story house or work in a large office, you'll want to think about this.

- Painfully slow LAN file transfers over wireless. If you have a need for wireless speed, you'll want to consider 802.11g equipment or better. Internet access speed is just fine, however.

If all you need is a basic wireless router that lets you share your internet connection with everyone in your home or office, this more than fits the bill. And it's real hard to beat the price.

Rating:
Summary: I dont get it...
Review: I bought this router back in December. I got it on time and decided to try it out in my old apartment before I moved to my new apartment. I had Cox Communications as my cable provider at the time. The router worked perfectly, about the same as my old Linksys wired router before. I then moved to a different area of San Diego and changed cable companies, Time Warner. Ever since then I have had nothing but problems with this stupid thing. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with India tech support for them to finally tell me it will have to be replaced.

After a little bit of time I got the new one, or what I thought was a new one. Apparantly they sent me a refurbished router of the same type. I had to once again call tech support as the router didnt even recongnize itself as a blasted router. The kind lady helped me fix it and for a while it had no problems. Then I started to notice that after a while Internet Explorer does not want to work. I can download to my hearts content, although the speeds are much slower than before, and use MSN Messenger. But with IE, the darn thing stops recongnizing my internet connection at times. This is very frustrating and I finally emailed the support and demanded a refund, for which I will use to get another Linksys.

I wouldnt recommend this router. If you must have Netgear then get a more advanced one, I think this model is being recalled.

Rating:
Summary: Started out great, sporadic signal drop
Review: Bought this router some months ago to network two houses and all my laptops inside. Initial setup was a pain; had to reconfigure the LAN to work on the router's DHCP setup system. But once that was working all (Still) wasn't good.

Unexpected network drops would occur at random times. We'd be sitting in the bedroom watching a movie streamed and the signal would just 'disapear'. No reasons, no explanations- just suddenly at 20% or less, and completely lost. Since there are only two of us in the house and she wasn't carrying pieces of shielding around, I'm fairly certain it was the hardware just futzing out. Mind you the AT&T cheapo router was still broadcasting over it's network, so we just switched.

Resetting the unit once it's lost signal is the only way to get it back up and running- which means reconfiguring the LAN to work on it and hoping it 'sticks'.

The antenna isn't removeable; trying to get better signal is near impossible.

For the price, it's nice- but I'd stick to G or Turbos instead.

Rating:
Summary: Easy and fast setup
Review: This router was a snap to setup, took about 5 minutes. But, a note to centrino users: you must update the firmware if you are usings centrino or you will lose connection every 30 minutes and have to unplug the router and plug it in again. Took me about 10 hours to figure this out. Once I did, updating was quick and easy.