Netgear FM114P 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router with Print Server

Rating:
Summary: Look elsewhere first...
Review: I am currently on my second FM114P, the first one just stopped working with TEST and ALERT LEDs on. The offshore call center support was not great. 4 of the 5 people I spoke with were rude and abrupt -- one person was very nice but, unfortunately, that phone connection was interrupted and lost, the person did call back within the hour to apologize, which was very considerate. The FM114P product has great features but is unacceptably unreliable. It has a great 5 year warranty -- you'll need it! My first failed after about a year, but it never really stayed up for long, requiring the too occasional reboot. The wireless portion is extremely finicky and often would not work even when no problems were experienced with the hard wired LAN connections. The replacement sent to me by NETGEAR remains problematic in the same manner -- I still have 3.5 years left on the warranty but will probably search for a better solution. As one of the reviewers mentioned previously the FM1144P does run very hot, which is a concern. You are best to seek a different option when shopping for a wireless, for now I would steer clear of NETGEAR until they get their act together.

Rating:
Summary: Print Server doesn't work
Review: I've had a Netgear FM114P for over a year. It works great as a wireless access point & firewall. But the print server function is so unreliable that we've given up on it.

I have the print server driving a garden-variety HP printer. I have one old Win95 desktop and 3 recent Windows-XP laptops using the print server. I got them all printing fine through the print server, but I found that the server hangs up quite often. Symptom: all PCs say that the printer is not available, but nothing comes out on the printer. Fix: clear the print queues on all machines, then reboot the FM114P. Gets very old after the first half-dozen times. Basically, the print server function is not useable.

I also had one total machine failure -- the unit failed to complete power-on, with an error indication in the LEDs. Netgear replaced it on warranty without much fuss, but did charge $10 or so for shipping.

My net: if/when I need to replace the FM114P I'll look around for something else with the same combination of function on the hope that I'll get a working print server.

Rating:
Summary: Requires Frequent Rebooting - Not acceptable
Review: I have had two of these routers both of which have failed shortly after the warranty expired. I kept the router on 24/7 but for some reason if the router gets unplugged from the power outlet it is difficult and finally impossible to get the router to come back up after plugging back in (after the warranty expired no less). The test light stays on continously now on both routers. No amount of resetting/unplugging has brought them out of the test mode. I'm guessing that they are using poor quality components to keep the price so cheap. I also use a very expensive line conditioner that it is/was plugged into to no avail. Will be looking at a SonicWall device for a replacement.