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Netgear MR314 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch

Netgear MR314 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch

List Price: $213.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: kept dropping wireless connections
Review: I bought this router and MA401 wireless card for my laptop. It was pretty easy to set up everything. Within 10 minutes, I was already enjoying my wireless network. But, after a few hours, my wireless connection was suddenly dropped and my access to the Internet was denied on the laptop. I tried to restart the machine, reconfigure the network... but nothing worked. I called the customer service number. They told me to change some of the configurations and it worked. But then the next day the problem came back again. It kept happening for a whole week. And each time I called them, they would tell me to do something which seemingly solved the problem. But each time, it came back again. Everything became so annoying and frustrating now. I just wanted to return the products. Then the last time I called them when this problem happened again, they told me to upload a new firmware into the router. And bang, it solved all the problems. Their customer service is polite, nice and knowledgable. But I just don't understand why they didn't tell me to update the firmware in the very first place. Now I'm happy again, after all the pain I went through. So be prepared for big trouble if you want to purchase this router. And if you know what you are doing to your computer like me, ask them about the new firmware before they keep throwing garbage solutions to you. Other than that, the product is cool. Easy and fast to use.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Easy on Mac
Review: Hooked it up to my Mac G4 tower via ethernet, and also using an Orinoco wireless PC card with it for my Powerbook G3. Not pretty on the outside but works great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific!
Review: Couldn't believe how easy this was to install- took me less than 5 minutes and it was all up and running. It's great to be free of cords!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great service
Review: Setting it up was pretty easy, and when I got stuck at one point, phone support was quick, concise, and walked me through the rest up to the point that everything was just as it should be. Absolutely no frustration. However, as I have read a lot of places, and I'm going to warn again, wireless distance is unpredictable, depending on where you are. I'm in an old building with concrete inner walls and lots of metal, and the signal barely makes it 60 feet, which happens to be JUST enough.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Netgear makes a wonderful product
Review: An IT person at work recommended Netgear wireless routers, so I decided to give this one a try. I should mention that I know nothing about networking and not a whole lot about computers. I ordered this router and two of the Netgear wireless cards (401s), one for my laptop and one for my wife's. In no time I had both cards and the router installed and running on our cable modem. The router is in our pantry on the first floor of our home and I can use my laptop in any room in our 2500 square foot house. The signal strength is great and the connection has been flawless. I did need to call Netgear support for help setting up the 128 bit encryption but that was easy and the technician was very helpful. I have friends with other wireless routers and they are not nearly as pleased.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great alternative to Airport
Review: I set up an Apple Airport Base Station for a client 2 weeks ago, and it was incredibly easy; if you're a mac user and not at all technically inclined, go with the Apple product. However, if you have moderate computer skills, the Netgear MR314 is a great alternative...I had it up and running in about 5 minutes. It's working wonderfully with my Apple Powerbook G4's Airport card; I have full signal strength throughout my apartment. It's also handy to have the switched ethernet ports on the unit - we've got another computer plugged in directly...

The only real shortcoming is that the web interface to manage the unit isn't the most intuitive, and it takes some hunting to find what you're looking for. But I'm not going to be changing settings with any regularity..Also, you can't attach an external antenna, but for most people, this is a non-issue.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy setup, easy installation - excellent product
Review: I have never setup a wireless access point before, so I was afraid that it would take me much time to get everything working as I wanted. I am a tech professional, and I know how things are supposed to work in theory. By following the setup instructions, I managed to setup my PC and DSL modem to work with this router in less than 10 minutes. The PC is connected through the Ethernet port of the router. This was the easy part.
I have a laptop with a wireless network card and I wanted the laptop to be able to access the Internet and share files with my PC as well. I tried all possible settings in both the Netgear's administration interface and in the laptop's wireless card management software, but it did not seem to come together. Some hours later I noticed the wireless network switch on the front of the laptop. :-) After moving that little switch to the right position, everything worked just fine.
The router's management interface is very well organized, it is very easy to use. The wireless communication is excellent, but it is not surprising since I live in an apartment, so the maximum distance between the router and the laptop is 30 feet.
Two advices for new users: change the default administrator password, turn on encryption (128-bit) for the wireless communication.
All in all, this product has great features (firewall with network address translation, 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch + wireless access point, content filtering, DMZ support) for a very reasonable price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great product! So-so support
Review: I am extremely pleased with my MR314. I was able to use it as a wireless access point and connect it to an existing router. This was a nice surprise for me. I wanted to keep my existing SMC router because it has a print server. I just pluged the MR314 modem connection into an existing rj45 port on the SMC router and it worked great! (unfortunately I have 2 routers on my desk for the sake of wireless capability and ease of printing from my machines)...

The bad part about the customer service is that they didn't know that the MR314 could be used like an access point, they said I couldn't do what I wanted to.

I would recommend this product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to set up with a strong signal
Review: This switch is perfect if you have a couple computers and want an easy wireless network. The switch doesn't allow you to get down to the nitty gritty of working with networks but as most people don't need that I would highly recommend this product. Netgear is a great company and has good technical support if you run into any problems (unlike linksys whose products are almost as bad as their customer service).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: range is horrible
Review: the range on this product is horrible. i bought it thinking i was getting a good deal because it was [failry inexpensive] after rebate but its not worth the headache. i can hardly keep a connection with the router at the bottom of the stairs and the usb adapter at the top (40 feet, tops) and only one wall in between. if you're planning on staying in the same room as your router, its probably a good deal.


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