Rating: 
Summary: Great, simple router for the home
Review: I like computers and use them all the time but I'm not networking savy. I was very fearful of leaving me home PC directly connected to our cable modem (AT&T @home) without a firewall. I also needed to connect my work laptop to the Internet and share files with the home PC. The Netgear was perfect for us.It took about 15 minutes to set up only because @home in our area uses "static IP address". If this applies to you, don't worry, AT&T gave you this info on your original order. Also, Netgear instructions show you how to retrieve it from your PC if you can't find the paperwork. It sets up via Internet Explorer and the router prompts you to enter the information. For DHCP users, its even easier as this is the default for the router. It took longer to reboot my PC after changing its settings than setting up the router. It was a great buy. After 1 month, we're very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: Works right out of the box!
Review: I purchased this router a few days ago, and I'm stunned by how easy it was to set up. I use high-speed internet access, and I wanted to be able to share the line with another home computer. By reading the instructions that came with the router, I was able to install everything in about 15 minutes. This is pretty amazing, since the internet provider I use normally requires a software program to log into it. All I did was enter the login information into the web-based interface, connect the cables, and both computers had seamless high-speed internet access. The case is made of metal, and it operates silently. The lights on the front offer useful information, like informing me the LAN card in my older system offered only 10MBPS rather than 100MBPS, like the newer system, and telling me when the computers are turned on and accessing the internet. The built-in switch is great, too. It lets you create a home network without needing to purchase anything else. So now my computers have fast access to both the internet and each other. What really sold me on this product was reading about the problems people had with different routers in the high-speed newsgroup. Apparently Netgear has excellent and speedy customer service, while its main competitor in this product line has very slow and quite unhelpful customer service. (This last point should be taken with a grain of salt, since it is second-hand information, and I had no need to call Netgear's customer support.) Also, if it matters to anyone, Netgear is owned by Nortel, which is known for excellent products in its own right. I couldn't be happier! Highly recommended for small SOHO networks of four computers or less.
Rating: 
Summary: Works well, but for a limited time
Review: I've had my RT314 since 2000, and it worked pretty well 90% of the time. It ran in dynamic IP mode (with a near static IP from BellSouth). I also ran mail and web servers behind it for personal use. One time in 2001 I needed to upgrade the firmware because it was losing it's connection with my modem and not resetting. But this month (January 2004) the router finally gave out. The router needs to be rebooted every half hour or so to work. I can't even pull up the telnet interface after about 30 minutes. After checking most of my network, I replaced the router and everything's back to normal. So if you're not running any servers on your high speed connection and get this router for cheap, I'd recommend it to work for you for about 4 years.
Rating:
Summary: Worked perfectly out of the box
Review: I just replaced my RT311 (Cable Internet Gateway Router) with the RT314 (RT311 plus 5-port internal switch). The RT314 installed just as easily as the RT311, and since I had already configured my computers for automatic DNS resolution (according to the very clear instructions, I might add), it took maybe 2 minutes to get the RT314 up and running. Hook up the cables and go--the only truly satisfying network experience I've ever had. Before buying the hardware router I wasted several Saturdays trying to get the various Windows systems to share my cable modem Internet connection, and despite the countless re-boots I never got reliable operation. If you don't need to be fancy, the RT314 needs absolutely no configuration, although it's easy to do using a built-in URL--just use your ordinary web browser. And the RT314 appears to run significantly faster than my old setup of an RT311 plus DS106 hub--the advantage of a switch over a hub, I assume. And, wonder of wonders, they put the cable sockets on the BACK of the unit, not the front, so I can see what's happening without a rats nest of cables coming out of the front panel. Great product, great value!
Rating:
Summary: Very good support website (in german), ideal for T-DSL.
Review: I am using the german's largest ISP: T-Online (T-DSL). I hope this review could help people like me who use this ISP in Germany. I'm using this router to connect an Intel based PC and a Solaris Sparcstation Ultra 5 to the internet.
I bought this router about 2 months ago ... The installation was very easy. I've been on the german webpages of Netgear in order to find out how to configure this router for the T-Online. T-Online has a specific format for the login name. Netgear support pages had a link to a PDF file which 100% answered my question. Next step was to enter my ISP's DNS IP address (found on T-online webpage). Then I could start surfing ! Since 2 months this router has been connected to internet 24 hours a day without any trouble. A solid product which comes with a 5 year warranty.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Gear
Review: Installation was a snap and lucky for NetGear that it was. The instruction manual does need to be worked on as it really doesn't explain very much. Works very well, haven't had any problems with it mechanically. One problem I do face is that now I can't do a ipconfig under Windows 2000 to see what my dynamic ip address is from my cablem modem provider. Otherwise, this router is really efficient. It assigns and handles as the DHCP server so that all my networked computers are able to access the internet with just one IP address from my internet provider. Throughout the week I have yet to see any attempted intrusion to my computers via ZoneAlarm Pro because of the router's firewall security protection and NAT technology features. A great buy for multiple computers in a home. I'm not sure if it can be compared with Linksys' BEFSR41 4-port Etherfast Cable/DSL router, but both seem to offer very similar features. Linksys cost more and I think the router has a plastic shell rather than a metal casing. I favored NetGear mainly because it matched my NetGear FS105 switch box.
Rating:
Summary: Very stable, absolutely no issues.
Review: I have had the Netgear RT314 router for over 3 YEARS and have had NO PROBLEMS with it whatsoever. The router has been very stable through tons and tons of use. I was very unfamiliar with networking when I bought this router, and the installation was simple (just follow the instructions EXACTLY!). I highly recommend this product. Firewall, DHCP, and LAN all in one. Great item!!! I have used this router (internet-wise) for both cable internet access and wireless internet access.
Note: Remember to tape your username and password to your router. I forgot to and it took me some time to find this info to get into my router.
Rating:
Summary: After 3+ years and still going strong!!!
Review: It appears that Netgear is no longer making this router. Too bad. I purchased one of these right after I signed up for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) DSL in October 1999 and haven't turned it off since. I do work in IT and understand networking, but this box was so easy to set up. As soon as I got it out of the box I was up and running in five minutes. It has done an exceptional job at blocking hackers. As a test, I have set up Black Ice firewalls on my PCs and I have never recorded one intruder! Netgear has also done a nice job with the firmware. The current version, 3.25, has several goodies that were not available when my model was released, including an option to use DynDNS.org. This feature allows you to run your own Internet server (in my case, a Linux FTP server behind the firewall) even with a dynamic IP address, like those used by most DSL providers, including Verizon, SBC, etc. The only downside that I have found with this router is the DHCP will only support 32 addresses. But then again, how many homes and small offices do you know that have more than 32 PCs. Now that everything is going wireless, I recently purchased a D-Link access point for testing purposes. I am not happy with the security of the 802.11b standard. I know that I will eventually go to 802.11g, but until then, I will keep this router going. Unlike many computer products that seem to become obsolete after two years, the Netgear RT314 router is ageless.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother with Netgear!
Review: Never buy Netgear! No commitment to their product and no (real) technical support. Case in point: RT314 has a problem with DHCP assigned addresses. It will not release them, ever. They limit the number of DHCP addresses to 8 (while all other vendors give you 250!). If you go over the limit, the only way to clear the table is to reboot the box. Netgear acknowledged the problem but refused to upgrade the firmware on the basis that "The product is too old. Please buy a newer model".
Rating:
Summary: Love this puppy ! Buy it !
Review: This was so easy to set up. I just plugged in the cable from my DSL modem to the WAN port, plugged the cable from my computer to one of the LAN ports, plugged in the power and it worked. I also play Counter-Strike (Half Life) a lot but with the new flash upgrade (3.24 which the one I received from Amazon had) it works like a charm. I have left my ZoneAlarm firewall installed for the last 24 hours and not a single hit (down from dozens to hundreds a day). If you want to mess with it you can configure it in dozens of ways. The PPoE and the VPN options are worth noting since many DSL ISPs require you to use PPoE. The 4 10/100 switched LAN ports are what sold me. After rebate it is only a few dollars than a 4 port switch. Now I can use my work laptop on the internet without unhooking my home computer. I say BUY IT !
| 
