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Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router

Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router

List Price: $158.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great
Review: I had the RT314 up and running in 20 minutes. I already had a DSL modem connected directly to my desk top computer. I wanted to add a network so I could connect another PC. I just followed the directions on the fold-out card that came with the router and it worked the first time. It can be tricky transposing the "gateway and DNS" addresses from the PC to the router. I recommend you write everything down before starting the process. Most of the set-up involves typing these numbers into Netgears browser set-up screen which was stright forward. (You actually point your browser to the address of the router and it displays a web page - very nice.) The instruction card clearly tells how to reconfigure the PCs to work through the router. The rest of the documentation indicates the router is very flexable, allowing things like game play and web hosting through the router. Great product - great price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very easy set-up. A great product.
Review: This is a great product. It was very easy to set-up but be aware that some of the names of the addresses it asks for have other possible names and that may lead to confusion at set-up. It took me less than 5 minutes to set-up for a Mac and a PC using another four-port hub (Yes you can connect hubs to it if they have an uplink port). If you are a novice Mac user, the set-up is actually easy but if you are not familiar with terms you may have to seek technical support. PC users should have no difficulty at all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GET THIS ROUTER, IF YOU NEED ONE USE IT!
Review: This badboy is the easiest effortless to install. 10 min As soon as i plugged everything in (Cable modem ETC) Everything instantly detected the net and ran. heh no configuring, only thing i had to log into router for was to change my password Once i did that and saved it i was done 10 min!!!!

5 * outta 5 also For the amature's it has great documnetation! and speed is better and EXCLENT COMPATABLITY WITH Q3 ETC ETC!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good at Times, Bad At Others
Review: This router is fast at times but is slow at others. You can download at full speeds at times but at other times, the download rate is horrible. We have 4 computers routed through the machine and even when only two people are online at the same time, you will notice a difference in the download rate if you were on alone. This is a good machine but is a little to much.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great product - worth every penny!
Review: I looked at both the Linksys 4 port cable router and the Netgear RT314. I have friends that own the Linksys and they work well, but I was a little turned off by the plastic look and feel of that unit.

The Netgear RT314 has a rugged metal case and feels more like a commercial router than a home unit. The Netgear also includes the CAT-5 connector cable in the box,which is not a huge deal, but is a nice addition.

The software and instructions that come with the unit are somewhat minimal, but I found the setup pretty straightforward - and I'm not a trained network person. I wanted to be able to run two computers off the same cable connection and this router lets me do that with a couple of added benefits. My connection is actually faster than without the router, and I have the security of a firewall. I had planned to buy firewall software, but for a little more money I get the router, firewall, and 4-port switch all in one slick unit.

The one thing that I wish were different is the power adapter. The one that comes with the Linksys unit has a grounded plug while the Netgear comes with a two-pronged block power adapter. Luckily I had room for the block, but I would feel more comfortable having the unit grounded.

All in all, the RT314 works beautifully.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: For DSL it worked better for me than the Linksys
Review: I have and still use the Linksys 4 port router/switch. I works great on my cable modem but when I tried to use it with my DSL connection it couldn't keep the connection alive. I tried all versions of the Linksys Firmware by upgrading and downgrading it and always after a couple hours the device seemed to become so busy the performance went in the toilet.

So I broke down and bought the Netgear version and just like the Linksys it is super easy to use and has worked perfectly with my DSL for weeks now with no problem whatsoever.

The only thing I don't like about the Netgear is that in their latest firmware they have removed the advanced tab (it is there but unclickable) from the web interface, so to do any advanced fatures like RIP etc. you have to telnet into the box. Not that big a deal, I guess they did it to stop idiots from goofy up a really easy product to use.

Overall both the Linksys and Netgear are great but if you have DSL (mine is Verzion) get the Netgear.

Also CompUSA and BestBuy both have this device for but Amazon is by FAR the best deal I have found!!

Happy Surfing

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Does what you want, with ease... Then Breaks!
Review: UPDATE: 12/14/01
The below review was done soon after hooking up the Netgear. Since then I've had nothing but trouble (read my latest review).
----------------------

I've got 3 computers. It took 5 minutes to get the Netgear out of the box, hooked to my cable modem, and all 3 computers hooked to the box and running on my new local network! It uses a web interface which was very easy.

Further, it understands that some cable modem providers are trying to limit you to one computer -- the setup screen automatically asks if you want to spoof you MAC address to ensure you can have multiple computers behind your new firewall.

Opening ports for Web and FTP servers, as well as Netmeeting, etc. was also very easy. (Make sure you upgrade the firmware to 3.22, mine shipped with 3.20, which doesn't have as many features via the Web interface).

Excellent!

Cheers,

BilFish

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Easy, Fast, Beautiful
Review: I was actually looking to get the Linksys router. When I found that Netgear made one (great price too), I snapped it up. Even though I know a bit about computers, networking boggles my mind. I have been trying to figure out this home networking problem literally for years. I go to the local computer store, and they are no help. Netgear solved all my problems in about 30 minutes.

I have the 3Com Roadrunner modem. I am DCHP to my ISP so I have no fixed IP address. Plus I use a laptop which I have to take to work and put on the corporate lan. I was able to leave my corporate domain as primary and it still all worked.

Prior to getting this box, I had a simple Linksys 4 port hub hooked up to my cable modem. I had to manually switch out one cable then the other to get two computers to work. Half the time I'd forget which end to take out then I'd get an IP conflict and have to reboot. No more of that!

This is really a great leap forward. I have a real LAN at home and high speed access to the world. Will wonders never cease?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: NetGear RT314 Configuration
Review: Unlike some of the other reviewers I found configuring the NetGear RT315 to be more challenging than most. Configuring the RT314 may not be for all novice users. If you are techically incline and understand hubs, switches, and routers, this is a great product. I am very pleased with it, it just took me a while to realize that the same defaults used by the RT314 for IP addresses (and DHCP) were also the same as addresses already used in the DSL modem supplied by my ISP, to make matters worst, my modem is also a DHCP server, the modem also does NAT, the modem has an static IP address that must be used as a gateway, not to be confused with the dynamic IP address assigned to the modem when you connect to an ISP (which in my case can only be determined by going to a website that tells you what your IP address is or via a utility). Nothing in the manuals really covered my type of situation and a lack of documention on the modem complicated things. My point is simple, be prepared to understand things with this product or all Router products, the RT314 may not just be pulled out of the box and turned on for all users. And this should not be considered a flaw of the manufacture. The RT314 is a very flexable network appliance. I certainly would recommend this box to anyone wanting to share a DSL or Cable modem at home or for a small business. Please keep in mind the problems I described may be true with any such product. By the way, I solved my problems without using NetGears call in support, so I can not speak about how well thier support night be, I did find thier website information to be excellent.

One of the reasons I selected this product is because I work with Mainframe computers and our network guys actually use Bay Networks equipement, and since I can not afford CISCO devices, this was about the best thing I could find for the price!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than sliced toast
Review: First, a note on switches vs hubs. A hub shares the bandwith between connected devices. So, if you have one computer going through the hub to the internet and a second connecting to a third over the lan for a file transfer, they have at most 100mbs total between them. A switch actually routes a dedicated connection for each pair of communicating devices so that they can communicate at full bandwidth. If you've already got a switch, you might want to consider the somewhat less expensive RT311 which is the router/firewall without the switch. If you have a hub, on the other hand, I'd suggest going with the 314 instead, the hub can still be used to allow your network to grow beyond 4 devices (after all, two computers, a laptop and a network printer and you're tapped out with the 314 on its own).

Anyway, this is a great device. I pulled it out of the box, plugged in the wires and everything worked immediately. I'm sharing cable internet between a windows 2000 box and PowerMac (running OS9 and DAVE 2.5) with no problems at all.

It's 4 stars because the web interface is really quite useless. To properly configure this device (including the very cool dynamic dns capabilities) you need to telnet to the box. Not a *big* deal, but still a minor nuisance. There's no reason the web interface couldn't handle these other configuration options as well.

I had considered the Linksys box which is very similar in capabilities, but searching usenet archives revealed that the netgear is a much more reliable device.


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