Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G Router
by Netgear
|
List Price: Our Price: $34.96 You Save: $24.03 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $14.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G Router
Customer Review: Best trouper of a router I have ever had
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used various routers over the years and they all have had their downsides (Dlink, buffalo with tomato and ddwrt firmware, belkin, Linksys) and I have always fell back onto this router. I think people have problems with diff rev numbers. I currently have a V7 version and it has worked flawlessly for me.
I plan on finding another one just like it to use as a replacement if this one ever kicks the bucket.
We have 10 devices in this house.
4 computers downstairs in my bedroom with 2 desktop's 1 web server on the built in DMZ and my netbook. All connected via LAN.
Wirelessly we have a Wii a media center PC, 3 laptops and a computer on the third floor that my sisters use. As well as my HTC touch pro when I need to connect via Wi-Fi on it when I am at home.
We have all been on at the same time with no hiccups whatsoever.
When we started to get more computers we upgraded to an N router by netgear that was nothing but a pain in the butt, would always drop the wan connection and would take 15 minutes of juggling between the cable modem and the router to get an external IP address.
I can unplug the wan port and reconnect it and get my external IP in 30 seconds. All the other routers used with my cable modem would take forever then drop when the wan release expired and would never renew.
I also use plenty of P2P applications and have never had problems with using torrents and bogging the router down. It is able to handle tons of connections and breathes by. I actually run out of disk cache space faster than this thing can send the data down into my computer.
Today because it was out of warranty I cracked it open and treated it with some copper heat sinks to keep the IC's nice and cool (I used non conducting thermal adhesive by 3M for the mounting.)
I also plan on using a dremel tool on the top to create a hole in which I can mount (with proper epoxy) a fan to keep everything nice and chilly. This router has been good to me and I decided I will return the favor.
Not bad for something I spent 40 bucks on in I think 07.
To the people having problems I wonder what version that you currently own. Like I said before I have the version 7 of this router and it has been flawless.
Customer Review: Buy this router!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read all the reviews here and elsewhere prior to deciding to buy this router. I have to say I am very impressed! I upgraded to this router from the MR814 802.11B router. This router is identical to the MR814 except that it's about 1/3rd the size! It literally fits in the palm of my very large hand!When I took it out and connected it, I found that I didn't need the software Cd that came with it as it is mostly just help files anyway and I was able to figure it out on my own.
Setup was a snap and I was done within 10 minutes.
Nice Features:
- 10/100mb WAN port! Most routers only have a 10mb WAN port. Odds are that your cable modem or DSL isn't faster than 10mb right now, but this router will support 100mb if you ever upgrade your connection! One thing to watch out for with this: The WAN port is set to Speed: Auto by default and some cable modems don't like that (mine didn't), so you go into the setup page and change the WAN port speed to 10mb on a simple drop down menu. This is documented in a separate notice in the box that you can't miss (good work Netgear).
- Tiny!! This thing literally takes a fraction of the desk real estate my old one did!
- FAST! I use this with a Netgear WG511 802.11G wireless laptop card and it is FAST! Connection speed is great even through 5 sheetrock walls (one floor Ranch style house).
If you're not a very technology saavy person (your kid has to program the VCR) then use common sense: READ THE HELP FILES ON THE CD!!! Netgear put quite a bit of info on the help files on the CD (which you can also get from their website). This router is not complicated to get going. All you have to do is follow directions.
Here is the general rule when setting up and troubleshooting router/broadband connections:
- Setup your router using the wizard in the setup web page
- once setup is done turn off EVERYTHING! That means that your Cable modem, router, and ALL pc's connected to the router should be turned off!
- Turn things back on in the following order waiting 30 to 60 seconds between each:
-Cable Modem
-Router
-PC
This will fix 99% of lost connection problems.
Overall, I'm thrilled with this router (did I mention it's tiny?).
Customer Review: Simple, safe, fast enough ....
Summary: 5 Stars
This router definitely isn't lead edge or sexy (in a geeky way). But that is what is great about it. Our home use of the router is almostly exclusively for web surfing and file/print sharing. A typical "G" standard router like this one is more than adequate for those purposes. The performance is rock solid working with Vista as well as XP. I tried some of the "N" routers and wireless cards and had far more problems than benefits. Sometime the "N" bandwidth wireless tools will be as reliable as the "G" products. But until then routers like this provide excellent performance and reliability for a low price.
This was a freebie when I bought an networkable HP printer. I took the opportunity to replace my Linksys G router, which is 2 years old and was not pleased with the Vista laptop I recently bought. Everytime I start my Vista laptop, it knocks all the other laptops off the network. They boot back up and work fine, but my wife is not amused. This router works fine with the mix of Vista, XP and the HP printer.
One of the features I like about the Netgear router over the Linksys router is the Netgear router allows you let the router permanently reserve an IP (network) address. I use the remote attach feature of XP and Vista to go between the computers and it is a pain if the addresses are constently changing. I've also set the dynamic address parameters so it only has enough numbers to support the addresses I have reserved. One more security link to add to the other recommendations about not broadcasting the SSID, using security, locking down to specific MAC ids, etc.
I didn't think I would ever get another Netgear product. I am zero for three the last three times I have submitted rebates to them. All sorts of excuses, no money. I'd decided I will not get another Netgear product unless the purchase price without rebate is reasonable. Since this was a freebie, the price was right.
I strongly suggest if you a buying one of these, check to make sure it is version 7. The version is stated on the outside of the box.
Customer Review: WGR614v10
Summary: 5 Stars
I am on an 8Mb cable internet service and only use the wireless for internet purposes including online gaming or Netflix streaming on my PS3. If I was frequently streaming high definition media between computers on the network then I'm sure I would need the wireless "N" that all the companies seem to be pushing these days. But for my needs with two laptop computers and a PS3 on the network I find my needs are more than covered.
I purchased this router and received hardware v10, which is the newest hardware model as of August 2010. So far the router is extremely stable and I have had no issues and haven't needed to reboot the device once since purchasing it two weeks ago. This router is capable of the best wireless encryption methods including WPA2 (AES, TKIP, or both).
One issue I saw when setting it up is that if you unplug the router and plug it back in, or if the router does a reboot after a settings change, my wireless clients won't properly reconnect to the router. They see the wireless network as being available but they can't connect. I found that if I turn the wireless off and back on again using the physical button on the side of the router that it will fix the problem until the next time the router will need to be rebooted or whatever. The router has been stable since setting up and as long as it stays stable this wireless problem shouldn't be an issue at all. The Wireless On/Off button needs to be pressed for about two seconds before it will register by the way, I saw a previous review saying these buttons don't work and I'm guessing he just didn't press them long enough.
*Added 9/12/2010*
One month with this router and it has yet to have a single hiccup of any kind, it just sits there and does it's thing. I should mention that I watch plenty of TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix over my wireless connection and it always connect's in HD quality. I couldn't be happier for how this router has covered my needs with such a small price tag.
Customer Review: Works great
Summary: 5 Stars
This product works great for me. I bought it to replace an old wired router I've had for probably close to 10 years, which is also a Netgear Product.
However--
I was actually almost about to send this back at first. Like some of the other reviewers, I experienced dropped connections constantly on my PC. My 802.11g Skype phone and Playstation 3 were connecting fine, but I figured it was interference in the 2.4Ghz space around the area of my PC that the router just wasn't strong enough to handle. As a last ditch effort, I booted into Windows XP to see what happened there. My wireless card connected just fine. It turns out that certain wireless cards that worked fine under Ubuntu 7.10 stopped working fine after an upgrade to 8.04 because of issues with ndiswrapper and the kernel not playing nice. There is currently no fix for this except 8.10 alpha (not recommended for most people).
Since obviously not everyone uses linux, I don't think this was the cause of the headaches for everyone who has posted here about trouble with dropped connections, but it may have affected some since many wireless cards use drivers that require ndiswrapper to work properly in linux. So if you are transitioning from wired to wireless, even if you tested your wireless card before and it worked, if you are running linux and have upgraded your kernel to 2.6.24, beware of this issue. I "solved" it by simply putting the router next to my PC, connecting it with an RJ45, connecting all my other devices wirelessly, and waiting for Ubuntu 8.10. For those who can't wait, you can compile a custom 2.6.25 kernel, which I understand has this problem resolved.
After figuring out the issues above, this router works great. I live in apartment building and can see about 10 other SSIDs in range when I scan. No problem with interference. It's a lot lighter and seems flimsy compared to my old Netgear, but it's much faster and was definitely worth the upgrade for the price.