Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G Router
by Netgear
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List Price: Our Price: $33.99 You Save: $25.00 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $15.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G Router
Customer Review: It took some tweaking ... but now it works!
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently bought the WGR614 along with some WG311 and WG511 cards to set up a wireless network in my home. I would describe my computer tech skills as average, and set up was relatively a snap. However, once set up I found the signal strength to be inconsistent with frequently disconnections. Worse, every time I turned on the wireless units, they were unable to find a signal until I had logged on the router configuration utility and re-set the settings. Moreover, I couldn't log on to any website that utilized a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) connection, including the Windows Automated Update function, my E-bay user account, and most internet retailers. I spent the better part of a week reading the Netgear manual and searching the web to find solutions to these issues.
Fortunately, all these problems were solved by Netgear Technical Support. The first --- weak and inconsistent signals --- was solved by downloading the router software upgrade. The second --- dropped connections --- was solved by creating unique IP addresses for each of the remote units. The third --- inability to access SSL connections, was caused by a conflict between my Bellsouth DSL modem and the Netgear router. It was solved by changing the MTU speed from 1500 to 1492 in the Wan settings for the router. That last problem about drove me crazy trying to solve it, because I kept getting misleading Error messages from the Microsoft website.
I'm sure these issues would be easily discovered and corrected by someone with more technical skills. (I had never heard of MTU speeds, let alone assigning unique IP addresses to each of my computers). I probably gained a few gray hairs trying to solve these issues. Fortunately, now that they're resolved, I'm pleased with my purchase of the router and wireless cards.
Customer Review: I really hated this router.
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this router on the advice of an employee at an office supply store. I was pleasantly surprised by how inexpensive it was. We have Verizon DSL and two laptops, and this should have met our needs -- basic wireless internet in a medium-size apartment. And I'm sure it would have met our needs... if it wasn't cheap and broken. Several of the reviews here mentioned that it worked for awhile; in our case, it worked for 30 minutes, and then never again. Set up and installation were not at all easy -- I had to call tech support almost immediately because the set-up screens kept freezing. After about an hour, I managed to talk to someone at Netgear, and we got it running. Yay!
BUT! Success was short-lived. The next day, when I turned on the modem, router, and laptop, we no longer had a wireless internet connection. I then spent a total of 8 hours (over 2 days) on the phone with tech support at Verizon, Dell, and Netgear, with each of them blaming the others for a problem in our set up, in spite of the fact that our DSL and laptops work fine together. Finally, the 4th Netgear rep I talked to concluded that our particular Netgear device was defective and should be exchanged for another (identical) model. Apparently, it was incapable of retaining the IP address settings that I kept entering with all the tech support people, which is why it stopped working after that first time. I was told that "this happens sometimes", and that "sometimes there is a problem during the manufacturing process". Everyone I spoke to at Netgear was perfectly nice and polite, without actually being helpful or solving my problem. Ultimately, we got a Linksys instead, and so far it works perfectly, with simple installation and on-screen instructions. AVOID THIS NETGEAR ROUTER -- you get what you pay for.
Customer Review: Mac OS install without CD
Summary: 4 Stars
Okay, I'll add that I really like this router. The tips from some of the other folks here were really helpful, but there's a couple things that kept me from giving all 5 stars. I went the cheap route and got a refurbished router that shipped without the installation CD. The netgear website DOES have product manuals online for this router, but they depend upon the CD for the initial setup. You should download the manual before adding the router. Also, copy and paste the Tech Geek (from Los Angeles) notes into a document and save it too. So, here's how to manage this without the CD:
1) Write down your current settings for the internet. Windows folks are on their own. OSX users should open system preferences, click Network, double click whatever is highlighted (mine was "built in ethernet") and that should take you to the TCP/IP settings. My provider gave me a static IP, so all that info was Manually entered (rather than DHCP or BOOTP). You'll need this info to set up your router or to set your maching back properly.
2) At the top of the Network preferences, there's a Location pop-down menu. Select "New Location..." from the bottom and name the new profile something like Netgear. This should preserve your old settings and let you tinker with the router all you like.
3) In the Netgear location, make sure the TCP/IP options are selected. The 'Configure IPv4:' menu should be set to DHCP. Set it to that if not.
4) Now, open up the manual, find the place where it tells you to type "http://routerlogin.net/" into your browser. Do it, and you're off and running. The router will ask for the admin account and password, the default is "admin" and "password" respectively. The router configuration website should pop right up. Follow instructions from there.
Customer Review: Great when it works but unpredicatable and unreliable
Summary: 2 Stars
This router/wireless access point is great when it works, but unfortunately its frustratingly unreliable in a mixed environment.
It will reasonably consistently connect to my Netgear G wireless card, but getting it to connect to other manufacturers' B or G equipment is a lottery. I've tried several, and in some cases it works fine some of the time but not others at random; in some cases, it won't serve a DHCP address but will work fine if you manually assign one; in some cases you'll have to turn off WEP encryption to get anything to work.
I also installed and configured one of these units (with the v4 chipset) for a neighbor and found similar problems - eventually I had to *downgrade* from the latest firmware to get DHCP and WEP to work at all.
And don't even think about trying to use this device as a simple access point in a setup with an existing router/DHCP server (for example, if you need a second access point in a large house). There is little chance you'll be able to get DHCP passed through this router when configured as an AP. This is especially frustrating because for reasons known only to the manufacturers, standalone APs are often more expensive than combo router/AP devices such as this one - which actually contain more functionality and hardware than an AP does! (Economies of scale, perhaps?)
I've tried other vendors' equipment (Linksys, even a cheapo Belkin) and while they have other shortcomings compared to Netgear, they have much higher compatibility with other vendors' equipment. And Netgear could learn a lesson from Belkin in making it easy to use a cheap router as an access point.
In brief: config and connectivity is something of a lottery unless you have a pure Netgear environment.
Customer Review: Works with Mac, once it's configured
Summary: 3 Stars
All told, this rating is an average of 1.5 stars for the install materials and 4.5 for current performance. Here's why:I'd never configured a wireless accessory before buying this router for my new Powerbook. The Mac compatibility was, naturally, a must and the store I bought the Netgear from had double rebates on the product. All 802.11 routers are faster than the Internet itself (other than a T1 line) because the fastest DSL or cable modems are less than the 11 Mbps that an 802.11b router sends its signals, therefore my purchase was price-driven and review-driven (when the Netgear works, it works WELL).
The install CD-ROM and installation instructions were substandard. The CD-ROM did not start the install program, instead it had some pdf files and a series of Chinese characters under the CD icon for the CD's "title" (by contrast, however, I installed the CD-ROM in my PC at work and the install program started up immediately). I did not contact tech support after reading negative reviews of Netgear's techs from this site (and others). Instead, I literally pieced together how to set up my system by reading OTHER manufacturers' installation guides for Mac (D-Link, Buffalo) that gave more details than Netgear's CD-ROM; used Netgear's online installation guide (much better) and some intuition of my own to connect the Airport set-up with the WEP encryption code Netgear generated.
The equipment has worked perfectly since I completed the installation and has fired a strong signal to my Airport Extreme card. To that extent, it's very satisfactory. Plus, my experience with testing the install CD-ROM at work indicates that the Netgear is PC-friendly. Therefore, if you know what you're doing or have a decent PC, the Netgear would be right for you.