Very Nice Router at a Nice Price
Written: Mar 11 '04 (Updated Jul 10 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast, reliable, and relatively easy to setup.
Cons: Requires a wired connection for setup and is a little more expensive than others.
The Bottom Line: For $60 I am very happy with this purchase. I would recommend it to others.
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| gsx1300r's Full Review: Microsoft Broadband Networking MN-700 Wireless-G B... |
I have needed to upgrade my wireless router for some time. My speedstream 2623 was starting to drop wireless connections too frequently and I was starting to notice sound quality losses on my telephone service, which is internet based (vonage), while simulaneously surfing and talking.
I saw this router being advertised for $80 with a $20 mail-in rebate (total cost $60) and thought it looked like a good idea. I saw other wireless routers that would have cost as little as $15 (after rebates) but some of the reviews here on epinions were not too hot for them.
I was a little reluctant to go with Microsoft, since they're not really known for hardware, but then again I decided that it might be OK, since there would (hopefully) be no compatibility issues between the hardware and my windows 2000 environment. (There were no problems).
That said, I have had this router for 3 days now, and so far am very happy. Here's an outline of my impressions, which I intend to update every once in a while:
Out of the box.
Microsoft included a quick setup guide that gave me all the information necessary in a quick glance. The software I had to install was easy to understand and told me exactly what to do in order to make the router function.
MINOR PROBLEM. Or shall I call it an oversight on Microsoft's part? After you install the software and connect the router to the cable modem, you are required to let the software communicate with the router to perform some setup functions and to automatically gather all the cable-modem and internet settings. Simple, right? They even provided me with a nice blue category 5 ethernet cable. The problem is that I don't have a network jack on either of my computers. I have a wireless card that I expected to use with my new wireless router, right?
I had to borrower a notebook computer from work that had a wired-network jack in order to set the router up. Not really a big deal for me, but maybe a problem for someone else. Something to consider anyway.
Once the computer and the router communicated for a couple minutes, all the necessary settings were made and I was ready to go (I thought). That computer worked fine and could see the internet perfectly.
NEXT MINOR PROBLEM. Not only does Microsoft assume that wireless network users will have hard-wired network cards installed in their machines, they also assume we all still have 3.5" floppy drives! Yes, you need a floppy drive to copy your network settings from the machine you use to setup the network to the satellite machines. There I was out of luck, since I didn't have any way to add a floppy drive to the borrowed laptop and my own computer does have a floppy drive, but it's defective. For the past 2 years, though, I had never had any cause to need the silly drive and had never given any thought to having it fixed. (oh well.)
Solution: I had to carefully write down all the settings and encyrption keys and manually enter them on the other computer. But, it did work.
USE. I have not lost the connection on my notebook for 3 days straight. I have never gone more than a few hours without that happening. When I look at my home screen name from the AOL instant messenger it says I've been online since 3 days ago.
My phone connections so far have sounded fine - no funny noises and no slowdowns when I surf simultaneously. My old router was never able to move large amounts of data for long periods of time without losing the connection. AN example of this is my music collection which I have wanted to backup for a long time. I have approximately 250 cd's of my music that I converted to MP3 over the years sitting on one computer. In total, it's nearly 14 gigabytes. Whenever I have tried to do a bulk copy, the connection would be lost after only a couple hundred megabytes. With the new router, I was able to do it in one sitting. Although it did take overnight and well into the next day, the connection was not lost a single time.
Range. The range is no better than that of my old router. My router is on the ground floor and the further computer is downstairs in the basement, about 40 feet away. I get a 40% "good" connection and have no complaints. The notebook can go anywhere in the house, upstairs and 50 feet over being the furthest I've tried. No problems, but nothing better than the speedstream router, either. I guess I had hoped for stronger signals, even though there are no problems with the signals that are less than perfect.
802.11g use. I don't know since my two computers are "b." If I later upgrade one of the other cards, I'll report on how much better "g" is.
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UPDATE 3/13/04
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I'm surprised to get questions about Vonage as a result of this review, but I LOVE vonage. I've been using their service for about a year and a half and have only had the most minor of annoyances and problems. We've saved hundreds of dollars and have lots of extra features we like but would never have wanted to pay for in the past.
If you are interested, go here:
http://www.vonage.com/?refer_id=weinman
(you and I will each get a free month's service if you sign-up).
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UPDATE 4/6/04
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No complaints yet and only a few lost wireless connections. My phone service has sounded better overall and we hear less frequent background noises and have not had any dropped calls since changing routers.
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UPDATE 4/27/04
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Still no complaints and I've only had to reset the router two times in the past month or so. I still highly recommended this router.
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UPDATE 7/10/04
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Still no complaints.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
gsx1300r
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: pete weinman
Location: Staten Island, NY
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Husband, Daddy, NYC Marathon Runner, and motorcycle rider. You can trust me, I'm a lawyer.
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