Cons: Port Forwarding, Heat, Remote Administration
The Bottom Line: I recommend this only for the casual user at the moment due to the lack of functioning Port Forwarding. This issue may be worked out, though so stay tuned.
jstergis's Full Review: NetGear WGR614 Wireless Router
I got this router on a deal at Best Buy a few weeks ago for 30$. I wanted to replace my old Linksys BEFW11S4 which was forming a nasty habit of dropping all connectivity frequently.
The package contains the router, a set of stands, a setup CD, Power adapter, 4 ft. Ethernet Cable (yes, 4 ft.), short setup guide, and warrantee card. The router is a great deal smaller than my old Linksys one and has one antenna.
SETTING IT UP
First thing I did was plug it in to all the machines, the power, and the DSL modem. (I don’t like to go by directions) I popped in the CD and viola, a setup wizard came up. It was easy enough to set it up through this wizard, even being a guru, I preferred it to manual setups (you can revert to that though). Picked up the DSL right away, and after putting in the user name and password, SSID, password, and Wireless WEP security it was set to go.
DAILY USE
This router has gone over a month (since I got it) without dropping the internet (my Linksys router might make it a day). It performs fine even with very large transfers (I run 50 GBs of backups nightly at 10 MB/sec-it doesn’t flinch). It does generate quite a bit of heat, though. It gets much warmer than my old Linksys. Although it doesn’t effect anything it sort of bothers me.
The Wireless speed is around 2.5 Megabytes per second, a great improvement over B. The range isn’t quite as far as my old Linksys made it, but it still covers the house and 2 acre yard without a problem. You have to use the stands to get any decent range though. If you leave it in the horizontal position, it is very weak.
THE BAD PARTS
The first thing that bothered me with this router was that the port forwarding feature didn’t seem to work. I always forward port 5900 for VNC so I can control my PC remotely. This doesn’t seem to work no matter how much I fuss with it on this router. I have no idea why. What I have yet to do is contact Netgear. Once I do this I will also have a feel for their support, which I will add to this review.
Other thing, though minor, is that the remote administration feature doesn’t seem to work either. No big one though for me. Doubt I would use it.
All in all, this is a good router and I would recommend it. The casual user would not need to be concerned with Port forwarding or remote administration anyway. Also, it could me my router that doesn’t like to use it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30.00 Driver Availability: Windows, Linux, and Mac
NETGEAR's WGR614 Cable DSL Wireless Router lets you experience blazing-fast network wireless speeds of up to 54 Mbps making it a snap to surf the Web,...More at eBay
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