Wireless-Network Reviews

I notice no big downfall in speed on the Internet as compared to my previously wired setup. The signal strength is good through out my home and even some places outside. I can actually sit out on my porch and do my work on the Internet.

I am very pleased with every wireless networking device I bought from D-Link (3 products) and I would definitely recommend them to others.

The Netgear bridge did work with the Netgear WGR614 access point, but I had to stop using the Netgear access point because it locked up every few days for some unknown reason.

Given my experiences with the WGE101 and WGR614 boxes, I think Netgear isn't up to speed yet on 802.11g technology.

With the router setup as b and g, I got throughput speeds of 2.5 megabytes a second from a different floor of the house from bridge to router, which is about 20Mbps.

I've always bought netgear products and I like the whole slick-silver design, and the ability to stack the units on top of each other. I already own the FS608 and could stack the bridge ontop of that.

My only problems with the router was how to add it to the access list. I figured out that you do NOT add the bridge's mac address, but instead any device that connects through the bridge to the router... so if you have 15 computers being bridged to the router, you have to add all 15 mac addresses to the router... that sounds like somewhat of a pain, but if you think about it, your network is that much more secure...

The reason I say that is, suppose you had a bridge connecting to an accesspoint to further spread signals within your network... well by having to add every mac address that goes through the bridge, you are individually authorizing everyone, instead of just allowing the bridge itself.

Anyways... I feel it's a good product and will continue to buy from netgear.

My walls in my house are not concrete or anything however, so i have never had any problem with 802.11b, (but will probably wish i had concrete when the tornado hits).

Over all, installation was a snap, my range is good, bit of a drain on the battery .You may want to get a wireless pc card and a pc card expanion for the ipaq if battery life is important to you, because the pc card expantion pack comes with its own battery, and the cf expantion does not. So far, the only pcmcia card I KNOW OF that supports windows ce is the Compaq WL110 (which coincidentily is not sold here).

In my opinion, linksys equipment has always been good to me, and this is no exception.

Setup was pretty easy. I use two wireless networks - one at home and one at work, both with DHCP. The software lets you set up multiple profiles for differnet locations. (I use encryption at home and none at work and the different profiles keep them straight). The MAC address for the card isn't printed anywhere on the card. I only found it by looking at the firmware version number in the software's "About" screen (I needed to register the MAC address to join my work's wireless network).

Last thing and my only complaint (so far) is that the CF card sticks out of the top of the E-200 a little bit two much. Granted, this has nothing to do with the CF card :)

Wireless roaming works well, good througput and good performance. It gets my reccomendation.

I had some problems initially getting the AP up and running with the wireless side of the house. After disabling the SSID, I finally was able to get the wireless working. Then I was finally able to get the SSID working (I think this was more an inexperience on my part with how to configure the Wireless side on Windows XP).

The features were nice. I never got to try some of the more exotic features like the filtering or emailing when DoS type attacks occurred.

It seemed like once a day, I had to reset the unit due to loss of connection. This may actually in some way be related to DHCP loss of lease, but I didn't ever get to trouble shoot this one due a later problem.

When updating the configuration via the web browser, often times when I Updated or anything getting submitted, it sometimes returned back to me or other times would lock up the web browser session (partically I believe because the AP was resetting in the process, so this might not be a real issue).

I can't remember if I updated the firmware, but I believe I did.

I left the unit on 24-7 (although not in use 24-7) and it seem to work for a while.

After using the AP for about 2-3 weeks, I was trying to do a "normal" reset of the AP and found that it would not reset as it had in the past.

I called Netgear, since I wasn't able to do anything with it. They didn't give much help except to say that while under the 30 days since purchase I should return it and get it replaced.

I apparently misunderstood something in the Amazon.com return policy and was given a refund instead of a replacement, so I will have to either purchase it again or look into something newer.

It is everything it advertises. It gets excellent range thanks to it's detachable antenna, and I might add that it's WiFi Certified. I get 11Mb reception in places where I previously got 2. That's quite a jump.

It's firewall is tough, and solid as well. SPI is a great feature to have these days.

It comes with plenty of aided setup material to get someone with no experience with home networking up and running.

The print server is pretty zippy, just like the one in the Linksys, but more reliable.

New firmware is constantly coming out, and features are being introduced all the time. Features in the beta firmware (free download) currently not advertised for this product include UPnP support, traceroute support, improved device table, logging of sites visited, SSID broadcast can be disabled, as well as compatibility fixes. Soon this firmware will become stable and available to everyone.

It's a great product. I highly recommend it. It's good now, and Netgear seems dedicated to making it better.

You might also want to look at the Linksys WET11, which is very reliable and does not suffer this limitation.

A month ago, I upgraded my router to a Linksys WRT54G v2 router, and the change was amazing and immediate. All performance issues have vanished and were (obviously) due to the router signal and not the SMC2670W. Very happy now.

The only downside is with firmware upgrades... you (I) can't upgrade wirelessly so I was forced to remove the device (from TiVo) and upgrade it via a cross-connect cable attached to my host PC. This is no small feat, mind you, since the SMC2670W power supply is connected behind my entertainment center. SMC has not supplied a new FW update in a while, so hopefully this will not be an issue again.

In my case, most of the time when I had both cards installed, the computer froze during the boot process. This was in a Pentium3 500MHz computer. Only after placing the wireless card in PCI Slot 3 and the SBLive card in PCI Slot 5 was I able to get the computer to finish booting to the desktop. Even then, the SBLive card still did not function well, sometimes causing echoing sound effects, or spontaneous re-booting of the computer. The D-Link support team insisted that they got good results with the SBLive card in Slot 5 and the wireless card in Slot 4 -- which in my system was one of the freeze-on-booting situations.

When installed by itself without the SBLive card installed, the D-Link DWL-520+ worked flawlessly with the D-Link DI-614+ Access Point Router. But I did not wish to run that computer without a sound card.

After spending way too many hours trying to get this system to work, I returned the D-Link devices and purchased the LinkSys BEFW11S4 Access Point Router for use near my new computer, and the WUSB11 Wireless USB Adapter for my older computer. I am now effortlessly using the internet on both of my computers.

One additional point -- the people at D-Link will not provide you with support help for File Sharing problems between computers on a wireless network. I'm not sure if this is true for other wireless manufacturers.

My signal strength has always been above 75%, but I don't expect it to change much since it is installed in a desktop PC. I am running Windows 2000 and I don't notice much of a difference if at all in my internet access speeds.

I used to have a wired network but wanted to expand to more than 2 computers and my hub was old and slow. So with this wireless upgrade to my network I was able to install everything in about 1 hour. I bought the D-Link router with 4 wired ports still use one wired PC connection, and another PC has this PCI card in it, my laptop has the PCMCIA version and they all network together quite nicely. I was impressed with the short time it took me to implement this change.

Thats my experience with D-Link and their wireless networking products. I hope your experience is as easy as mine.

While there is no printed manual, a disk version can help you run through some of the issues you might have with this machine, but even then the support is poorly written and relies too heavily on jargon and terminology that might be unfamiliar to new users of this technology. Even now, with the system up and running, I remain unsure as to how to configure a number of the customizable features that make this unit so powerful.

And it is powerful. The printing connection is extremely useful and the wireless signal is strong. I haven't had any problems beyond installation (and again with adequate documentation I don't think I would have had these problems).

Finally, while the unit does have a kind of polished high tech look. It's overall veneer is kind of plasticky and cheap. The two rubber antennas connect loosely and easily fall over. It was also packed in such a way that the power adapter prongs sat on top of the device so that they left superficial scratches on the paint. This does not impair the functionality of the router, but cosmetically it is disappointing -- especially when you pull the router out of the box.

I have had better experiences with netgear routers and would recommend them over this item. I find they are more sturdily constructed and come with far superior documentation and support. I chose this unit for home use because of the printer connection and its price. I would probably choose differently if I had to again.

Cons: no support for bi-directional communications with my HP LaserJet 1200se (e.g., it no longer tells me I'm out of paper, etc.).

After scouring the Web for insight and equipment reviews (the PracticallyNetworked site was especially helpful) of the myriad of router options, I decided on this one from D-Link. My housemate and I needed to share our newly installed cable Internet service in our three-story house, so wireless seemed like the easiest option. I put the router in my office on the second floor, and he has no trouble accessing the Net by laptop from his office on the first floor, and I can usually get 500+ Kbps (on a PII-333 laptop running a NetGear PC card) in the living room on the third floor. 2Wire's bandwidth meter clocks about a 1.5 Mbps connection for my P4-1.2 wired directly to the router.

I haven't had to call D-Link for tech support, so I can't speak to their abilities/response time. I did use their Web site to download a firmware upgrade. All told, I had our wireless net up and running in less than an hour (which also included a call into RCN to get them to tweak our cable modem on their end).

One thing to bear in mind: pick access clients that are solid performers, whether they're PC card or USB devices. Routers like this are only the access point portion of the wireless equation -- speed and range can be easily hobbled by anemic clients that can't hold up their end of the bargain.

I purchased this product to share my cable modem Internet connection at home with a Desktop (purchased D-Link DWL-500 11Mb Wireless LAN PCI Network Card) and Laptop PC (purchased D-Link DWL-650 11Mb Wireless PCMCIA LAN Network Card 802.11b).

1) Went to the website... and downloaded the ZIP file containing the latest Firmware and saved it on my laptop PC.

2) Installed the wireless PCMCIA on my laptop (very easy).

3) Unpacked the Router/Access Point and plugged in the Cable Modem UTP to the "WAN" port on the router and powered it up.

4) Went to the Router Admin Tool in my Web Browser and configured the "hostname" of the Cable Modem provider and upgraded the firmware.

5) Powered down my Cable Modem and Rebooted the Router (via the web browser).

Everything worked perfectly. I installed the NIC card in my desktop PC and everything worked there. I am surfing on both machines and walking around with my laptop and eventually moved my desktop to my office (away from TV where cable modem is located).

If your needs are similar to mine, I advise you to buy this product. ... for a 2 PC wireless network at home. Awesome.

However, there are some issues with the PC card. This setup comes with version 4 (v4) of the card. There are SEVERE issues if you need to use a VPN to log into work. This card simply will not do it--but oddly, version 3 (v3) WILL. This is known on Linksys' website, but no fix is available. The v4 also seems to get worse reception than v3.

Overall, it can work well, but be careful with the version of the PC card.

The laptop cards works perfectly.
The access point and router is working but not all of its features work. Connecting few wireless PCs and wired PCs works perfectly, DHCP server works as well.
However, connecting to the internet using PPTP standard doesn't work for me. I'm having problems with setting the router to use PPTP connection type to my ISP.
For some reason, it gets disconnected from the internet after 1 or 2 minutes.
I had to upgrade the ADSL modem to support PPPoE.
Setting the router to connect the internet via PPPoE works fine!

I got no explanations from Linksys why PPTP didn't work for me.

The only complaint that I have is that my old Linksys router had a DMZ port on the back that could be configured to be permanently outside the firewall. This made it great for hosting internet games like Ghost Recon. I could switch between DMZ and firewall by just moving the cat5 cable. This router doesn't have that port. Instead, you have to configure a static IP address to be outside the firewall. This one is not as easy to switch between Firewall and DMZ.

The wireless range is good. I put the router in my basement and I can connect with my laptop in every room in the house. Including the second floor (3 floors above the basement). The signal strength is excellent and the signal quality is excellent.

I attempted to contact Netgear support about this issue. After their initial reply (roughly a week and a half after the first request was sent) that since they had never encountered anything like my situation in the lab, my B client card must be defective, I explained to them that I had tested many things including disabling 802.11g and 108Mbps mode on the WGT624v2 as well as moving both units around. I also told them that the Netgear MR814v2 does not experience any of these problems. Three weeks later, I have yet to receive any response to my repeated emails requesting a solution. I would have to say that Netgear offers EXTREMELY poor after-purchase support (not my first experience with this).

Since then, the router has begun randomly dropping the link completely on the 802.11b node for 3-5 seconds at a time about 10-15 times in a row.

In terms of design, the WGT624 is lacking in several areas. The 108Mbps mode has a fatal flaw as well: when in 108Mbps "turbo" mode, the only channel the router will operate on is the frequently crowded and noisy Channel 6. The port forwarding mechanism is very simplistic and leaves much to be desired. Mappings can not be made from an external port to a different numbered port internally (i.e. comes in as 8888, goes to internal server as 80). When assigning descriptive names to the mappings, no spaces may be used, nor may any "+"'s, "-"'s, or "."'s.

This product is a major disappointment since Netgear generally makes reasonably good products. If you need any type of support for the product, good luck because you will not get it from Netgear. Unless you live in a fairly rural area with very little interference, few people with wireless devices, and are planning on using only Netgear's 108Mbps client cards, I would highly recommend staying away from this poor product.

This product is simply not stable, at least for me. It has to be rebooted constantly. For sure it cannot hold a wireless connection more than 24 hours. I upgraded to the latest firmware, which at the time of writing is 4.1.11. No help whatsoever. I checked on-line, and sure enough many many people have reported similar problems with it (broadbandreports.com). I tried disabling the 108Mb features, but that also didn't help.

So in the end, I'm just returning it after a frustrating weekend.

The range of this thing is great. I had it sitting on the floor of the office in the front of my house and I was still getting 96mbps out by my back fence. I have a decent size yard so I was very surprised at the speed at that range.

I've had no issue with interference from phones or other electrical equipment. The firewall side of it is a little weak, but for everything else you get I can't complain.

This thing works great in B/G mode as well. A friend came over with his B card and both of us were connected in my kitchen at full speed (him at 11 mbps and me at 54mbps). That's with 128 WEP turned on as well. Another review stated severe performance issues with WEP enabled...I haven't had any issues.

Overall, this router lived up to its promise. Would highly recommend.