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is huge. I have had a lot of problems with this router. Also, the wireless connection does not work with Dell laptops for some reason. Look elsewhere, unless you are a masochist.
If I'd known I would face these kinds of problems I never would have bought it.I would not recommend this product even if you got it for free; the time and headaches it will cost you are probably much more than what you'll pay for a dependable wireless router/print server. Even as a simple four-port LAN firewall/router it has gaming issues. Netgear's website is spotty as well: the contact list for ISPs regarding ISP connectivity issues was last updated in 2005. Also, with some LAN games (e.g., Dawn of War, Warcraft III) it will allow certain computers to connect to the game server and not others, without any discernable reason why.
I have upgraded to the latest firmware and that hasn't helped. All my friends are playing Civ IV online with no problems, but my ability to connect has been very spotty (I've never been able to complete an online game). Its wireless connection is intermittent and sometimes totally freezes up, requiring the router and the DSL modem to be rebooted. It also has problems with online and LAN games.
If you want to use this as a print server, be sure to check for compatability on the website: the number of printers that are not compatible (or just have not been tested, why should they actually go through the trouble of verifying compatibility before advertising it). As a result, I only use it now as a LAN router until I can afford something else. "Customer service" is Mumbai Hell; the waits are interminable and customer reps are clueless.
I get a strong signal and the router itself is in what feels like a sturdy metal case.If you are among the 5 of us out there still using dial-up and are tired of being tied to a phone cord I recommend this router. I use this router to serve up a wireless connection via a serial modem. Mine wasn't on the list and it still worked but I may have gotten lucky. Be sure to visit the manufacturers web site to see what serial modems are supported. Unless you need to connect to the Internet through a serial modem or need a modem as a backup connection you can save money with a cheaper router. The dial-on-demand feature works well and I've only had to reboot this router a couple of times.
I have done some extensive research as to what could be causing this. The speed of the connection would fluctuate between 54Mbps and 1Mbps. It's a Dell, with the built-in WiFi. Well, that makes sense. And I would randomally get disconnected for some time until it would reconnect. I really love the functionality of this firewall, thus all of the RMA's. I think it has to do with my wireless card in my laptop. I found some rumors that heat is causing the wireless issues.
Data encryption is WPA2-PSK. I am on my 3rd RMA with this device. I went to the store and purchased a VGA heatsink and slapped it on there. It runs much cooler, and my speed is stable. When I was streaming video it got hotter.
I cracked open the firewall and found that the broadcom IC(Wireless) was very hot at idle. When I do experience them, I go into my site monitoring software, and I find that my firewall is still active and has a strong signal. I'm sure I can drop down to WPA-PSK to help out, but I like the heightened security. I generally get 1 disconnect/week. Tech support is very poor. Best thing is that I don't have the disconnects as often. The main issue I was experiencing, was the wireless conneciton.
Sad thing is that there are no heatsinks on it. Well, I got fed up and I did exactly that. I also am running the higest security settings one can run. When you know more about their product then they do, do yourself a favor, and either demand for an RMA, or hang up and fix it yourself.
Printer compatibility is hit-or-miss with most of these.I solved this problem with a separate Netgear USB Mini Print Server (Model PS121), which was reported to work by Dymo. I chose this combination wireless router and USB print server because I needed both those functions and wanted to keep the equipment/wiring quantity down. I think it compares favorably to my home network's Linksys WRT54G, though I would have simply bought another Linksys if I'd known up front that the integrated print server isn't compatible. Now we can print wirelessly to our laser and the LabelWriter.Overall the functionality is fine. However, the print server failed with our Dymo LabelWriter 400. This was unfortunate but not entirely unexpected.
Setup was fairly easy and painless, but you should know this. This is not a huge problem for me, as that's all I do from my laptop is print.
When I want to do something else from my desktop, I just swap the USB plug to the computer's USB port and back into the router when I'm done, nothing needs resetting. Most of the time that's all I do with my printer from my desktop computer too.
I've been using this router for a couple of weeks now with no hitches. You also won't get any feedback from the printer, so when you hit "Print" the popup printing progress window tells you the printer isn't responding, but it's actually printing just fine.
I consider it a minor inconvenience, but your mileage may vary. The wireless connection signal is very strong.
I connected my Canon multi-functional printer, scanner, copier, fax unit into the router's USB port and all I can do is print.
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