I've yet to be out of range through multiple walls the house.

I'm very pleased with this Netgear router. And you can't beat the price. Give it 5 stars.

Setting up the MR814 was very easy. The setup software was straightforward, and printed instructions very carefully walk the uncertain user through those. With one computer cable-plugged into the router, it was easy to have the router up and running in about 10-15 minutes. Another 15-20 minutes spent installing a MA521 card into the WinXP laptop, and we had wireless. 15 minutes to install an MA111 adapter on the family WinXP desktop, and we were all set. Both wireless connections get strong dependable signals from across the house (typically 40-50 feet and 2 or 3 walls away), complete with 128-bit WEP. And the remaining desktop plugs in directly via cabled port with no problems.

Generally comfortable with Windows computers, but relatively clueless about networking, I'm very happy with our Netgear home network.

This product is a good solution for a household with several computers that all want to share an internet connection, but don't want to have to pay for extra IP numbers from their ISP. Built into the MR814 is a DCHP server that allows for, theoretically, over 100 computers to share the same internet connection. Realistically, what this means is that your main home computers can connect via the built-in wired 4 port 10/100 hub, and you can have all of your wireless enabled gadgets surfing, issue free, via the WiFi 802.11b connection.

The interface for the product is simple to use and clearly laid out. There could have been a little more documentation for it, but over all most things are pretty straight forward. you can access the configuration via any web browser of a computer that is connected to it (do not change settings with a wireless connection as it resets the wifi whenever you save changes).

Range for the Wifi is pretty decent. Without encryption enabled I can wander several hundred feet without losing signal. I could write this review from anywhere in the house or anywhere in my back yard without any issues as all. I.. well.. I haven't tested the range with encryption enabled because.. well.. the documentation isn't exactly crystal clear on how to get that working correctly. So, I've just kept it off for now.

The unit itself looks good and can be mounted on a wall, placed horizontal, or placed vertically with an included freestanding mount. The icons on the face of the unit glow a soft green (yellow if the computers are connected via the hardwired 4 port hub and only running at 10MB).

So. Trying to set up a home network with a few computers? Trying to find something to match your Ikea furniture? Then the MR814 will work pretty well for you.

Where the D-Link would have only a momentary drop in the wireless link, this router completely stops passing data on a regular basis. I have to unplug (reboot) the router, release & renew the IP configuration and restart. I tried to call Netgear tech support for 2 days but never reached a person. I was either placed in "dead air" or put on hold and then disconnected after about 30 minutes of waiting. A bad product and bad support.

I'll probably go back to the D-Link because that model would at least continue working after a brief drop. That's better than a complete freeze.

It's frustrating to see so many positive reviews only to get a product that's unusable.

But during other times, the router does run fast and flawlessly with any connection. Setup is easy, but not what I expect... for the newbies, they also might be confused with DHCP and DNS, which is mentioned in the wizard.

-Jeff K.

The D-link router,
-- disconnects itself & reboots every 5 mins.
-- takes forever to come back from resets & requires me to disable/enable the wireless card each time it comes back.
-- whenever its running the bandwidth I get in all the tests is like dialup (instead of 1+ Mbps on wired network).
-- disabling the WEP doesn't help
-- works fine as a wired hub
-- extremely easy to set up
-- uses a Conexant processor, TI mini PCI card, one internal & one external antenna and other off-the-shelf components (giving it slightly bigger size, weight compared to Netgear)
-- has travel sized adaptor but only 110V.
-- is not worth paying any money for, its POS.

The Netgear router,
-- looks better and comes with a vertical stand
-- works fine most of the time (it does drop connection for few secs once every 30 mins or so)
-- costs slightly more than D-link POS
-- extremely easy to set up
-- has 3 yr warranty (although these are disposable routers, longer warranty suggests better build quality)
-- has modern & custom made components inside it (couldn't resist opening it :)
-- has ridiculously heavy AC adaptor and only 110V.
-- slows down KazaaLite connections to a fraction of wired speeds (anyone know a solution to this? port forwarding?)

D-link is going back to store within a day. All the positive reviews must be from people using all-things-dlink setup or didn't check up the speed etc before writing a review. Netgear will also go back if I can get KazaaLite working & the occasional drops resolved. Maybe I need to get a business class router/access point.

Poor state of wireless industry... advertized features like xxx bit WEP, yy Mbps, zzz feets of range, etc are all misleading, they just don't work. Instead of making reliable 802.11b equipment they are now jumping to 22Mps, 54Mpbs etc.