| Netgear MR814 802.11b Wireless 4-Port Cable/DSL Router |
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Model: MR814NA
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 715
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Connect to a cable/DSL modem and get wired or wireless Internet access for all your computers
Compatible with most 802.11b wireless networking devices
Firewall, 128-bit Encryption, Parental controls
Smart Wizard automatically detects ISP type, Port Range Forwarding, Exposed Host (DMZ), URL Content Filtering, E-mail Alerts, and Wireless MAC Address Authentication
Compatible with Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, Mac OS, NetWare, UNIX, and Linux |
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| Description: |
| The Model MR814 Wireless Router provides continuous, high-speed 11 Mbps access between your wireless and Ethernet devices. Also, the Model MR814 router enables your entire network to share an Internet connection through a cable modem or DSL modem that otherwise is used by a single PC. With minimum setup, you can install and use the router within minutes.The Model MR814 router provides multiple Web content filtering options, plus e-mail browsing activity reporting and instant alerts. Parents and network administrators can establish restricted access policies based on time-of-day, website addresses and address keywords, and share high-speed cable/DSL Internet access for up to 253 personal computers. Network Address Translation (NAT) protects you from hackers. |
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| User Reviews (715 total): |
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Do Not Buy This!, April 1, 2005
By Marty (Virginia Beach, VA, USA)
I've had very bad experiences with Netgear. My previous router was a wired RT314 that my work purchased for me. It wasn't terrible, but it often dropped the WAN connection to my ISP. I had to reboot it manually about every other day to re-establish the link to the Internet.
I purchased an MR814 with misgivings because of my previous Netgear experience, but it was on sale for a really low price and I was tempted beyond my better judgement. The MR814 is even worse than the RT314. It not only drops the WAN connection to the Interenet every couple hours or so, it also becomes unresponsive to machines connected on the LAN as well. The DHCP stops responding/giving out IPs. I can't access the web configuration because the router will not respond so I have to constantly reboot the router by pulling the plug (no power switch).
Even after a router reboot, and a successful DHCP query from the machines on the LAN, the router has trouble with DNS look ups. I have to try just about every URL twice, because it fails to connect on the first try giving me a "server not responding / unknown host" error when it's actually the Netgear router unable to forward the DNS queries properly.
I honestly haven't had a chance to test the wireless connection, but this dog is going back to the pound... If it can't stay connect over ethernet cable, what hope is there for wireless?
By the way, my model is a "v3" (version 3) so the problems didn't go away with the new production run and firmware updates. Googling "MR814 connection problem" reveals many, many users with similar difficulties.
Is it so much to ask that a router stay up and online over the course of a day?
I'm going to buy a D-Link.
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Great So Far !!, March 27, 2005
By nwatson88 (Lake Mary, Florida)
I purchased this router to get a wireless signal and replace an old router that had gone defunct. I also purchased a new LinkSys Cable Modem to go with it, hoping to make our internet connection stronger with newer, better equipment.
Well it worked like a dream! We get a strong wireless signal across the house in a different room and the main connection seems to be stable and strong too. Setup was very easy (I run XP Pro on 3 year old computers). So I don't have any qualms with it yet. But I'll call this purchase a total victory if I DON'T have to access the 3 year warranty...
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wow...but not "plug and play", March 20, 2005
By C. Heile
The good is that this is a very, very inexpensive device and it works really well if you can get to that point. But if you are undisciplined like myself (the directions must be followed EXACTLY), or if you are intimidated by the prospect of the included directions instructing you to click "continue anyway" when presented with an installation screen that strongly recommends that you not do so (xp service pack issues I think) then you should spend the extra money on another product.
If you get in trouble with this product and want to try again, there is a hole on the back of the unit that you can push with a pen to reset it back to factory specs. Doing this really helped with the problems I had after I moved the router from one computer to another within my house.
Now that its working, I'm really thrilled with this router, despite the 4 hours of experimentation and google searches I did to get to this point (which in the end only taught me how to reset the unit). I learned a lot in the process of making this work, and the education alone was worth the (very small) price.
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Easy setup/configuration but long term reliablity an issue, March 19, 2005
By Gizmo Lover (Sillicon Valley, CA)
When I first got this wireless router I loved it. It was real easy to setup, it had mac adress filtering, all the options in the setup have a definition right next to them so its real easy to figure things out.
But I must say after about a year things started flaking out. It 1st starts off as an occasional bump off of the wireless network. It did that once a quarter, then once a month then every week, then every day, then every hour, and finally every minute.. and it doesn't end there then the Wired ports got all flacky as well.
Is it just me or do they make these things to fail every few months? I also bought a netgear pci wireless adapter and that died on me too.. so far I'm really not happy with Netgear..That was a G card I bought 4 months ago...My old netgear B card is 2 years older and its still humming along in another computer!
I thought their 3 yr warrenty would mean that they were pretty confident about their product.. but its just a marketing rouse. The tech support system is such a pain in the ass that I think they're hoping that most people will give up and just buy another router.
So unless the quality of netgear stuff starts going back up I would definetly stay away from all netgear products.. as of recently it seems they're having really bad quality issues. The NEW 624 series routers are notorious for being POS. And that just came out a few months ago.
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Great product at a great price - NO PROBLEMS, March 15, 2005
By YBNormal.com (Phoenix, AZ United States)
I have been using this for over a year now with no problems at all. It almost installed itself. Great firewall protection. I can connect to the internet at any time at will. Very easy to set up parental filtering on both key words and url's. Wireless was easy to set up the encryption keys too. I tried a Linksys wireless "b" router and had less than half the signal strength I get with the Netgear. I'll trust Netgear any time for my networking.
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Working fine, March 7, 2005
By R. TRIPATHI
I've been using this for more that a year now with SBC Yahoo DSL. No problems at all.
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142 out of 682 reviews gave the product one star!!!, February 28, 2005
By J. Wu (San Francisco, CA)
Given my 1-star rating, it has an astonishing 21% dissatisfaction rate. What else need to be said about it? Really not much, but I do want to share my own experience.
This is no doubt the hardward I have had most problems, and hence frustrations, with. After I had given up the router (I am now connecting to my DSL modem directly), I decided to come here and see what other people have to say about it. With little surprise, I found out a lot of them experienced the same.
When it works, it may work great for a quite a while. However, it may stop working all a sudden, or when you have to restart it (power outrage, moving etc.). Several times, I had struggled but managed to reset the network; this time, it completely died on me, without responding even to wired connection.
I give up, seriously. It has consumed way more time and effort than what a piece of $30 hardware really should. I am shopping for a new router, and will never buy anything from Netgear.
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Great but slow, February 16, 2005
By War Panda (San Antonio, TX)
great and ez to use and install. the 802.11b is very slow if you are moving large files between 2 computers. use the newer "G" ones if this is your goal.
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Didn't Last 6 Weeks, February 11, 2005
By H. Frederick (TN USA)
I hate to write this review because I once thought Netgear was a better-than-average network hardware manufacturer, but I have been completely disappointed with this router. I have had a home network for 5 years now and have used several routers. When I decided to add wireless I chose Netgear because I have had good Netgear hardware in the past. When I first installed the router I was surprised at how poor the range was. Now that it has quit working after 6 weeks, I feel that I should post a warning. I called Netgear's technical support and found out that they have put a number of obstacles in the path of anyone seeking warranty service. I have decide not to through the trouble of returning the router - I don't want another one. I am planning to replace it with a Motorola router.
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Dont buy this even if you get it for free!!, February 9, 2005
By Bels (WI, USA)
Got this router 2 months back. Was very happy to see the design of the router and mis-understood that it will even perform to the same level. First time I insert the configuration CD into my laptop, BOOM!! my wireless network went for a toss!!! Thankfully, my laptop has 'restore' functionality which allowed me to restore the settings prior to the netgear installation. I'm saved.
It worked so-so for about a month. After that, everytime i want to connect to the net, I have to shutdown my laptop for atleast 10 minutes and then start it again. After repeating this for 3-4 times, 'it might connect'!! Feels pathetic. I would prefer a dial-up connection over this router.
I'm giving one star, since i'm able to connect to the internet atleast few times a day!!
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Started out great, sporadic signal drop, February 6, 2005
By PurduePhoto (Rochester, NY)
Bought this router some months ago to network two houses and all my laptops inside. Initial setup was a pain; had to reconfigure the LAN to work on the router's DHCP setup system. But once that was working all (Still) wasn't good.
Unexpected network drops would occur at random times. We'd be sitting in the bedroom watching a movie streamed and the signal would just 'disapear'. No reasons, no explanations- just suddenly at 20% or less, and completely lost. Since there are only two of us in the house and she wasn't carrying pieces of shielding around, I'm fairly certain it was the hardware just futzing out. Mind you the AT&T cheapo router was still broadcasting over it's network, so we just switched.
Resetting the unit once it's lost signal is the only way to get it back up and running- which means reconfiguring the LAN to work on it and hoping it 'sticks'.
The antenna isn't removeable; trying to get better signal is near impossible.
For the price, it's nice- but I'd stick to G or Turbos instead.
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I dont get it..., February 6, 2005
By SprSynJn (San Diego, CA USA)
I bought this router back in December. I got it on time and decided to try it out in my old apartment before I moved to my new apartment. I had Cox Communications as my cable provider at the time. The router worked perfectly, about the same as my old Linksys wired router before. I then moved to a different area of San Diego and changed cable companies, Time Warner. Ever since then I have had nothing but problems with this stupid thing. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with India tech support for them to finally tell me it will have to be replaced.
After a little bit of time I got the new one, or what I thought was a new one. Apparantly they sent me a refurbished router of the same type. I had to once again call tech support as the router didnt even recongnize itself as a blasted router. The kind lady helped me fix it and for a while it had no problems. Then I started to notice that after a while Internet Explorer does not want to work. I can download to my hearts content, although the speeds are much slower than before, and use MSN Messenger. But with IE, the darn thing stops recongnizing my internet connection at times. This is very frustrating and I finally emailed the support and demanded a refund, for which I will use to get another Linksys.
I wouldnt recommend this router. If you must have Netgear then get a more advanced one, I think this model is being recalled.
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A decent little router for the price, February 6, 2005
By friendly neighborhood tech guru (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
Pros:
- Relatively small form factor, easy on the eyes. I live in an apartment full of ugly beige boxes, but if you value aesthetics, this router is definitely better-looking than their comparable D-Link or Linksys counterparts. Won't look out of place in a room full of pretty Macs.
- Very easy to set up and configure. If you're a power user, you could set it up inside of five minutes without reading so much as one line of documentation. But if you're not so accomplished, fear not--the Quick Install guide that comes in the box is well-written and easy to follow.
- Pretty good web-based configuration interface. For those of you who have wisely ditched MS Internet Explorer as your default browser, you'll be happy to know that it works just fine in Mozilla Firefox or Opera. There's no need to open a separate Help window to decipher all the available options (and there are many)--there's a handy Help pane on the right-hand side that updates automatically every time you navigate to a different section.
- If you're configuring restricted wireless access or DHCP, you can assign device names to MAC addresses. If you're administering a dozen or so computers (including friends' laptops when they come over to mooch off your DSL), this comes in really handy.
- Built-in SPI firewall, which provides automatic defense against denial of service (DoS) attacks, among other things. Trust me, you need this.
- It just works. If you find yourself power-cycling yours often, try upgrading the firmware to the latest version. It makes a world of difference (and you might get a modest performance increase as well). And it's not very hard to do.
Cons:
- No WPA support. WEP security may deter a casual snooper, but a more determined hacker can crack it pretty easily. I wouldn't deploy this anywhere where data security is paramount.
- The built-in keyword and domain blocking functionality is one and the same. I tried blocking a domain name but wound up blocking any page that just mentioned the domain name (including Google search results). If you need serious firewall functionality, you'd be better off with a dedicated solution like Zone Alarm.
- Signal strength plummets if too close to certain electronic devices like CRT computer monitors, televisions, or cordless phones. I wound up placing the router on the opposite side of the room as my computer. That helped a lot.
- Signal strength is 70% in the same room as the router. My old D-Link did 93% in the same room before it died. Your mileage may vary.
- No way to attach an external antenna or replace the built-in antenna. If you want improved wireless coverage, you'd have to get another wireless access point. Luckily I live in a small apartment, but if you live in a multi-story house or work in a large office, you'll want to think about this.
- Painfully slow LAN file transfers over wireless. If you have a need for wireless speed, you'll want to consider 802.11g equipment or better. Internet access speed is just fine, however.
If all you need is a basic wireless router that lets you share your internet connection with everyone in your home or office, this more than fits the bill. And it's real hard to beat the price.
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Easy and fast setup, January 25, 2005
By OutofGum (New York)
This router was a snap to setup, took about 5 minutes. But, a note to centrino users: you must update the firmware if you are usings centrino or you will lose connection every 30 minutes and have to unplug the router and plug it in again. Took me about 10 hours to figure this out. Once I did, updating was quick and easy.
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Connection drop, reboot, repeat for the rest of your life, January 24, 2005
By pupmaster mox (New York)
I've already spent way too much time tinkering with this router and talking to Netgear's India tech support guys to try and get consistent results. Unfortunately the only consistent thing about the MR814 is the way it loses the connection. I'm moving on, hopefully to a product that works.
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decent cost-effective option, January 23, 2005
By Geek (Springfield, VA USA)
I picked up this "B" router since after rebates, it was almost free, and i had no need for higher-speed wireless since it is mainly for internet. It has worked well for about 2 months, and I've had no problems with it. I have a Windows2000 Pro computer hooked up via 10/100, and a Dell laptop running WindowsXP Home that connects wirelessly. My internet is a DSL connection.
For me, the product worked well out of the box. Setup was plug-and-play, and everybody recognized everything. I setup 128-bit WEP encryption, and turned off the SSID broadcast for security with no fuss probably in about 5-minutes. I also restricted acces to specific MAC addresses (namely my laptop). It offers NAT and a firewall (seemingly effective, as dslreports.com could not get any response in their security test). There are some parental controls (denying or allowing certain websites) which i have not used. The router is also physically very small.
Why should you choose a "B" router over a "G" or "Super-G" router? Well... The "B" router runs at a max of 11Mbps, and the "G" runs at a max of 54Mbps, and the "Super-G" routers run at a max of 108Mbps. Most internet connections (cable/DSL) run no more than 1.5Mbps (or in rare cases 3Mbps or 5Mbps), so if you are just browsing the web, you dont need anything more than a "B" router. "G" is for the folks who frequently transfer files across their wireless network to other computers and dont mind paying a few extra $$$ for it. "Super-G" is the fastest and most expensive (by far), and you need a "Super-G" router as well as an adapter of the *same* brand, otherwise, it drops back down to "G" speeds.
For those with intermittent connection issues: If you are running WindowsXP with Service Pack 2, don't use the included Netgear software to control the wireless connection (this applies to any other brand as well). In the Wireless Network Connection properties, select the option to "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings".
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Good for the price, but..., January 15, 2005
By Gadget Freak (Chicago, IL, USA)
I've had this router for 2+ years now, and have gone from DSL to LAN to cable modem, and with a few (minor) problems, this router has handled them all with ease. I started with SBC-Yahoo DSL (Motorola modem), and it was virtually plug and play compatibility. I had both access control and WEP enabled at the time, and it worked flawlessly with my Compaq Presario laptop. I then used this in a LAN environment for a few months with no access controls, supporting about 8 users, and then too, it was fine. After this, I switched to a cable modem (Toshiba 2600) and it wouldn't work very well with some websites - hotmail for one. I upgraded the firmware to version RC4 (I have the older, v1.0 version of MR814,) did a hard reset sending the router back to its factory settings, and then reconfigured it, and it is again working (almost) perfectly. I do have dropped signals when I enable WEP now. But I blame it on the WEP-802.11b combination not being very robust when channel interference occurs (I can pick up at least 20 other routers in my apartment). So I just have access control enabled with no WEP, and it works just fine with my Dell laptop. If not for these issues, it definitely rates as a 5 star router.
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Horrible router, constant signal drops, January 15, 2005
By rl123 (Dallas, Texas United States)
I foolishly purchased this router a year ago when it was on sale with a mail in rebate. To this day I regret the decision.
Basically, the device is a piece of junk. The wireless signal strength is terrible and won't work past 2 rooms. Furthermore, the router will shut down its wireless component every 1.5 days so that you have to manually reboot the thing to get it working again. No amount of upgrading the firmware helped. Netgear support was completely useless.
If you are looking for a wireless router, buy the Linksys WRT54G/GS and then go to www.sveasoft.com to install their custom firmware. You will have a $50 router with enough functions built-in (QoS, custom firewall, etc.) to rival business class products five times its cost.
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Poor signal strength makes this virtually worthless, January 8, 2005
By Wonder Al
I've had this router for a couple of months now and am sorely disappointed by its lack of signal strength. I originally had it in my office but my laptop would lose signal when I was about 10 feet away. I had to move it out to a hallway and even then it only has an effective signal when it is in line of site and within 20 feet or so. I'm in the process of looking to replace this door stopper with something useful.
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Fast but HORRIBLE Signal Strength, January 8, 2005
By Loraenn
This router was fairly easy to connect to my Ibook running Mac OS X. However, that was due to my Mac automatically recognizing the router, because the included software to set up the Router did not run on my computer. Once running the connection seemed to drop regularly, or at least such applications as AIM and MSN were constantly restarting. The speed was very satisfactory, running just as fast as I was when I was connected directly to my dsl modem. HOWEVER, I can not even leave the room that the router is in without losing my signal completely. If I put one single wall between my computer and my router then I do not receive any signal AT ALL. I don't know how these other users are getting such a great signal, I wish I did though!
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