| 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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Best Quality/Price Option, August 22, 2004
By J. Paul (New York, NY USA)
I live in New York City and needed a wireless router that could send the signal throughout my oddly shaped apartment that has many concrete/brick walls. I compared the Netgear MR814 with the Linksys BEFW11SF as both are wireless b routers and all anyone really needs.
I have Time Warner broadband cable internet and the setup for the Netgear was plug-and-play. As with any wireless router, you'll want to make sure it's secured: change default password, disable broadcast SSID, and enable MAC filtering, and enable WEP/WPA security. There are plenty of different options, but I found that administering the Netgear MR814 was simple and quick.
I am now able to wander all over my apartment and receive a 100% quality strong signal.
Overall, I believe that Netgear is just as good (or better) than the Linksys while costing less. How can you go wrong?
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Netgear MR814 Wireless Router, August 21, 2004
By H. Mehling (Yelm, WA USA)
I have had no success with this product. Netgear doesn't provide warranty support for Macintosh computers and this router drops connection constantly. After doing a firmware upgrade, I could no longer to access the router to reconfigure, so it is essentially useless. I don't recommend this product for Macintosh users.
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Trashed this Netgear and got the Linksys, August 16, 2004
By Absolute_HD (Boston, MA)
Save your money, I should have taken the advice of the other negative postings. I had this on my home network for three months and it only worked for the first 2 weeks. I even did all of the updates and patchs and it could not handle my VPN to work and the wireless would surf at below dial up speeds. I had to buy the Linksys to replace it and it has been working great.
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Incompatiable with Centrino, August 16, 2004
By MCSE (Phoenix, AZ)
I cannot get laptops with centrino to connect to the MR814v2 (this is the version that Netgear is shipping now). I've tried IBM and Dell notebooks to no avail. I can get my other IBM to connect but it isn't a centrino. Search on the web and you'll see a lot of other people having the same problem. Tech support for netgear is outsourced to India and it is not very helpful, they'll tell you to update the firmware but that still doesn't work. If this network engineer can't get it to work then it's not worth the hassel, buy some other brand.
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Right out of the box..., August 15, 2004
By NullS (Bogota, Colombia (South America))
Well. For background reference, I study Systems and Computing engineering at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.
The installation procedure was just as it said, Right out of the box.
I got an MR814v2 Router, not a MR814
I am running on a slow cable connection, the MR814v2 was plugged in, I rebooted the modem, and I just went to 192.168.0.1 on my browser, it detected my connection and I had nothing to do afterwards, Got the settings perfectly, I browsed through the options, just to set address reservation, and wireless security.
Afterwards, I had like NOTHING to do. It was all set up and working perfectly.
And now, the weird (good) part comes here, after I was done with the installation, I wanted to test how it would work, so I started my webcam with a friend, and amazingly enough, it was working noticeable faster than it was without my router.
My friend (not really knowledgeable in computers) noticed that too, and well my internet speed is only 128/128, so a improvement is really noticeable.
I'm very happy I got this router :)
Thanks Netgear for an AWESOME product, as it was to be expected
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Worked unreliably at first, now not at all.- EDITED, August 13, 2004
By kneeldug (Ohio, USA)
I bought this mr814v2 because it was cheap. The features and HTML interface turned out to be decent. It worked decently for a little while (a week or two). [EDIT- I just got a defective product--a replacement product works well. See the end of the review.]
Then it started having intermittent problems of dropping the connection until a power cycle (all of this is WIRED, not wireless). I upgraded the firmware, but the issues persisted. Then the DHCP server portion of it died and will not come back to life. It is also not directly IP addressable. So it is dead. It even gave me the bizarre situation of simply acting like a pass-through to my cable modem DHCP server (ipconfig returned the cable modem IP and the network worked exactly like the computer was plugged directly into the cable modem)--yeah, that was a new one to me too. Hard-resetting actually broke it MORE (now the power light does not operate).
My recommendation is to buy anything but Netgear. I had good experiences with Netgear cards in the past, but apparently things have gotten much cheaper since those days. I had a Belkin router before this. It had fewer features, but was extremely reliable. Too bad I gave it away!
I will see how their RMA process works. I just hope they give me a different model.
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UPDATE:
My new one came fairly quickly and it is PERFECT. It never drops or gives me any trouble. I restart it every few weeks, and there are never any problems. It works with two dlink cards and my sony clie (th-55).
I now can recommend to get this...but be aware that you stand a chance of getting an defect--so don't be afraid to RMA. Inexpensive networking equipment is made cheaply, so defects happen. But working ones happen too. I had far more problems with a D-link router than I have ever had with this (working) netgear router (i.e. I had quite a few with a comparable dlink and NONE with my working netgear).
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Piece of garbage., August 5, 2004
By Joseph
I bought the MR814v2 abotu 2 months ago. It has recently completely stopped working. If i unhook everything and power cycle my modem, the router works again for about 3 hours and then it dies again, permanently. As if i couldnt tell the shoddy quality of this thing just from pulling it out of the box and looking at it, it's performance has sealed netgear's reputation of making complete trash. It's worth spending more to get something that actually works. I plan on throwing this out my car window at a very high speed.
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Worked great out of the box, August 4, 2004
By Alleged Reviewer (Norcal, CA USA)
This router worked very well out of the box. I have no idea how to set these things up, but the router came with an easy-to-follow quickstart card. I timed myself, and I had the router installed and was on the internet in less than 5 minutes. My separate laptop was on wireless in the next room in less than 15 minutes.
Signal is strong throughout my house and quite a ways outside. I suspect I'll be providing wireless to my neighbors for a while until I figure the security functions out.
I really have no complaints, the instructions were easy to follow (and I didn't have any weird setup issues).
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This is Terrible!, August 3, 2004
By Poor Updater (Arlington, TX USA)
When I got this item and install on my cable modem. I found my IBM-X31 can successfully connect to the Internet. However, I restart my computer and let it connect to this router automatically, it failed. I tried to upgrade its firmware in order to enhance the stability, it failed again. And all I need to do is return to the store.....
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Inexpensive and functional., August 1, 2004
By Lodi Shopper (Lodi, OH United States)
I have three of these units using one as a router and two as access points. (...)they have worked without problem for me. Easy set up and good documentation. Also have D-link and Microsoft routers and these are as good as those. If you are looking for a cheap way into wireless this is it. I haven't touched them in 3 months since I turned them on.
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very poor distance, August 1, 2004
By unsatisfied (Florida)
The router works well "if" you are within 10 feet of the router. If not it will NOT work as promised. Why would anyone want wireless on a notebook with such poor performance?
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real good!, July 27, 2004
By Go Cats! (Tucson, AZ.)
this is a real good wireless router for its price (i got it for just $16)!.
It configures pretty easily and works with all known operating systens. it may be getting old cause its not 802.11g which is the latest standard... but believe me it doesn't make much of a difference if ur trying wireless for the very 1st time!
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Great router for the price, July 27, 2004
By D.M. (California)
I just got the MR814v2, and I'm very pleased with it. It was quite easy to install, and seems to work perfectly. (...)
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extremely happy with this product, July 19, 2004
By unknown
finally got high speed INTERNET and needed a router so this is my very first one and I'm very happy with it work's great as wireless and hard wired and extreamely happy with it and the price
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Don't waste your money, July 18, 2004
By unknown
This router worked great for the first hour or two, and then the problems began. The wireless feature quit working (which after reading some reviews on here and elsewhere on the internet, I discovered is from the router overheating.) After a few days of using it as a wired router (since I had given up on the wireless), I smelled something electrical overheating or burning which turned out to be this router. (...)
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Get a newer router..., July 18, 2004
By Mike (Redwood City, CA United States)
I've been using this router for about a year now. I've had to exchange it once, and have spent hours trying to fix inexplicable problems. It works ok for now, but with occasional problems and mandatory resets.If you choose this router, MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE ONE THAT SAYS "v2" after it. Netgear realized they made so many mistakes in the first product, that they made a new version that actually works.
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Terrible!, July 17, 2004
By Avoid Netgear!! (San Diego, CA United States)
This router worked great for a month. I don't know if it was chaging ISP's or what, but now my 3 month "complimentary" support has expired and I have a router that doesn't work. I can use pay support to get an RMA or start ALL over with net support. This has been a total waste of my time and money. Do yourself a favor and buy something different!
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Great look but...., July 16, 2004
By unknown
I have been using "Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router" for couple year without problem. I was looking to switch my router for personal reason and finally picked this modem because it's pretty compact and portable (I do a lot of LAN party). However this router turns to be very disappointing. Let me list first the positive side:Positive side:
+ Small, portable and the most fashionable router in the market.
+ Easy to setup regardless your ISP. It's a walkthrough process.
+ Great documentation but only through PDF, no hard copy. Negative side:
+ Bad wireless range. Sometimes the signal disappear eventhough I am 4m away in another room. I need to reboot time to time the router.
+ Missing MAC filtering for 10/100 Ethernet network (I have roomates which doesn't pay the internet fee). In conclusion, I recommend this router only if you are not a computer geek or you are short in your budget because it's easy to setup. However if you are looking for a better router pick the one from Linksys.
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Very poor quality, July 15, 2004
By sealerd2 (Chattanooga, TN United States)
I purchased this router for $47. It turns out that the router worked for a short period of time before I started noticing dropped connections. I thought it might be my aging Cisco 350 NIC, but then used it on networks at work and during a couple of trips I took. It was soon after that I realized the router wasn't responding at all. Looking at the "Internet" or WAN port on the switch it was connected to, I realized that the actual jack is faulty, as well as the wireless portion losing signal. This is a very poor router and I wouldn't recommend it. I've heard many other customers have the same kinds of problems. I recommend searching for a Linksys.
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Easy setup, works great, good support, July 14, 2004
By unknown
(...). I had no problems setting it up and have had it for 1 year w/out a problem. When I changed computers, I called their tech at 11pm at night and he walked me step by step through the reconfig process. Super value w/ rebate!
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