| 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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Not too bad, but the support is awful, July 13, 2004
By brcowan (Boston Area, MA)
Did a firmware upgrade on this darling, and found to my chagrin that I couldn't configure the router (I don't use it for broadband access, so there isn't anything on the "internet" port). The config assistant "helps" you by actively hiding the "basic" configuration options until you configure the router, which you CAN'T if you don't have anything hooked to the "Internet" port.Managed to get the URL for the basic settings page by hooking a PC to the "internet" port. But this shouldn't be necessary -- and what if you DON't have a second machine to do this with?
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Ended badly: I got what I paid for, I guess, July 10, 2004
By software engineer (Melbourne, FL USA)
Yep: it's dead. I can't even get to it to reload the firmware. It's a shame: it's a nice design, much more compact than the Linksys WRT54G I'm gonna get instead.
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An ok base station, July 10, 2004
By B. Bardill (Seattle, WA USA)
I have the Netgear MR814v2 and Netgear MA111 NIC. The range of basestation is only about 20 feet, but that's fine, because I live in a small apartment. I like the Dyndns.org feature that automatically updates my IP address. The port-forwarding is easy to configure.
The MA111 NIC is useless. It's a USB, so should support unplugging it any time. Well, it will crash my computer (Windows XP Pro) every time I plug it in. I've tried 3 different driver versions to no avail. The NIC doesn't work at all in two other computers (also WinXP Pro).
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Firmware Upgrade Seems to be the ANSWER..., July 10, 2004
By mcswing (Los Angeles)
Hey guys, my girlfriend has had the mr814v2 version of the router for a couple of months now and she was experiencing the same problems that most frustrated users reviewing this product have already expressed. I consider myself fairly tech-savvy and I too could not figure out how to get this router to keep its Internet connection persistent for her Sony laptop (with built-in wireless G). But Netgear recently released version 5.3 of its firmware. I downloaded and flashed the router with this firmware and so far the connection looks to be stable. It looks like their tech people finally got their act together and released a solution to the connectivity problems on this device. This is the ONLY reason i'm giving this device a 5 star rating because it seems good now (it'd be 1 star otherwise). (...)
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PLEASING, July 9, 2004
By Katrina Carmack (Clearwater Fl USA)
WE HAVE THIS ROUTER AT OUR BUSINESS. WHEN MY BOYS COME TO WORK WITH US. THEY CAN BRING IN A LAP TOP FROM HOME. AND STILL KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THEIR FRIENDS WITHOUT BEING ON THE BUSINESS COMPUTER. WORKS OUT GREAT. EASY TO USE.
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Not off to a good start..., July 9, 2004
By software engineer (Melbourne, FL USA)
I got the unit yesterday, hooked it up yesterday evening, and was online with both wired (PC) and wireless (iBook) machines. Things seemed great, but this morning the hub was unreachable although the status lights were still lit. There's a firmware upgrade I'll try this weekend, and if that fixes things, I'll let y'all know.
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narrowband router, reeeeeeeeeeeeeealy slow, July 8, 2004
By laugh_seriously (San Francisco, CA United States)
I thought broadband is the same as dialup when I access Internet through this defective router...
after many hours trying to fix it,I finally disconnect it from the modem and connect my PC directly to cable modem, WOW, now I know what broad-band is.
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-99999999999999 star, worst nighmare ever, July 7, 2004
By laugh_seriously (San Francisco, CA United States)
I used it for several days and it suddenly stopped working.
All four ethernet ports are dead and the router could not detect ISP network.Netgear support is mean because they require you to register and then use the S/N to call some support speaking foreign English. They ask you to follow a work flow so that your suffering from the router is maximized! Of course, finally no luck! Stay away from this one if you can......
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Does the job - nothing fancy or spectacular, July 3, 2004
By ccpff (Wayne, NJ United States)
I have had this router for 3 weeks now, and so far, everything is fine. I chose this router because of the price ($16 after rebates) and prior experience with Netgear. At the office, we have been using a Netgear WG602 access point which has performed flawlessly for over a year. At the house I am connecting the router to my desktop via D-Link DWL-122. I was hesitant to use D-link, but took a chance once again because of price. The adapter was $20 after rebates and was the least expensive USB adapter that I could find. So far, this combination has worked well. Setup was easy and quick. On occassion, I also connect my IBM thinkpad using the built-in antenna. No problems here either. I am using 128 bit encryption without any hangups or delays. The range on this router is not as good as a Belkin or Linksys, but for a small house it should suffice. I use my notebook about 80 feet from the router with about 70% signal strength with 2 walls in between the router and computer. I have not had any problems with dropped connections or overheating as others have experienced. Setup was about 3 minutes and everything worked well the first time. Maybe I am just lucky, but so far so good. I am giving it 4 stars because the range is somewhat weaker than other routers I have used. Other than that, this is a great router at a great price.
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drops every 2 or 3 mintues with Encryption enabled., June 29, 2004
By BK (GA)
If I don't enable encryption, it works fine. But after I did, drops every 2 or 3 mintues, so often. It is not right. All other brands, like Belkin, D-link, all have this issue. I don't know how to figure out. If anyone knows how to fix it, please contact me at john0341@hotmail.com.
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The product has fatal flaw, June 28, 2004
By unknown
My experiences echos those in the review forum - when it works it's great, but the product has a fatal flaw that's pain in the neck. It will drop the connection after 1-2 hours. Need to disconnect the power and leave it alone for at least 5 minutes. Even that does not gurantee the problem to be resolved. Some comments in the forum attribute it to heat. I haven't called Netgear support yet. The experiences from others in the Forum is not great.
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Piece of crap - Netgear will charge you to return, June 27, 2004
By Anthony Fleming (Reno, NV)
Bought this router less than 2 months ago and started having DNS problems (no internet). It was due to heat, the router chips get too hot and starts failing. I called netgear and they know about this issue and gave me an RMA right away. Now they want to charge me $15 to cross ship the product, no way I said. I will wait until it burns itself out then return it. This product was badly designed and a lot of people are having the same probelms. If netgear cared about thier customers they should replace it free of charge.
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Good for beginners or if you're on a budget, June 27, 2004
By The Grumpy Hacker (Milwaukee)
I've had both the MR814 and MR814v2, and both worked great, except for VPN pass-through. For someone new to wireless networking, this unit is simple and elegant, requiring no configuration out of the box. Improvements over the previous version include allowing you to disable beaconing and configure some firewall settings, but it does take one step back in that it no longer has a detachable antenna.
Serious wireless users will probably be disappointed in the limited configurability, but serious wireless users will probably not be looking at an 11b router unless they're on a tight budget--this is probably the cheapest one out there especially when there's a rebate in effect. The price is what makes me give this an extra star.
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Constant crashes requiring factory resets, June 23, 2004
By zenzenzen (Vienna, Austria)
Excellent product, except for the fatal flaw. Thankfully the device is trivial to install, as after about 12 hours operation it locks up and requires a few hours to cool down and a factory reset (room temperature is ~18 degrees celcius). I suspect either a QA problem at Netgear, or the device is extremely sensitive (power fluctuations perhaps? Nothing else is having trouble...)The documentation also does not match the hardware - the model I just purchased
does not feature the Test LED talked about in the documentation, which makes diagnosing problems a matter of guesswork. When actually working, the device is happily talking via 64bit WEP to an Apple Powerbook running OSX 10.3, and a Dell Lattitude running Windows XP professional. Cabled connections also give no problem. One star - despite the excellent features, ease of use and style, it fails at its primary function.
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Unreliable Product/Terrible Customer Service, June 23, 2004
By Deborah M Oborny (Englewood, CO United States)
This product had to be replaced within one year of purchase, and the customer service is absolutely awful. It is almost impossible to get a response from tech support or customer service. I've written letters to the corporate office, sent multiple e-mails, been treated rudely on the phone by a technician when I did get through to customer service, and have held for over an hour with no response from tech support. Don't buy this product unless you are your own tech support.
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bad experience - had to return, June 22, 2004
By MKK (Prospect Park, NJ United States)
the setup was quick and easy, first 2 days it worked great then it started to get disrupted and within a week i was unable to use it for more than 30min or so. Maybe it used to get heated, maybe my piece in particular was bad.... whatever it was - i was disappointed and had to return.
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Out of the box, worked just fine, June 21, 2004
By unknown
I considered many routers, but since the price was right and the favorability was back and forth on the router, I decided to give the Netgear a try.I followed the directions on the hardware installation and went to the router's online web page to continue the setup. My main interest is setting up a secure wireless environment, but I found myself not knowing what I needed to do. After reading about wireless connections on the internet, I figured out how to use WEP encryption and how to set up my PC (and Mac) as well as my router. I also learned about allowing only certain MAC addresses to use the modem. This information, if provided directly by Netgear, would have been helpful. As far as the connection, I found if I kept the channel away from the same channel used by my 2.4 GHz phones, I had no problems and got really good range (about 50 feet) without losing the connection or it becoming "weak." If you're considering this router, I'd say go for it. You could always return it. :)
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Worked great, would recommend, June 21, 2004
By unknown
I literally plugged this thing into my DSL modem and my laptop and it worked. I am running two laptops wirelessly through it right now and have also used it hardwired. I didn't even have to put in the setup CD, it auto config'd it self to my DSL modem and started working. I was actually amazed. I get signal throughout my house without problems. The onboard config utility also works great. No complaints.
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10 minutes set up 3 computers, June 20, 2004
By rxajb (mahopac, ny United States)
Set up was the easiest from all the different routers I owned. My d-link started smoking yesterday( worked well for 3 months). Setup on this baby was easier than any.
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GREAT PRODUCT!!!, June 18, 2004
By S. Magana (Bensenville, IL United States)
I was so afraid to install this myself. After reading some of the feeback left I was hesitant when I bought it. It always happens that the worse would happen to me as well. Anyway, I installed it in less than 15mins. I had it up and running and I can even use my laptop outside. It hasn't slowed down my connection at all. Very satisfied I even went out and bought the usb adapter to hook up to my parents desktop pc downstairs. Works great!!!
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