| Netgear RangeMax Wireless Router (WPN824) |
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Model: WPN824
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 170
Operating system: Apple MacOS
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, 802.11 Super G
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| Features: |
Seven internal smart antennas – no need to manually adjust and no risk of breaking
SmartWizard simplifies setup by automatically detecting and configuring your router for virtually all ISP connections
Maintains video quality speeds throughout your home, up to 10 times the speed of standard 802.11g
Improves performance of existing legacy 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices up to 50%
Data speed of up to 108 Mbps |
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| Description: |
| The WPN824 RangeMax MIMO-G Wireless Broadband Router gives wireless network users better connectivity. As computers become a more integral part of life, you want the best possible home computing environment. When you set up a wireless network you'll find that Internet connections will fade in and out in spots -- or even drops off completely. The RangeMax Router puts an end to that, giving your the freedom to work and play online, anywhere in the house. Time-based usage controls, Web logging, remote management and URL content filtering Auto-sensing RJ-45 10/100 4 port Ethernet switch with half & full duplex support |
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| User Reviews (170 total): |
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Good with Xbox 360 and PS3 sharing same network., November 27, 2006
By J. Corpe
This review is mostly for those wanting to know about a router that plays nice with next generation consoles like xbox 360 and ps3. A few weeks ago, when I was just using a Linksys 802.11b router with the 360, everything was fine. Worked well for downloading and online gaming (wired is better but I refuse to do that in my apartment).
Once I picked up a PS3, I could not get it to keep and hold onto the wireless signal from the same linksys B router. So, I picked up a new linksys WRT54G thinking that might be the solution. The PS3 was fine with that router but then suddenly my 360 wasn't picking up a good signal. I also started getting new error messages about wireless interference which I thought might be due to the old xbox wireless adapter I carried over to my new 360 console. So I decided to take back that new G router and pick up the netgear WPN824 V2 (I also picked up a new 360 wireless adapter). Set-up was a piece of cake and both consoles were soon online. I played Gears of War several times online and downloaded some PS3 demos with this new router and wasn't disappointed at all.
Out of curiousity, I picked up a linksys wrt54gs with the special high gain antennas just to see if I could get an even stronger signal from that set-up. After setting it up, it appeared that the router was actually putting out a weaker signal. Long story short, I'm taking the wrt54gs with HG antennas back and keeping the WPN824.
Finally, I live in an apartment that's about 920 sq. feet. The computer/router is in a spare bedroom about 25 feet away with two walls hindering the signal. The xbox registers 3 out of 4 bars green and the ps3 registers a signal that's about 57-60% on average.
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Excellent Product, November 21, 2006
By P. Perrino (Highgate Springs, VT USA)
I purchased this router about three weeks ago, and I could not be more satisfied with it. It was simple to install, and it works great. I can get a signal anywhere in my house and the connection speed is outstanding. I got the later model that allows you to turn off the lights, but they are not really a problem, at least for me. I also found it at Staples for a lower price. I did a lot of research before I settled on this router, and I'm satisfied that I made the right choice.
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Not recommended to buy the v1 version if you play WoW with wireless, November 21, 2006
By Punkin (Austin, TX)
WPN824: (aka WPN824v1)
- Everything works fine as long as I don't play World of Warcraft (WoW) with the wireless. Otherwise, the router crashes and then loses all the connections. You can't even go to the NetGear router page either. And you can't go Internet without rebooting the router.
- A wide regions supported including UK, Asia, Austraila, Europe and etc.
- The antenna blue lights cannot be off unless you turn off the wireless signal broadcast (meaning no wireless). Luckily, a black plastic cover is provided for this.
WPN824v2:
- no issue with wireless when I play WoW.
- Wireless coverage range is larger than v1, about at least 10 feet away. V2 signal is much stronger than V1.
- Only one region supported: United State. So you want to carry this to another country, you'd better not to have the v2 version.
- On/off switch provided to turn on/off the antenna blue lights.
I don't find any issue on port forwarding, dynamic dns and remote management.
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Solid performance, feature set, and good looks, November 12, 2006
By SF Loft (San Francisco, CA United States)
I just moved in to a larger space with 2 levels and needed to replace my aging WGR614v1 wireless router. It worked fine, but in certain areas of the unit the signal wasn't strong enough. I did a lot of comparisons online and reviewed many customer comments. I was a bit discouraged at first to buy the Netgear due to many negative reviews, but I wanted to see for myself because my experience with them has always been positive.
Setup took about 20 minutes to hookup all these devices using 128bit WEP and MAC Address Access Control List, ensuring that only my known devices can connect.
1 - Desktop to LAN port.
1 - ATT DSL modem
1 - TiVo Series3 HD DVR - Wireless G
1 - TiVo Series2 DVR - Wireless G
2 - Laptops (IBM & Mac) Wireless G and Airport
In addition to these devices, when I bring up available networks on any of my devices, there are about 16-20 other accessible networks in my building. All these networks run various B, G, Super-G, MiMo technology and can cause lots of interference and routing issues. With the WPN824, I am able to get "Excellent" or "Very Good" connections from all my devices, even when all are powered on at the same time and connected. I'm not even using the MIMO technology feature and setting the router to pure G only mode because none of my end-points have compatible adapters.
If you are getting dropped connections, I suggest that customers try changing their station channels to either 01, 06, or 11. See which gets the least amount of interference. Also, under wireless settings > internet service provider > Idle Timeout, set this value to 0 and not the default 5. Setting it to 0 means keep alive and will keep the connection between your router and ISP active at all times. I think customers who suffer problems connecting is partly due to how their ISP handles connections. I read customers having to reboot their routers to re-establish a connection. This is because most ISP's is not friendly to frequent connects and disconnects. My philosophy is, connect once and stay connected. So make sure to set your "Idle Timeout" to 0.
So far I have had no problems with the WPN824. It looks really nice and can be placed just about anywhere in your house without having to see antenna prongs sticking out. Connection is great and working from home over IPSEC/UDP works great.
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3rd wireless router, November 10, 2006
By Mad Scientist (usa)
I started with a Microsoft just before they quit selling them. Switched to Belkin and it installed and worked well. Bought the Netgear for Trend Micro security and parental control features. The Netgear has similar signal strength to the Belkin, no noticible improvement with the Rangemax. The Trend Micro software works well and having one license on the 6 connected PC's simplifies upgrades a lot. The parental controls were not working until I discovered the overide was on by default. I like the security features. The installation and range get passing grades.
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netgear gets the job done, November 2, 2006
By DC Consulting (Maine)
I have installed this router for various customers who need long range connections. The only problem it has is when trying to send the signal through 3-4 solid walls--but then I haven't found any that can do this. It is a cinch to set up, though you have to change the ip range if connecting to a dsl modem. Most come configured for the same 192.168.0.1 ip address.
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I just junked this router today, finally..., October 2, 2006
By professional nerd (Buffalo, NY)
I was going to give it two stars because it did work ok for a while, but my boyfriend convinced me to give it one, because his argument is that this thing was top of the line and had just came out when we had originally purchased it, and we should never have had so many issues with it for the price we paid, so his logic won me over and one star it is. We didn't even have this router for a year. And as a note - let me say that I work for my cable ISP, doing tech support for internet, so my modem connection has never been the issue because I can check and test my modem from home. We had originally purchased this router as a replacement for our POS Linksys router, but that's a different story.
Pros (sort of):
Whenever my modem would reboot or update, the router would usually repair the connection, which many routers do not do.
When it worked it did work great, It's just that it wasn't very long after we bought it that it stopped working (for wireless). We even got the compatible mimo usb wireless adapter to try and see if it improved the issue, however that was yet another headache (the wireless adapter that is made to be compatible with this router won't connect at the advertised speed without a BETA driver... which would let you connect for about a day and then the adapter would stop functioning altogether. When you tried to reinstall the driver it wouldn't let you - it gave error code 10 and the adapter wouldn't even load the driver so basically the $100+ adapter that is marketed as compatible with this router was completely useless)
Cons:
After a couple months it would only broadcast the wireless connection sometimes - at random. You could even be connected, it would then kick you off, if you refreshed the network list on ANY wireless computer, it still wouldn't show up until you had refreshed it several times, and then maybe in five mins it *might* let you connect. The router was on the second floor of our house, and the computers we use wirelessly are on the third, directly above it. Our wireless connection was actually so infrequent we had to run an ethernet cord out the window to the router downstairs, because about 85 percent of the time the router would not let you connect wirelessly. Neither resetting to the factory defaults nor firmware updates resolved this issue (nor did several hours with Netgear support, tier 1 and 2...).
You can't change the wireless channel to anything other than six if you are using the mimo setting.
We finally junked it today for a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 (I'm going to give it a couple months before reviewing, because you never know about the quirks until you've had something for a while). So far the buffalo works great, but their firmware updates are a bit of a process...
Pretty much, today I was completely and totally fed up, because for once it was letting a wireless pc on just fine, however every fifteen seconds (like clockwork) on my wired pc (the one running ethernet out the window to the router...) it would say "network cable unplugged"... then within five or ten seconds it would reconnect and let me back online, and then fifteen seconds later it would say "network cable unplugged" again... Imagine over an hour of this... So I junked this netgear.
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Excellent Wireless Connection / Infrequent Disconnects, September 27, 2006
By matteo3rd (Atlanta, GA)
This router works exactly as described, for me anyway. Setup was very simple, and I have an "all-green" wireless connection from any room at home, with two different notebooks. You can turn off the blue "disco light" by a simple press of the button in back, because yes, it IS irritating at night. (Though I must confess that it is a little mesmerizing at first, and you may find yourself looking at the lights for a while!)
The only bad thing to say about it is that I DO sometimes (once every few weeks) get a disconnect for web pages ONLY (i.e. other TCP/IP services still function, such as newsgroups). This requires a reboot of the router, and sometimes the DSL modem as well. Prior to the router, this never happened. But I'll deal with the infrequent disconnects to take advantage of the superior wireless range/connection. Not perfect, but quite acceptable.
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I am still hoping to get a refund on it, September 23, 2006
By A. Tan
I have never had so many problems with a router. And I am also experiencing those horrible random disconnects, and it seems the only way is to re-boot the router (I have gone through the agony of speaking to phone support 3-4 times and nothing they've told me works). Also, the router has its on firewall which forces the user to turn off his own firewall in order to use the router, which is a RIDICULOUS condition to have.
I regret ever buying this Netgear product, I will actively recommend my friends NOT to buy it, and I am still hoping to get a refund on it.
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Various elements keep failing, September 19, 2006
By InspectorGadget (San Jose, CA)
We have had this router for about 6 months and it's cost about $1000 in maintenance time. We have to reboot it every couple of days because:
1. DHCP stops working.
2. Internet (WAN) routing stops working.
3. VPN passthrough stops working.
We already traded it in once. The second one behaved EXACTLY the same way. It seems that if there is any blockage or routing problem upstream (with ISP, it happens regularly), lots of features start crashing internally and then you have to reboot.
Now, add to that:
4. Bangladeshi (or whereever) Tech Support is useless.
5. Even when WAN pings are turned on, you can't ping your WAN connection from the inside to see whether Internet routing has failed (AGAIN!!).
6. No alternate protocol support (other than TCP/UDP) in port forwarding -- needed for proper VPN support.
7. TOTALLY USELESS logging -- web sites only. I need logging of all ports and services at times to debug routing problems.
We're throwing this out and getting a Cisco professional router (if we can afford it...) or a D-Link or something.
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Works Great, September 11, 2006
By Marshall (Parkersburg, WV United States)
I was somewhat hesitant to buy this router because the reviews appeared mixed. This was to be the first wireless router that I have owned, and I wanted to avoid nightmares. However, it was a snap to set up and has worked extremely well.
I highly recommend it.
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Drops Internet Connection Every Couple of Days, August 27, 2006
By Annette (Lake County, CA USA)
Do not buy this router yet. I was a novice when I bought this router and two adapters (WPNT121 and WG311T) in June and have had about 10% success and 90% heartache. I am now an absolute expert on troubleshooting this system as I have spent COUNTLESS hours on the phone with tech support (agree with all comments made about NG tech support). I've uninstalled and reinstalled the adaptors and routers several times, had Netgear send me a new router, downloaded and installed upgraded software, etc. You name it, I've tried it. I have followed all instructions EXACTLY - this is NOT user error. My experience has been similar to many others, and the only thing that has given me any peace since the beginning of this nightmare is reading others' similar experiences and knowing it's not just my system! I have the system working much of the time now, but find that every couple of days I have to unplug the power to the router and plug it back in before the wireless system will work properly. I am so frustrated with Netgear! When I can afford it, I am going to buy a different router.
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Works for what I bought it for, kinda., August 22, 2006
By A. Sumner (Northern California)
It works great with my Tivo, which is what I bought it for. The range is great, reaching all the way to the other side of the house, and in the back yard. The only problem I'm having is that when the router is connected, the computer doesn't recognize there is an internet connection. I've done everything all the computer geeks I know have suggested, even restoring the hard drive and reinstalling Windows. I'm starting to think that my problem all along has been Comcast having a hissy fit. Maybe they don't allow sharing an internet connection?
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Always works, no dead spots, August 16, 2006
By gloriaalice (Simi Valley, CA USA)
A programmer friend despaired that I spent so much on this router (at the time, about $140). But it's turned out to be worth every penny. Three Windows machines and an Apple Powerbook all access the Web perfectly from any spot in our 2400 sq.-ft. house or in the backyard, even though the router is on one corner of that house.
Although initial setup was easy, I needed help to change some default settings that caused intermittent access problems. Since that's been solved, I don't have to think about it any more. Ever. It just works.
Netgear even printed important information, like what the lights mean, and the web address for the control panel, right on the bottom of the router! In a contrasting color! Imagine!
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Always count on netgear, August 15, 2006
By theauctionstall (Yonkers, NY United States)
We had this product a few months now; easy setup and worked right form the start. A few times it went out on us, due to power or cable problems and seemed to have froze, however being netgear, a simple unplug of power and replug set it up and running immediately. Wireless is SUPERB. We live in a condo, large, many cement walls, and on the 3rd floor. This baby makes us get ocnnection in our friends appartment 2 floors below us as well as outside on the terrace across the house. We LOVE it. Speed is great, we do online gaming alot and never a problem whether we play, download, etc at the same time.
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Light display, August 4, 2006
By Nick (Mpls, MN)
Setup of WPN824 and WPN111 adapter fairly straightforward. I was about to condemn this router as I had continual problems with my internet connection either being slow, no connection or dropping the connection. My broadand service is through Comcast. After changing the DNS to something other than Comcast, I now have a consistent and stable connection. Although not blazing speeds I am connected in about 8 seconds. As far as range my other computer is in the basement (2 floors below) and uses the WPN111 adapter. I have been getting 54bps with no dropped connection since changing DNS settings. So far so good, but then I've only had it for a month or so. The lights, well I must have VI as there is no switch on the back panel to turn them off. They are annoying. I taped a piece of paper over them. I did not have a cover as mentioned in other reviews. My 3rd computer is a Dell Laptop. Its connection IS blazing fast, wirelessly connected. (it has an internal network card) Internet connection speed is 1-2 secs at the most, and all over the house, even in the back yard, but not quite as fast. The only thing I don't like about Netgear is that I feel like I must now change my diet to curry and naan, and only use my right hand to eat. Call tech support and see what I mean.
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Great Router!, July 5, 2006
By froggy (Sloatsburg, New York United States)
I purchased Netgear's RangeMax Wireless Router (WPN824) and two RangeMax Wireless PCI Adapters (WPN311). After reading the reviews here, I knew to install the software first and then the hardware. It worked without a hitch! I've never setup a wireless network before, but I had this one up and running in minutes.
My furthest PC from the router, is about 150' away, on another floor in the basement. My connection to the router is always between 95% to 100%. Not a single problem in the month I've been using it.
Hope this helps.
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Look Out!, June 21, 2006
By Dissatisfied (Michigan)
Absolute junk! Nearly completely incompatible with a 2005 MAC G5 IMAC with Airport Extreme. Requires that you bypass the normal Windows utility software on your PCs and that you use the provided Intel Proset utility software. Completely useless when used with the NetGear WGX102 range extender. All directions in the provided manuals are pointless and not pertinent to reality. There is no tech support phone number and internet support is pointless because it is disabled by the ongoing installation process. After two days of trial and error I got the think working and found its range and speed performance did not match my cheap Lynksys router.
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Excellent range and performance, June 18, 2006
By Shanti (CA United States)
After having struggled through a Dlink router, I finally did my research and bought this router. What a relief ! It works as advertised. No more dropped connections when my cordless phone is being used. It works all around the house and the back-yard too with hardly any loss of strength.
Highly recommend this router to anyone having 2.4GHz cordless phones and/or a large house with computers scattered around.
By the way, you can easily turn off the flashing blue light if it annoys you. That should be no reason to not buy the product. Setup was also real easy by simply following instructions and using the wizard. Many techies seem to think that they should bypass wizards to show their superior knowledge, but eh - if the process works, why bother ?
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This router sucks., June 14, 2006
By K. Turner (Midwest)
If you don't mind dropping wireless connection every 15 minutes, pathetic wireless speeds, and the worst customer service on the face of the planet, this router is for you. I have bought three of these. The first one, the radio quit completely, the second one dropped connection constantly, so I purchased the newest version...same problem. Repeated dropped connections to any wireless device. On top of that, I could only pull 500 kbps wirelessly whereas I was pulling 6 MB with a wire. Not the problem of the wireless adapters, because they work fine on other routers. Netgear knows this router has issues, but you can't understand them to be able to receive an answer because their customer service is in India or something. Save your money and buy the Belkin.
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