| Netgear WGR614 Wireless-G Router |
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Model: WGR614
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 791
Operating system: Windows
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
802.11g router offers an easy way to set up a network with wired and wireless connections
Delivers up to 54 Mbps of wireless throughput
Four RJ-45 Ethernet ports allow for wired connections to the network
Enhanced security includes a double firewall, and WPA and 128-bit WEP encryption
Device measures 6.9 x 1.1 x 4.7 inches (WxHxD) |
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| Description: |
| Netgear WGR614 802.11g Wireless Router with 4-Port Switch - The amount of homes with high-speed Internet access and multiple computers is growing steadily. Wouldn't it be nice to share that high-speed Internet connection with all of the computers in your home? Wouldn't it be great to also share files between your computers? And wouldn't it be amazing if you could do all of that wirelessly!? Well you can, with this 802.11g Wireless Router. Just add optional 802.11g, or 802.11b, adapters to each computer, connect your modem, run through the easy installation process, and you're ready to go. It even supports the slower 802.11b wireless protocol for increased compatibility. VPN pass-through |
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| User Reviews (791 total): |
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Great Router, Mediocre Installation Guide, November 16, 2005
By user (San Jose, California)
Much could be done to improve the installation wizard, which seems like it was slapped together quickly and without much consideration.
It's still very easy to get this router up and running, and I'm thrilled with the reliability and range.
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Excellent Router, November 10, 2005
By user (Fremont, CA)
I liked this router compared to b router's. Its lot better than the D-Link one's. The strength of the signal is excellent. It worth to have it and the Wireless security is excellent.
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Feels flimsy but works great, November 5, 2005
By user (Langhorne, PA United States)
I gave this five stars because it does everyting I need, has an SPI firewall and has worked very reliably. This is my second Netgear router. Originally I bought an FM114P for $180 three years ago when wireless still had problems. But the FM114P worked great right out of the box with no installation and it was built from metal and was very sturdy. However this is the second failure in just over three years (first was covered under the 3yr warranty).
Since it stopped working I bought the WGR614v6 which was very cheap and had the same features as the FM114P (except no printer port). The WGR614 is plastic and feels a little flimsy but the signal strength is better than the old router. I have it installed in my basement and my office is two floors up. I consistently get an "Excellent" signal rating and have no drop outs or any other problems. Installation is screwy especiallly if you know what you want to do and just want to bypass their step by step approach. I have had the router for just over a week. System is: HP Pavillion ZD7000 laptop, Windows XP Professional, Comcast broadband service.
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Slow start but now working well..., October 31, 2005
By user (Allentown, Pa USA)
Had a problem with the "auto install" using the supplied CD. Opened a problem with Netgear. Received a suggested fix in less than a day. Turns out that my DSL modem was in conflict with the address of the router, and the auto install could not fix. Netgear gave me a work around (set up router manually). Being that I'm not a "techie", and the information came from (assumed) tech support in India, I was quite supprised when it worked (especially seeing all the negative responses related to the product, and the support). Five minutes after I had it working on my home desktop, I was able to use my "work laptop" to get into my network at work, using its wireless capability.
The only reason I could not rate at "5 stars" was the install glitch. However, with my "early success" and that it's working fine I must say that I'm more than satisified with the net price (discounted list + rebate) of $23. At that price, its certainly a "throw away" if any major/additional problems arise.
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More a question than a review, October 28, 2005
By user (Chicago, IL)
I used my friend's Netgear 624. The setup was easy (I needed to set up the connection twice because I didn't wait long enough for the DSL modem to reconfigure) and the connection was good.
I bought a Netgear 614 wireless router and have some problems in completing the setup. I hope someone with the Netgear routine and DSL service can help me. I am usinf SBC DSL Service.
I connected everything following the steps described by Netgear. I am having some problem with the "Configuration Assistant". It has the following questions:
Does your Internet Connection Requires A Login ?
- I put down "No".
Account Name (if required) - Host name
Domain Name (if required)
- First time, I didn't put anything to these 2 fields. Then I put sbc.net, www.sbc.net, ww.sbc.com, etc.
Internet IP Address
Domain Name Server Address
- I used the default setting (automatically getting them from the provider).
The test window popped up and it told me I should see the Netgear homepage if everything was set up right but I waited for 15 mins and nothing happened.
Does anyone know whether I should put anything to the Account Name and/or Domain Name ? If so, what should I put down there ? Should I call SBC Internet Support ? Thanks.
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wire is fine, but wireless have problem, October 23, 2005
By user (Kansas City MO)
I have wgr614 v5. After a few months the wireless doesn't want to work. just on and off.
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Works good with a mac, October 22, 2005
By user (Sunnyvale, CA USA)
I have a powerbook and this router does work beautifully with it.
The installation was easy for me as I knew manually to configure the router, but any one using the installation wizard may not find it pretty useful.
Still I find the installation less complicated as compared to Linksys ones.
Do buy it if you get a good deal on this.
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Good When Its Working Right, October 20, 2005
By user
This was the first router I bought and it was recommended by the Best Buy employee I talked to. The installation was pretty easy and for a month this router worked excellent. I had great range and it was reliable. Then one day (about a month after I bought it) my wireless internet connection didn't work. I didn't know what the problem was, but after resetting the settings, I had decent connection again. Unfortunately this problem keeps reoccuring and about once week I lose my wireless connection causing me to reset the settings each time. Its kind of annoying to be honest.
Overall this is a good router when right, but outside of a month it hasn't been reliable for me. I guess I would look for an alternative router if I were you.
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Don't bother, October 19, 2005
By user (San Jose CA)
I bought one of these to replace an older Linksys box that was 11b only.
Setup was easy, and configurability better than my old Linksys. The box was also nice to look at.
The problem is it simply doesn't work reliably. The router would reset itself around every 10 minutes while the wireless connection was in use. Also my network attached printer didn't get served an IP address. After trying all setting combinations and 3 versions of firmware (wasting 4-5 hours) this guy has gone back. For now I'm sticking with the old Linksys.
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Don't buy this router! Get a Linksys, October 18, 2005
By user (Michigan)
I was on the phone for one hour before they figured out it was bad. They gave me an RMA # and I sent it in. They sent me another defective one and I called tech support again and they told me the product was registered to another customer. They sent me someone elses defective router. Now I am on hold again with someone in India, it's been 20 minutes already. They just hung up on me on a level two tier service whatever that means.
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ok, but not great, October 17, 2005
By user (Stamford, CT USA)
I had the "b" version of this router, and the range was great. I then "upgraded" to this router when my b router stopped working.
This router's range was not nearly as good, and it no longer covered my whole house, although the old router covered way past my house and my neighbors even could pick it up.
I chose a linksys router instead, and the range is somewhat better, although still not as good as the old b.
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Do not buy this router., October 16, 2005
By user (Lincoln, MA)
I bought a Netgear WGR614 (version 6) router to front-end a pair
of networks connecting to Comcast cable. The network was
already up and running, I simply wanted to swap out an Airport
Extreme that was working fine in that location.
The Netgear WGR614 was easy to configure.
The problem is the Netgear WGR614 can't handle any reasonable
DNS load. If I connected my laptop directly to the Comcast
network, I could get DNS answers from Comcast's servers as fast
as I could send them. If I put the Netgear WGR614 between my
laptop and Comcast, 1 or 2 out of each 10-15 DNS requests would
time out. If I connected the mail servers to the Netgear
WGR614, 5 out of 10 DNS requests would time out, and I would
often see strings of 10-20 DNS requests time out in a row. This
was severely damaging to the network: browser URL lookups would
fail, host lookups for spam filtering would fail, and so on.
Netgear support was easy to get in touch with, and initially
responsive. However, once we got through the basics (is the
power on?) all they could suggest was manually configuring all
of the computers behind the router to use static routes to the
name servers (which I wasn't willing to do, and, in a simple
test failed to fix the problem), or upgrade the firmware to a
beta release, version 1.0.7. I did upgrade the firmware, but
it had no effect at all on the problem.
Netgear support told me twice they would escalate my support
case to "level 2", but after each escalation, I never heard
from them again.
Remember the Airport Extreme had no problem working in this
location? After Netgear support failed to fix the problem, I
bought a Linksys WRT54G, it handles the DSN request load just
fine!
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trash ... go with d-link di524, October 12, 2005
By user (phx, AZ)
Needed to upgrade my 2yr old .11b router(netgear 814) because I was having trouble connecting to it with my new laptop. So I bought this little puppy. And then the headache began .............
the wireless was DOA .....wired connection worked fine(desktop PC) but the wireless didnt work at all!!!!! my laptops saw the network but wouldnt connect my wireless bridge(netgear)wouldnt connect either. switched to d-link di524 and its all love now.
I must say this though I was a fan of netgear products but having to constantly reset there products (also have the ps121 and the ma101) every so often is a killer, frankly its quite annoying.
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A Decent Wireless Router for the Average User, October 11, 2005
By user (San Francisco, CA)
UPDATE of previous review.
I now have had this router for almost a year now. I have not experienced any problems described by others stating that the Netgear WGR614 802.11g Wireless Router needs to be restarted every week (or more). Though I have had to reset the router 2-3 times in its lifetime, the error was due to the failure of my cable broadband modem (and its restart) that required me to restart my wireless router. I had a feeling that I probably did not need to restart the Netgear wireless router, but did anyway without testing if it did not need to be restarted.
I still have the problem of having to broadcast the SSID when I needed to add several newly purchased computers onto the wireless network (which I previously described as a problem). Another problem that I noticed was that when I added my father-in-law's notebook to the list, the router seemed to be confused and would only allow one computer at a time to connect to the router. I never experienced this problem with all of my computers (all 8 computers wirelessly connected to this router). I was never able to troubleshoot this problem, since he now has a wireless broadband connection (Verizon, which is excellent, but an extra $60/month) and no longer needs to use my wireless router.
Another new problem is that for some reason the distance has now decreased. A year ago, I was able to have a "Good/Very Good" connection in the master bedroom, which is upstairs and at the other end of the house where the router is located. Now, I have "Poor" or no connection. I cannot pinpoint any obvious differences between now and then. I had to break out my old Netgear 802.11b router (MR814)
for wireless connection upstairs, which is compatible with the WGR614 router. When I connect a Linksys compact wireless router (WRT54GC) with a high-gain antenna (HGA7S) with the same laptop (as control), I have nearly a full signal in the master bedroom, so it is possible to get excellent signal. If Netgear can provide an optional high-gain antenna for this router to improve the signal, i would definitely rate this router 5 stars!!!
Also, Netgear wireless routers is still incompatible with other (products') routers, both wired and wireless. I tried to use a Linksys 802.11g router for the upstairs, but killed all network connections (both wired and wireless) when I linked up to the WGR614. Neither the WGR614 (802.11g) or the MR814 (802.11b) operates with a Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, but they work quite well with the Netgear FS608 wired switch. This is something Netgear (and maybe also Linksys) has to address.
For PROs and CONs, I will stick with my original list, which I included at the bottom of this review.
Conclusion:
This wireless router is decent, and has obvious places for improvement. I give it 4 stars only because it works as a "GOOD" stand-alone wireless router for a small-to-average size place. I would give it 3 stars if I had to include its incompatibility with other products (ie. non-Netgear), and for its decrease in functionality/signal over longer distances and through several walls/barriers.
I plan to copy this review and send it to both Netgear and Linksys, so that maybe they can address the issues I've posted.
*** OLD REVIEW ***
Prior to this purchase, I had the wireless-b version (Netgear MR814), which worked decently, when in the same room or an adjacent room. I decided to upgrade to a wireless-g router (Netgear WGR614) for three reasons: 1) To double firewall security (NAT firewall PLUS SPI firewall) compared to MR814, 2) To increase wireless range, and 3) To increase speed/rate of computer-to-computer file transfer.
Setup: The setup was relatively easy. I bypassed the setup wizard, and configured the router manually. After troubleshooting some hiccups (WGR614 is not compatible with Linksys BEFSR41 router), my working setup is that the WGR614 is directly linked to my cable broadband modem, and my MR814 uplinked to the WGR614. Overall, the setup time was about 10-12 minutes.
For some reason, I have to enable the broadcast of the SSID in order for my computers to find the router. I tried to force my computers to find the router manually, but failed. This is no big deal because I also secured the router by limiting the MAC addresses who can see this router, so I can specify which wireless cards (my computers) can access the router. Login to the router is different (http address), but still works the same as previous router.
Speed and Distance: There is no noticeable difference with regards to web browsing. This is not surprising, because the maximum download speed of most internet broadband providers are somewhere between 1.5-3.0 Mbps (DSL) to 4-6 Mbps (Cable). Notice I say "maximum," because the working speed is actually 60-70% of their boasted speeds. I have Comcast Cable Broadband, and although they say the download speeds are upwards of 6-8 Mbps, I have only "clocked" their speed (via Mcafee speedometer) at an average of 1.5-2 Mbps, and peaked at about 3 Mbps a few times.
I've had the occasional signal drop with my HP Pavilion notebook (using the Netgear WG511 wireless-g card), but I'm not sure if it is the router or my wireless card who is at fault. I have a feeling it is on the wireless card end, because my HP Notebook workstation AND my Dell Latitude X1 have no problems with signal drop or range.
It worked so well that I helped my neighbor setup the same router, but we went through the wizard, and setup went by without a glitch. He only had one laptop to setup wireless, so that made it easier.
Pros:
-Easy setup.
-Looks clean.
-Works great.
-I like the "feet" that can be attached to this router so that it can stand.
Cons:
-Not possible (without modifications) to mount on a wall. MR814 are wall-mountable.
-This router seems to be only compatible withNetgear hardware. I have a wired Linksys router (BEFSR41), which was compatible with the MR814, but not compatible with the WGR614. (I gave my Linksys router to my sister.) This is the only reason I dropped it down to a 4 star rating instead of a 5 star rating.
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NetGear made it simple, October 10, 2005
By user (United States)
This is my first leap into DSL and my own Wi-Fi. I sat down and installed both, expecting a long, drawn-out "simple" installation. Well, it worked immediately! No problems at all accessing the internet from a Hard-wired old HP notebook, or from the Averatec or the Gateway notebooks elsewhere in the house. If it works outa the box with no phone calls or internet searches, it has my vote!
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Great deal, October 9, 2005
By user
Its been 1 months since i am using this router, its good. It has a nice look to it. Regarding performance it is doing well but in certain occasions there is a drop in signal, i am not sure what would be the cause of it, in any case its far better than my previous router. I would recommend this router.
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don't buy this product, October 2, 2005
By user (usa)
This product worked well at first, but after the 90 days, drops internet every 3 to 5 minutes and instructions on cd do not resolve the problem.
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besides a minor setup issue it's a good product, September 29, 2005
By user
Got part of the way through setup and hit a road block (the provided directions/online docs were no help in getting past the problem). I e-mailed NETGEAR support and got a response within 6 hrs that contained instructions a lot different than what I was doing in the supplied instructions that came with the router. I followed the new set of instructions and was up and running within 15 minutes.
Update: Several weeks after my initial post I started having major problems with dropped internet connections. Spent hours adjusting settings, resetting and talking to Netgear support. Again, Netgear support was prompt and helpful but nothing seemed to fix the problem. Turns out the problem was my DSL modem (Bellsouth-Westell Wirespeed) which is actually a modem/router combo - nothing mentioned in Bellsouth's documentation or in their on-line tech help. So, I basically had 2 routers connected in-line which is not a good thing. Luckily it was very simple to disable the modem's router functions (modem's mode is now set to Bridged-Ethernet) and now my Netgear router does all the routing. I may have a dropped connection once or twice a week, but all I have to do is go into the router's config utility and restart my connection, takes 30 seconds and I'm back surfing the net - beats spending hours troubleshooting.
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I'd never buy again, September 28, 2005
By user (Tokyo, Japan)
Setup is easy.
If the extremely heavy AC adapter drops from the socket, it also loses it's setup just as easily. Then it's back on factory defaults.
Of course the PC is in another room (that's why I use WiFi) and a LAN cable is required to set it up again.
The NETGEAR customer service webpages don't function properly. The promised "will contact you in the next 2 days" never comes true.
Totally unprofessional product and company.
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If you have a 2.4Ghz Phone-- don't buy this, September 23, 2005
By user (Indianapolis, IN)
I've had nothing but trouble with this router. It drops all the time and I have spent countless hours on the phone with their terrible offshore support. My issue always has to be given to a supervisor who is never available. They call me back (sometimes)at 10 p.m. CST instead of 8:30 a.m. CTS due to the time difference where the support is located.
I have reset this more times than I can count and was told that the majority of my issues stem from the fact that my cordless telephones run on 2.4 gig as does the router and they interfere.???? All I can tell you is no more NetGear for me!! This one's going in the trash even though I've got the "free" support, it costs me about 2 hours a week and that's more than I can afford.
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