| Netgear WGT624 Super G 108 Mbps Wireless Router |
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Model: WGT624
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 274
Operating system: Apple MacOS
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
108 Mbps with Super G Technology (when used with Netgear WG511T PC Card)
Smart Wizard gets you up and running in fewer than 5 clicks
Over 10 security and privacy features including Double Firewall (SPI & NAT)
802.11g standard compliance; interoperable with existing 802.11b and 802.11g networks
Compatible with Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, Mac OS, NetWare, UNIX, or Linux |
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| Description: |
| The NETGEAR WGT624 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router is 10 times faster than 802.11b routers. When used with NETGEAR's WG511T 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card, it delivers speeds up to 108 Mbps, using Super GTM Technology. It's the next generation of home networking, with the power to stream MP3 & video, share printers, chat and distribute large photo files Exceptional range keeps you connected at the farthest ends of home or office 4 RJ-45 Ethernet ports, 10/100 Mbps auto-sensing Dimensions - 1.1H x 6.9W x 4.7D |
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| User Reviews (274 total): |
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Netgear WGT624 Review - strongly recommend against purchasing this product, September 5, 2006
By Harish Senapathy (Salisbury, MD United States)
The product does not work with cable internet. You have to constantly reboot all the connected equipment (at least twice a day). With DSL and Static IP, could not open port 80.
The worst is customer support. Netgear makes it difficult to access customer support. Then there is a wait period of 15 minutes. Then the person you talk to has very rudimentary knowledge of computers and internet connectivity. Finally, they have no idea how to patch you to the 2nd tier of technical experts (connection beaks every time) and you have to do it all over again.
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Unreliable service, terrible interface, no durability, September 5, 2006
By Spiny Norman (San Francisco, California, USA)
Avoid this product at all cost. It was easy to set up out of the box, but that was my last good experience with it. The service is extremely unreliable - expect to restart it at least a couple of times a week. And when you do, expect that restart to fail frequently, especially after long use.
When a restart doesn't solve the problem (no diagnostics to help you root-cause) you will probably start messing around in the admin interface, reconfiguring your ISP service or whatever it takes. Said interface is as unreliable as the service itself (although you connect in hard-wired mode). Half the time the HTML pages just don't load and you have no idea if an operation was successful. This problem got worse with age. The set-up wizard is utterly useless.
Finally, if you think you have problems with this after a few months, just wait. It will deteriorate rapidly and within a year you'll do what I did - throw it out and buy a router by a different company. Money wasted. Tech support is a joke, return or exchange is not an option.
In summary: piece of ....
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Finally a Router that works out-of-the box!, August 27, 2006
By R. Reis (Silver Spring, MD USA)
After many frustrating hours with a competitor's routers, I finally got one that works! It was a cinch to setup using their software. All of the hardwired ports as well as the wireless work, as they are supposed to. The setup wizard on the software CD anticipated many possible initial configurations, including mine. My Macbook receives an ample signal throughout the far corners of my home and yard.
There may be some concern that the speed of this router does not match it's advertised speed of 108 MBPS. However, since most ISPs do not exceed a speed of 10 MBPS, router speed will not be the pacing factor. Even transferring files between local computers will depend upon the I/O speed of the hard drives.
I must admit that I didn't test telephone support, because the router just worked as it was supposed to and I didn't need any support.
I had the misfortune of having gone through 3 bad routers from another manufacturer, so I especially appreciate Netgear's quality in design, manufacture, firmware, and software.
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Avoid, August 25, 2006
By Nick (San Francisco, CA United States)
This product doesn't work. Period. It doesn't support the advertised speed. Connections are often lost even with the router next to my computer. Setup is badly designed, it is impossible to figure out whether you are successfully connected or not. Saving settings doesn't seem to do anything. Enough said. Don't buy.
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Avoid this router...., August 20, 2006
By Seattle Mac (Seattle, WA USA)
..unless you have 5 minutes to spare waiting for your gmail page to open up.
The setup time for this router was annoyingly long in comparison to other wireless networks I have set up for friends and family, but I endured the process in the hopes that the 108Mbps would "push" signal a bit harder in my concrete condo (although I knew going in that my network card was only 54Mbps).
What I've found is that my network speed is dwarfed by all of the other networks I have set up when I link to them. I can even be in the same room as my netgear router and the speed does not improve. My machine isn't the problem, my spatial relationship to the router isn't the problem...that only leaves one item left as the culprit.
My office and several of my friends run off Linksys routers (a Microsoft friend said that all the techy's at MS recommend Linksys routers) and they work great.
I'm ordering my Linksys right now.
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Lies Lies Lies, August 19, 2006
By bobeaux (Tacoma WA USA)
Forget 108 !! After 3 calls to India, I'm still dealing with speeds closer to 24-36 mbps. I was told that "108" "is not really generally attainable." That's a fact!!!
AVOID THIS PRODUCT
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Fast and Easy, Setup and go, August 12, 2006
By Elib (Bothell, WA)
Fantastic little router, was setup on my cable service and working in under five minutes. The HTML interface is clean and very easy to navigate, all terms and menu items explained on the right pannel of the window. The wireless activation was a breeze (wireless is disabled by default on setup).
My only gripe is the minor inconsistencies in the documentation and some of the formatting could be done better to make concepts and diagrams a little clearer. But that's it - something easily overcome and if we didn't have something to complain about...what fun would that be?
Thanks for another great product NetGear.
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Useful, August 12, 2006
By H. Diaz (Miami)
To buy a wireless router for me it was not easy because I am not a teech guy. Thanks for the useful information that you provided. The Netgear WGT624 is an excelent product. Thanks a lot.
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Linksys incompatibility + mediocre tech support, August 6, 2006
By Eric Balkan (Maryland)
My setup took about 6 hours. I probably could have reduced that to 15 minutes if I had used Netgear adapters, but I had 2 Linksys adapters that I tried to get working. For some reason, which I never figured out, the Netgear router would not assign an IP address via DHCP to the Linksys adapter. (I never got an answer why from tech support at either Netgear or Linksys.)
So I switched to static, which did not work at first either because of an addressing conflict. (For some reason, Netgear Support had me change the subnet to 192.168.10.x, instead of 192.168.1.x, but that unfortunately is also the default address used by VMWare -- which I should have checked, but didn't think of it -- and the Netgear support people -- I talked to 3 of them -- never varied from their scripts. If you ask them anything that's not on their scripts, they just repeat back at you something that is.)
I finally got this mess resolved, but it was a terrific pain. It would have been a lot easier to get a single brand and avoid all the vendor finger pointing.
Btw, an SMC card and a Dell laptop with internal wireless came up immediately.
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Hard to install and little help, July 29, 2006
By J. R. Cunningham
I returned this item because I found the installation to be difficult and started having software conflicts. I have installed other wireless routers before with no problem. It took me quite a while to rid my computer of the conflicts it started.
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Nice box but..., July 7, 2006
By Adam Helberg (Santa Ana, CA United States)
I'm afraid I had to scrap this router as the wireless started dropping out and became unusable. I changed to the D-Link WBR-2310, which connects fine.
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A product that does what it says it does (What more can I say?) :-), July 4, 2006
By R.K. (Honolulu, HI USA)
After setting everything up, I found that I had to switch the wireless security protocol for the Netgear WGT624v3 from WPA-PSK (which is the default choice) to the older WEP security protocol. Apparently, the former (which caused my connection to, repeatedly, go off & on on a regular basis, very rapidly) the "latest & greatest," and it's not really supported by a lot of devices. The latter, as I understand it, is like MP3 of wireless security protocols, has been around for awhile, and IS a hell of a lot more compatible with what's out there. Plus, it gives the same level of security.
I also found that, to take advantage of it's Super G 108 Mbps capabilities, I had to modify the wireless mode setting to "Auto 108Mbps". Doing so allowed me to fully use the capabilities of the Netgear WGT11T Wireless PC Card to get the maximum wireless connection speed possible for my laptop.
In any case, it was fairly easy to hook everything up: Unplugged the ethernet cord from my cable modem into the Netgear WGT624v3, then connected another ethernet cord from them back to the cable modem. Then, I turned the power on for both (first the cable modem, then the router), and restarted my computer. Afterwards, I simply ran the setup CD program to finish up and...that was it!! I now can surf the World Wide Web from my kitchen, living room or anyplace in my house.
In short, I just TOTALLY love it!! I like not being tied down to my computer desk anymore. And the speeds I'm getting are unbelievable!!
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Don't buy this router, June 28, 2006
By Arwen Online (Dublin, CA United States)
A respected associate recommended Netgear for my home network of 3 servers and three XP systems, but I wish I had read these reviews before I purchased. I bought the Netgear WGT624 router, two Netgear WG311 PCI adapters and one Netgear WG511 adapter for a notebook.
I found the setup to be straightforward. I was also able to move it from downstairs to upstairs and connect it to my DSL transceiver (modem) without trouble.
The problem is that the signal is too weak for the adapters unless they are about 5 feet from the router. With the router directly a floor below in my house, about 30 feet maximum, the adapter doesn't ever get an IP assignment. So I moved it upstairs and then the system downstairs has the same problem.
The adapter can see the access point but can't connect to it.
I found the level 1 support to be very thorough and competent, but of course they have to follow the specified troubleshooting steps, and yes they are Indian but not difficult to understand or to communicate with. They took me through every procedure in their book, such as removing the WPA security, consulting with supervisors along the way. Nothing worked.
The conclusion was that it is a "range problem" meaning the router signal isn't strong enough for the Netgear adapter 30 feet away - not through concrete, mind you. The only other networks in range are very weak and I unplugged my cordless telephones, with no impact on the signal strength.
I insisted on talking with Level 2 support and he agreed it sounded like a range problem.
Their own support suggested I return everything.
I think this gear will work for someone who wants to wirless connect devices that are sitting next to each other. But then you may as well wire it all up for greater speed.
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Works GR8 brand new purchase...Setup was very easy and fast, June 19, 2006
By Coolest Guy (Santa Clara, CA USA)
I've used few of them from various vendors in as many years (the computers and cable modem are running fine though!) So who knows how this one will stand up over time.
That said: This router has an excellent set-up functionality with superb detailed instructions. These tools worked great and the router is working wired, wirelessly (WEP-secured) for 2 laptops within 30 minutes after opening the box.
I have not used/installed the bundled Trend Micro security software; if you are already using a software firewall/anti virus suite this is probably not neccesary, but may cause issues with your sytem. It's a minor point, but could be an issue for some users.
Overall, a very good Netgear experience.....
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Setup wizard is terrible, May 21, 2006
By John A. Bauer
For a few months, the router worked fine. When we had to reinstall the computer, though, the router never worked again. We tried using the setup CD, but it was useless. The Setup Wizard that is part of the router itself was consisently wrong. It would claim we had a working internet connection when nothing worked at all. As other reviews have said, their tech support is worthless. Buy a different router instead.
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Worked great out of the box...terrific set up utility, May 20, 2006
By 8-tracks to 802.11 (Central Maryland, USA)
No matter what the brand, routers sitting at my machine have about the same life span as your average 60w light bulb! I've gone through five from various vendors in as many years (the computers and cable modem are running fine though!) So who knows how this one will stand up over time.
That said: This router has an excellent set-up poster and a flawless set-up utility with superb detailed instructions. These tools worked great and the router was working wired, wirelessly (WEP-secured) for four PCs and two Tivos within 30 minutes after opening the box.
Careful shopping in a major brick and mortar office/tech supply retailer (the place with the "Easy" button) delivered this router *plus* a PCMCIA (notebook) card that accomodates the 108 Mbps enhanced (but I think proprietary) 802.11 "super GTM" data rate (this card also works fine with standard 802.11b and 802.11g networks). The notebook card too installed and was working --at the higher data rate-- in minutes.
I could have done without the prompts to use the bundled Trend Micro security software; if you are already using a software firewall/anti virus suite this is probably not only unneccesary, but my cause issues with your sytem. It's a minor point, but could be an issue for some users.
Overall, a very good user experience especially with a very reasonably priced PC card adapter bundle....
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Internet performance severely drops with wireless on, May 14, 2006
By Brendan Perez (Las Vegas, NV United States)
WIRED Internet throughput drops consistently by about 40-60% when the wireless function is turned on.
I'm using the latest firmware-2.10 something. The instant I turned the wireless antenna on, not only does wired broadband speed drop dramatically, but latency goes sky high. Using dslreports speed test as well as one from my cable company, performance goes from ~4.12mb down/508k up to around 2.1mbdown/500up with "maximum pause" times going from 100ms to 500 or more.
As I scale up the wireless security settings, speed goes down and latency goes up. If I wanted to run a completely open wirless network (no security), I can see speeds of ~3.1 mb down and 500k up and pause times in the 200s. My speeds listed in the paragraph above were using 128 bit WEP. Turning on WPA put the pause times in the mid 500s and the download rate in the high 1.9mbs.
My reduced performance was consistent no matter what channel I picked, etc.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This router was 79.99 marked down to 39.99. What a terrible buy.
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Fine at first but went astray, May 13, 2006
By LibertarianRealist (Long Island, New York United States)
I setup the router with sort of a hassle. The instructions didn't really help. Second, once I got the wireless network connected it worked for a while, then I had to change the settings and it worked. Between that time it didn't work and the time I got back it working for the second time, I called my cable company. My cable company told me to call netgear. Do you get the picture? Their service was terrible. They have no clue what they are doing Hyderabad Bangalore or whatever Indian city in which they work. After, I go away for a while my brother tells me the wireless network has malfunctioned weakening in signal, and I call their services again and of course they didn't help. Then, I find out later on my signal appears to be fine but the router cannot communicate with my mode. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I am sick and tired of wireless routers.
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WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!, May 2, 2006
By HNP (NJ, USA)
They just say that is my internet provider problem when clearly it is not. Impossible to tell NETGEAR supporters that it isn't because they are INCOMPETENT in computers and can barely speak any English. It's like trying to get a monkey to help you with computer issues. When the 90 days ran out, then they said I had to pay for the PRIMIUM support service. MAYBE NOW I COULD GET 2 MONKEYS TO HELP ME AT ABOUT $50 PER 10 MINUTES. NEVER BUYING ANYTHING FROM THEM AGAIN!!!
WORD OF ADVICE: If you buy NETGEAR and need support, you're on your own!!! Their Support is run by monkeys.
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Worst electronic product I ever had / Porcaria de Marca!!!!, April 25, 2006
By M.Zee (Rio de Janeiro)
There should be a -5 star option... I would have chosen it.
Connections via wi-fi drops all the time. I have a WGT624 and a WGT634. Both get stuck on the wi-fi all day. I need to unplug it from the wall to return it to a working condition. I have tried all availables upgrades and made a lot of "Downgrade" to try it out and after reading a lot of reviews and forums I have found out that NETGEAR does not work at all. Please do a favor to you. DO NOT BUY NETGEAR. I am trowing away my WGT 624, 634 and MP101 and will only buy d-link or linksys in the future. Stupid option I made choosing Netgear... Nao recomendo nada da Netgear. Eu comprei diversos equipamentos deles e NENHUM funcionou direito. Recomendo que comprem Linksys ou D-link se nao quiserem ter a dor de cabeca que eu tive.
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