| ZyXEL P-330W 802.11g Wireless Router |
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Model: P-330W
Brand: ZyXel
Manufacturer: ZYXEL
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 12
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Advanced WPA2 security
Network Magic for Personal Network Management
Built-in 4-port switch features Auto-MDI/MDIX technology
Wi-Fi certified 802.11g access point
WPA2 Encryption Support |
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| Description: |
| ZyXEL P-330W 802.11g Wireless Router - This router is the backbone of a home network. With notebook and desktop computers equipped with optional 802.11g network cards, you can wirelessly access the Internet and share files from nearly any location in your home. A built-in 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch allows for traditional wired network access as well. Network Address Translation Dynamic DNS DHCP Client/Server Diagnostic Tools Works with Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems |
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| User Reviews (12 total): |
Page 1 of Total 1 Pages
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Drops Connections with Apple Equipment, January 9, 2008
By user (San Diego, CA USA)
I used it for about a month to connect an Apple MacBook and an Airport Express to it. The wifi connection was frequently dropped, on average about once every 30 minutes. Updating the firmware did not fix the problem. I replaced it with a Linksys WRT54G and that router works perfectly. So I blame the Zyxel router. I have not tested it with non-Apple equipment.
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Needs Restarting every single day, April 3, 2007
By user
This router was easy to setup out of the box. However, out of the box, I needed to restart this router at least every few days. My internet connection seems to fail every few days, with restarting the router fixing the problem. After a year of use, this router needs restarting literally any time I turn the computer off.
Now my routine when going home is this: turn on computer, go to router, unplug router, and plug in router, because the internet never ever works anymore just turning the computer on. The router must be reset every day.
I will take my sledgehammer out of the garage and smash this one in the backyard once I get a new one. Stay away or you will be in a world of headache.
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Good little router, February 28, 2007
By user (East Earl, PA - USA)
I've used Zyxel equipment in the past and have had good experience with them. This router fits in with that profile. I really like Zyxel brand routers. The menu/user interface is great. You don't have to install any software, just point your web browser to the router's IP address and away you go. Very easy to configure (for me anyway) and works great. Just like all consumer grade routers though you might have to restart it every once in a while. I'd say that I restart mine only once a month though.
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Drops unused IPs after several days, February 23, 2007
By user (Brookline, MA, USA)
We use the Zyxel P-330W in bridge mode as a LAN extension for local wireless notebooks, but not for WAN access, firewalling or any of the other extended features. Our local net is all fixed IP. Used in this configuration the P-330W is a good performer. It loses track of the IP address for a computer that has not been turned on for several days and when this happens sometimes has to be power-cycled to rebuild the routing tables.
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Easy setup... but make sure the reset button is handy, January 6, 2007
By user (Seattle, WA United States)
I was quite happy with how easy it was to setup this router. Got it up and running with my PowerBook and WPA2 quickly with no hitches. One minor annoyance was that many of the settings changes force a reboot of the router. Not a big deal since changes are infrequent after initial setup, but most other routers don't need to do it.
My enthusiasm diminished after a few days of use when the internet connection just went away. The router wasn't locked up - I could still login to its web interface, and all status indications were normal - but I couldn't get to anything beyond the router. Reseting the router fixed the problem - no need to restart the cable modem or the computer. Same thing happened a few days later, so I updated the firmware. That reduced the frequency of the problem, but it stills needs to be reset about once a week. That's not acceptable performance.
Update May 2007:
I would now lower my rating to 1 star. The need for resets has become more frequent, and on several occasions it was necessary to reset the router to defaults and reload the network configuration. A recent firmware update not only failed to correct the lock-up problem, but also caused performance problems where loading web sites would stall out for minutes at a time. Reverting to the previous firmware returned performance to normal. I know it's consumer-grade electronics, but that's no excuse for not working properly. This product is not worth the hassle at any price.
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Good Router, December 13, 2006
By user (CA)
Zyxel has **OUTSTANDING** customer support and any issues you have with the product is handled by a knowledgeable American. Problems solved in a jiffy (due to my ignorance with networking). I had another router from another company and wasted hours dealing with a script reading incompetent from their outsourced India office.
Zyxel has a great rep for making terric products and this unit is no different. Get the latest firmware (a thing you should do with ANY routing gear) which solves some peoples disconnection issues and you're good to go!
Remember, with any networking equipment, if you're patching different gear (i.e. access points, routers) with B, G or N from different companies and you have either cable or DSL, you're goimng to have to do different things in the setup. And that's where customer support comes in to the rescue for perfect customization.
Zyxel is thumbs up all the way!
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Excellent unit, Easy Set up, Great Price!!!!, December 11, 2006
By user (Omaha, NE)
I purchased this unit because my linksys cable modem/wireless router combined unit was not working (despite being brand new) with my system. I hooked back up my motarola surfboard and this unit, and within 20 minutes I had internet on my wireless notebook and on my desktop. Very easy set up, easy to follow book and instructions, and CD support software is excellent also. Customer service was also direct, to the point, and quickly answered my one question I had. Highly recommended, nice product.
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Many bugs that are not considered bugs by customer support, September 25, 2006
By user (Austin, TX)
UPDATED 2Oct06: I finally sorted out my issues with these routers. They do not document that BRIDGE mode can only actually wirelessly bridge a single MAC address. You must use WDS to connect one LAN with many devices to another LAN. It works great now, very solid. Their own tech support had no idea, but a very helpful forum gave me that info. It's not a flaw with their product, but with the way wireless bridging protocol was designed. WDS fixes those issues, though it's not completely standard, so make sure you buy the same device for both endpoints (or check compatibility online by testimonials).
I have a few gripes about this product, because I purchased two of them based largely on the strength of its features (good chipset and WPA2), and the fact that most of the online reviews were positive. I am a computer professional with many years of networking and programming experience, so I have some familiarity with this kind of technology.
My specific situation was that I had a long cable run that I thought was dropping out on occasion, so I thought, "Hey, let's try a wireless router and a wireless bridge instead!" What a can of worms that turned out to be. I bought one to be my main router, and another to be used in bridge mode exclusively. I thought that they'd have the best chance of interoperating correctly if they were from the same manufacturer, and in fact the same product.
I flashed the bios to the newest revision as soon as I got them plugged in--that was really easy. This review pertains to Firmware Version: P-330W_V1.7 (10 Aug 2006) Great job on that much, ZyXEL.
The P-330W does not handle a lot of trivial things correctly. The box I connected to my cable modem does not know how to respond to your external IP address if you ping it from inside your LAN. This means you cannot easily use DDNS or run a domain name from home, because you cannot use that name to access your own server. This is completely asinine. Product support says that is a feature they don't support, and will not plan to do so. Even the cheapest wired routers I've had could do this.
The P-330W, when set up in bridge mode, does not properly transmit DHCP signals. I have two Windows XP machines over the bridge and they cannot under any circumstances retrieve IP addresses from it over the bridge. If I plug them into the long hardwired cable which goes into the back of the router itself, I get IP addresses fine. One of the XP machines was a fresh install that day, so I know it's not funky in any way.
The P-330W does not allow my machines connected through the hardwire to 'see' my machines on the other side of the wireless bridge. The machines on this side of the bridge can see the hardwired computers. WTF? I have linux machines and XP machines over the bridge and both show the same symptoms. When I switch back to using the long hardwired cable, everything sees each other fine. Again, the bridge feature is letting me down.
My final three quick gripes: 1) in router mode, it loses connection daily almost, so I am forced to reboot it... rebooting the cable modem is not necessary, but I tried to isolate which box was causing the problem, and it's the P-330W for sure. 2) This is exacerbated by a lack of a REBOOT button on the configuration web page (which would make the issue a tiny bit less annoying as I could at least then set up a script to reboot it daily) 3) There is no way to see what the DNS servers are going to be if they are gathered from your ISP automatically. You can override whatever it is, but you actually have to go to a machine using DHCP to figure out what your ISP says to use as DNS servers. This is a serious issue if you are forced to use static IPs over a bridge due to broken DHCP. Or you call your ISP and pester them for the DNS server IPs. Very annoying.
Finally, the steps involved in setting up any kind of bridge is a little convoluted. The product support reps send you a PowerPoint that gives you the instructions you need to do it step-by-step, which is great. I followed it exactly. Still has the same problems. I had a very pleasant conversation back and forth that never seemed to resolve anything, but at least it was pleasant. Again, good for ZyXEL for having customer support that didn't suck. They're just trying to support a broken product the best they can.
For these many reasons, and the many hours over weeks I have put my unpaid time into these broken devices, I give the product a 2. Unfortunately, most consumer networking products are probably a 3, this is worse than average.
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Got it cheap... and serves me right., September 12, 2006
By user (Howell, NJ United States)
Got it for $15 after rebate from CompUSA. If it wasn't for that rebate I will think twice about buying this. I used to have a Belkin router that never failed my connection for the two years I've had it. This ZyXel router is a pain. It drops my connection at least twice a week and I have to restart it and restart my modem everytime it drops. Worse thing is, my Vonage phone line is also connected with it, so when it drops, my phone is dead too.
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Good Entry Level Features and easy to setup., January 18, 2006
By user (Gas City, Indiana)
THE GOOD: This is a great product and easy to use right out of the box especially if you have a cable modem. DSL is pretty easy as well, but requires a few more steps. This is the perfect product for someone who is setting up their first wireless home network or does not require the advanced features of the router. I was up and running in about 5 minutes with P-330W.
WHY I PICKED THE P-330W:
Price and features! I made the switch from cable modem to SBC Yahoo DSL and needed something that supported PPPOE (point to point protocol over ethernet) something required by many DSL providers. I have a Linksys WRTG54 that have been using for a year and absolutely love (loved) until it came time to hook it up to DSL. For some reason it never kept a consistent internet connection and was constantly renewing it's IP address or was just in a disconnected state. After about 5 minutes of googling it was obviously I was in for a fight if I wanted to continue using the Linksys router. So I wanted to find an inexpensive router that had dynamic dns, pppoe, and port forwarding.
THE BAD: The only real complaint that I have about the router is that it has limited ability to forward many ports. It supports a few predefined services. You cannot add additional service ports. :(
OVERALL:
If you are a beginner and don't know what dynamic dns or port forwarding is, or have a very simple network: such as a network that is not running a web or FTP server; then this is a great product for the price.
If you are more experienced and have multiple services you are wanting to expose to the internet, then this is not the product for you.
****If you are looking for a router you can control and tinker with, I highly suggest the Linksys WRTG54, it runs on open source Linux and there are many many hacks you can do to it customize.
Bryon Gaskin
http://gaskin.dyndns.org
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Good features, great price, one bug found, July 26, 2005
By user (Hillsboro, OR USA)
This is one of the few devices I've found that can be a bridge (a wireless Ethernet device), an AP/Router, or a WISP router. And for the money, this is a great buy.
I had a problem making WPA work in client/bridge mode, but I found a workaround that I'll share:
There is a bug in the P-330W Wireless / Security screen. The WPA/WPA2 TKIP Passphrase field is not storing the passphrase correctly.
I can reproduce this 100% of the time.
WORKAROUND:
Avoid the Wireless / Security settings entirely
1. Click on P-330W Setup Wizard
2. at WAN Interface Setup, click Next
3. at Wireless Basic Settings, set the SSID for the AP of which you want this bridge to be a client, click Next
4. at Wireless Security Setup, choose the WPA(TKIP) method (I did not try the other two WPA methods, but this probably applies to any WPA method with a passphrase).
5. Click Finish
6. Click Wireless / Basic Settings
7. Set Mode to Client, click Save
With this issue resolved, I'm enjoying this device very much.
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