Reviews

Manufacturer's Description
This 802.11g wireless router adds considerable power and flexibility to your network. Five products in one, it combines an ADSL modem, router, 10/100 LAN switch, 802.11g access point, and SPI True Firewall. It gives you untethered continuous connectivity to your network resources and the Internet, and allows you to share your broadband access with all of your networked computers wireless or with wires using Ethernet cables. Featuring high-speed 802.11g wireless capability--up to five times faster than 802.11b--it allows you to download large files, videoconference, and distribute and play high-quality digital movies, photos, and MP3s in the blink of an eye. Simple to use, it plugs directly into your ADSL line. An integrated switch lets you directly connect four computers or any combination of four computers, access points or printers. Setup couldn’t be easier--NETGEAR’s Smart Wizard install assistant and on-screen help guide you through each step. The Smart Wizard automatically detects and makes the best connection to your ISP. True Firewall protects your network with business-class security against intruders, including logs and alerts of break-in attempts, while VPN pass-through makes it safe to connect to your business network from home or office. The contemporary, sleek design of this unit suits your home or office. Future upgrades to firmware can be obtained via the Internet.

Faster Than Ever
The DG834G gives you instant connectivity with or without wires, and works with your existing 802.11b devices as well as your new 54 Mbps 802.11g devices. A built-in ADSL modem furnishes direct, always-on Internet connectivity and multi-user access sharing at speeds up to 140 times faster than dial-up. This powerful router distributes MP3s, digital movies and photos with ultra-fast 10/100 switched LAN ports capable of speeds of 200 Mbps, and shares a single IP address with up to 253 users. And, it boasts double the memory and a 50 per cent faster CPU than many popular routers.

Hassle Free
No need for a separate modem--this connects directly into your ADSL line. Built-in Port Forwarding settings, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) pass-through make it simple to play Internet games, send instant messages, and host Internet services. User interface matches your local language (English, French, German or Italian). It supports PCs, Macintosh , and virtually all Ethernet devices, and comes with a free Ethernet cable for connecting your first computer.

Secure
True Firewall using Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) and Intrusion Control features Denial of Service protection from hacker attacks, while VPN (Virtual Private Network) pass-through permits secure access to your office or corporate network and enables you to host VPN services. Content filtering lets you control access to inappropriate web sites and limit usage by time of day. Logs browsing activities and provides optional e-mail alerts so you can monitor access. DMZ support allows unrestricted access from the Internet to one computer (for hosting Web services).

Box Contents
 

Spotlight Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

Good piece of kit, does what it says on the box., June 22, 2004
 

Set up couldn't be simpler.

Got the router out of the box and connected to ADSL, configured with ISP supplied settings, worked first time.

Bonus is that the wireless card (PCMCIA)is bundled free, as a offer on Amazon at the time of ordering.

Again the wireless card worked first time, a connection speed of 54Mbs is possible, but expext 11Mbs in reality. This is with the router upstairs and the laptop downstairs in the opposite corner of the house.

Also ordered a PCI card, for sons PC, again Netgear, again worked first time. Similar connection speeds to Router as with the PCMCIA card.

Word of advise.
When you get a connection working, upgrade the software on the PCMCIA card to the latest version, more functionality. Do this with the PCI cards as well. Upgrades are available, free, from www.netgear.com, don't bother with the .co.uk site.

Make sure that you are logged on as Administrator when installing the software, otherwise you cannot set the region zone from the default, United States, to Europe. You need to do this to comply with the law!

I upgraded the Router from the supplied version of 1.03.0 to version 1.04.1 and had no end of problems with the router loosing the ADSL connection, or the wireless connection or completely locking up. Each situation required a power cycle to clear the fault.

Downgraded back to 1.03.0 and have had no problems since.

There should be another upgrade for the router soon, according to the website.

Overall, simple.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Nice bit of Kit, September 26, 2004
 

I use this product in my summer house (40 metres distance) and I get a good 12mbps out of the 54mbps and a green signal strength. Theres Green- good connection, Amber- Ok/poor connection, Red- no connection. There are two walls and then the distance in the way so I rate this product very highly.

There are a lot of reviewers out their confusing people about the set up so here we go:

First of all don't be confused by all the jargon and people telling you to change ISP's if your on AOL, it works fine with AOL. There is one problem with Win XP that Netgear doesnt like. Thats the Hotfix SP2 windows xp update. This reduces the power of the signal recieved and cuts off the network from time to time. Just remove it.

AOL works well with this device but you need broadband Gold or Platinum and you will need to delete all previous connections then search for new. AOL will eventually pick up your connection.

TIP: Go for the 108Mbps Netgear Laptop/PC card to recieve. Works perfect.

 All Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer Review:

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Can't fault it, January 30, 2005
 

I bought this router because existing one didn't have wireless. I'm impressed with every aspect - set up is easy, performance good and it even looks good enough to leave on your desktop. It's hard to measure performance but it certainly seems to start loading web pages quicker than my last router. Web based control interface is very easy to use, and doesn't take 5 minutes to load (other manufacturers take note!) An added bonus for me is that performance with Linux is perfect (due to web based control), and the fact that Netgear are happy to back this up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

It was so simple!, January 25, 2005
 

I thought I would have problems setting up the network - not being totally computer literate - but it was so simple and we were able to network a desktop and three laptops within minutes! Would recommend highly!

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