netgear routers

[JeepcoMJ]

NEVER EVER buy a netgear wireless router.

 

 

what a giant pile of sh*t. took me 5 hours to make it work. I just had cable/internet installed since I work at Time Warner, because it's free...but I'm not renting a wireless router, and my linksys router is all screwed up because I'm in the process of setting it up as a retransmitter to put in the window of my garage (metal pole barn) so I can use the laptop out there, too.

 

so, I went to walmart to buy another linksys. they don't carry them anymore...I had choices of vizio (great TV's, but I won't buy a router that I've never heard of before), belkin, ant netgear. my last belkin experience left a sour taste in my mouth, so I opted for a netgear adapter.

 

 

after 3 hours of dicking with the damn thing, having it prompt me to input my ip4 address, subnet address, gateway ip address, and dns server crap, then telling me that what I was inputting (which is info I got from command prompt using "ipconfig" as a command) was wrong. obviously it wasn't...it's what my computer says I have, so it is RIGHT.

 

they say the router is compatible with windows 7. I disagree. finally, after 5 hours, it just all of a sudden said "the hell with all this stuff, just give me a password that you want to use, and let's just call it good" (not quite like that, of course).

 

 

5 hours.

 

waste of time. Only saving grace is walmart will take anything back under $50 with a reciept. so, when I get a new linksys (whenever I find one), I will be returning this piece of crap.

 

 

just warning you guys to stay away from their crappy products.

[Geonovast]

Must be your local Walmart, they're still listed on the site, and it even lists the Burlington one as having a WRT54GS2 in stock.

[JeepcoMJ]

well they have zero on the shelves, and the idiots working there don't even know what one is.

[Geonovast]

Site-to-store one.

 

Then they don't have to know what it is, it'll just be a brown box with your name on it.

[JeepcoMJ]

if that involves checks, paypal, or any money other than cash, then I can not do it.

[mvusse]

Staples stocks Linksys.

 

I could have told you about Netgear. Nice strong signal I can receive 200 feet from my house, but after three software upgrades it still dropped packets like crazy.

 

I now run a Linksys with custom firmware for my main router, and a free Fon router with the same firmware as a wireless adapter on the desktop after it's wireless card fried.

 

Stay away from Belkin as well. They use whatever components they can get cheapest. I've had three identical Belkin wireless cards, all three used different circuit boards with different chip sets. None of them lasted more than a year.

[Geonovast]

if that involves checks, paypal, or any money other than cash, then I can not do it.

 

Buy yourself a gift card in-store, then use the gift card online.

[terrawombat]

It's not the router that is the problem, it's the firmware. Netgear firmware is crap and always has been. Linksys is a lot better and they tend to be easier to setup. I don't use the stock firmware on any of my routers because they limit the full functionality of the installed hardware. If you're tying to setup a wireless network to transmit over long distances, I highly recommend you look into using DD-WRT firmware on your routers. I used this 3rd party firmware to convert a couple of old routers (that I was about to throw into the trash) into a wireless repeater to connect my home and my shop (they are about 2500 feet away from each other). It does take a little bit of setting up and if you're just looking for a plug-it-in and go, then this is obviously not the solution you want, but I've had my long range wireless network up and running flawlessly for over three years on about $150 worth of "consumer" hardware and a days worth of work, but I have about a half mile between the two buildings - that may not be the case with you.

[jeepdoggydogB]

JeepCo-

Are you certain it was a problem exclusively with the Netgear? I know for those of us that use Comcast for an ISP you have to "trick" the Comcast Network to recognize the new hardware, by taking the MAC address of the last router or workstation that connected to Comcast and enter it into the new router. :dunno:

 

I installed this router for my parents and love it.

 

http://homestore.cisco.com/en-us/Router ... ewprod.htm

[Matt1971]

I get my computer stuff from newegg. Always have it within about two days. Also you can compare features and price as well as read reviews from other customers.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=wireless+n+router

[JeepcoMJ]

yep, it's the router for sure.