NETGEAR WGT624NA Wireless G Firewall Router

I bought this router to replace a Netgear MR814 v1 that I outgrew. Right out of the box, this router worked without changing any settings at all! I turned off all pc's and my cable modem, connected the router, turned on my cable modem, then the router, then the pc's. Everything worked like a champ. Next I went into the web interface (which you can get to by opening Internet Explorer and typing 192.168.0.1 into the address bar, then type in the user and password) to setup the security settings. I was very impressed to see all of the latest security features included. Probably the one feature that I like the best was the auto firmware upgrade feature. The firmware of the router is what tells the router how to work. New versions of firmware can fix problems as well as give you new features. On many other routers the process of upgrading the firmware can be quite difficult for "normal" people that aren't techies. With this router, you just click "Firmware Upgrade" and it will go out to netgear, find new firmware if available, and install it all automatically for you. Great feature. Range was also a big deal for me as the house it was being installed in was a split 3 level house with the router being in the 2nd floor. I never used to be able to go outside at all with my old router and the signal in the bottom floor was always very weak. This router lets me have full coverage throughout the house and venture off into my backyard to the edge of my property! Amazing improvement. I am using the Netgear WGT511 card in one laptop, the 802.11b pci card in a desktop downstairs, and a wired card in a desktop upstairs, all with no problems at all.

This was my first attempt at using any wireless technology for the computers in my house, and I was pleasantly surprised. Here is my roll-up review: Pros - 1. Easy Set-up - Took me about 15 minutes to setup up router using the Install Wizard. 2. Great Price - Under $50 after rebate. Hard to beat that, especially if you buy the 108Mbps PCI or PCMCIA card. Otherwise price is comparable with other 54Mbps routers. 3. Awesome Security features - The router comes with MAC Address control, WPA, and NAT+SPI Firewall features. These are all easy to setup and the screen displays definitions of each feature as you select it in the Router menu. So even without the manual, I was able to configure the security portion of the router settings easily. 4. Range and Signal Strength - One of my computers is around 100 feet away with 5 walls between the router and computer, and I never lose signal and never go below 11Mbps. Now if I am under 50 feet I am getting 54Mbps 90% of the time with 2 walls. From what I have read, that is pretty good. 5. System Stability - I have seen some other reviews about the router resetting or causing computer problems. I have had this router running for over 2 weeks straight without one reset or problem on my comp. I am running WinXP with SP2 now. I am even using a Linksys 54Mbps PCI card, so no problems noted with different brands of components either. ------------------------------------------------------------ Cons - 1. Router Casing - Even though it is an attractive router, the casing is not solid. They could have made it with a thicker mold of plastic or with some stronger material. You will just have to be careful with where you put the router. --------------------------------------------------------------- Overall - 5 Stars I highly recommend this router. If you are looking into getting a Wireless router, and you want security, stability, and performance, this router is for you. Just read the manual first, and use the Install Wizard.

I was in dire need of a new wireless router as my old one had recently stopped working. I preferred to have a Wireless G router as my wireless cards were all G compatible. I also wanted it to work with the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. For the price and performance of this router, you can't go wrong. It was a breeze to setup and I had no problems with any of the 4 computers finding it and connecting. The security was equally easy to setup. The whole process took under an hour. I then connected the Xbox 360 to the wireless network. Lo and behold, it connected flawlessly and logged in about 2 times faster than my previous router. The NAT was now set to open (this can be a hard thing to accomplish on the Xbox 360) and I was able to play online with extremely good performance. Then I connected a Playstation 3 (PS3) to it as it has a built in wireless card. It recognized it instantly and I was browsing the web and playing online games within 5 minutes. Speaking of speed. This router has increased both my network speed and my transfer speed on my laptops. I understand that the G standard is faster than the B. But compared to the speed I get at work on our Linksys G router, the Netgear Super G router has it beat hands down. So, if you are looking for a router that is easy to install and setup, is extremely fast, is Xbox 360/ Xbox Live and Playstation 3 (PS3) compatible, and won't break your budget...the Netgear WGT624 is the router for you!