Netgear WNR854T RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router Gigabit Edition

Average customer rating: 3.0

6 months later and it now Shuts off by itself
Hardly Usable
Could be better if more support is available
5 months of bliss...then a crashing halt
Worst Product of its kind on the Market

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Netgear WNR854T RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router Gigabit Edition

Manufacturer: Netgear
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000FGI970
2006-05-04

Related Categories:

Routers

Routers

Routers

Amazon.com Product Description

Step up to the next level of wireless network speed, reliability, and performance with the Netgear RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router Gigabit Edition. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, now you can run multiple applications -- such as streaming HD video, audio, file transfers, VoIP calls, HD gaming, and music downloads -- over your wireless network throughout your home. Plus, an attractive internal antenna design means this router will look great anywhere in your home or office. This model adds gigabit performance to your wired connections, assuring the highest possible speeds, whether you're wireless or not.

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<small><b>Beauty and and Power: The RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router sports a stylish exterior. Listen to a presentation about the RangeMax NEXT system.</b></small></td></tr></table> <b>Built for Speed</b>
Netgear's new draft-11n technology lets you build a wireless network that creates highly reliable steady-stream connections at up to 300 Mbps. By using advanced MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology, as well as Top-Dog technology from Marvell, the NEXT Wireless Router maximizes wireless network range and throughput. What's more, Draft-11n products like the Netgear RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router Gigabit Edition are compatible with legacy 802.11b/g devices, so your current networked products will stay connected.

<b>Simple Installation</b>
To begin experiencing the next generation of wireless networking, add a Netgear RangeMax NEXT router and adapter to your existing network. The coverage and performance of your legacy devices will improve immediately. And when you move your whole network to the draft-11n wireless standard, you'll experience greater speed, range, and performance than ever before. In addition to wireless capabilities, the router features four 10/100/1000 (gigabit) ethernet LAN ports, as well as a single WAN port for connectivity with your broadband modem or another router.

As always, with Netgear's Smart Wizard installation is a breeze. Plus, touchless WiFi Security makes creating the highest level of network security easy. Security includes support for WEP, WPA-PSK, or WPA2-PSK. And don't forget Netgear's 24/7 technical support.

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<small><b>RangeMax NEXT is designed to handle the massive bandwidth that today's applications demand. See how RangeMax NEXT compares to other wireless technologies.</b></small></td></tr></table> <b>What is RangeMax NEXT?</b>
RangeMax NEXT extends the possibilities of your wireless home network by providing draft 802.11n-compliant technology that greatly increases the amount of bandwidth available to wireless devices and computers. This next generation wireless standard utilizes advanced MIMO (Multi-In, Multi-Out) technology, which delivers incredible speed and range, and for the first time provides wireless interoperability at the highest speeds with other draft 802.11n products. Additionally, the Netgear RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router Gigabit Edition uses Steady-Stream technology, which ensures you have enough streaming bandwidth to support all of your applications, all over your home, all at once.

A RangeMax NEXT wireless network creates and maintains stable connections and enough bandwidth to surf the Internet, download MP3s, make Internet phone calls, share files, play network games, and stream high-definition videos, simultaneously at any distance or location in the home or office. And, as mentioned, RangeMax NEXT is compatible with all legacy b and g wireless products, so you are sure to be connected. <br clear="all">

Product Description

NETGEAR offers wireless, Ethernet, powerline and phoneline networking products through a complete line of routers, gateways, switches, hubs, and adapters. NETGEAR products offer the strongest security and privacy options available to protect home and business customers.PRODUCT FEATURES:Draft 802.11n compliant;Interoperable at 300Mbps speed with products with TopDog;Steady-Stream connections;11n-True Test high-performance testing and tuning;Advanced MIMO technology - for speed and range;Fastest WAN / LAN / WLAN throughput with built-in 5-port Gigabit Switch.

Customer Reviews:

6 months later and it now Shuts off by itself.......2007-06-12

All I can say is that i am very disapointed with this product. I have had the same problems as others have posted here. The need to reboot every now and then to get it to work fast, and now 6 months later it just shuts off. I can pull the power cord out of it for about 10 seconds, then a green light comes on. After about 2 minutes it starts to work again, but then shuts off randomly for no apparent reason. - Junk!

Hardly Usable.......2007-06-08

First let me say that I am a very knowledgeable user. I work for Microsoft as a senior developer, and have a lot of experience with routers.

As with most of NetGears routers, this thing is almost unusable. Changing any settings at all results in a 1 minute + reboot, so if you need to change a few settings on different pages you can expect to waste a good portion of time.

The frequent firmware updates require you to manually wipe the routers configuration, and reconfigure everything by hand. If you opt to disregard the instructions to manually reset all settings you'll find the router doesn't work at all. This is utterly stupid.

The wireless seems to randomly shut itself off. I'll notice i'm disconnected and go look at the router and the blue 'wifi-enabled' light is simple turned off. Cycling the power is the only solution.

After changing a setting and allowing the router to reboot, it always fails/freezes about 10 minutes afterwards, so a manually power cycle is required.

You'll notice though, that despite my complaints, I've rated the router a 4 star. This is because unfortunately there are no better options right now. If you want a wireless N router, this *is* the one to buy, despite it's shortcomings.

The gigabit switch built in seems to work great, and the wireless connection is very strong and fast while working.

Could be better if more support is available.......2007-06-08

As some of you have mentioned, I was going crazy with the connectivity issues.
I would have a pretty solid and stable connection for a few hours and then
the connection suddenly drops for no reason. Then I tried to reset it like 20 times to get it back up, but no luck half the time.

I was just about getting ready to go back to Best Buy to return it, then I found somewhat of a solution from one of the reviewers.

First of all, make sure you have installed the latest firmware that is available out there.
And then "set each piece of equipment that will be attached to the router with a static IP". This was mentioned by DSF so all credit goes to this reviewer.

Ever since then, I've had no more connectivity issues at all.
If you are having same connectivity problems like I had, please give this a try. It worked for me!

5 months of bliss...then a crashing halt.......2007-06-01

Same problem as many others. 5 months with no problems at all. Then it just stopped working and the power light stays on. I am waiting on my replacement and hopefully i won't have to return and post another comment in 5 months.

Worst Product of its kind on the Market.......2007-05-29

Wanted to get more range for my network laptop, and was told this was a great product by Dell. I already had a Dell router and it worked great but throught I could increase the range for my laptop if I had a more advanced router. Ha!!! Not only did I spend hours on the phone with Netgear techies, but once they finally got both my desktop and my laptop configured (total 4 hours on the phone), the laptop ran even slower and had less range than with my original Dell router.

I then decided to purchase the Netgear PC card adapter, which Netgear said was the ultimate answer to getting my laptop to access the internet from a distance further away from the router, and after installing the new software and card to the laptop, nothing worked!! Again, another two hours on the phone with Netgear techies trying to configure the laptop. Well, they finally succeeded and I thought everything would be OK.

In addition, the router kept shutting down, as well as completely messing up my phone (I use Vonage, which works through the cable modem) and so I had no phone service for 24 hours! This piece of equipment is absolutely the worst product I have ever purchased!

Once again, the laptop could not access the internet unless it was right next to the router! All kinds of error messages appeared regarding the configuration, so guess what??? I took the Netgear adapter back to the store I purchased it from today, and am returning the RangeMax Next Generation Router to Dell tomorrow. I reconnected my old Dell router and everthing is back to its orginal state. My phone works, my laptop works (limited range but at this point, that's OK), my desktop is fine and if you want to waste your money on this "next generation of junk" be forewarned!

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