NETGEAR RangeMax 54 Mbps 5-Port 10/100 Wireless G Router (WPN824)

NetGear is the best you can buy on the market today. I have owned others such as Linksys, Belkin, and D-Link. This one I will stick with for a long time. It’s so easy to set up and configure to act as a gateway router that connects my entire household to the internet. It handles requests from one machine in the Local Area Network (my house) to another and to the internet. The modem plugs into the router in a specially-marked port, and then the local computers either physically connect to it or connect to the wireless network which it also handles with ease. My desktop systems are connected by physical Ethernet cables, while my and family member’s laptops can use the wireless network from anywhere in the house. I highly recommend his one!!

Although this router is not the latest or newest, it is beyond amazing! Its the second one we have purchased and we could not be happier! If you are looking for a wireless router that gives you maxium range through walls and between floors LOOK NO FURTHER, buy this! It works excellent, never cuts out and no matter how far it is from your laptop you will ALWAYS have a signal. We have three floors, with our router on the second floor and we have excellent coverage on all floors. Easy set up, no fuss. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this NetGear Range Max WPN824 router. You will not be dissapointed.

I bought this router to replace my dead Netgear WGR614v7, and all I can say is, "WOW." Not only does this router provide double the wireless speed of my old router, but the security features are even better.

My favorite feature of the WPN824 is the built-in feature that regularly scans the virus protection status of every computer you have connected through the router--whether it be wirelessly or through the built-in 4-port switch. It will then notify you of any updates needed when you access the router through its config panel.

This router is also great when it comes to range. My old router often dropped signal when I moved from one room to the next. I can use this everywhere in my house--and outside my house, for that matter. The RangeMax feature is exactly as advertised and more.

Aesthetically, I also like the fact that the blue LED light on the top of the router can be turned off via a press button on the rear of the router. If you're concerned that this will keep you awake at night due to the brightness--have no fear. The blue LEDs can be easily powered off without powering off the router.

This router is great for sharing files and printers wirelessly. I cannot tell you how many times I would be in the middle of a file transfer or a print job with the WGR614 and it would either fail in the middle of the command or ignore the command completely. In all the tests I've done with the WPN824, I've never been disappointed. Print jobs were sent across the network in a speedy manner, and transfers of hundreds of MP3 files completed in no time flat.

Finally, one of the greatest features of this router is possibly its only Achilles heel: if you live in a neighborhood where the houses are built close to each other, the extended range may lead to the neighbors mooching off your signal. To prevent this, be sure to secure your network, change the router's default password (otherwise, the default password is actually "password"), and use the feature that allows you to approve only the wireless cards in your home. If you do this, I assure you will have no problems whatsoever with signal theft, and you will enjoy having this router.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a cost-effective router, this one should be at the top of your list. Not only does it cost as much as a comparable 54mbps, you get literally double the speed and wireless signal range with this router. As a computer geek who has been using computers since the days of MS-DOS, I like this piece of hardware enough to give it five stars.

I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET BETTER RECEPTION WITH THIS MODEL, TURNS OUT MY OLD STUFF OUT PREFORMED THIS RANGEMAX STUFF..I HAD A OLD ADAPTER,(6-7 yrs old)CALLED HIGH PREFORMANCE ADAPTER generic,and a regular netgear router,It worked better than this rangemax and i got both adapter and router,i'm going about 100 to 120 ft from the router to my daughters room and through about four walls,so i'm going to move the router more to the center of the house,that requires alot of crawling around under the house,no fun,, anyway peace out ........

The Net Gear router has fast throughput; long range; compact design; seven internal antennas help counteract interference from cordless phones and neighboring networks. It set up and installed easily! Highly recommend.