NETGEAR FR114W ProSafe 802.11b Wireless-Ready Firewall Router Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent router with rock solid performance. Unlike my previous Linksys BEFSR41 which needs to be reset every couple of weeks and drops game connections more often than I'd like. This one maintains game connection well. Router admin operations (most) does not drop any existing connections, unlike the Linksys which resets the router at the slightest configuration change. The SPI firewall works nicely and the latest firmware (beta as of this writing) supports UPNP (Windows Messenger Audio/Video). One nice feature is you can turn off the wireless to LAN bridge, so your roommates can surf the internet but can't physically access any machine wired directly to the router.
On the down side, the wireless signal strength (with a Netgear wireless card) is a little on the weak side. Hardly a surprise considering it's using the wireless card. You may re-consider if you need one that covers a lot of range. The telnet interface is also gone, but most people probably don't care. At one time, my router started to emit a high pitch hiss, caused by long usage of the wireless portion. I disconnected the power for a while and now it seems to be ok. Maybe they used a cheap component somewhere.
There's a different model called FR114P, essentially the same, except it lacks the wireless slot but adds a print server port. You may look into it if you don't need wireless capabilities.

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The Netgear FR114W cable/DSL wireless-ready router has all the office network protection features you could want. Prepared for the future with wireless-ready capability, Netgear's ProSafe 802.11b wireless-ready firewall has you covered both ways. This true firewall is broadband capable, and provides you with the utmost in business-class security--Denial of Service protection and intrusion detection using Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), URL access and content filtering, logging, reporting, and real-time alerts. VPN pass-through maximizes network security with access control and encryption. With four auto sensing, switched LAN ports and Network Address Translation (NAT) routing, up to 253 users can access your broadband connection at the same time. Smart Wizard and Install Assistant get your network up and running in minutes, and a complete antivirus software bundle is included at no extra cost to shield your network with additional protection.

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Siemens SpeedStream® 2614 Cable/DSL Router w/Built-in 4-Port Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)I've owned this router for about 6 or 7 months now and I cannot say that I am impressed with it. While the installation was very easy, and it works, it constantly needs to be reset. As a result of constantly resetting it, I've had to call tech support to get help on how to fix it (security settings, resetting the router thoroughtly, etc). They've been helpful both times I've called, but it's irritating that I have to call at all. If I can get the thing up and running (for months, mind you), why can't it STAY up and running??? Oh, and I've never gotten the print server to work. I had very little interest in it doing so, so I didn't try too hard.

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Cisco SOHO 91 Ethernet Router ( CISCOSOHO91-K9 ) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been working with computers for over 22 years and been a network engineer for the last 7. This is the router that i have at my own house. I recommend it to all my friends who are looking for something more than the basic routers like the ones from Dlink, Netgear, Linksys, etc. I have used this router in multiple residential and commercial applications. It has never failed. It is also a great help for someone wanting to learn the Cisco IOS.
Only negative, you will need to update the IOS to the most current version to get the most out of it. But you should update the drivers on any computer equipment that you buy.

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Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This wireless router, besides supporting Linux firmware, is a tested and true wireless router with 802.11 b and g support. It supports WPA, WPA2 and the older WEP encryption schemes. In addition, it has a built-in firewall, MAC address filtering, and supports access policies (such as "don't allow FTP connections to this computer on Sundays").
When I installed this wireless router, setup was very straightforward (I did not use the Setup Wizard because it didn't work for me). I changed the IP address range (because the DSL modem uses the 192.168.1 address space), set the administrator password, chose a name for the Wireless network, enabled WPA2 encryption and picked a passphrase.
After that, I connected my laptop to the router right away, and received an excellent signal and throughput of 100 KB/sec (for comparison, my DSL connection maintains a throughput of 300 KB/sec when I connect straight to the DSL modem).
I've been using the router for several months now, and have not had any dropped connections (my older Netgear router dropped connections fairly frequently and did not support the newer WPA encryption scheme) and have consistent throughput. The router has been running constantly for these past few months.
For the real tech-heads, this router has customized Linux firmware available from third parties. I haven't tried this firmware, since the base Linksys firmware more than meets my needs.
Finally, good security practices are to: Change the administrator password, disable Universal Plug and Play, disable Remote administrative access, use a unique name for the access point, and if the network is only for a small number of personal devices (i.e. a laptop you own), enable MAC address filtering. A MAC address uniquely identifies a network card, so this only allows certain computers to access the network.


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The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one box. First, theres the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both screaming fast Wireless-G (802.11g at 54Mbps) and Wireless-B (802.11b at 11Mbps) devices to the network. Theres also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Connect four PCs directly, or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. Once your computers are connected to the Router and the Internet, they can communicate with each other too, sharing resources and files. All your computers can print on a shared printer connected anywhere in the house.

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