NetGear WGR614 Wireless Router by Gabor Bernat Nowadays a lot of devices start to make its place into our homes and establishing to coordinate the connection between them with just network cables is no longer enough. You need something more advanced—a network device that can also eliminate a few wires if possible at least for that laptop you have and has a wireless connection. Here’s an option for you: the NetGear WGR614 v7. Having a home desk for heavy work and gaming (for some) and also a laptop so you can maximize your production while you are away starts to become like a standard and a requirement in today’s fast phased society. Maybe you just want to create a home network for PCs in the house allowing free flow of data (without wires) between them. Or even better, you are starting a small business that needs a good network connection between the computers. For all of these the solution is a router. A router just like the NetGear WGR614 v7. Is this a reliable choice, one that you won’t regret? Stay tuned until the end of this review since you are about to find out. Just turn the page…
The Hardware This is a wireless router, a router that has the main attribute that it can get rid of the masses of cable that previously could be in the house to connect devices. Every laptop most probably has a wireless connection already so why not use it. As for computers you can find in the market some PCI cards that will turn your system into wireless-able. Of course the old-fashioned connection through Ethernet-cable is also possible as this offers a more stable and faster connection. If you want to know more about wireless connection I invite you to read on over here. The device is packed inside a good quality case that will hold out even the hardest trips and contains inside an Ethernet cable, an AC/DC transformer to power the router, the router itself, and two little grips that turn the router into a multi positional one.
Here are the specifications of the box: Model Brand: NETGEAR Model: WGR614
Spec Standards IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Network Protocols: Static & Dynamic Routing with TCP/IP, VPN pass-through (IPSec, L2TP), NAT, PPTP, PPPoE, DHCP (client & server) Security: Stateful packet inspection (SPI) and DoS attack protection 40-bit (also called 64-bit), 128-bit, WEP encryption, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK WPA/WPA2: WPA Ports: 1 x 10/100M WAN; 4 x 10/100M LAN Data Rates: Up to 54Mbps Modulation: OFDM with BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK Frequency Band : 2.412 ~ 2.462 GHz (US) 2.412 ~ 2.484 GHz (Japan) 2.412 ~ 2.472 GHz (Europe ETSI) 2.457 ~ 2.462 GHz (Spain) 2.457 ~ 2.472 GHz (France) Antenna : 2 dBi External Antenna Interface: Ethernet Port VPN support : IPSec, L2TP, and PPTP VPN pass-through Power Input : 12 VDC Wireless Adapter included: No System Requirements: Broadband (cable, DSL) Internet service and modem with Ethernet connection 2.4 GHz wireless adapter or Ethernet adapter and cable for each computer Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, Mac OS, NetWare, UNIX, or Linux Internet Explorer 5.0 or Netscape 6.0 or higher Dimensions: 6.9" x 4.7" x 1.1" Weight: 0.7 lbs. Features Internet sharing broadband router and 4-port switch; Configurable for private networks and public hotspots; Double Firewall protection from external hackers attacks; Touchless WiFi Security makes securing your network easy; Works with Windows Vista; Packaging Package Contents: WGR614 Power Adapter RJ45 Cable 2x Vertical Stand Resource Disk
Manufacturer Warranty: Parts: 1 year limited Labor: 1 year limited
The router is white, really white, and with a range of 100 feet at 2.4 GHz frequency seems to be a good choice. This modem comes with the new Wireless G family as the name also suggests. By this it has a five time faster connection speed (54 Mbit) than the previous B type, while also being backwards compatible in case you have an older laptop that supports only that. Near this the 4 10/100 Mbps ports will sure come in handy letting you hook on the router for devices with the RJ45 (Ethernet) cable. The two extra grippers that come with it, the build of letting the holes around the device and the small size of the router will make sure that it won’t get into your road.
Not the same can be told about the AC/DC Power adapter as this is quite huge and will probably take two places in the power stripe. Additional observation is that you can’t turn this device just on and off. No such button. The only option is to unplug the adapter from the router. As side note I tested version 7 both still don’t expect that it’s more evolved compared to previous version or it has less bugs. This is due the version policy of Netgear. Manufacturing the router requires a few parts that are bought from different providers. The version number just points that from a different set of provider was this build. This way Netgear manages to keep the prices down but somehow confuses people. Anyway I hope for the price it worth the trouble as is quite cheap around 40$. Connecting the device is easy, nothing devilish. Just take the RJ45 cable from the modem plug it into the router most right plug and also connect the adaptor. Then if the world isn’t just wireless, you can also connect with one of the four LAN ports the computer. If still, you have some trouble with this I advise to follow the steps presented in this video. Once this is finished the device should power up and look like in the picture below, with the Power led shining and the Ethernet/internet/LAN cables just flashing:
The Software The next step is configuring the router. A CD also comes with the router on which there exists the user guide what helps you guide you through the process. However this is not necessary in its usage. You can collect all info needed to do it just from the base of the router where exists a smaller user guide as you can see in the picture below:
The default login is admin as user and password for the password and configuring the router doesn’t require installing another program to do so. A simple browser will do the trick. Just enter the address routerlogin.com and you’re ready to go.
Things get even better as on the right side of the page there is constantly a little help section where every option currently displayed is deeply explained. The options are quite many as you could figure this out from the specification list presented on the previous page. At start a wizard pops up to automatically grab your ISP's DNS settings, determine if you have a fixed or dynamic IP, and see whether PPPoE is in use--removing some common stumbling blocks for newbies. A test feature provides confirmation that you're ready to roll and shunts you to Netgears support-and-registration Web page. The only problem is that I had little problem whit this as it failed to get the correct data, but hey maybe I just had a bad day. In its defense I can say that the manual configuring is also possible and worked as it should.
For the wireless part you can encrypt data with 64 bit or 128 bit (SSL) just like it is used in online bank transfers, so pretty safe. The configuration is simple: just choose the option, get one of the login information, enter it into the other device as login, and watch as you got great connection and the neighbors won’t live off your bandwidth. The router can block access to some site, so a little parental control; firewall is also present over here. Another thing you’ll probably see is the Intel VIIV on the corner of the device. This is pointing out that this device is compatible with “media” devices.
Conclusion All goes down to some real-life tests. I tried with a 700MB file transfer from a MSIEX700 laptop that has an 802.11n wireless connection. The transfer went on smoothly and the end result was 2.75 MB/s average.
I’ve been using the router now for more than a month and never ever restarted itself so it’s pretty stable. Although some time when the modem restarted and it was put so that take over the modem IP failed to do so. A restart for the router also however solved the issue. As for the rest the router is pretty stable, working as it should and very well constructed, a fall from a lower distance has no effect on it whatsoever. In the end I
would give rating of 8/10. This may be due to the lack of a printed manual or for the version numbering. Or even the registration-based warranty. Thank you for reading my review on this router and feel free to ask any questions you have here on the blog or over the DevHardware Forum. Be assured that you’ll receive an answer. Author: Gabor Bernat Date: July 20, 2008