Hello,

I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a Netgear 
(RangeMax)
DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.

I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk
Some say they've had problems with it including dropped connections while 
others say that
it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm still 
none the wiser!

Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it easy to 
set up and
configure?

Thanks for all replies.

On Tue, 20 May 2008 20:04:03 +0100, Paul Maskell wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a
> Netgear (RangeMax)
> DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.
> 
> I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk Some say they've had problems with
> it including dropped connections while others say that
> it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm
> still none the wiser!
> 
> Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it easy
> to set up and
> configure?
> 
> Thanks for all replies.

I have this model.  It is quite reliable.  It doesn't need any regular 
reboots or anything.  Mine runs on firmware version 1.03.35 which handles 
VPN etc. just fine.  I have tried other firmware versions which 
_possibly_ caused dropped connections and IIRC also rendered VPN 
inoperative.

However, I had the previous version (non-rangemax) and bought this model 
for the extended wireless range.  The improvement which had been 
advertised as an extra 50% coverage was relatively disappointing.  I 
ended up extending my network with homeplugs.  Having said that, the 
wireless is also reliable and problem free.  It has up to wpa2 security.  
I also employ the MAC filtering.

The setup is very easy.  There is a wizard to take you through it.  I 
wouldn't expect anyone to have any problems getting connected.  There is 
a reasonable range of settings.  DHCP, port forwarding etc. All are 
useful and easy to set up.  The defaults seem sensible too for those who 
don't want to meddle.

JohnK

Paul Maskell wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a 
> Netgear (RangeMax)
> DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.
> 
> I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk
> Some say they've had problems with it including dropped connections 
> while others say that
> it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm 
> still none the wiser!
> 
> Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it easy 
> to set up and
> configure?
> 
> Thanks for all replies.

I've got both a DG834 and a DG834N. The DG834N uses the same broadcom 
chipset as the DG834PN and DG834GT, so ADSL functionality should be 
similar. In terms of connection speed/connection stability there is very 
little to choose between the DG834 and a DG834N.

I still often use the DG834 because it offers VPN endpoint software and 
the DG834N doesn't. The web management interface is nearly identical. 
The DG834N additionally offers the ADSLCTL program, via telnet, which 
offers extra features, most notably it allows me to set the target SNR.

I do still have a problem with p2p where if the DG834 is left on for 
days with p2p running it can cause a VOIP signal to break up. I'm 
currently testing to see if this is the case with the DG834N.

If I were you I would save your money.

"Paul Maskell"  wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a Netgear 
>(RangeMax)
>DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.
>
>I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk
>Some say they've had problems with it including dropped connections while 
>others say that
>it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm still 
>none the wiser!
>
>Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it easy to 
>set up and
>configure?
>
>Thanks for all replies. 

If your on a poor line forget it go for the DG834GT instead. AFAIK "N" is only
Beta and will probably never be finalized. The SKY version of theDG834GT
can be bought for under £30 New on ebay. Easily flashed back to the netgear
firmware or the better still hacked firmwares.

On my line DG834PN is totally unusable drops the connection every
few seconds.

Sean

Sean B wrote:
> "Paul Maskell"  wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a
>> Netgear (RangeMax)
>> DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.
>>
>> I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk
>> Some say they've had problems with it including dropped connections
>> while others say that
>> it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm
>> still none the wiser!
>>
>> Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it
>> easy to set up and
>> configure?
>>
>> Thanks for all replies.
>
> If your on a poor line forget it go for the DG834GT instead. AFAIK
> "N" is only Beta and will probably never be finalized. The SKY
> version of theDG834GT
> can be bought for under £30 New on ebay. Easily flashed back to the
> netgear firmware or the better still hacked firmwares.
>
> On my line DG834PN is totally unusable drops the connection every
> few seconds.
>
> Sean

When you say that the "N" is beta, fair enough, I understand that. However, 
the "N" refers to wireless, ie, on the LAN side, and so has nothing to do 
with the telephone-line-facing, or WAN side of things, so why do you think 
it's unsuitable for poor lines?

John

"John" <replyingroup@notemail> wrote in message 
news:8ZudnVxoovG2-KnVRVnyiwA@bt.com...
> Sean B wrote:
>> "Paul Maskell"  wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm thinking about replacing my (wired) Netgear DG834 router with a
>>> Netgear (RangeMax)
>>> DG834PN Wireless Modem Router.
>>>
>>> I've read the reviews on Amazon.co.uk
>>> Some say they've had problems with it including dropped connections
>>> while others say that
>>> it's a great piece of kit and they've had no problems at all. So I'm
>>> still none the wiser!
>>>
>>> Has anyone got this model? What are it's good and bad points? Is it
>>> easy to set up and
>>> configure?
>>>
>>> Thanks for all replies.
>>
>> If your on a poor line forget it go for the DG834GT instead. AFAIK
>> "N" is only Beta and will probably never be finalized. The SKY
>> version of theDG834GT
>> can be bought for under £30 New on ebay. Easily flashed back to the
>> netgear firmware or the better still hacked firmwares.
>>
>> On my line DG834PN is totally unusable drops the connection every
>> few seconds.
>>
>> Sean
>
> When you say that the "N" is beta, fair enough, I understand that. 
> However, the "N" refers to wireless, ie, on the LAN side, and so has 
> nothing to do with the telephone-line-facing, or WAN side of things, so 
> why do you think it's unsuitable for poor lines?

Yes I was puzzled by the relationship between those two statements.

I've had problems with the DG834N (as opposed to PN) not talking to certain 
non-Netgear wireless cards - Belkin, particularly. The symptom is that the 
card gets an IP address and can communicate to the internet perfectly, but 
cannot ping or be pinged by any other PC on the network and therefore 
file/printer does not work. Changing to a different card (or using a 
different router such as the PN with the Belkin card) works fine.

Evidently the Wireless G capabilities of the N router leave something to be 
desired.

In article , JohnK 
 writes
>I have this model.  It is quite reliable.  It doesn't need any regular 
>reboots or anything.  Mine runs on firmware version 1.03.35 which 
>handles VPN etc. just fine.  I have tried other firmware versions which 
>_possibly_ caused dropped connections and IIRC also rendered VPN 
>inoperative.
>
>However, I had the previous version (non-rangemax) and bought this 
>model for the extended wireless range.  The improvement which had been 
>advertised as an extra 50% coverage was relatively disappointing.  I 
>ended up extending my network with homeplugs.  Having said that, the 
>wireless is also reliable and problem free.  It has up to wpa2 
>security. I also employ the MAC filtering.
>
>The setup is very easy.  There is a wizard to take you through it.  I 
>wouldn't expect anyone to have any problems getting connected.  There 
>is a reasonable range of settings.  DHCP, port forwarding etc. All are 
>useful and easy to set up.  The defaults seem sensible too for those 
>who don't want to meddle.
>
I have just ordered this model so your comments are useful, however some 
other's comment are more disturbing.

On the point of increased range I was advised that to get the MIMO 
facility you need to have special MIMO wireless adapters for your 
PCs/laptops.
-- 
Peter Pratten
Please reply in group only