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Netgear RP614 ReviewWeb Safe Router Gateway with a built-in 4 Port switch.
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The setup was quite simple. I connected my cable modem to the WAN port, connected the computers that I wanted to network into the LAN ports. I plugged in the router and the modem, and all of the computers connected with no problem at 100 Mbps, and my print server connected at 10 Mbps. I then attempted to access the Internet and was able to with no problem. Truly plug and play.
As you can see, the router decreased the download speed only slightly, yet it increased the upload speed! This is probably due to the unpredictability of the Internet over the time it took me to switch the network cables. Essentially, this router will not affect speed. The other statistic I was interested in was the change in latency (ping time). I am not an avid gamer, but I do play online from time to time, and like the rest of you, I have the same hatred for lag. How does this router do?
The first screen that is presented after login is the basic settings screen. This is where you can setup your internet connection if you were unable to connect when the router was first turned on. This is the page where you can enter a login and password if your ISP requires it, as well as an IP address if you are lucky enough to have a static one. This is also the place where you can enter a MAC address for cloning. Essentially, this feature allows the router to mimic the computer that the ISP had set up, if your ISP limits access to one computer. Cox does not, but I leave my MAC address in there so I can switch the modem directly to my computer without rebooting the modem. Also, note the help to the right of the screen. These sidebars are provided on every page to guide you through the options on that screen. A nice feature indeed.
The next page I’d like to draw your attention to is the content filtering page. One of the unique features about this router is the ability to block content based on domain name or domain keyword. This was designed to allow parents to filter in hardware rather than software on the local machine. However, I have found another use for it. I have entered the domain names of some of the more popular ad sites, and the router will remove ads on the fly. Also, at the bottom of the settings page, you can choose to bypass the list for one of the PC’s attached to the router, making this feature very flexible.
The router status page is a handy tool for seeing what the router is doing, as well as the WAN IP. It also lets you know the firmware version.
One of the other neat features of this router is the ability to automatically update a dynamic DNS address, so that you don’t need to know the IP of your computer to connect to it remotely. A very useful tool for those of you who have ISP’s that frequently change IP addresses. I get changed about once every 2 or 3 months, so this came in handy.
For those who keep a tight grip on their equipment, or perhaps have the need to manage the router at another location, you can set up the router to allow remote access on the wan port, and even limit the connecting IP, so that not anybody can access it.
Any good router these days should have the ability to port forward, and this one is no exception. The router will allow up to 20 specific port ranges to be forwarded to LAN machines. As you can see, I’ve taken full advantage of this feature.
With all these ports open, how secure is the router and the network? A quick test at GRC’s Port probe gives us the good news: anything not forwarded has been stealthed.
User Reviews/Comments:
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dcharles_here - 2005-12-13 06:02
I just found one of these myself,it is the easiest router i have ever set up..truely plug and play.i also have a US Robotics model #8003 that dosn't even make a good paperweight..lol .I recommend The Netgear over any router i have used..Thanks for the ad blocking info too..Hadn't thought of that
Dcharles_here
Just bought mine. Its RP614 V2 and easy setup and the settings are relativly easy for meduim knowledged users. Some connection and MTU issues but with the latest firmware download, everything worked amazingly.Perhaps the best router for its value.
My aging RT314 died, and so I borrowed a friend's RP314 until I could get a new one. This being the latest Netgear, I picked it up.
I *really* hope I have a lemon; it's going back to the store tomorrow. Basically, it's a good switch, but can't get an IP from my DSL provide. Despite the fact that the configuration is 99% the same as the RP314, little works. First off, I set a strong password to replace the default. I promptly cannot log in. My 15 character password is accepted, and then the internal password is changed to something, but I don't know what. I tried a few times, assuming I was making typos, but it simply cannot handle passwords that long. Truncating it to 12 worked fine. I successfully got all 4 PCs connected before trying to connect to the WAN. Using the same username/password as the RP314 gets nothing. Worse, there are *no* diagnostics, even the logging just says it's attempting a connection, and nothing else. No indication if it's attempting to negotiate and failing on user ID, or password, or whether it's even connecting at all. So, I did a pin reset to original defaults. Bad mistake. Although I can get a 192.168.0.x address, that's about it. Even pinging the router fails, not because it can't find it, but because of timeouts.
This is my second Netgear router and I've had wan line droping problems with both of them, on two different locations, with three different cable/DSL modems and two different providers. It just drops the Internet connection out of the blue and I need to reset the router and most of the time computer too to restore it. I have also tried other borrowed routers (Linksys and D-Link) and haven't had any problems with them. I'll never buy another Notgear product again.
I purchased a WGR614 Netgear a couple months ago when my old WiFi router was murdered by my cats... I have always liked Netgear equipment cause i am generally cheap and they had good quality for their pricepoint. I am a professional web worker... lot's of bandwidth gets used and serious FTP usage... the Netgear would fail like clockwork every 12 minutes or so on major uploads. I was developing a serious HATE for this equipment and thought about getting something else... finally, a patch has been offered for this model and so far so good.
A bit of feedback to anyone who might actually make these devices: make it so a pro user can turn OFF all your nifty software! I believe that if the netgear just tried being a dumb device (like their equipment of old) things would have been fine... Firewalls are everywhere now, it becomes a serious cluster f*** quickly.
Well setup is easy and all. The overall performance of this is very poor even with the best firmware available for it. I did some investagating and decided to put the firmware from the v3 into mine the v2. The firmware version is 6. It makes an unbelievable difference. If any issues or even with out, get the updated firmware and you will be satisfied!
The v2 version has wan dropping problems and if you have a busy network, you must reboot the device every few days. I wouldn't recommend it for a switch. During a cluster project where i had 3 nodes running on openMosix, the device stopped moving traffic after about six hours. (it was for an operating systems course)
The only redemable quality is that netgear provides the firmware's source for free on their site under LGPL. This device does use less power than one of their newer 5 port gigabit switches. I built a 400 dollar pc to route my traffic instead. It was much faster and i only rebooted for security patches (30-45 days average). If its for your mom, it might work out ok. Just tell her to restart it when she can't get to yahoo.
I run a small networking business. I am a dedicated Netgear customer. This router is great because it is so easy to set up. I have sold about a dozen to customers and not once have they come back to ask for help. Pretty impressive.
Great for families with young children (WebSafe function). Not great for intense Internet activity, or power users because of low bandwidth throughput. Not good for businesses, you do have to reboot occasionally. Later revisions seem to be more stable.
I have a Netgear RP614v3 which overall I am quite happy with, with one exception. As the excellent review points out, it does slow down after continual use, which requires a reboot, then it's fine again.
I have one RP614v3 and it's crap:
1) Web interface is going down after few hours being online - I can not log in the router couse no server at it's adress. 2) Problems with port forwarding - I'm forced to use DMZ instead. 3) Logs? lol I could find no any use for this rests of info. Just me 2 cents. qbecks
I'm trying to port forward my Starcraft game to my comp, but I don't know how. Can someone post how?
Purchased a v6 unit and found it fairly easy to set up but it always dropped out a lot (once a day on average). After 3 months failed completely, however can be used as a hard wired router with the 4 connections.
Not to be recommended.
I get this free as a virgin media customer, i would have to say its the best router i have had.
people plese NOTE: get the name right!!
http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/WGR614.asp is NOT the same as http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/RP614.asp ALSO NOTE the many warnings....
Let's see, when I got this for $10 from compusa.com as a refurb, if I do remember correctly, it was all in Korean, but I still managed to get it to work, I don't know what firmware version before I updated it to the latest, but the old one had no ping issues, it would just be unresponsive after few hours, only fix was to turn off/on.
After the latest firmware update to english and all, the reset problem went away, but the uploading rate just tanks so bad, and this affects ping greatly. It went from 80 to 150~300. I will never buy another Netgear again, I'm just glad I didn't spend too much on it.
After latest firmware upgrade, I lost uploading rate, therefore affecting increased ping from 70 to 150 or even higher, before firmware upgrade, router would become unresponsive after few hours and needs complete resetting, I wish I bought that compusa router instead of this crap, I'm just glad it wasn't over $11..
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