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The automatic set up doesn't seem to work when you are replacing an existing LAN wireless system, so you need to do it manually, it's helpful if you aren't one of us people who only use cell phones for phone calls and still use three remotes because it's to much trouble to program one remote to work on three devices. I thought the router was broken and needed to be sent back but he assured me he could get it going. The router works great, although the distance is not as great as I expected. I had a little trouble setting it up, my wired connections seemed to fail and the LAN printer wasn't recognized, but with some help form my son a IT graduate I was able to sit back and see him configure the addresses and get everything working.
It is really bothering me. I also have to unplug it once a day because all connections are lost. I think I need a new one and its only four years old. I got this when it first came out with high expectations and at first it was great. But now the range is less than 20 feet and wont go upstairs.
I installed the TEW-432BRP router, updated to the latest TrendNet firmware, and had no problem connecting all of my wifi devices with WPA + TKIP encryption enabled. Clearly TrendNet and Netgear need to spend more time building a robust MAC address filtering implementation and test product compatability more thoroughly in this mode if they want to compete with Linksys. Linksys had designed and tested MAC address filtering correctly. well perhaps so for general router settings but apparantly not when also using MAC address filtering mode. The Netgear MAC address filtering firmware obviously has a quirky problem with Sony laptops using the Intel a/b/g wifi adapters. However, as soon as I switched on MAC address filtering in the router firmware all of a sudden I could no longer access MSN instant messaging or Hotmail on any PC on my network.
I'll be sending this feedback to all three vendors and kudos to Linksys for getting it right straight out of the box. I have a very standard home network with two HP desktop PC's, one Sony laptop, and and a WM5 Pocket PC all hooked up to a DSL broadband connection via a Linksys Wireless-G router. However, I do insist on high wifi security so use at least WPA + TKIP encryption in combination with MAC address filtering. This happened despite the fact that the router had automatically entered the correct MAC address for the Sony into its allowed devices database from when it was connected without filtering earlier.
the router completely blocked the Sony laptop from re-connecting. But as soon as MAC address filtering was enabled only my WM5 Pocket PC could still connect. I finally bit the bullet and bought the Linksys WRT54GL for $75 because it got good reviews online and offered open platform support for third party firmware. In networking compatability will always be the king.
There were no unexplainable wifi lockouts (as with Netgear) or MSN/Hotmail blocks (as with TendNet). In any case, for a router to block any web site in any mode of operaton was unacceptable so I packed up the router and brought it back to Fry's for return to vendor. No surprise, even with the default Linksys firmware it works as advertised with all my devices and using full WPA + TKIP encryption and MAC address filtering. After three years of operation the router suddenly died so I decided (on price) to first give TrendNet a chance to replace it with the TEW-432BRP which I bought from Fry's for $40.
Netgear Tech Support had no useful suggestions and recommended returning the router to vendor which I promptly did. The router connected with every wifi device successfully using WPA + TKIP encryption. Reading into the firmware history file I saw that TrendNet has had previous issues with connectivity to MSN which it believed it had fixed. I next bought the Netgear WPN824 router for $65, set it up, updated to the latest Netgear firmware, and connected my devices.
It's the most unreliable of anything computer-related I've owned over the past 17 years. If you're reading through these reviews, it almost seems as though people are using two different products: one that works and one that doesn't. I won't allow Netgear the opportunity to burn me again. I'm glad some seem to feel it's a good product. I'd used the same router (Microsoft) for four years and, until the end, I don't remember it clonking out on me once. I've had this product for three months and am constantly having to restart my computer--which is really fun when you're watching an on-line movie and suddenly you have an unscheduled 5-10 minute intermission.
The resulting increase in bit errors (and therefore packet errors) causes a system drop in data rate to a more robust modulation that can better tolerate the increased wireless transmission errors.Which is better; a weaker signal with less distortion (provided proper antenna location) or a stronger signal with increased distortion. While the MIMO technology does resolve radio signal nulling issues, it ends up creating increased signal distortion (the microwave frequency equivalent of "echo distortion") due to its multiple signal inputs/outputs on separate antennas. The bottom line for me is the best performance, and in the case of my apartment deployment environment, the Netgear WGT624 outperformed the WPN824 wireless router.I have found that while the new 802.11N standard looks good on paper and in theory, in the real world (so far at least) it fails to deliver to the performance expectations being set by all the marketing and theoretical articles the marketplace. NETGEAR WPN824 RangeMax Wireless Router I purchased a Netgear WPN824 router because of past experience with the Netgear WGT624 router, expecting a performance boost due to it's 802.11N MIMO technology. I was sadly disappointed in the wireless performance of the product and have since gone back to using the older WGT624 router instead.
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