In terms of Network Equipment how would you rate Netgear?

[Goosemaster]

I am I am going to be buying a new router soon and was interested in the Netgear FM114P.

Unfortunely, I keep on finding tons of people online that get crashes and horid performance.

Personally, I use an SMC barricade 4-port Router from back in the day, and it has been FLAWLESS.... maybe not the time we had an outage in the middle of a firmware outage?but it recovered.

As for the interface, the SMC was a little crude in appearance, I?ll give you that, but it got the job done, and did so easily and efficiently

I am using a friend?s RT314 at the moment (4-port router) and I must say the interface?s colors are a nice touch. For some odd reason it refuses a connection from a Linux box but that is another matter.The build quailty is also steller with actual metal used.

So anyone care to share some info?

 

[vi edit]

IMHO, there really is no discernable difference in entry level networking gear. These include linksys, dlink, netgear, and SMC. Really about the only major reason to go with one over another is that SMC has printer server capabilities built into some of their things. Other than that, I think it just comes down to price, and personal preference.

Just my humble opinion based upon working with nearly all of them.

 

[Goosemaster]

Thanks

 

[Fatt]

MY opinion, for what it's worth is that netgear actually is ahead of the pack.

In reality I base that on the number of problems I hear about from people using consumer grade networking equipment, Linksys being the worst. And of course netgear makes commerical grade equipment as well.

My personal preference in routers is Cisco, but I'm prejudiced there.

However, my router here at home is a Netgear MR314, which I am quite happy with.

 

[Paulson]

I've got a netgear switch and really love it.. haven't had any problems...

that's about the only piece of equipment I have from netgear though... at least I know they work damn well though!

 

[Zim Hosein]

Goosemaster, I've used Netgear NIC's in my rigs in the past for myself and for rigs I bought for friends and family and have to say that I have been quite pleased. I know that this isn't the exact answer you were looking for, but w/ numerous brands, reliability does trickle down, hope this helps

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Zim Hosein
Goosemaster, I've used Netgear NIC's in my rigs in the past for myself and for rigs I bought for friends and family and have to say that I have been quite pleased. I know that this isn't the exact answer you were looking for, but w/ numerous brands, reliability does trickle down, hope this helps

I have enjoyed NICs from them for years, but I am mainly reffering to the Web administration, as I have not had too much experience with what they have to offer.


As for build quailty, i believe they are a subsidiary of Bay Networks so they are good stuff....software is what is in question.


Thanks anyways....

 

[Need4Speed]

netgear makes good stuff, and they advertise 24/7 free tech support, but what they fail to tell you is that you are on hold for 8hrs at a time...

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed
netgear makes good stuff, and they advertise 24/7 free tech support, but what they fail to tell you is that you are on hold for 8hrs at a time...

Good Luck I know wht I am doing...just having problems choosing with whom to do 'it' with.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: Need4Speed
netgear makes good stuff, and they advertise 24/7 free tech support, but what they fail to tell you is that you are on hold for 8hrs at a time...

Good Luck I know wht I am doing...just having problems choosing with whom to do 'it' with.

not always about whether you know what you are doing or not...but if you need to RMA something. I had a router that blew the WAN port...took me 3 days to get someone on the phone to RMA it. Netgear is not on the top of my list.

 

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

I would agree with other people. My Netgear experience has been good. I have had 2 FA310TX cards
one in each computer (Mine and Fiance's Compaq), a 100Mb hub, and now my RP614 gateway with built in
10/100 switches. All have been great. My only Linksys card I had died. Netgear's stuff alot of times is smaller
too. I can always get stuff that I need off their site. User wizards for networking are pretty easy to get you
up and running. I have heard bad things about linksys as well. My experience was not good with a card going out.
I went to Best Buy and asked their opinion on Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link. The guy said D-Link and Linksys were great.
I then asked him what they put into people's systems and he said D-Link and Linksys. I asked him about Netgear and
he said they weren't that great. I asked him though if he used them or ever used them, and he said "NO". Of
course you won't know unless you use it!! I have used all three and have to say D-Link is good, but Netgear has always
been faster for me. Just my $0.02

SladeZero

 

[Mac]

As the saying goes, "It all depends on what you want to do." Although I consider myself a novice in networking, here are my cumulative experiences from 4 years of home networking.

I have dropped CAT-5 within my home for most connections (10/100mbps) but have recently installed a Netgear MR-314 wireless router/switch when upgrading to broadband. The wireless is pretty nifty and offers a lot of flexibility. I live in Florida so visions of working poolside with my Toshiba laptop (wirleless built-in from the factory) was just too irresistable.

NIC's - I usually watch for sales/rebates and pickup whatever is the deal of the day when I need a NIC. I'm not into any remote LAN administration so I tend to go with vanilla cards. If you want WOL (wake on LAN) or other special sys admin functions, you need to look at better quality cards that support those features such as 3COM, Intel and the upper lines from Netgear and Linksys.

Because I live in Florida, NIC's can have a very short life span. Lightning strikes and power surges are real issues. If lightning doesn't fry your system, the Florida utilities will...very poor quality power. Surge suppressors help but when you take a near direct hit, there's a not a lot that can help. UPS is mandantory if you work on anything important. My critical computers have at least two surge suppressors and a UPS. Saying all that, I prefer Netgear, especially the FA-310TX although I'm not sure if they are still in production. The build quality just seems better. I have had several Linksys NIC's go bad and also a failure with the only SMC card (unrelated to lightning), I have ever owned. I recently installed a Dlink which is working fine.

Switches and hubs - have used Netgear, Linksys and Dlink. All have worked fine without any problems, never have to do any resets or anything. They just work. My current setup are two Linksys switches and the Netgear MR314. I must commend Linksys on their support. After a lightning strike, my Linksys switch was fried and was promptly replaced.

Regarding Netgear support, it's a mixed bag. I had some problems with the MR314 router when setting it up. Placed a call for support after 10:00pm EST. Had to wait on hold for about 20-30 minutes but when when the tech support came on, he was very courteous and knew his stuff. Took about 20 minutes to solve, primarily because I run Win98SE which requires a reboot after any major network config mods. BTW, the problem was in my computer, not their box.

Wireless, routers, etc. - Only have the Netgear to comment on but very pleased. Quality of construction is very high. Although I do not have it placed in anything resembling an optimum location, my laptop is able to establish a connection anywhere within my home. I have recently purchased a Netgear wireless USB card for my media server in my family room. I like it.

Reading back through this, it should be apparent that I have no problems recommending Netgear and in most instances prefer their stuff over other consumer level products. Hope that helps.

 

[Cerebus451]

Just to play devil's advocate, Netgear is not all roses when it comes to their gear. The FVS318 router is a definite clunker. I think it was their first attempt at writing their own BIOS, and version 1.0 was a completely unusable POS. They are up to J1.2 and it is getting better, but it is definitely a piece of equipment to avoid. My biggest beef with it was the fact that any time you changed any setting in the BIOS (and I mean any setting), the router would reboot. This was incredibly annoying, as I had to make sure I was disconnected from everything on my machines at home before changing a setting in the router. People that had me in their buddy lists on AIM or ICQ became rather irate with me as well as nights when I was fiddling with the VPN stuff would see me popping on and off line constantly because of the router reboots. If you read the other complains on the 'net about this router, earlier versions of the BIOS had problems with dropping packets, and their latest beta BIOS still lists this as something that is "fixed" in that revision, so it is something that is still not 100% resolved. I ended up having to return the router to Best Buy simply because I did not want to wait around to see if Netgear was planning on fixing the thing while my return window disappeared.

I think in general Netgear makes solid equipment. The interface on the FVS318 was top notch, even better than what I have on my Linksys router. However, they are still a ways away from having an actual working BIOS for that particular router.

 

[Thor86]

For home/small office use, the Netgear routers are great. I've setup dozens of RT311s and 314s in various offices and so far they have worked flawlessly. I especially like their DMZ/SUA support and packet filtering/logging options.

 

[Goosemaster]

I just got the NETGEAR FM114P in the mail.....will set it up tonight.


Will replace later.