NETGEAR DG814 DSL Modem Internet Gateway - router

...the time) and bought a Netgear DG834G (wireless version) for £70 and put the old one in the cupboard with all my other junk.

One day I decided to have a clear out of my old stuff, so I took it out the cupboard again and thought I would try it just to make sure it didn't work. I plugged it in, the lights came on as normal but the computers still wouldn't connect to anything. I was just messing with the cat5 cables and I plugged one ...
...tried to see if I could indirectly access the old one through the new one, no joy. So I left the two routers connected to each other and plugged a computer into the old one again, and I found out that it worked as a switch! It would not do anything on its own but when connected to another router I could plug things into it and I could access the internet and with that setup I get 3 additional ports which is useful. So I kept it and I still use it ... more

Right, where do I start.

I bought this from a friend for £10 (bargain!) when he upgraded to a wireless router. I got it about 3 years ago when I first got broadband (a lot faster than sharing 56k with multiple PCs using usb link cables).

I was impressed with the features it had such as port forwarding (probably standard on most routers though), and a built-in DSL modem. It was very easy to set up and configure using the web-based configurator, you just connect up the cat5e cable and the power cable then go to your web browser and type http://192.168.0.1 in the address bar, type in the user name and password (default user name is 'admin' and password is 'password', but this can be changed once logged in). The first time you log into the router through your web browser, it will come up with a wizard which can be used to automatically detect your type of phone and applicable options depending on your connection type. After the wizard has finished, it will come up with a page asking you to type your broadband username and password (if required, some providers such as btinternet don't require a password). After that is done, just hit the 'Apply' button at the bottom of the page and it will connect, usually with no problems.

After your internet settings are set up you will see a load of links down the left side of the page which allows you to change various other settings of the router, such as port forwarding (useful if you run a server on your network that needs to access the outside world), upgrade the firmware, change the router password (not to be confused with your broadband password, this is separate), it even enables you to block access to certain website, either by the url and/or by using keywords - this feature would be suitable for families with young children to stop them visiting inappropriate websites. There is also a feature to assign certain IP addresses to certain computers/devices in your house (also useful for servers and network printers).

One other thing I like about it is that it has slots on the back so it can be wall mounted, this is useful for me as I have limited desk space (although, mine is not wall mounted, it is mounted on the underside of my desk, so I can still easily see the status lights). The base has a strip of rubber around the edge so if it was placed on a desk, it would not scratch the surface or slip around.

Unfortunately, mine died in a lightning storm (I was not at home to unplug it like I normally did) the lights were still on, but all my computers said "limited or no connectivity" and I could not access the internet or the router. So I went out the next day (had to be quite quick because I was hosting other peoples websites on my server at the time) and bought a Netgear DG834G (wireless version) for £70 and put the old one in the cupboard with all my other junk.

One day I decided to have a clear out of my old stuff, so I took it out the cupboard again and thought I would try it just to make sure it didn't work. I plugged it in, the lights came on as normal but the computers still wouldn't connect to anything. I was just messing with the cat5 cables and I plugged one cable from the old router into the new router, and tried to see if I could indirectly access the old one through the new one, no joy. So I left the two routers connected to each other and plugged a computer into the old one again, and I found out that it worked as a switch! It would not do anything on its own but when connected to another router I could plug things into it and I could access the internet and with that setup I get 3 additional ports which is useful. So I kept it and I still use it in that way.

Hope that last paragraph doesn't confuse anyone, I find it a bit hard to follow but never mind.

I would definitely recommend this router to anyone that needs a basic device at a low price (they still go quite cheap on ebay). It is very reliable and if the built-in modem gets fried like mine did, you can buy another router and use this as a switch/hub so you get extra ports. 

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