NETGEAR DG834PN RangeMax ADSL Modem Wireless Router - wireless router

...bit of a fan of Netgear products, and have had a number of their wired and wireless routers over the years. I have to say that I'm also a bit of a geek, and like to try out new products when they come on to the market.

I had been using the excellent DG834GT Wireless Router for about a year to act as a router/modem for my wired computer in the office and for my wireless laptop. It worked well for the wired PC, but I was severely restricted ...
...I was looking through the Netgear site one day, I saw an article about a new product they had just released, the DG834PN RangeMax Wireless Router, which made use of Smart MIMO (Multi-In, Multi-Out) technology (more of this later), that promised to deliver up to 10x faster coverage & speed compared to 802.11g, extend the network range by up to 400 feet and eliminate dead spots. It also boasted a speed of 108 Mbps.

The DG834PN allows ... more

I work from home, and over the last few years I have been on a search to find a wireless router that could cope with the very thick walls of my house so that I would have a little more choice in which room I could work.

I am a bit of a fan of Netgear products, and have had a number of their wired and wireless routers over the years. I have to say that I'm also a bit of a geek, and like to try out new products when they come on to the market.

I had been using the excellent DG834GT Wireless Router for about a year to act as a router/modem for my wired computer in the office and for my wireless laptop. It worked well for the wired PC, but I was severely restricted to where I could roam with my laptop. My house is long and narrow with internal walls that are 2-3 feet thick, which effectively meant that I could only work wirelessly either in the office (the same room as the router) or the room beneath it, without having serious dropped connection issues.

**The Router**

As I was looking through the Netgear site one day, I saw an article about a new product they had just released, the DG834PN RangeMax Wireless Router, which made use of Smart MIMO (Multi-In, Multi-Out) technology (more of this later), that promised to deliver up to 10x faster coverage & speed compared to 802.11g, extend the network range by up to 400 feet and eliminate dead spots. It also boasted a speed of 108 Mbps.

The DG834PN allows you to directly connect up to 4 computers using Ethernet cables and allows up to 253 users to connect wirelessly - more than enough for most home networks I would think ... As it combines a router AND a modem, it can be plugged directly into an ADSL line.

It also has a number of security features, with a firewall to prevent against attacks from hackers, content filtering and wireless encryption.

What makes this router different from most others on the market is its use of Smart MIMO (Multi-In, Multi-Out) technology. The product guide tells us that this technology allows it to constantly survey the environment and adjust the wireless signal to compensate for any physical barriers and interference. So the theory goes that if you carry your laptop from one room to another, the internal antennae will automatically configure themselves to produce the best signal, thus eliminating dead spots. It certainly sounded just what I was looking for. Always a bit of a sucker for new, shiny products, I rushed to order this and its matching laptop card, the WPN511 in order to maximise its claimed benefits.

**What's in the Box?**

The router comes with an Ethernet cable (to connect from the computer to the router), a phone cable (to connect from the router to the ADSL line), a power supply and a handy little stand just in case you want to position the router vertically, rather than its usual horizontal arrangement. It also comes with an ADSL microfilter (or splitter) - whilst this is useful, do bear in mind that you will need a filter for every phone socket that's in use - not just the one that connects the router.

You will also find a basic installation guide, warranty card, and a resource CD which includes a reference manual and the set up guide.

The router itself looks pretty sleek; it's a slim, white box (22 x 15 x 3 cm) with a dark blue dome on top. What surprised me was the lack of a standard external antenna; this little baby has 6 internal antennae instead, which adds to its overall simple, uncluttered look.

**Setting it Up**

The DG834PN may be connected to a PC or a Mac; however, you must have the following minimum requirements:

-Windows 98 SE, Me, NT, 2000, XP or other operating systems running a TCP/IP network
- Internet Explorer 5.0 or Netscape® 4.7 or higher

Before you start to set the router up, it's worth going to the Netgear support website and downloading the most recent firmware version. From reading other reviews, it seems that the majority of problems that people have in setting any brand of router up is by having outdated firmware. However, if you don't have any way of accessing the Internet until AFTER you have set your new router up, just make sure you upgrade as soon as you can.

I found the set up to be pretty straightforward, although having said that, I have had a fair bit of practice over the last few years, probably setting up around 10 different routers. They were all Netgear products though, so I couldn't say easy it was compared with other brands. It didn't take me too long anyway; once you have plugged everything in and re-booted the computer the Set Up Wizard does most of the work for you. Use the 'Router Upgrade' under the 'Maintenance' section to upload the latest firmware version.

You should make sure that you can connect to the Internet using a wired computer before you start to attempt the wireless set up just to make sure that everything works well. Again, this was pretty easy; I would suggest that you keep the Netgear wireless network name and disable any security settings until you are sure that everything is working well. Then change the network name (SSID) to whatever you want and select your security options. You have the choice of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption and WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access, Pre-Shared Key) security.

One thing I should mention is that Super G (108 Mbps) only works in wireless channel 6 - why they don't point that out in the documentation I don't know - I had to look search through their troubleshooting section on their website to find why I was only reaching speeds of 54 Mbps. But there it is, set the channel to 6 and everything should work fine.

Once set up, the blue dome on top of the router starts to flash like a miniature disco - apparently to let you know that its internal antennae are working away trying to find you the best signal. Although this is mildly entertaining for the first 2 minutes, it soon starts to wear thin. However, never fear, the LED lightshow may be turned off in the maintenance section of the admin panel in the web interface. In fact, if you really want, you can set it to turn on and off at a certain time of day, although I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to.

**But Does It Work?**

In a word - yes. From being confined to 2 or 3 rooms, I could now roam the house with relative ease, without getting a dropped connection. Although the little radio button in my system tray told me I was getting a Very Low signal, I was still getting 108Mbps almost everywhere, although this did drop down to 18 or 24 Mbps in some rooms. These areas were the furthest from the router that I could possibly reach, where the signal probably had to pass through three 2 foot thick walls and a floor. So that didn't really bother me too much - I was able to get a signal and connect to the Internet, which was really the most important thing for me. It was certainly a vast improvement from my previous wireless router (the DG834GT). I found I could even work out in the garden, something I'd never been able to do successfully before.

However, occasionally I found that if I went into a new room that the router sometimes worked better if I 'reset' it to that signal. Although it would work OK, it seemed to get a much better connection if I either unplugged and replugged the router, or more simply, if I used the 'repair' function for that connection (in the network connections panel). Once reset, this seemed to allow the router to lock on to a much stronger signal. Like any other wireless router I've had, there are also times where I can't connect at all, but 90% of the time this solved by simply unplugging the router for a minute. The other 10% is usually due to my ISP, and through no fault of the router.

All in all, I would definitely recommend the Netgear DG834PN RangeMax ADSL modem wireless router, especially if you live in a house which suffers from wireless dead spots. I've had it for almost a year now, and it's made my life so much easier. Well, it doesn't do my shopping or the washing up for me, but it does allow me to use the Internet almost anywhere in the house, which means I can surf or work whilst watching the TV or whilst I sit in a sun lounger outside, which has got to be a good thing! 

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