Netgear DG834G 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Modem Firewall Router

I bought a Netgear DG834Gv1 54G wireless modem router when I first took out a broadband package with my ISP some 7 - 8 years ago. It has proven to be fairly easy to setup and will do it's best to keep connection when there's a drop in connection. This is more of a problem with the ISP than the router. I was given a version 2 of this router by a friend who just couldn't get his to work. All I did was to hard reset it using the pin-hole on the back plate, rebooted it and set it up just like my version 1. Absolutely no problems with it other than what I've already written about the loss of connection. However, these two earlier versions lacked certain facilities such as WDS though this method of connecting Netgear wi-fi equipment is usually done using the insecure WEP wireless protocol anyway so no great loss. In it's day it was an excellent router though these days it's quite long in the tooth! Both of my Netgear 834's are now kept as a backup incase my present modem router stops working.

DG834G V5:

Easy to set up. It worked great for a few weeks; then connectivity issues started :-(

Router states that it is connected to ADSL and shows poll statistics, all physical indicators point to a connected router, however connectivity is non-existent until the router is rebooted.

Not using any 'special' features (DHCP, Wireless, MAC filters etc..).

**ICT Technician who would not recomend this router to my customers!

I love this modem /router and recomend it to all my friends and family. It just works.

If you want to use WDS don't buy this product. The on-line manuals indicate support for this functionality but it is not supported on the latest firmware.

In addition it continually connected at a considerably lower speed than my 4 year old Ozenda router. 7Mb compared to 8Mb.

It is easy to set up and use but from my experience it "doesn't do what it says on the box" and I was disappointed to see it not connecting at the same speed as my old modem/router.

Not had a problem with overheating. This router runs very cool especially when set up vertically (ie with feet), unlike the D-Link DSL-G604T it replaced, which ran hot and was frequently unreliable. I bought this brand as it was recommended by an IT professional who sees plenty of them. Sound advice, from my own experience. And dead easy to set up and secure. Recommended? - definitely.

Had my Netgear for some 2 years now no problems to mention only me a bit thick over setting up but found the Help Desk very helpful.Looks tidy and is left on 24 hours and appears very quick.

I have now had 2 replaced so am on my 3rd. Each one acts the same way. After being switched on for 3 hrs it appears to overheat and lose its connection. Therefore I do not recommend the Netgear DG834G.

Great router, quite easy to setup , picks up LLC-Based and not the fact it is supposed to be VC-Based (VC-Mux), also when using very long WPA-2SK keys laptops cant connect. However I well recommend this Netgear Wireless Modem firewall router.

Sky broadband gave us this router when we signed up. It worked straight out of the box. In 6 months, I think I've only had to reset the thing once. Compared to a lot of other home routers, that's excellent.Things I miss though: a QoS (quality of service) feature for prioritising internet gaming traffic. The ability to kick an IP address from the DHCP server.These are reasonably advanced functions though. I've worked with networks a fair bit and I like to have lots of toys available.Port forwarding is not like a lot of other home routers. It involves first setting up a service of the port and LAN IP address and then adding that 'service' you've just created to the "firewall rules". I have to say, it does work well. There's been no problem with the Playstation connection since I set up the proper ports for it, it just seems a clunky way to go about doing it.Would I buy it again given the choice (rather than having it forced on me)? Probably not, but then I'm fussy.For people that want real control over their home network, this ain't the router for you. If you're a little tech shy and want something cheap to stick in the corner of the room and forget about it, it may well be a solid choice.

This product is excellent. I got it working straight away and was very happy until...... I Found loads of "dead spots" in the house. It seemed to work sometimes and then not others. In the end I have figured out what is the issue. I use a video sender from my Sky box to another TV in the house. Turned this off and hey presto - wireless working everywhere. I guess I need to check on which frequency it was sending and try to get them on separate. Anyway - one to watch out for.

I now have my main PC on the wired connection and use my work laptop on wireless. I also have my Wii on wireless. I would recommend this product, especially as you can get it for 35 now.