I just replaced my wireless router. For the last couple of years, I used a rev. 0 Netgear WGR614 Wireless Router. Initially it worked fine. But over the last couple of months, I ran into several troubles.
I started getting a lot of dropped connections. It seems like one of my neighbors installed a powerful wireless network. My connection quality dropped whenever I saw his network on my list of wireless networks.
I tried a number of short term solutions. I moved the Netgear from the bedroom in the back of the house to my office. An Ethernet cable between the laptop on my desk and the Netgear gave me a solid connection so long as I was at my desk. But my connection was still poor when I was roaming.
When I moved the router from the back bedroom to my office on the other side of the house, my wife started having problems connecting. She could connect fine from the living room in the center of the house, but not from the bedroom all the way across the house.
Initially, my wife used a titanium iBook with a older Apple 802.11b adapter. She could connect to the Netgear fine from the living room. Then she changed jobs, got a new iBook with a Apple 802.11g adapter, and couldn't connect wirelessly to the Netgear at all.
I downloaded and installed Netgear's latest firmware, but I couldn't get my wife's iBook to connect. So, I got her a long Ethernet cable so she could connect from the living room. Then I went looking for a new wireless router.
I could have purchased the latest rev of the Netgear WGR614 on Amazon for $50. From the notes i had read on the net, the latest revs might solve some of my problems. But I was looking for a couple major upgrades from the WGR614. And I wanted to read multiple comments by reviewers or users confirming the capabilities.
I wanted:
1) 3rd party confirmation of Macintosh 802.11g connectivity.
2) Increased range with standard 802.11g adapters.
3) Frequency Agility or the ability to connect in an environment with lots of other networks.
After spending a couple of evenings scouring the net, I decided to try out the Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router. I orded it from Buy.Com for $127 with tax and it came a couple of days later. It took me a couple of hours and a call to Belkin tech support to successfully install it. My DSL line has a fixed IP address and so I had to do some of the installation by hand. Belkin tech support was very helpful and I didn't have to wait too long on hold.
The Belkin seems to work. My wife can connect with her “g” Mac from the bedroom now. And I haven't yet been blown off by my neighbor's wireless. Even though it costs over twice as much as the Netgear, far the Belkin seems like a good investment. We'll see if it holds up as time goes on.