Customer Reviews

AT&T 2701HG-B 2Wire Wireless Gateway DSL Router Modem

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(60)

 

 

These routers come with really poor power adapters that are 1) energy inefficient, and 2) overheat. Notice the reviews for failures; most of them come from power failures. Mine was the same. AT&T oversold it to me when I added a DSL line upon moving to my apartment. The router fried about 1 month after the warranty expiration. The power supply itself is 5.1V ... now, how often do you see 5.1V adaptors out there? As if they couldn't engineer the thing to interchange with a $2.00 5V adaptor instead of shilling for $10 to AT&T for a replacement.

More to the point, the wireless network portion is an 802.11g router - meaning it's an older slower technology. If you're going to buy a wireless router nowadays, you should get a faster 802.11n router, which should be back-compatable with 802.11g hardware. Why are they shipping 802.11g routers nowadays when 802.11n has been official since September, 2009, and widely available since summer, 2007?

Not to mention, for the money you spend on this router, you could purchase an identical one with 1) print-server capabilites (meaning you could attach a printer to the router allowing anyone on your wireless network to attach to the router) and/or 2) a port for Network Attached Storage (a backup hard drive or media disk you can avoid attaching and de-attaching to your computer). It also doesn't have the, ahem, ease of use that dodge most makers of routers. Compare Apple's AirPort to make the router function as a bridge (basically a way to extend a wireless router by using it to relay or boost the signal from another router). On an Apple router, you click a box saying "enable bridge mode," on this, you enter VPI 0, VCI 35, disable PCI search, change the connection type, and disable routing...and remember to press save.

The security settings are really funky. I don't envy DSL providers, as it is a tricky technology, but if you ever want to use a service to connect to your computer from the outside world...forget about it. No VPN, no Slingbox, no Back-to-my-mac, no run your own home server, no dynDNS, no zeroconfig...ok, it CAN be done...but the success reports on google are about as common as good reviews of this router/modem/gateway.

Also, if you have a mac, there are frequent reports of hardware compatibility with this router - really, only due to the way-out-there-bizzare default settings. see the discussion at ([...])

By the way, when this fried, I just wanted to get a DSL modem and use my own wireless router (base station). AT&T's next branded DSL modem down cost $70.00 (basically without the wireless network). Now, it had the same specs as another one in the store for $50 that didn't have the special AT&T logo. I got the non-logo one, plugged it in, and it worked perfect. When I did so I discovered my DSL connection was much, much faster. Also, I didn't have any problems with losing my connection every evening at about 11:45 for about 40 minutes without fail. I had this problem when connected to this 2wire router both wirelessly and wired.

I am not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but I did study networking and I can't help but think AT&T makes use of this branded router to shape and limit network traffic.

I just don't understand how this thing can be so bad, I have never willingly bought a product that I thought "Hey, it would be great if it lasted a year". When it runs, it runs erratically, cutting out at times, working on some computers but not others. I have never seen such a bad modem. It feels as if the product was carved out of the bowels of hell. First time I replaced it for free as it was within the warranty period. Now I have to pay for a new one. For this price, you are only renting it for a year. If you will buy it, keep in mind that you will have to buy another one at a certain point. If you can avoid this product, Do it!

AT&T 2701HG-B 2Wire Wireless Gateway DSL Router Modem I had to replace the first one immediately; it only lasted less than 2 years. Now this new one is failing within the first week. This is a bad product.

I found that once I got this modem setup, it works great for me. It came free when I opened my AT&T account. I also noticed it was used by everybody around me who has wifi setup.

Here's the problem with the modem. It is designed to last for just over a year so that the warranty runs out, then without warning, bye bye modem. Had to go and buy a new one, and it's not just a simply yank old, put in new and away you go. You must go through the entire setup.

The one problem with buying it through Amazon is the price. $199.99 from Amazon, go into Bestbuy and buy it for $100 and into an AT&T store and get it for $80.

Most of the time, it works. However, there are too many bad things about it that I am going to replace it:
- No UPnP support
- Bad handling of local network DNS: somehow it ended up with two records for the same laptop, now accessing it by the name cannot be done. Laptop gets assigned IP address associated with one record via DHCP, but DNS reports the IP from the other one.
- You cannot edit DNS records - once the device information goes into the router, it stays there forever
- Very convoluted procedure for setting up port forwarding
- For initial set up, you need a Windows application. Don't even look at this router if you're using a different operating system.
- Worst of all, sometimes it refuses to operate wireless. Wired connections are okay, but the wireless network disappears from the list of available networks. Usually it reappears in 10-15 minutes, or if modem is unplugged from AC power for 2-3 minutes.

Bottomline: unreliable, unhandy, unworthy.

This product is a piece of garbage! I'm having my THIRD one istalled tomorrow because the other two just died out for no reason. All of this within two years! The first on lasted only a couple of months and the second one lasted a little over a year. Hopefully the third one will last longer, but we'll see. I have my doubts. I would not take this modem if someone gave it to me for free! Trust me, look somewhere else. You've been warned...

This was the "standard" AT&T DSL modem supplied to replace our original DSL modem after it had died. This modem worked okay as a network hub, but it was lousy as a wireless router, with no wireless connectivity available (for no reason) 30% to 50% of the time.

If you need reliable, consistent wireless routing, stay away from 2-Wire products.

This modem is a real disapopointment. Once I fired it up, I learned that despite having the wireless security settings exactly right,and detecting the SSID and supposedly connecting to the link, I could never get data across the wireless link. So I used it as a wired router/DSL modem only, until I learned that the thing loses its DSL link many times per day, and sometimes needs a full power cycle to restore. This unit will be replaced as soon as I can get my hads on a good modem.

Got mine for $100 at Best Buy. 6 months later, it died and 2Wire kindly sent me a refurbished one. 6 months after that the refurbished one died. Now, I'm at 11.9 months from my date of product activation and can't find any of my original paperwork or receipts. I won't be able to get the product replaced again because...

- As of Fall of 2009, 2Wire has STOPPED fulfilling their product's warranty. All 2Wire DSL product warranty issues have to go through their original place of purchase. Good luck getting THAT relationship to work well. AT&T isn't good to work with and has refused to do product warranty cases, and retailers are not very willing to help replace electronic products past the typical 30-90 day warranty that is usually offered.

2Wire makes a terrible product, and their new warranty plan makes it even harder to get these items fixed.

On 16 October 2009, D. Knowles writes, "I've had my 2Wire for a yeah and a half with no problems. It's had minimal bad raps in the past from what I have read. I am sure it's due to improper usage meaning that the only way it could die is if someone spilled liquid in it or perhaps a electrical brown out occurring. I have all my electronics, including my 2Wire plugged into an expensive high end power strip to prevent brown outs and for conditioning the electrical current. Someone once said: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Correct!"

Well, that's simply not correct. Knowles's snarky comment that others' experiences are because of their misuse of the product is inappropriate. During the initial setup of my home ATT DSL wireless network, my 2Wire 2701 failed before the ATT tech had even departed. I hadn't even had the opportunity to spill anything on it! And, I have whole-house surge protection/voltage stabilizer, not an inexpensive option. The tech insisted on rechecking every bit of the connection, beginning with ATT outside wire leading to the box. Ultimately, he pulled a new in-the-box model 1701 out of the truck, stating that even though it's an older model (looks like something from the bridge of Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise 1.0), it's more robust than the 2701, which had proven to be problematic. Problem solved, until last week, when, after many phone calls to ATT to complain that my ATT 6MPS service was not allowing me to view streaming video without constant hiccups, buffering and drops, they finally sent out a tech. I knew the problem lay with the router, because I had no problems using my desktop with a wired connection. Only my wireless laptop. Even so, she insisted on the entire diagnostic ritual, finally concluding that my 2Wire was indeed pooping out. What to do?

"Please, Ms Tech, will you switch out my 2Wire for whatever it is that you are now supplying to your loyal customers who are subscribing to your top tier "Elite" residential service?"
"Certainly! For $79.99 plus tax I have a spanking new 2-Wire 2701 in the truck."
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, didn't you know? Your 1-year warranty expired last month!"

She did offer the observation that ATT's 2Wire products are notorious for their lack of longevity and suggested perhaps looking at other brands.

So, after reading all of these reviews, I've decided "anything but 2Wire." And, D. Knowles, I hadn't spilled anything on this one, either. Pity,I was on the cusp of ordering the ATT U-verse service.

FWIW, I am a long-time internet user and have often been called upon to set up and troubleshoot others' wired and wireless networks, home and work locales.