Customer Reviews

NETGEAR FM114P ProSafe 4-Port Wireless Firewall

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I've got quite a lot of experience using the Linksys BEFSR series, Netgear MR314 and now the FM114P broadband routers. Of these, the FM114P wins on just about every front.

In general I liked the Linksys line as they had some useful features, including port mapping and UPnP support, which the Netgear products do not have. On the down side, they also have occasional hang ups and don't do stateful-packet-inspection (SPI). SPI is becoming ever more important with the rise of denial-of-service attacks and port scanning bots.

After a particlarly frustrating week with the Linksys router needing to be reset twice as often as usual, I decided to try the Netgear MR314 (note: the same routing hardware is in all the xx31x models). At first, I was a bit disapppointed at the loss of port forwarding and UPnP support but at least the router was solid (no resets) and the wireless range was excellent. After downloading the latest firmware from Netgear's site I took a look at what else they offer and saw the FM114P model, which I hadn't seen at any local stores. The next morning I took back the 314 and bought the 114 at CDW for the SPI firewall features alone. I was pleasantly suprised that I got a whole lot more for the extra [money] it cost me.

The first thing I noticed is that the 114 is faster, and not just a tiny bit faster but a LOT faster. This suprised me as I didn't think that any router added a significant delay to the packet stream but I immediately noticed the pages loading faster. I can't say that there is a bandwidth increase, but latency is definitely reduced (the lag between clicking on a link and the page starting to load). I assume this is due to the 114's 75mhz processor performing its logging, security checks, and routing processes in significantly less time than the other brands/models's unspecified embedded hardware. In my opinion, using a true onboard processor is the way routing hardware should, and will, be headed in the future.

The 114 also improves on the 314 with a detachable antenna, stateful firewall, built-in print server, better service customization (still no UPnP though) and more security options. This unit is practically perfect for connecting and securing a "broadband attached home network"; with wires or without.

I purchased the FM114P router and the MA-410 PCMCIA wireless card (see separate review) from Amazon. The FM114P worked right out of the box without any installation or configuration. I took the internet cable out of my computer, plugged it into the FM114P and the ran an internet cable (provided) from my cable modem to the FM114P. It worked flawlessly. I would recommend pulling the plug on the cable modem and then plugging it in again after about 5-10 seconds. Some cable modems require this reset action after a configuration change.

The MA-401 was installed in 5 minutes, so in less then 10 minutes after opening the boxes I had a wireless network. In addditon to the laptop running in wireless mode I had another computer hardwired to the router. No other action is REQUIRED for basic wired and wireless operation, but if you want encrytion, and other privacy features enabled you will have to configure the router.

Configuration is relatively straight forward. After bringing up Internet Explorer or Netscape you type in the router address (192.168.0.1). The router then displays a login window (defaults are admin/password). Once logged onto the router, three columns are displayed. Left=setup function selections (e.g.wireless, password, logs, etc.); middle=parameters to change for each function; right=help info for each parameter. There is a separate procedure for setting up the printer port; a little tricky, but once setup worked fine.

The wireless capabilities of the FM114P coupled with the MA-401 were great for my house (2500 sq ft plus basement). The MA-401 received a good signal from every room in the house including the basement, and worked upto about 40-50 feet outside. The FM114P is located on the first floor. I do not have any 2.4GHZ phones so I cannot tell if there would be a problem (D-Link does have a problem with this but otherwise seems fine; Linksys seems to have serious problems for wireless use). The download speed using wireless seemed to be the same as using the wired connection to the router.

From professional reviews the firewall seems to be state of the art for this price range of routers, and allows a log to be emailed to you from hourly to weekly if you want ot puruse security actions. With the new firmware (see below) you can have all traffic logged if you so wish (I don't!).

The router came with firmware version 1.1 release 0; Netgear's web site now has version 1.3 release 5 (released in Sept 2002) ready for download. I downloaded the latest firmware using the instructions on their web site. It took a couple of minutes and worked fine. I did not notice any improvement or degradation, but it is always good to have the latest version, especially if you ever need to call tech support for help.

I highly recommend the FM114P and MA-401 combination.

I bought this router after having months of trouble with a Linksys BEFW11P1, which died one night with the fatal red diagnostic light refusing to go off.

It is everything it advertises. It gets excellent range thanks to it's detachable antenna, and I might add that it's WiFi Certified. I get 11Mb reception in places where I previously got 2. That's quite a jump.

It's firewall is tough, and solid as well. SPI is a great feature to have these days.

It comes with plenty of aided setup material to get someone with no experience with home networking up and running.

The print server is pretty zippy, just like the one in the Linksys, but more reliable.

New firmware is constantly coming out, and features are being introduced all the time. Features in the beta firmware (free download) currently not advertised for this product include UPnP support, traceroute support, improved device table, logging of sites visited, SSID broadcast can be disabled, as well as compatibility fixes. Soon this firmware will become stable and available to everyone.

It's a great product. I highly recommend it. It's good now, and Netgear seems dedicated to making it better.

I bought this as part of move to new house and was deciding between the Linksys and this, having been a user of the MR314. For ... more than the Linksys, Netgear got this right!

It's small, solidly constructed, and comes loaded with an SPI firewall and Print Server. Unlike the MR314's wimpy antenna, the antenna on the FM114P is detachable! As a bonus, it includes Zero Knowledge's Freedom Anti-Virus / Ad-Blocking software, although this may also be included in D-Link's and other brands too.

Installation was surprisingly easy--it auto-detects PPPoE, and DHCP gives you the REAL DNS servers (another improvement over MR314). Since this box has a "real" processor, I'd expect performance to be good--I'd be curious about WEP degradation.

Downsides: 4-switched ports, although it's not much of an issue if you go wireless; lack of rebate offer.

Bottom Line: tiny, solid, loaded, great value. Look for my MR314 on eBay soon...

This little guy has everything I needed and more. I replaced a failing Linksys 4 port router and buggy Linksys wireless access point with one solid metal box that works better and does more than both. It was recently the recommended wireless gateway after a review of 11 competing products at P>It has a real firewall, an area that is seriously lacking in similar products. It can email you an access log at specified times or when it fills. It can immediately email you if it detects a DoS attack or a port scan. It can also block sites on your network based on keywords if that's important to you.

The wireless features are nice too. In addition to WEP it handles Mac authorization (this never worked on my Linksys). You can setup "Trusted PCs" based on a unique address that all network cards have so only computers you setup can access your wireless network.

The software is well laid out and easy to use. For new users it will run through a quick setup wizard that will get you up and running in a few minutes. When you start poking around you'll find a context sensitive help frame always open on the right that explains each setting. There's also no initial software to install, all you is point your web browser at the IP address for the router.

Of course it has all the basics you would expect like port forwarding (needed if you want to run a web server, game server, etc.). You can even setup port forwarding on a schedule.

It even ended up solving problems I didn't even consider when buying it. For example, I generally like to use Static IP addresses, but still need to run DHCP. The Netgear software lets you setup a reserved IP table, allowing you to do just that.

I honestly have zero complaints so far, this is exactly what I've been looking for.

I didn't mind paying extra for the FM114P inorder to get the built in print server. I like the built in firewall. I do not like the limitation in the managing of ports (rules) where you cannot have a port number in more than one rule. I am not experienced with other wireless routers but I am not impressed with the range. It works in half of my 1300 sq ft house but if there is too much between my laptop and the router, signal is down to 0%.

I regulary monitor my bandwidth speed using DSLreports.com and with the router I get 1900 bps and 2900 bps if I connect without the router. Big difference!

Another negative is that there is apparently a design flaw. They die in less than a year! Mine just died after 10 months.

Comments from other reviewers...
"the thing broke after 6 months of light usage"
"Ran it continually for a year. Then BANG, one day it died."
"bought my FM114P 10 months ago. It stopped working couple days ago"
"However, 11 months later the router failed"
"My FM114P failed after 8 months of operation"
"My only complaint: I've had mine die on me twice, each time after about 2-3 months of use."
"The first one I own died after 3 weeks...The second unit died after 6 weeks"
"my box died after only 2 month."

After much research, I finally found this little jewel. It has a SPI firewall, 802.11b wireless, 4 switch wired router, and print server - everything I need in one box. I got it up and running, updated to latest firmware, all features working in about 45 minutes (without calling Netgear, so can't comment on support). Yes, I am computer proficient, but I would not classify myself as a network expert. This is really about as idiot-proof as you can get.

I am still learning about how to set up a more secure firewall, and the FM114P seems to have more than what I need. The logging, port-forwarding, e-mail alerts, are all there. You can even block your kids from using Instant Messenger based on a schedule. On the wireless end, I recommend anyone setting up a wireless access point to change the SSID and password, and enable MAC address filtering as soon as you one up. The latest firmware update allows you to turn off the SSID broadcast. Turning on the 128 bit WEP will further frustrate the casual wardriver.

My Compaq notebook and Orinoco Gold card gets a good signal throughout my house, and is connected using 128 bit WEP. I can get to my office VPN, and my Compaq MC-1 music server can connect without problems. The print server is seamless - all my PCs (Win XP Pro) can print to my laser printer, and the print server will queue the jobs.

My compliments to Netgear - this is truly a great product for a great price.

The Netgear FM114P is almost a perfect firewall, wireless access point, and print server. Good price, decent features.

My only complaint: I've had mine die on me twice, each time after about 2-3 months of use.

So the question is: What good is a firewall when you can't depend on it to work the next day?

This would be a great product if Netgear can fix the reliability issues. Who knows, perhaps my third unit will last till the summer.

Update: My third replacement unit failed after a week.

I had this product for almost a year with no problems, except that it was hot to the touch. But then came one major problem. Somewhere between 8-9 pm, different time every night, the internet would slow down to a impossible crawl. It would start working correctly after 1 am. I tried everything to stop the problem. Nothing worked. So I gave up, bought a new router and the problem disappeared. The odd thing was that when it was not working correctly it was not hot. So my guess is that it was over heating. Seems that it is a problem with this model. By the way I bought the Netgear MR814v2 and so far it works great.

I had a great time with this router, easy to setup, decent WiFi range. But It is so poorly vented it burned itself out. Really this thing would be 140-150 degrees during little to no usage. I recommend the newer netgear routers, cheaper, lighter, and they don't overheat at all. I hope mine was just a lemon, I always recommend netgear over linksys.