Customer Reviews

NETGEAR WG302 ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I purchased 3 of these APs with the expectation to replace 3 Cisco "b" APs and drop in. The setup used Radius for authentication which is claimed to be supported in both the online info and docs. After config (the web UI constantly has problems with cookies and forced you to re-login) the system would work. One quark was the IP address field for the radius server wouldn't accept more than one character in the forms. Up and running. However, upon reboot, the WG302 loses it Radius info and then cannot authenticate a client again. SHOWSTOPPER. After logging this with Netgear support - their response is this is an unsupported config and requires premium support. While this would be fine if it was a config issue, it's not ok given they claim support for these features and this was a required feature for purchase. They give no further support now.

I would HIGHLY recommend against the extra cost of this unit given it's buggy and has poor support. Config is difficult (I had to learn how to use the command line config), the upgrades are not well documented (they imply you have to import some obscure file with tftp - you don't but...), however the unit does have good range and works (No RADIUS of course) in a basic config.

I have six of these installed in my main office and three outdoors to connect several buildings. I'm not sure why the other reviews are so negative. On the indoor six units I'm running RADIUS authentication on a Windows 2003 network and it works flawlessly. I've had to adjust the power output for each unit so they don't over-reach. Users can roam the building and stay connected with no problems. The outdoor units are running in AP/Bridge mode and have been trouble-free. I'm not convinced the external 9db antenna really adds much more range. Be sure you're using the latest firmware which resolves a DHCP error.

I bought this access point to provide wireless coverage to a 2 story colonial house. Even with a Netgear ANT24D18 Ant 18DBI Patch Panel attached, it provided less coverage than what I was using before, a Netgear WPN802 v1.
What I am using now is this WG302 w/ ANT24D18 patch panel as the access point, and the WPN802 as a repeater. This is working well.

Three years and running. The wg302 is excellent. Of, course early on, I had to wait for bug fixes and enhancements via updates to the firmware. But overall this item is excellent. I cannot understand the low ratings of others. I wonder if you just have network configuration issues. Some knowledge is required to configure a WAP within a network. You must understand a little about radio and interference too! Using 802.11g near other 2.4Ghz radios is very tricky. Even a microwave can cause performance issues.

BTW, I'm not moving to 802.11n till NetGear has stabilized the firmware. I won't need to run in dual mode because I can leave the wg302 in place to cover the legacy wireless gear.

2011 EDIT: This unit's SSL certificate has expired and is no longer accessible via the web interface! I have read up on it, and apparently the way to correct it is to make sure the unit does NOT find the correct time. Leave it in 2006. Netgear of course offers ZERO support for this problem. If you can't access your unit, you will have to reset it to the default settings by holding the reset button for 5 seconds. Then you can access the interface and make sure it doesn't have access to DNS or default gateway. Leave them blank. Of course your time will be off, but at least you'll be able to access the AP. There is a version of DD-WRT, but unfortunately they think only businesses uses this Access Point so they charge for it. I've lowered my rating of this unit because Netgear clearly doesn't expect their equipment to last 5 years even though they are still selling these as new, and because they didn't offer any firmware update to correct the problem.

Not quite sure why the other reviewers had so many issues. I have no formal training in wireless networks and had no real problems with the access points themselves. Maybe because I didn't use WPA. I used two of these AP's to bridge two apartment buildings and several apartments connecting a total of somewhere around 16 PC's. The only issue I had was one of the power supplies was bad on arrival.
These units have removable antennas so you can add larger antennas or even amplifiers.
I used one of these AP's with the Netgear ANT24D18 which even though I got a good deal was a slightly expensive option. The other I used with a much cheaper (live and learn) rooftop antenna that looks more like a microwave antenna. I attached the Netgear antenna to the access point on a balcony of the apartment building across the street. Total distance between the antennas was probably only 300 feet.
Once I aligned the signal of the two antennas, the signal quality was outstanding. Both AP's connected at turbo '108 mbps' speed. I was able to easily watch a streaming video from one computer in one building to a computer in the other. We also played LAN video games between buildings with no issues.
Because of the remote outdoor locations of one of the AP's (in a waterproof box but still exposed to extreme temperatures and humidity) and a shortage of expensive antenna wire, I ran the power over two of the unused ethernet wires and still had zero issues and rarely lost packets. The only issue I had was during severe windstorms that would misalign the antennas which would lower signal quality and strength. Oh, also the connection between the two AP's was WEP encrypted 152 bit. I also had another AP (DLink) running at the same time and had no interference issues. The Dlink however has it's own set of issues, big surprise though. Quality-wise Netgear has always been above DLink and Linksys for me. A Linksys AP I use at work can barely transmit through one wall without dropping signal like crazy.
The only other bad thing I can say is that in a very, very quiet room, sometimes you can hear a tiny buzz from the AP.

I bought two of these for my church. I struggled with these products for 4 months before finally convincing the VAR to let me return them. There are severe bugs in the firmware and possibly the hardware. I went through 4 RMAs with Netgear before giving up on the product. Technical support was great but engineering just couldn't come through with a fix. Look at the forums before purchasing to make sure that the issues have been addressed.

Just about the only thing good about this unit is how easy it is to setup.

This AP is not worth paying extra for. I have personally demoted this "business class" AP to home use...which sadly doesn't even perform well in such conditions where multiple wireless stations are present in the environment (as with all multi-dwelling unit/condos)...even when it is literally less than 20 ft away. Contant constant connect/disconnects make it extremely unreliable.

The "auto-cell" feature, which was a major reason for purchase, is deprecated. New firmware doesn't even have it (non-existent in the v2 release of this product).

I'm not saying this unit doesn't work, it does, but it offers nothing more than a standard AP costing much much less. There are some features such as VLANs and maybe if that's a key requirement, then it can work for you (v2 models).

However, if you're looking for performance/reliability basics in "harsh" environments, you will do just as good, or poorly, with any other "standard" home use AP.

Got 2 of these to make a local area network between myself and neighbor down the street. We have what I think is a fairly simple network (router to ap to remote ap), and between the awful documentation, terible support (besides language issues, they just won't answer the questions you ask), and a web interface issues, I am quite disappointed. 2 stars because it took my friend (a guy with multiple network certifications), and myself (with a bs in computer science), many evenings to get it to work. Would have done 1 star if we never got it working. Even now, we don't have the house-to-house thing inplace due to needing a better antenna. My advise: go straght to the forums for support if you can't get it working on the first 10 tries. This might be a good piece of harware, but without good software and good support, it is not worth buying.

I use this router as a wireless bridge out to my detached garage. Loaded Tomato on it and it has great range and speed. I used it in the garage as a link for my High Res security camera worked perfectly. I would recommend to anyone to change the default firmware with Tomato, easy to setup and fast with lots of features.

I am a computer tech by profession. I have and will continue to use the Netgears with 2 5db antennas for as long as they are made. They reach further than any other brand when distance is needed.