Customer Reviews

NETGEAR RP614 Web Safe Router with 4-Port 10/100 Mbps Switch

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

As other reviewers have noted, the router is very easy to set up. However, it has two major flaws which would keep me from recommend this unit:

1. The router randomly locks up several times a week. It requires a power off then on in order to start working again.

2. The router times out idle TCP session after a few minutes, and there is no way to disable or change this timeout. After the timeout the connection is dropped and has to be re-established. This is a *major* annoyance for people like me who use ssh or telnet to log into outside machines, but it can also cause problems with chat clients or other network applications if you are idle for a few minutes. This behavior has been confirmed by Netgear tech support, and they don't have a solution.

Between these two flaws, I recommend against buying this unit. Netgear's previous generation product (RP314) was rock solid, it's sad to see Netgear go so far downhill.

Setting up the Netgear router to share our DSL line was terribly easy. The directions are clear and set-up is quick and simple. It includes a CAT5 cable and a little vertical mount which makes the router look very slick. You don't have to install any software or drivers; there is just a simple test procedure which takes a couple of minutes. The Netgear physically behaves like a server, and it has some solid security features. Also, installing the router actually solved problems that we originally had with the DSL modem, and it has behaved itself nicely since we set up the network. Accessing the router's features is simple- you log onto the Netgear by typing "192.168.0.1" in your browser window. Configuration is simple and straightforward. The RP614NA is a fine product and reasonably priced.

I picked this router up after doing some research on customer reviews on different brands/models. I was deciding between this RP614NA and the FR114P (also Netgear). I finally decided on this one after it ended up in my Amazon gold box with an additional discount. The router setup took about 20 minutes for 2 PC's sharing AT&T Broadband Cable. (One XP and one Win 98SE). Another 10 min and I had the network up and going (file/printer sharing). Probably would have went even quicker if I had more networking experience. As far as speed, I haven't noticed any drop by adding the router. The bandwidth test on CNet comes up about the same depending on the amount of traffic. I have not used the port forwarding or content filtering features, yet, so I can't comment on that. The only thing I wish it had is the DoS and SPI security features of the FR114P. However for half the price, I can't really complain. If you are looking for an inexpensive router with basic features and easy setup, I would definitely recommend the RP614 based on my experience. If you want the additional security features and internal print server, you might check out the FR114P.

Purchased this router through Amazon on a Saturday and got on Tuesday. At the time I bought this router there was a [$$] rebate promotion going on so I was able to get this at a very good price. I had thought about getting a Linksys router but had read about so many problems people were having with it, such as, unable to configure, humming noises coming form the unit, poor customer service, and only a 1-year warranty! I hooked up this Netgear RP614 to my PCs, one using Windows 98se, the other with Windows XP Pro, and didn't even have to use to setup wizard, they were configured and running right after I rebooted them. Now all I have to do is install my access point to this router and I will be able to roam throughout my house checking email and viewing webpages once I get new PDA with Wi-Fi wireless. This has to be one of the easiest add ons I have ever installed on my system. I highly recommend this router for anyone that wants a non-problematic install. And Netgear offers a 3-year warranty, too!

If you've got a broadband cable modem and 4 or fewer computers to hook up to the main feed, this is the router you want. I had a Linksys router, and for 4 years thought, this is as fast as it gets?

On a hunch, I decided to try a new router, and chose this model. Hookup was EASY. There is a CD that comes with the unit, and the CD tells you what to do, step by step. Not only that, it performs tests each time you perform a step, to see if you did it right.

My broadband speed is now four times faster than what it was with the old Linksys unit. Incidentally, I also use VPN, and had zero issues getting a connection with this router.

A great product, highly recommended.

I'm very surprised with the ease-of-use capability with this cute little router. Performance is amazing, with better specs than most routers. And the looks are perfect for the home, it looks like a sardine can with easy-to-read light indicators.

I tried this router with my PC, XBox, and Dreamcast (yes, I will always love this console no matter what people say), and they work perfectly online. Once I receive the PS2 Network Adaptor, then I will test it as well, but I don't foresee any problems. You also get a vertical stand, a straight network cable, and free privacy software.

This router is a nice package and it actually works! I've heard problems with Linksys, SMC, and D-Link (and believe me, I've researched long and hard for the perfect router), but Netgear has instantly won my rave for the company and its products. For the price and performance, the RP614 router is a best buy recommendation.

The RP614 would be a nice router if it could just stay running. Unfortunately if you put any kind of load on it, the router dies. Picture a situation where you're halfway across the world and you need to access your home PC - but your router crashes and there is no way to remotely reboot it. That's what you'll get with the RP614. You may think "I don't put much load on my router" but you can crash it just by running a peer to peer application, or doing a few simultaneous downloads, or even using a couple computers at the same time. Netgear advertises that this shares a connection for 254 computers, but if you try to use more than one of those at a time the router will probably die.

Netgear releases firmware after firmware without acknowledging this problem. It still happens, and I have heard it may be a heat issue, which means that no firmware in the world will solve it.

Another drawback of this router is the recent NTP server problem - it turns out that Netgear wrote a very bad implementation of network time protocol, which caused thousands of routers around the world to perform a 'denial of service' attack on a poor time server at the University of Wisconsin. This issue has since been fixed but it is an example of Netgear's history of problems with the RP614.

I've had this router for about 5 months and I am very unhappy with it. Every 2 or so days, it will just disconnect on me and not work. It also disconnects on a regular basis and almost every day, I have to unplug it and plug it back in. It was eventually very tiring after a while and I finally ordered a new one, today (on Amazon.com). If possible, please stay away from this router and choose something else!

I was able to hook up my three computers to my cable modem in about 10 minutes. One of the three computers was a mac, and the other two were pc's--no problems were encountered and the interface was seemless. This is a very nice router which was simple to install!

This is the fastest router you can buy fro the price. The only downside, like almost any router under $100 is that it has a [junky] NAT firewall built in that doesn't allow some types of direct connections like AIM file transfer and direct connect. But, if you need the fastest wired router under $100...this is your choice. I've tested about 10 different routers and this smokes them all. Make sure to head over to netgear.com and get the lastest firmware for it as soon as you start using it because the new firmware makes it even faster and resolves response time issues that may occur in the older versions.