Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router

by Netgear

Product Details

Product Manual [1.16mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005219A
• Item model number: RT 314
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,205 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Netgear RT314 combination switch and router creates a potent full-duplex backbone. Share data locally or through the Internet. Usable by up to 253 clients, this power-packed router with an integrated four-port 10/100 Mbps switch conducts your Internet connection so that multiple PCs can use your DSL or cable modem to surf the Web, e-mail friends, play games, or shop, without the need for additional hubs or switches. You'll pay for only one Internet hookup for shared broadband access, yet you can also limit Internet availability PC by PC. On top of that, the multifunctional RT314 can be configured as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server or client.

Product Description

The Netgear RT314 combination switch and router creates a potent full-duplex backbone. Share data locally or through the Internet. Usable by up to 253 clients, this power-packed router with an integrated four-port 10/100 Mbps switch conducts your Internet connection so that multiple PCs can use your DSL or cable modem to surf the Web, e-mail friends, play games, or shop, without the need for additional hubs or switches. You'll pay for only one Internet hookup for shared broadband access, yet you can also limit Internet availability PC by PC. On top of that, the multifunctional RT314 can be configured as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server or client. Product Description NETGEAR's RT314 combination switch and router creates the potent full-duplex backbone you need to fire up your system. Share data locally or through the Internet. Usable to 253 clients at a time, this power-packed router with integrated 4-port 10/100 Mbps switch conducts your Internet connection so that multiple PCs can use your DSL or cable modem, no additional hubs or switches needed. You'll pay for only one IP hookup for shared broadband access, yet you can also limit Internet availability, PC by PC. On top of that, the multi-functional RT314 can be configured as a DHCP server or client. You can breathe easy - network address translation protects your internal network from hacker invasions. And NETGEAR's renowned engineering ensures smooth-running usability.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than sliced toast, December 30, 2000

By 

D. A. Hosek (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router (Personal Computers)

First, a note on switches vs hubs. A hub shares the bandwith between connected devices. So, if you have one computer going through the hub to the internet and a second connecting to a third over the lan for a file transfer, they have at most 100mbs total between them. A switch actually routes a dedicated connection for each pair of communicating devices so that they can communicate at full bandwidth. If you've already got a switch, you might want to consider the somewhat less expensive RT311 which is the router/firewall without the switch. If you have a hub, on the other hand, I'd suggest going with the 314 instead, the hub can still be used to allow your network to grow beyond 4 devices (after all, two computers, a laptop and a network printer and you're tapped out with the 314 on its own).

Anyway, this is a great device. I pulled it out of the box, plugged in the wires and everything worked immediately. I'm sharing cable internet between a windows 2000 box and PowerMac (running OS9 and DAVE 2.5) with no problems at all.

It's 4 stars because the web interface is really quite useless. To properly configure this device (including the very cool dynamic dns capabilities) you need to telnet to the box. Not a *big* deal, but still a minor nuisance. There's no reason the web interface couldn't handle these other configuration options as well.

I had considered the Linksys box which is very similar in capabilities, but searching usenet archives revealed that the netgear is a much more reliable device.

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Netgear RT314, Good Internet Sharing Solution, November 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router (Personal Computers)

The Netgear RT314 router is an solid piece of equipment that allows a single DSL or cable modem connection to be shared among multiple computers. The RT314 has a built in four port Ethernet switch and includes a firewall feature.

The RT314 and similar products use Network Address Translation (NAT) to share a single IP address. This design avoids extra monthly charges normally associated with having multiple IP addresses. This technique works well with most Internet applications such as web browsing, e-mail and even streaming multimedia. However, it can be incompatible with some applications such as video conferencing that may use proprietary protocols. The NAT function requires the router to keep track of all TCP/IP connections made outside of your local network. This function provides the side benefit of acting as a natural firewall. The RT314 extends this to include filtering functions that increase protection from hackers.

Installing and setting up the router was easy. I have been using it for several days to connect both a PC and a Mac to the Internet. I noticed no degradation in the performance of my system with the router installed. A site designed to verify the throughput of Internet connections showed my cable modem connection running at 1200 kbps.

I highly recommend the RT314 as a solution for sharing a single DSL/Cable modem internet connections among multiple computers.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For DSL it worked better for me than the Linksys, January 30, 2001

By 

G. Brown "Race Fan" (Lake Forest, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Netgear RT314 Internet Access Router (Personal Computers)

I have and still use the Linksys 4 port router/switch. I works great on my cable modem but when I tried to use it with my DSL connection it couldn't keep the connection alive. I tried all versions of the Linksys Firmware by upgrading and downgrading it and always after a couple hours the device seemed to become so busy the performance went in the toilet.

So I broke down and bought the Netgear version and just like the Linksys it is super easy to use and has worked perfectly with my DSL for weeks now with no problem whatsoever.

The only thing I don't like about the Netgear is that in their latest firmware they have removed the advanced tab (it is there but unclickable) from the web interface, so to do any advanced fatures like RIP etc. you have to telnet into the box. Not that big a deal, I guess they did it to stop idiots from goofy up a really easy product to use.

Overall both the Linksys and Netgear are great but if you have DSL (mine is Verzion) get the Netgear.

Also CompUSA and BestBuy both have this device for but Amazon is by FAR the best deal I have found!!

Happy Surfing