Whirlpool

I can grab one of these for around $80 and was wondering whether they are any good. The main reasons for getting one would be to reduce the heat/power requirements of my current setup, DLink DSL300 modem + linksys WRT54G (my gear is currently in my garage and it gets very warm during the day, so every little bit helps !) and to reduce network complexity.

I only have 1.5mb ADSL so the ADSL2 features are not required at this stage. I also don't plan on using the firewall features at all as I have a dedicated firewall which has features that typical ADSL routers don't have. I have bridged ethernet ADSL so I don't run PPP of any sort.

My questions are;

Does the dg834g support bridged mode ?

Is it a reliable unit ?

Which firmware will give least trouble for ADSL 1 ?

What is the wireless performance like ?

Is there a better alternative for around the same price ?

Cheers.

bards writes...

Does the dg834g support bridged mode ?
Is it a reliable unit ?
Which firmware will give least trouble for ADSL 1 ?
What is the wireless performance like ?

forum-search.cfm?s=670&r=7001795

Buy one by all means then take it out and smash it. The world will be a better place with one less DG834G in it. Don't get me wrong its a great modem if you want to game, browse or check your mail. For anything else it is a frustrating dog that must be constantly reset even with the latest drivers. I've just swapped my DG834G for a speedtouch 546 and its a star.

It is OK, but the Billion 7300G and Dynalink RTA1025W offer you QoS for the same price, which Netgear doesn't have

Mr_Nogard writes...

I've just swapped my DG834G for a speedtouch 546 and its a star.

SpeedTouch are very good.

Mr_Nodgard you need to update your profile so it shows the SpeedTouch and not the Netgear.

(smile)

I guess the first question is which version DG834G?

As I understand it, the V3 uses a different chipset to the V1 & V2

That said, I have had one for 18 months and its strengths are

* reliability, runs in a hottest room in the house
* stability (it is very stable once you have set it up right)
* price
* ease of configuration

Its weaknesses for my purposes are

* no QOS, a nasty if you have VOIP and run at a slow speed (512K), no problems for me at 8Mbits on ADSL2
* lots of unstable software versions
- I used 1.10.10 for ADSL1, and prbably any version is OK for ADSL1
- I used 3.01.29 for ADSL2 which is no longer "official", and 3.01.25 drops out consistently
* updating versions has "tricks", such as remembering to reset the unit.

Other features you should know if you need:

* removable antenna, V2 has, I think V3 doesn't
* VPN support
* no print server
* parental control
* etc.

Summary:

* it is cheap and reliable and peforms fine for normal stuff, so long as you are ADSL1
* you cannot use it out-of-the-box once you want to do something extra, like ADSL2 and VOIP
* given the above, not for the technically challenged

Hope this helps

I personally dont like teh DG834G V2

I know the V1 had major overheating issues, and the V2 is supposed to correct all of this,
But my V2 has LCP drop issues.... the WPA security doesnt work... Ive had to contact Netgear tech support over these issues and after a whole lot of trouble shooting, I was told to take it back and get it replaced...
There has also been massive differences between firmware versions, they cant seem to get them right.. so I personally am heading over to D-Link as ive had alot of experience with them, and they have been very very reliable.

I have the DG 834G V2, ADSL at 512, and a laptop with built in 802.11b wireless.

I didn't upgrade the firmware as it worked great out of box and i've read lots of drama's with updates. only had one drop out in the 2 months i've had it.
the wireless works great with my laptop, which is lucky as i also bought a WG511 V2 which plays up alot so i don't bother with it.

The DG 834G is won of the better modems when it comes to long line lengths,( I'm about 5.0 km away) according to the Mege Modem test in the june APC magazine

Overall i'm very happy with it.

Never had a problem.

I used to own a 834G v2. It did the job adequately, it was by no means outstanding. Needed the occassional cold reboot after it locked up even though the workload was fairly low. I've now got a Billion 7402VGP which runs rings around the Netgear, get better synch speeds on ADSL2+, no issues with lock-ups. YMMV.

-Pigsie.

I've been using my DG834G(v1) for two and a half years on 1500kbps ADSL. No heat issues, and it's been very reliable. Must be problems with v2 and v3 with ADSL2/2+.

While I think it's great, I am in two minds about moving to ADSL2. Hopefully more stable firmware will become official shortly.

The DG834G v2 was the modem I used for 18 months for fairly basic tasks. As mentioned in other posts it has some issues when you want to do more with it. Mine was very sensitive to power fluctuations (even with it attached to a UPS) and would reset itself quite regularly. This proved to be a major hassle with an attached VoIP adapter and you only found out when a VoIP call was attempted and couldn't be made without a manual reset of the adapter.
Wireless was fairly ordinary as well. A Billion 7401VGP neatly solved all the issues.

The DG834G (V1/2/3) is probably the most stable mode/router netgear have made for a long time.
Problems people have experienced with it usually relate to the wrong power pack being supplied. IT should have 15v AC 1amp. When used with the correct power supply it doesn't overheat and works well.

It is not the fastest when compared to other modems or modem/routers around, but it is very reliable. It will provide a 48/54mb signal using wep 128 bit encryption reasonably well around most homes.

I currently use mine as a wireless access point for my commercial firewall. When used as the ADSL modem/router/firewall it used to stay up for about 1000 hours before my son tried to fiddle with the network, he thought he could get around the filtering by resetting the firewall. (It is on a UPS).

I tried it out last week on my neighbours iiNet 2400/1024 link to see if his rewiring had made any improvements. Compared to his belkin it synched slower and gave slower upload link, but faster download link. He gets about 6000/1024.

Overall I would say it is good value for money.

Ian M

Yeah never had a problem until now... :(

I would rate them 4/5.

I think there is no real best modem/router as some work better than others for different users, locations, isp ect...