NETGEAR WPN802 RangeMax Wireless Access Point
See it at Amazon.com for $77.93Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Works as advertised!
Previous dead spots in my house are gone - replaced with 80+% signal strength and high speed. I was using a Netgear FWAG114 (dual-band b/g) but it couldn't reach everywhere. I have the WPN802 on the top floor of my house in a corner and it reaches everywhere without exception, even my backyard sitting on my porch at the opposite end of the house - which I couldn't do before.
Installation note: by default DHCP is not enabled - you have to perform the initial setup by setting the IP address on your PC and plugging it directly into the unit first - awkward - but it does work as the manual instructs you to do. Some people have complained about the blinking blue rotating lights on the top from the antennaes (who doesn't like blinking blue lights!), anyway, there is a cap (think of a pirate's eye patch without the head band) that fits over the lights if they bother you. Excellent - highly recommended.
(4 out of 5)Setup Not as Easy as it Could Be
So far I'm pretty happy with my RangeMax Access Point. It covers every area of my house and and works great with the PowerLine ethernet adapters I just bought.
The setup of the access point was not as easy as it could have been, though. The instructions require you to go through a fairly strange process of connecting the access point to a single computer set up with a fixed IP address. This is not so hard to do, really, if you have any experience with setting up networking, but for an inexperienced user this could be difficult.
Also, very strangely, once I had my access point all set up and working and connected to the rest of my network, I could no longer reach the setup screens using the IP address given in the instructions. If I need to change my setup, it looks like I'll have to hit the tiny reset button and start over.
One other complaint is that the wall wart that powers this thing is a monster! It must weigh two pounds. If I had that sucker plugged directly into a wall socket, I'd be worried about the plugs coming loose over time because of the weight. I strongly recommend that you plug this into a powerstrip or extension such that it lays flat on the ground so that all that weight is not pulling on the plugs.
One further complaint--the flashing blue light everyone else complains about here is pretty silly if you want your access point to be unobtrusive. And the plastic cover they include in the packaging is a joke--clearly an afterthought in the design process. It's a flimsy little disk with a sticker on it. Very silly.
Still, once I got the thing set up, the RangeMax Access Point worked great, and that's the important thing. These other issues are small and easy to deal with.
(5 out of 5)Works Great
I bought this after a friend told me how great this model was working for him. I found the same thing. This one router covers my entire house well -- all 3 levels -- and out into the backyard. All this at higher speeds. Not having the antenna sticking up makes it blend in better -- but the blue flashing lights on top call attention to it. It comes with a little plastic cap to hide the blue light if you get tired of it.
(3 out of 5)Disappointed in the range, no IPv6 support
The signal strength throughout my house is a little better with this device than any others I've used (Linksys WAP54G with a high gain antenna), but it's still disappointing. I don't know if it's the other network near me (on a channel as far away from mine as I can make it) or what. But I only have 30-35% in most of my house. And even right next to the router it only climbs to 60%.
Changing the device's orientation helped a little with signal strength as well, but not by a lot. One of my problems may be that the device is sitting next to the two computers I use for my web server and router. Lots of nearby metal, and possibly some interference.
The blue lights would be annoying if I slept in the same room as it. As it is, they're a bit educational and highly entertaining. The little black cover I was given with the unit would be a fairly effective block, but some light would leak out through the housing.
I'm a bad judge for a config GUI, since I know networking pretty well. I am somewhat disappointed though by this device's lack of any IPv6 support and/or lack of support for mDNS or other out-of-the-box, no DHCP server required auto-configuration mechanisms.
IPv6 has been around for a long time now, and the base parts of the standard have been pretty stable for years. It's time for consumer level devices to start being dinged for lack of support for it.
(5 out of 5)Wireless connection that works
Netgear's WPN802 may not be necessary for everyone but it really works for me. Our Internet connection is through Direcway/Hughes satellite and a router won't work with it. A hub/switch and a wireless access point is required instead. Setup for the WPN802 was fairly straight forward using the enclosed paper Installation Guide. Configuring the desktop computer to communicate with the WPN802's IP address was all that was really necessary. After that the WPN802 was connected to the hub/switch and we were ready to go wireless.
Netgear also provides a thorough manual on disk that provides additional information for more complicated setups. Overall I'm satisfied. The current $20 rebate also helps.