Home > Consumer Reviews > Netgear DG834PN RangeMax MIMO-G Wireless ADSL Modem Router with 4-port 10/100 switch

First let me tell you about the router I have replaced:

I had a Netgear DG834GT, which took me ages to buy as I always read several reviews and articles first, usually delaying my purchase much longer than necessary! Anyway I have had two of these in last 15 months, 1 replaced under warranty as it stopped working completely and then the replacement which after a couple of months dropped the connection about every 5-6 minutes and would not work without switching off and back on (tried many things, including firmware updates and even changed ADSL supplier).

So I was sceptical about replacing it with another Netgear product and began my search for other models. After much consideration I ordered a Linksys WAG54GS - but luckily (for me) so did a friend and he had several issues trying to get connected (and it looked/felt a low quality) so I returned mine and, with fingers crossed decided that I would go for another Netgear and decided on the DG834PN.

It has been excellent so far, it installed itself within just a couple of minutes, I didn't use the supplied disc, just plugged it in, selected the wizard, entered my logon and password and it connected straight away.
It has not lost its connection once, it seems faster that the DG834GT on my desktop (wired) and the wireless range is definately better - I can now get a connection (upto 48mbps) in my conservatory whereas I could not get any connection with the GT.

The unit is slightly bigger than the GT but still has the same great look and build quality.

I am really pleased with this router and it was a great price and delivered quickly from Amazon.

Having recently upgraded to ADSLmax my Linksys WAG54 modem router started having problems by continually dropping the ADSL connection to my ISP - after unsucessfully getting to the bottom of the problem I purchase a Belkin mimo G+ modem router which managed to hold the connection for longer but still had the occasional drop requiring a re-boot.

So I gave the Netgear DG834PN a try - not with much hope after reading some of the reviews.
However I have not had a single drop with the netgear router - connection speed appears to be down a little which could mean it has found a more stable speed (4mbit) or that could be attributed to something else.

So basically I can't fault it - looks great, no aerials, informative web console (didn't have to look at the manual once), good single strength and solid stability thus far with ADSLmax.

What can I say about this router that hasn't already been said.
I'm not the most wireless savvy person in the world, in fact i'd say I was terrible.

This product worked straight out of the box.
The setup instructions were to the point and easy to follow and it simply just worked.

Accessing the administration panel was a doddle and setting up the security (not my strongest point) was painfree and easy.

Never dropped connection (touch wood) and if it did a reboot take literally seconds (I have tried it to see how long it took).

The first Netgear DG834PN I ordered arrived and wouldn't even allow me to enter the setup. Amazon was excellent and immediately sent me a replacement.

I had the replacement nearly 2 months and when it was working it was very good - unfortunately, it only worked intermittently. Range and speed were good, I had near full signal on the kids bedroom laptop and transfer rate of about 20Mb/s.

Frustratingly, this router seemed incapable of running smoothly. By the time I sent it back it required rebooting on at least a daily basis. Netgear tried to help me during a 90 minute phone call but to no avail. I tried factory reset, latest firmware etc but it still seemed incapable of holding a sustained connection.

Needless to say it is now back with Amazon and I own a Linksys WAG354G. Surprisingly, even though it doesn't have MIMO technology, the Linksys seems to have an equal range to Netgear, transfer rate is excellent too and most importantly it has yet to need a single reboot.

So, a real shame for the Netgear. It's a great router when it works but like many others who have owned one, it seems you either get a great one or a terrible one.

I will be sticking with the Linksys; I recommend those who are looking to buy a router to do the same too.

I plugged everything together, allowed the DG834PN to use the setup wizard, and I have been continuously connected at better than 8MHz/s for the past five days. There was an issue with DNS but that might be down to my ISP - fixed it by using specified servers.
Six small sides of instructions initially seemed a bit unsatisfactory, but in retrospect it could easily have been condensed to four.
The wireless network was equally easy to get up and running, although I did look at the CD for implementing security.
It copes happily with a mix of b and g wireless cards, old and new computers, linux, windows XP and a wireless network printer (I've no idea what operating system that's on)
Overall very happy with the purchase and would definitely recommend it.