NetGear ADSL DG834G Wireless Firewall Router

Price: Rs 6,500 (1 yr warranty)

Key Specs: In-built ADSL modem, Ethernet switch, firewall, compliance to IEEE 802.11 g&b specifications

Contact NetGear Technologies, Delhi. Tel: 26207270.E-mail: atul.jain@netgear.com  RQS# E28 or SMS 130328 to 9811800601

This router is aimed at

SOHO

users and small networks, and combines five products into one-an ADSL modem,

a router, a firewall, a wireless AP, and a four port Ethernet Switch. The router

provides both static and dynamic IP routing and supports common routing

protocols. The firewall has options for SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) and

handling DoS (Denial of Service). There are four LAN ports with a 10/100 Mbps

interface. As a wireless AP, it provides two modes as APs:  Ad-hoc and

Infrastructure. You can manage it using the Web-based interface. You can change

the  default IP address (192.168.0.1) provided to it. You can any time

revert from the custom settings to the default settings. NetGear recommends its

wireless adapters for best results on a wireless network. The router was found

to have lesser features than the Buffalo AirStation router reviewed last month.

For example, although there is an inbuilt DHCP, there is no feature for 'Speed

boosting' such as the HSM mode present in the



Buffalo



router. Netgear's other features include setting up WAN, Remote Management

Service, UpnP and the VPN. It has 11 channels with automatic selection but you

can't control antenna power to manage the wireless range. The router failed to

impress on performance as the maximum throughput it attained was 14.84 ms

against



Buffalo



's 35 Mbps on HSM mode.

Bottom  Line:  Not a good option at this price

and performance.

Anadi Misra