Netgear DG834 GT....cheapest?

Check the Netgear forums before you think about buying that combination. Look in the Wireless Adapters and Wireless Routers sections. I've currently got the DG834GT and WG111T. Actually just sold the USB adapter on eBay, and am putting up with the router (as it'll have cost me £30 ).

It may be ok, but generally is known to be problematic. Personally I wouldn't take the risk if I was given the choice again.

Also I'd get an internal card (if you don't have to have a usb adapter). They're generally more stable and don't suffer from heat problems.

I've got a Draytek and KCorp both of which are great. I don't know about Belkin, but would be tempted to have a look at one of their range.

Don't touch it. I bought a netgear kit and had problem agfter problem - exchanged it and still the same. Their own forums are full of tales of woe and the guy at pc world just laughed when i returned it. Now got a linksys and not had one single problem in 7 months

If you're gonna get one of the DG834 range, in order of preference:

DG834G v1, DG834G v2, DG834GT. I've not actually had the version 2, but it runs on the same chipset as the DG834GT, and I've seen numerous problems posted with it. The DG834G v1 is quite stable and reliable.

Ironic that the newer and faster the model, the worse it gets. My DG834GT is generally ok now. There are certain settings I can't enable on it though (pointless having them then!) and the wireless connectivity completely drops every so often.

Generally, you'll probably be ok with any model, it may just take a while to find the best settings. It took me weeks or trying out different firmware, switching settings on/off, trying different wireless adapters with it etc... before I got mine reasonably stable. It's still not completely stable though, which for me is very important. A router should just sit in the corner and run, and never need rebooting/modifying etc...

Common problems with recent Netgear models (varies):

- Must run upright, as they often overheat when sat flat. There aren't any heatsinks etc... on any of the chips, and no fan, hence the problem. There's an interesting post on the Netgear forums, where someone took the temperature the chips run at, it's amazingly high.
- Dropping adsl connectivity. Some people just aren't able to fix this. It can depend on a number of things (adjusting the mtu). I noticed that my line attenuation changes when the Netgear is hooked up compared with my Draytek?!?
- Experimental firmware. Netgear aren't the best for testing their firmware before release. You'll often have to experiment around or find what people recommend as the most stable release.
- Dropping wireless connectivity. I've only seen this on the DG834GT, and still have no idea why it happens. It's nothing to do with my setup, as I run my KCorp KLG575 in tandem and never lose connection to that.
- Poor power adapters. I've not checked mine yet, but apparently they're not very stable/accurate. I think this is more common with the DG834G v2 and DG834GT that have a 12v DC feed.

ohreally wrote:

I have a DG834 V2 and not have a bit of bother with it. It's on 24/7 and has never dropped a connection yet. Easy to configure as well, 10 minutes out of the box and up and running.

Same here. I know there have been problems with the GT, that's why I asked the OP if they really needed the 108Mbps model.

I have installed over 120 DGxxx range ADSL wireless/wired routers over the past 6 months and have only had one problem and that was dropping the ADSL connection and requiring a power off reset. Swapped it out and it has been running fine since.

Netgear make very good products at competative pricing. I often get calls to customers with problems and find it is down to incorrect installation, usually software settings, old firmware or drop damage other than that no problems.