NETGEAR FWG114P ProSafe 802.11g Wireless VPN Firewall 4-Port 10/100 Switch with USB Server Reviews

• Print Server does not support Multifunction Printers

  
  By A35PKF85D5YL7W on 2003-11-20
  I recently upgraded from the WGR614 to this. From a router and wireless standpoint, this unit is MUCH better than the previous Netgear routers I had. The pretty silver units are nice for consumers, but I needed more options and more range. This unit does it all.

  However, and it is a BIG however, the Print Server (which was the main reason to spring for the total upgrade) does not support my HP PSC 2410 nor my EPSON Stylus CX5200. Those two things in themselves make it impossible for me to recommend the router overall. None of the Netgear products support this, and it makes no sense, since most people buy small multifunctions for their homes now.
  
  

• Good Home Office Firewall

  
  By A1U0IGWZQYE0VP on 2004-01-14
  I've applied the new flash upgrade, and performance is still quite good. Most of my comments from January still apply. Setup is quick, Citrix & terminal services work without modification, and I can connect to my main office via Cisco VPN client. Games are still working too.

  As with most vendors, I suspect you'll have better compatibility if you use a Netgear WiFi NIC with this unit. I can get it to work with a Cisco Aironet NIC, but I cannot get WPA encryption to work. WEP (for what it's worth) works, but I'll probably have to spring for the corresponding Netgear NIC if I want to move to WPA.

  The print server took a hit with the flash upgrade, however. Now it will only work as long as the PCs using it never reboot. If they do, you lose the connection to the print server until the firewall is rebooted. Tech support has been, um, less than helpful in resolving the issue. For that reason, my rating still stands at 4 stars. I strongly recommend you check the printer compatibility list on Netgear's site before you count on this as a print server.

  A couple of other notes:
  - The firewall is solid. I'm a networking guy, and I've tried to hack my way in a couple of times. Nothing's perfect, but this is a good solution in the home or very small business market. The worst I've been able to do against this unit is a denial of service, which disabled the Internet connection to my home network until I rebooted the unit.
  - If you plan to use MSN Messenger 6.2 and/or Windows XP's Remote Assistance, you'll need to enable UPnP on this unit, which is a bit annoying, but more of a Microsoft issue.
  - The e-mail logging is VASTLY improved over that of the previous flash. My logs are much more manageable, and the number of false-positive security alert messages is minimal.
  - You can now create up to two remote access VPN tunnels with the new flash. I tried it and it works, although as a home user I can't imagine ever needing that feature. Difficult to set up, though, so unless you have a solid understanding of IPSEC VPN protocols, good luck.

  Still, I believe this is a good unit for a home office. For me, combining the functions of print server, wireless access point, and hardware firewall into a single device make it worth the price.
  
  

• Better now that there is a firmware upgrade

  
  By A2WC8TFN24BRIX on 2003-12-24
  Back in November, I tried version 1 of this product. And I wrote a review saying that many of its features just did not work.

  In addition I wrote that Netgear tech support never responded to any of my email requests for support, and that was six months ago. Their website said allow one day.

  Anyway, they have now released a firmware update. And all the problems I previously complained about are gone now. For example, it now works with Citrix and the error messages are now in "better" English

  Product seems to work fine out of the box. No complaints. I give it 4 stars and not 5 because the print server part of this product is pretty useless unless you happen one of the few printers it supports. And because of their continued horrible tech support.
  
  

• Didn't work for me

  
  By A2TKV0K2ARI9M9 on 2005-01-30
  I purchased this router to replace my Netgear FR314 (the features are similar, but this router has wireless).
  
  After installing it, I could only get about 32Kbps download bandwidth from the internet (the FR314 gets about 3Mbps down). I called tech support. For the next few frustrating hours they walked me through all kinds of "stab-in-the-dark" settings changes. Nothing helped. They told me this router is defective and to return it. I got a new one and it had the same problem as well.
  
  I don't know what the issue is, but their tech support and knowledge base were completely useless. This router just didn't work. Luckily I still have my FR314 and it works great.
  
  If you buy this router and have issues, just do the following in this order:
  
  1. Reboot the router
  2. Adjust the MTU up or down by a few hundred
  3. Reboot everything (PCs, cable modems, etc)
  4. Upgrade the firmware
  5. Do a factory reset (put a paperclip in the hole in the back of the unit)
  6. Randomly change other settings and see what happens
  7. Try to find a reason to blame your ISP, network configuration, or PC
  8. Declare the router defective
  
  If you do this, you will save a few hours on the phone with their clueless tech support because that is all they know how to do.
  
  

• poor printer compatibility

  
  By A10Y8JPBRIT8E5 on 2006-01-26
  I would like to comment on a few models of printers I have tested. Unboxed off the shelf, I tested this unit's print server capability and found it incompatible with all 3 tested models:
  - HP OfficeJet K60
  - HP DeskJet 3650
  - HP DeskJet 1220C
  
  I then upgraded the firmware and retested the print server capability. The HP DeskJet 1220C is now supported.
  
  FYI to new buyers, be sure to check the printer compatibility list before purchasing this product if you plan on utilizing the print server function.
  
  [...]
  
  
• Don't do it
  By A46UTK5YJAHCD on 2005-11-15
  Netgear makes many fine products - but this is not one of them. If you like rebooting your router at least daily because once again you cannot connect to the internet, then by all means, buy this device. If you like slow communication speeds - then it is for you.
  They just don't have this thing right yet. Tried firmware upgrade and not much better.
  I also suggest getting a product that is more specific to your needs. Maybe the multifunction is too much for this little guy.
  
  
• Zero Support
  By A193GEH51ESNZ2 on 2007-02-28
  Netgear is absolutely the WORST tech support/customer service I have ever had the misery of encountering. It doesn't exist. So if you think you'll ever need any tech support or customer service, don't buy this product!
  
  
• My two cents
  By AFOCHFELBFH0S on 2007-05-15
  I have been using Netgear products for several years, and the FWG114P for over a year. I have about 20 of these in the field. They operate in extreme weather conditions (encased in polystyrene) as well as offices. It is currently my overall router of choice.
  
  PROS
  
  -Great all around router for the money
  -Easy to configure with lots of options
  -DHCP server is rock solid
  -Rubber Ducky antenna is removable with standard SMA connector
  -Supports VPN
  -Supports WEP and WPA
  -Works extremely well with wireless broadband internet
  
  CONS
  
  -Need to upgrade to latest version of software (1.07) if it's not already on there
  -Versions 1.03 and earlier have internet disconnect problems
  -Doesn't seem to play well with all versions of PPPoE (will drop internet connections even at latest version of software).
  -Have had some compatibility problems when using site blocking
  -Needs to be able to block by IP as well as site name/text strings
  
  Overall I am very pleased with this router, although it doesn't seem to work in 100% of the situations. I'm not sure any of them do, actually.
  
  
• Differences Between Hardware Versions
  By A14GSTIN77TLSR on 2006-03-12
  I have four of these products. Two are V1 and two V2. The radio power and sensitivity are better in V2. However, with V2, I have had difficulties with the serial modem dial backup working, as well as VPN passthrough using another VPN host with the Netgear serving clients. Netgear tech support has tried to be helpful, but after six weeks has not been able to solve the problems. As soon as I revert to V1, things are fine. The trouble is that V2 is the current version.
  
  
• Great device but Don't count on India-Tech Support
  By A1QCYVHWO5934U on 2006-12-26
  This is going to be my second FWG114P I'll be purchasing. Netgear has package a great device... combination Print Server/FireWall solution. I found it simple to configure and maintian... Recommend to update to the latest software rev. immediately before configuration. Once you have configured your device to your liking... remember to back up your settings!
  
  Now the review... It has been my experience with the Netgear wireless devices will only last between 2-3 years. I previously owned a FR114W with a wireless adapter.. this was good for almost 3 years (2004). I called support and after challenging their INDIA Tech Support for days/weeks and 3 RMA's later, I finally, got a new product not a Refurbished one after complaining! I decided to go with the FWG114P keeping the FR114W as a backup. Thank goodness for that else I wouldn't be able to write this review today... Great device until just recently... Again the Wireless component after 2 years went bad...challanged INDIA Tech Support to begin the RMA Merry-go-Round... After several blind action items including, rebooting the worksation, router, disconnecting the power from the wall and ISP connection and finally flashing to the latest software revision (This must be scripted the engineers I worked with were clueless) and 2 1/2 hours later they determined the device just went bad and the RMA was finally issued.
  I really like the product but don't count on the India Support and don't count on the device to last more than 2-3 years. One clue... Once you finish playing with India support and if you have gotten no where... DEMAND! "ONSHORE Level 2 support". This will get routed to California... here you stand a better chance of resolution. I did...less than 30 min. and I got the RMA. If anyone knows of another Print server/FW all-n-one device like this one please respond I would recommend a change to a more reliable device.
  
  
• Works Perfectly
  By A199TMTVIDE319 on 2007-06-09
  Having read the other reviews, I guess I've been really lucky. I almost didn't buy this unit, but since I owned a previous version that supported parallel printers, I thought I'd give it a try.
  
  I don't use many features of the firewall, except I filter all incoming requests. But after finding out I needed to reboot the cable modem router, the FMG114P worked perfectly as a wireless router. The range is just sufficient to reach from 1 corner of the house on the 1st floor, to the extreme opposite corner on the 2nd floor. Probably about 60'. My old router was a B, this is a G. I haven't noticed it "feeling" much fast.
  
  Connecting my Cannon iP4300 could not have been any easier. There was no software to install for Windows 2000. I just run a simple 3 step process to create a TCP/IP printer port and its worked perfectly. I do have a printer manager application that pops up saying the printer isn't responding, yet the printer starts up and does what it needs to do. I suspect its just a timeout since I'm not sure the drive knows that the printer isn't directly connected to the computer and isn't expecting a response immediately. Anyway, I ignore the message and it quickly goes away. (The router documentation warns that this may happen).
  
  All in all. Its was a perfect replacement for its older sibling and luckily I didn't need tech support.
  
  BTW, this was version 2.
  
  
  
  
• Worst Netgear product I've ever owned
  By A1V9N9MCVLG79C on 2007-07-01
  I read all of the reviews before I bought this and figured that surely Netgear would fix all the problems that were mentioned. I was incredibly wrong. The now two year old problem of constantly dropping WAN connection is still prevalent. I had an FWG114PV2 and I upgraded it to the latest firmware and had no problems at all for about 2 hours. Then I had to reboot the router every 5 minutes for an hour. Then it went up a bit more to 15-20 minutes each hour and then back to around 5. The longest it ever held connection was a full 18 hours which I thought was sheer magic. During the longest period of connectivity was my heaviest use as well. Both my girlfriend and I work from home and we simply pounded the router with data due to the nature of our jobs. I remember only have Pidgin. PuTTY, and Firefox with 3 tabs open during nearly 6 hours of random WAN drops. I wasn't doing anything special if I was doing anything at all. Most traffic was simple IMing and SSH traffic and nothing more.
  
  After that debacle, I downgraded to firmware 1.2_04 (second newest, nearly a year old at this point) and it was no better. I did the same testing as before: Pidgin, PuTTY, Firefox. The connection drops were less frequent but still happened multiple times an hour. At that point, I was completely fed up and promptly filled out an Amazon return. In total, I had this piece of junk for 1 week including the UPS pick-up to my apartment. It was only in use for 2 days and I didn't even get to test out the print server functionality but I too figured that it wouldn't work worth what this thing costs.
  
  As a replacement, I dusted off my old WRT54GL that FON sent me nearly three years ago and flashed it with dd-wrt. Since then, the router has been rebooted two times by me and only had a dropped WAN connection once...when my DHCP lease renewed itself.
  
  I gave this piece of junk 2 stars simply because the case is made of metal and not cheap plastic like the rest of consumer-level networking products.
  
  
• Support is terrible; product doesn't entirely work as advertised
  By A3SM372MPWUNEZ on 2007-08-08
  All the support guys are trained to be nice, but they are not trained on the technology and are useless. After 3 weeks of waiting, calling, waiting, escalating, waiting, escalating, waiting, referred to engineering, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. The product does not actually work with ISDN as advertised and no one at Netgear support has ever heard of ISDN.
  
  The device is really intended for a basic uncomplicated setup with Cable modem as the primary line and a regular modem as a dial backup or dial-in access method. For that, it seems OK.
  
  But for me, I'm packing it up and returning it because it doesn't actually work. Big disappointment. Lots of frustration.
  
  
• Good Wireless Router
  By ABZFDG61OYZQD on 2007-09-27
  I've been using this router for a couple of weeks now with no hitches. The wireless connection signal is very strong.
  
  Setup was fairly easy and painless, but you should know this.....
  
  I connected my Canon multi-functional printer, scanner, copier, fax unit into the router's USB port and all I can do is print. You also won't get any feedback from the printer, so when you hit "Print" the popup printing progress window tells you the printer isn't responding, but it's actually printing just fine. This is not a huge problem for me, as that's all I do from my laptop is print. Most of the time that's all I do with my printer from my desktop computer too. When I want to do something else from my desktop, I just swap the USB plug to the computer's USB port and back into the router when I'm done, nothing needs resetting. I consider it a minor inconvenience, but your mileage may vary.
  
  
• Network works--Print server fails with Dymo label printer
  By A9AX5AZYAXCCN on 2007-10-22
  I chose this combination wireless router and USB print server because I needed both those functions and wanted to keep the equipment/wiring quantity down. However, the print server failed with our Dymo LabelWriter 400. This was unfortunate but not entirely unexpected. Printer compatibility is hit-or-miss with most of these.
  
  I solved this problem with a separate Netgear USB Mini Print Server (Model PS121), which was reported to work by Dymo. Now we can print wirelessly to our laser and the LabelWriter.
  
  Overall the functionality is fine. I think it compares favorably to my home network's Linksys WRT54G, though I would have simply bought another Linksys if I'd known up front that the integrated print server isn't compatible.
  
  
  

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