# netgear wireless router



## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

How good are the net gear wireless routers? Had our old Cisco die last week so went and got a net gear but it kept dropping wireless signal even though anything plugged in by cable says connected. Took it back and got different model net gear and same problem? Any thoughts? Drops wireless for whole family on different devices


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## TMTex (Apr 5, 2013)

Nothing official here, but I had the same problem with my Netgear Router. I replaced it with a Cisco and haven't had a problem since. I thought I just had a lemon, but now I wonder.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Netgear is OK, wouldn't generally be my first choice, but I'm probably biased against them because of the software their wireless cards made you use in years gone by.

First thing to check would be the channel. If it's on or close to the same channel as a close neighbor, wireless may be flaky, and not the router's fault. Do a wireless scan, and choose a channel as far as possible from the strongest signals. There's a lot of overlap between the channels, so devices can interfere with each other even if not on the same channel. To guarantee no interference, they need to be 5 channels apart, i.e. channels 1, 6 & 11. The weaker the other signals are, the more overlap you can get away with.

Also, if there's a setting labeled Interference Mitigation or the like, make sure it's turned on.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Make sure you don't have any other 2.4 GHz devices near the router. Cordless phones are often the culprit. Consider changing to cordless phones operating at 1.9 GHZ or 5.4 GHz to avoid conflict.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Nevada said:


> Make sure you don't have any other 2.4 GHz devices near the router. Cordless phones are often the culprit. Consider changing to cordless phones operating at 1.9 GHZ or 5.4 GHz to avoid conflict.


This is what mine operates at, my Panasonic cordless, and it is just as you say 1.9 GHz
Engineered to work in 1.9GHz frequency, our *DECT 6.0 phones won't conflict with common wireless devices such as 2.4GHz routers, *wireless keyboards and mouses, microwave ovens and other household items. And because it's digital, you'll enjoy long range and clear sound while deterring eavesdropping.
And I have just over 2 feet from my wireless router and not once have I had any problems in the 7 plus years. LOL


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## MoonShadows (Jan 11, 2014)

I have a NetGear N900 and have never had problems.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I had quite a few Netgear routers that would drop the signal, or drop the provider.. I quit using them and have been happy ever since..


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

simi-steading said:


> I had quite a few Netgear routers that would drop the signal, or drop the provider.. I quit using them and have been happy ever since..


I should have added that mine is Comtrend and not Netgear.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

arabian knight said:


> I should have added that mine is Comtrend and not Netgear.


I kind of doubt that this is a brand-specific problem.

It's possible that it's a faulty router, and it may also be signal interference. I've also seen routers require frequent reboots because of unstable associated hardware, such as a modem. Finally, you might consider that the router is hanging because of power spikes.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

I have a netgear router. The polling for new devices on the network is a bit slow but otherwise it seems OK. That said, I have reserved particular addresses for certain devices, and on those devices set them to static IP. Dynamic addressing is a kludge.

The faster speeds in wireless network are less robust than the slower ones. If you have a router with N and devices with G that could be an issue.


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## gmos719 (Feb 10, 2014)

What type of internet are we talking about (dial up, dsl, satellite)? If multiple routers are having the same problem it is probably an issue coming from outside the router. 
As far as the reputation of Netgear goes, I've used netgear for a while now and have never had any problems.
You should be able to look at the logs for the router at the time of signal drop. That should tell you what's happening.


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## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

Cable, the thing is hard wire PC stayed connected but all wireless devices drop. Had a Linux for 5 years but that died last week, hard wired connection included so that's why I had to get a new one. Today i talked to the company that does our IT work for us at work and he said their company no longer buys netgear as they had problems with interference with wireless phones on the 2.4 gig bandwidth, they switched to Linux and have not had any problems since, but he Linux are more expensive. I may have to go that route


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

haley1 said:


> Cable, the thing is hard wire PC stayed connected but all wireless devices drop. Had a Linux for 5 years but that died last week, hard wired connection included so that's why I had to get a new one. Today i talked to the company that does our IT work for us at work and he said their company no longer buys netgear as they had problems with interference with wireless phones on the 2.4 gig bandwidth, they switched to Linux and have not had any problems since, but he Linux are more expensive. I may have to go that route


All if the routers I'm familiar with use Linux as the operating system, including Netgear, but I've never heard of a Linux brand router. To my knowledge Linux doesn't make any products except the Linux kernel, and that's an open source product distributed for free. I've never seen Linux brand hardware of any kind.

However, you can install Linux on a PC and configure it to be used as a router. That might be what he was talking about, but I don't see why you should expect better performance than a dedicated router. That seems like the long way around.

Did your IT guy give you a link to a Linux router or say who might carry them?


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## gmos719 (Feb 10, 2014)

@Nevada
I think he meant cisco, atleast that's what he said in his original post.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

haley1 said:


> Cable, the thing is hard wire PC stayed connected but all wireless devices drop. Had a Linux for 5 years but that died last week, hard wired connection included so that's why I had to get a new one.


There is no reason why a residential router won't give you reliable service. I'm very concerned that you aren't getting the advice you need. If I understand you correctly, you have a dedicated cable modem that feeds a Netgear wireless router, setup something like this.











But for some reason the devices on the far right of that diagram can't stay connected. Is this pretty close to what you have?

Consider the following.

1. The ability of a device to maintain connection to the router can be interfered with by other 2.4 GHz devices. Most often that means cordless phones (not cell phones, just cordless phones). You don't want to have a 2.4 GHz cordless phone anywhere near the router or computers. But it can also be other 2.4 GHz devices. Bluetooth uses 2.4 GHz, as do security camera devices and X10 automation devices. Needless to say, you don't want to have your router anywhere near a microwave oven.

2. Power quality can play a huge part in network stability. I power my modem/router rack with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). I do that for several reasons. First, my phone service is wifi, so I don't want to lose phone service during a power outage. Second, I work at my computer (laptop) all day, so I want Internet for my laptop to continue working during power outages. But since I've installed UPS power to my router rack it has been much more stable, only requiring a reboot every few months.

3. It's possible that your cable modem is unstable, sending signals to the router that hang it up. That might clear up with UPS power, but it might be a faulty modem. I had to replace a Motorola Surfboard for the very reason. I currently use a Netgear DSL modem feeding a Netgear wireless N router, under the assumption that a Netgear to Netgear link will be more stable than mixing brands, but I had my Cisco-Linksys on a few weeks ago and it worked fine.

4. It's possible that your router is acting up. Before replacing it, go to the setup (normally using your web browser) and verify that the firmware version is current. If not, update it. You can find the latest firmware version at the Netgear support page. Failing that, replace the router. It's not that expensive. Here's a D-Link that should work terrific for $16 delivered.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/D-Link-Wire...162830?pt=COMP_EN_Routers&hash=item5660240d0e

5. Cell phones that revert to wifi when available are notoriously hard to connect at good speeds. My laptop shows 4 bars while my cell phone only shows 1 bar in the same location. I had to put a wifi booster in the same room to keep conversations from breaking up. This doesn't sound like your problem, but it's worth keeping in mind.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

gmos719 said:


> @Nevada
> I think he meant cisco, atleast that's what he said in his original post.


OK. Cisco makes a line of residential router equipment under the name Linksys. I have one as a backup and it works well. If you're going to try replacing the router a Linksys model will be fine. This is the model I have.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linksys-Wir...397812?pt=COMP_EN_Routers&hash=item3f309ae774

Wireless G should work fine for you. That's a little less expensive than wireless N. I'll be more comfortable with your keeping costs down if you replace the router, since I'm not fully convinced that the router is the culprit. You might also consider the D-Link wireless N model that I provided a link to in the previous post.


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## haley1 (Aug 15, 2012)

Sorry, I mistyped. It is linksys by Cisco.

Yes it was installed as in the diagram and it would drop wireless signal but the hard wired either net cable to PC and to ooma box still stayed connected so am guessing interference with something. Wireless phones and microwave are not near router. I had upgraded the firmware when I installed it. I ran out last night and got a Linksys and so far so good, no dropping.
Thanks to everyone for your help


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

haley1 said:


> Sorry, I mistyped. It is linksys by Cisco.
> 
> Yes it was installed as in the diagram and it would drop wireless signal but the hard wired either net cable to PC and to ooma box still stayed connected so am guessing interference with something. Wireless phones and microwave are not near router. I had upgraded the firmware when I installed it. I ran out last night and got a Linksys and so far so good, no dropping.
> Thanks to everyone for your help


Sounds like you had a bum router. Happy it worked out.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

I'm still going to bet on channel interference, since apparently that never got checked. A router of a different brand may use a different channel by default, or have automatic channel selection, either of which would have a good chance of avoiding any interference the Netgears might've run into with their default settings. It seems unlikely that 2 routers in a row were defective in exactly the same way. You'd think folks would want to try the fast, easy solutions first, but I find often that's not the case.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Been using Netgear for years, never a problem.


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## TMTex (Apr 5, 2013)

I'm glad you got it worked out, haley1. Like I said before, I had problems with comms dropping on my Netgear router at home and the Cisco works without a problem in the same placement and with the same equipment running around it.

Perhaps the fault can be attributed to the other equipment, but the Cisco isn't sensitive to whatever was causing the problems while the Netgear was. Mine is a Cisco RV180W and it works flawlessly.


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