It's normally rare to get an ISP that supplies you with a wireless modem/router as standard that can handle all of your requirements and this is exactly what happened to one of my customers recently. In terms of a background story I was trying to extend wireless coverage in their home and the default O2 Wireless II box (a re-badged Thompson router) was doing a reasonable job of providing them standard web access but its wireless coverage was still failing to cover all areas of the home.
To combat this I tried to setup a Netgear router as a repeater (which would extend the wireless coverage). Sadly the O2 router was not compatible with this feature. Granted I could have used telnet commands to get the latter to work however it was far simpler to get another wireless modem.
So the requirement was to source a model in that was compatible with the O2 Network. Having done some digging around the Netgear DGN2200 was one of only two compatible modem/routers that would work with O2, so the DGN2200 was purchased for the customer.
Setup
Configuration was similar to all Netgear devices that I have used in the past, you get a default username and password on the back of the box that you can use to log into a web interface. Wireless security information is also provided at the back so you can gain access to the latter if you don’t want to use an Ethernet port to connect the router to your PC for the initial setup.
After keying in the address into the PC the Netgear setup wizard can be used to configure your settings automatically, but because this was going to interact with O2 I managed to get hold of the settings I needed before hand and programmed these in by hand.
Note: If you do have O2 broadband set the router to not use any login information and then go to the ADSL settings tab and key in this info….
- Multiplexing method: LLC-Based
- VPI: 0
- VCI: 101
Set the IP and DNS settings to automatic and jobs a good-un.
In fact adjusting any of the options via the web interface was a piece of cake, you get a handy set of instructions to the right which tells you what each of the modes on the left do. So before long I had adjusted the wireless settings, the routers admin password and had checked the Netgear servers for firmware upgrades.
The only downside is that it takes a while to save the changes as the router needs to restart in order for them to take place.
Client Connections
In terms of clients connecting to the wireless router it has WPS support for one button setup via a pin code or you can enable WEP, or WPA/2 encryption standards.
Additionally you can configure your USB port so other users can share the contents of your USB drive from a shared folder/letter.
Repeater
The router also supports a Wireless repeater function, though if you want to use this mode it favours other Netgear products. To configure this function you will need to have a touch of IT savvy as you need to setup the main router as a Base station (Netgears terminology for describing the main router that will handle the communication from the other routers) and the other Netgear router I had as a repeater (inputting the MAC address of each product where required was necessary). However the help guide does a good job of explaining what you need to do.
Mind you in the above repeater mode WEP encryption is the only security standard supported.
Performance
The router can handle speeds of up to 300Mbps via its Wireless-N standard (as long as you have compatible products) or you can setup varying speed guest networks to separate your primary connection from the visitors that may want to gain internet access.
ADSL 2+ was also supported so the modem can handle up to 24Mbps broadband connections, though the customer was only running with 8Mbps.
During tests I ran a broadband speed test and the download speeds were nearly 7Mbps and the upload speeds were clocked in at just over 1mbps which is an improvement on what he was getting from his standard O2 box. You could also see the changes physically when launching web pages.
Signal strength was not bad, but not brilliant, however considering the house had solid walls and plenty of obstacles in the way it was achieving a stable internet connection throughout most parts of the house, even with 1 or 2 bars.
I was able to therefore stream a HD video off YouTube to areas of the house that previously failed to gain internet access. No drop outs were evident either, so the routers twin antennas provided solid data streaming from longer distances than was previously possible.
The routers were also stable in the repeating mode that I had setup, with the repeater communicating to the base station effectively, thus ensuring that the whole household was covered. Though when used in repeater mode there is a slight drop in performance due to the way the technology works, however it was still working well.
From an Ethernet point of view the 4 port switch is a little under spec as it only handles 10/100Mbps and not the faster 1000Mbps standard that other routers provided, but it was still a capable performer with the PC linked directly to it.
Another observation was that the router does get quite hot to the touch after an hour or so. I would therefore recommend you stand this in a vertical position (supplied in the box) to ensure maximum cooling.
So in summary the Netgear DGN2200 is easy to setup and though its signal strength is not perfect it was stable over longer distances with 1 bar and could stream HD content without a problem. It also sped up the internet connection a touch, so if you are in the running for a new ADSL modem the Netgear is not a bad purchase for just under £54
Features
- Wireless-N 300Mbps support
- ReadySHARE USB port for sharing an external USB storage device
- Push 'N' Connect using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
- Built-in ADSL2+ modem for use with DSL Broadband (through the telephone line)
- Smart Wizard installation CD with multi-language support makes setup easy
- Live Parental Controls, powered by OpenDNS: Blocks unsafe Internet content and applications
- Dedicated network for guests with restricted access without sharing your own security password
- Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) for reliable video, voice and gaming
- Broadband usage meter ensures accurate measurement of download Internet traffic with customized alerts
- Inbuilt 4-port 10/100 switch
