My new Netgear RangeMAX setup

steinooo

steinooo

steinooo

Soldato
Joined
31 Dec 2003
Posts
4,773
Location
Stoke on Trent
hi all,

I just thought I'd post my experiences so far with a Rangemax cable router I bought from OcUK on Friday.

I got the WPN824 Rangemax router, and just a 54g USB dongle (WG111 as OcUK were out of stock of the Rangemax WPN111) for my desktop. My gf already has a 54g Netgear PCMCIA card, and so far it's not all that stable.

Now I realise that to gain the MIMO functionality of the router, you require Rangemax adapters, although I've heard some comments on forums (I read it here about whether Rangemax routers increase the range even for standard 802.11g adapters. I can't see this as being true.

The reason being that my 54g adapter is upstairs and tucked behind one wall, so there are two 1935 walls inbetween the router and the 54g WG111 USB dongle, and the stability is terrible. It drops the signal completely now and again, and the speed fluctuates wildly when it actually has a connection to the router. The other wireless devices in the house (normally non rangemax 54g laptops in the same room as the router) are normally ok but have been known to drop out albeit only once or twice per adapter.

My plan is to buy a rangemax USB dongle for my upstairs desktop and see just how fantastic this new technology is, as at the moment, back in my parents house my trusty DG834G is by far and away much more stable.

EDIT : By the way this is my first WPA-PSK secured network...

Just thought I'd post my thoughts and see if anyone else had any thoughts on these routers.
 
Last edited:
Sutters said:
I bought the Netgear DG834PN Rangemax Wireless Router from OCuk a few weeks back. I also have the recommended card (WPN311).

The wired connections work fine but the wireless is truly terrible. The computer that uses it is only 5m away, and through 1 wall. The signal strength is awful, fluctuates from 0 - 20%, web browsing is horribly slow and basically the general stability and speeds are awful.

I had hoped going for the more expensive rangemax model would be a good idea, but if you go over and look on the netgear support forums loads of other people are having big problems with theirs also. Netgear seem to have forsaken making any attempt at new firmware, perhaps becuase there's no U.S release of this item..

Im not sure how i'd go on with returning this item as it's not really broken, then again it surely doesn't do what it's meant to.

edit: I think i'm going to try removing all the netgear drivers and related stuff and using the windows wireless tool instead.
Click to expand...

I was hoping I wouldnt get any of these responses....

do you mean you're going to remove the netgear software for the WPN311 wireless adapter? If so, I'm also using Windows XP's Wireless setup wizard, which at least lets me "repair" in two clicks. What this does is disable the wireless adapter, enables it again, releases and renews your IP address, and flushes the DNS i think, along with a few other bits and bobs that happen too quickly for my eyes.

I'm now very worried that I will buy the WPN111 wireless adapter and it will be just as shoddy as the WG111 at keeping a stable connection in a small semi detached house :(
 
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