NETGEAR 5 GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge (WNHDE111)

List Price: $129.99 Discount Price: $95.47

Features:

• Creates a 5 GHz Wireless-N access point by connecting to an existing router/gateway
• More wireless channels, less interference and better connections using 5 GHz Wireless-N band
• Boosts wireless performance of notebooks with embedded Wireless-N¿
• Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) ensures prioritization of voice, video and gaming traffic
• Device measures 8.9 x 1.5 x 6.8 inches (WxHxD)

Customer Reviews:

Great Wireless Device [Posted on 2008-02-22]
Love it. I've used a wide variety of networking solutions, some bad, some good. This one is GREAT. I'm in an area with tons of wireless networks running and some of the other devices i have had have been pretty spotty. This one on the other hand runs very well. No loss of signal or dropped connections, its been good enough that i've even been running a server I use for development wirelessly.

Connection speeds have been great as well. If you have multiple public static IP addresses I recommend using the FVS124g as your router with this product.

Best wireless device i have used to date. I have used other 'N' devices that haven't been nearly as reliable.

Draw backs are that it only supports N and A. G is not supported.

Curse of the "CORRUPTED FIRMWARE / LED BLINK" [Posted on 2008-04-27]
Luckily, the particular one I prchased presented me with: a Constant Once per Second BLINK from the POWER LED. The Installation Guide refers to this as a "CORRUPTED FIRMWARE" issue. You are then refered to a "Reference Manual" and given a link to Netgear Support, that's a DEAD LINK by the way. The Support Site was down for several days. (yes, I tried the site from another computer with proper internet access and the Netgear Support site was still down)

FRUSTRATION LEVEL: HIGH NORMAL

So now Tech Support would help me, no? Dialed 1-888-NETGEAR, ring, ring, ring, ring, and on and on...... Hello? Nothing. In the distance, the AP BLINKS IN GREEN ONCE PER SECOND.

Wait! The Netgear Support site is up! So let's try the search for the "Reference Manual", copying the exact name of the needed material from the Installation Guide. OK, good, hit search..... 11,000 search results, none of them involving the "Reference Manual" in question.

FRUSTRATION LEVEL: HYPERTENSION 1

So let's call that Tech Support number again.... Yes! An automated system, and here we go off to TECH SUPPORT. Or not. Somebody is talking about their lunch and mentions they need a sweater, and they hang up.

So let's try again. OK an automated system, and again off to Tech Support. This time, a good solid affirmation that I made it through.... Yes hello Raam, nice to meet you. We then get through the formalities and alas, I can tell somebody about the constant Once Per Second Blink from the Power LED.

They promptly mention they'll need to find the "Reference Manual" needed for "EMERGENCY RECOVERY" of the AP. I'm placed on hold, and then I'm informed that the "Reference Manual" is nowhere to be found. So I thank them, and hung up the phone.

FRUSTRATION LEVEL: HYPERTENSION 2

However I DID FIND the PACKAGING MATERIALS for the item, and ceremoniously unplugged the AP. If the Once Per Second "CORRUPTED FIRMWARE" Blink is still signaling, It can do so @ the FRY'S Electronics next to Burbank Airport.


Caveat emptor, Caveat emptor.......

Netgear support is horrible!! [Posted on 2008-05-05]
A very tech-savvy friend sent me one of these thinking it would connect easily to my Netgear Wireless-N router. The instructions seemed simple enough (and I'm pretty tech-savvy myself), but it didn't work. I called Netgear support and was told that these only work in pairs, so I purchased another one. Still didn't work in spite of well over an hour of "support" from Netgear. They agreed to send me a replacement (for one of them), which they did. Still didn't work. (I'm leaving out a lot of the annoyances and frustration, but I'm sure you can imagine.) I went to Fry's and purchased a kit (which contains a pair of them) and still couldn't get it to work. By this time, I've given up but it's too late to return the original purchase (>14 days). Netgear is refusing to help! If you can get their products to work yourself, fine. If not, don't bother calling Netgear. Their tech support is horrible!!

Works Great [Posted on 2008-05-21]
While I wish these bridges had a few extra features and better admin applications, they work as advertised. I just plugged them in and had them working within minutes.

I set them up in the same room and saw data rates of 300Mbps. I then moved the bridge to its real destination, an airplane hangar in my backyard, and the signal strength is down to the 70% range and speed down to about 160Mbps, but my home LAN is still just 100 Mbps, so I'm very happy with it. I notice no difference from when I was working in the home connected directly to my home LAN with an Ethernet cable.

I have been using these devices for a couple months now and work on my computer in the airplane hangar all day long and the bridge is working flawlessly. My Internet and network access is just as good as it was when I was working in the home.

I also have a Replay TV in the airplane hangar and can watch recorded programs from another Replay TV in the house and that works just fine, and streaming video like that is a pretty high-volume network load.

These devices are working great and have allowed me to move my office out to the airplane hangar where it should be whereas with Wireless G before I was seeing data rates around 8Mbps which was not acceptable and prevented me from working where I needed to be.

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