Had a Netgear Wifi router for years and its always been a bit tempermental, but recently its been dropping the whole network, not just the wifi / internet bit, on various devices (Couple of Laptops, Printer which is wired into it and a blackberry)

Also the range of it is appalling as it'll only do half the house (admittedly its at the front of the house rather than the middle)

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent and reliable Wifi router / ADSL modem???

B

I had a belkin once or twice and it worked well.

3com OfficeConnect

I've got a netgear (dg834g from memory) that I've had for years and it has always been solid. Running 2 x iPhones, netbook and Wii on wi-fi and a desktop pc and printer wired.

Don't think it has ever crashed and I can still get a wifi signal in my garden.

Take it you have applied any firmware updates from the netgear website?

I have the same as Graham, solid as a rock, covers the entire house and well into the back garden. Silly question but you've rebooted the router haven't you?

I got a Tenda N router from ebuyer – cheap and works very well.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149878

Cheap and cheerful, this Linksys has proved reliable: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/350743

A lot more reliable than the NetGear rubbish it replaces. I originally bought Netgear because their wired hubs and switches are excellent. Their wireless stuff is nowhere near as good IMHO.

Yep – had two Netgear DG834's and both in two seperate houses were rubbish (or I should say didn't meet my expectations).

Reboot it everynight (and has a sleep for about 7 hours – on a timeswitch) as this seemed to make it more reliable, updated it but real improvement.

Same as Geoffj – bought Netgear as their none wifi stuff is spot on but not been that impressed with this.

B

Came rushing into this thread secretly hoping it was related to the latest BT homehub, that despite a computer science degree, I cannot get to hold anything resembling a wifi network for even a second.

Nevermind… 🙁

As posted on a similar recent thread, try changing the wireless channel??

I was on the point of returning a new Netgear wireless modem router, but a read of the manual suggested that most wifi users leave their wireless on the default channel number. As soon as I swapped channels it was fine.

i have one of those free homehub things that bt provide, i would recommend but it would mean using them as providers.

I had a bt home hub and it too was awful.

Changed the channel and will monitor it.

Does anyone know if I can use another Netgear DG834 to extend the wireless range to the other "wing" of the house.

I have a BT socket in that part so wondering if I can plug it into the line and get internet access there or not plug it in and just use it as a wifi repeater / extender?

Reboot it everynight

I could be wrong but I think that may knacker your negotiated speed.

Have you checked the event logs on the router to see if that gives you any clues?

Don't switch channels randomly. Use something like a laptop with Netstumber (or an iPhone with WifiTrak) to see what channels are being used in the places you want to use your wifi.
How to chose the right WiFi channel

To extend your range you're probably best with a wifi repeater. Though you can also buy better aerials for your router and your equipment.

how about one of those devolo mains networking kits?
bit more expensive, but better speeds than wifi and more reliable? works anywhere you have a mains socket.
yer tis

"Does anyone know if I can use another Netgear DG834 to extend the wireless range to the other "wing" of the house."

no, they don't work as repeaters, only hubs. As I found out when we moved from a BTto a cable area.

You need a repeater, as suggested.

Might be worth trying to hook somethign up via an enthernet cable and seeign if you have problems with that at the same time as the wireless plays up – if you do then it might be the modem bit that's playing up.

Have you got any other wireless devices (cordless phone?) these can interfere with the wireless – try changing the channel.

I've got a net gear and it's fine and not given me any problems