Netgear WGR101 Wireless Router

Product Details

Description:

Untethered wireless connectivity in your hotel room can be critical to your productivity (and sanity) as a mobile professional. Conference or hotel rooms with only one Ethernet port are no longer a problem because now you can bring convenient wireless networking with you. NETGEAR's 54 Mbps Wireless Travel Router is lightweight and compact, and it provides both single and multiple users wireless access without any need for a direct cable connection to the network. Expertly designed and protected with Double Firewall security, this portable high-speed travel router is your best insurance for wireless access wherever you go.

Quick Glance

Network Type: IEEE 802.11b/g

Device Type: Wireless Router

Summary

Product Title: Netgear WGR101 Wireless Router

Manufacturer: Netgear

Power Score: 3.4 | 15 Reviews

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Product Reviews (11)

Great Idea and Great Value

Strengths: Fast / Easy setup / Handy carrying case

Weakness: No WPA security until you upgrade the firmware / Poor support material

I found a really good deal on this router so I decided to jump on it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's a great travel router. Very small, with a nice carrying case, and easy to set up. The only negative is that I had to install a firmware update to enable WPA security, but it only took a few minutes and has been fine ever since. It needs some improvement as far as the quick & easy setup...
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By Sweetest Deals - Feb 12, 2006

Excellent for travelling

Strengths: Small, light

Weakness: Less range than standard routers

I have used this router at various hotels, and it worked flawlessly. It's small, and easy to pack. I highly recommend it. This is a very useful device. If you travel and would like to share a connection (i.e., hotel) with other users this thing proves very useful. It also allows you to use it as a wireless extender and even a Wireless NIC. Also it can be powered from a USB port on your computer....
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By etipi - Nov 1, 2005

Great Little Router

Strengths: small size,good range and easy to setup

Weakness: None so far

This is one of the best wireless routers that I have owned. It is so compact, just about the size of a pack of cards. It is very easy to setup and also has a switch which turns it into a single user or multiuser mode which is one of the easier security options. It also supports encryption if you want to use multiuser. This router comes with a travel case that is of great help especially when you...
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By prushant - Dec 5, 2005

My opinion of Netgear takes a big hit

Strengths: small size, comes with travel packing kit, both 802.11b/g, no dangling antenna, semi-compact power cord, source code freely available

Weakness: DOES NOT WORK FOR ME (via the Netgear WGE111), gets very hot, bad documentation, many other faster devices out now, microwave radiation band, small size = reduced range

The good news: I just saved a bunch of money on my wireless gear. The bad news: it is all Netgear and still will not work together even when not using encryption. I usually use Linksys (Cisco owned) products and *I* have never had a problem with them. However, I saw CircuitCity was running a good deal (~$28 after everything said and done) on this so I figured I would go with Netgear as I have never really had too big a deal using their wired equipment (hubs and switches). I also got a good deal on a Netgear WGE111 (also TB reviewed) that I wanted to use to connect to this WGR101. What a mistake! Or, at the very least, my setup is untenable: computer via Ethernet cable to WGE111 over wireless 802.11g to WGR101 to Ethernet cable connected to SB5100 Cablemodem to Comcast.

The initial reviews I saw praised this device, but now I have found several others recommending to AVOID this because of its many issues. It seems that if you use the default settings and NO WEP/WPA you may be able to get it to work (“take my ssh session and bank account ... please!”). Many reviews claim the firmware updates still have flaky WPA: dropping connections, very slow encryption processing, device crashing, etc. However, as a Computer Security professional it’s unacceptable to use wireless without encryption. I upgraded the firmware to 1009 for WPA support but I could not get it to work with what I wanted: WPA, no SSID broadcast, non-default “password”, etc. So after fiddling with settings for a while, I tried a RESET back to all the non-secure defaults and it still does not work -- so much for “plug-and-go”!

To be fair, I have not tried the plug the WGR101 into a hotel Ethernet port, but it seems silly to call it a router if it can't work with a home DSL or Cable connection. It should be re-labeled as a bridge if that is all it *SHOULD* be able to do. At times I can get the WGE111 to configure the WGR101 wirelessly, but something is wrong with the uplink and things are not being forwarded correctly to allow me to reach the Internet. I tried putting a wired Cable/DSL router in-between the WGR101 and my Cablemodem but it still does not work even with MAC cloning.

So it is a small, portable device that SHOULD do WPA over 802.11b/g at an ACTUAL 26-31Mbps. However, not having an antenna to knock off, a neat travel case, and small form factor does not mean anything if it is really just a “brick that gets hot”. Also Netgear support is crummy and the available documentation is essentially “plug it in and if it doesn’t work you are doing something wrong but we can't tell you what it is!” I downloaded the source code but having to fix the router myself is ridiculous ...

FWIW: I will give it one last shot (work, friend’s house) so this review may get updated.

By leppa9 - Nov 23, 2005

Netgear WGR101

Strengths: Teeny Tiny Size, Fast, Access Point as well as Router, single user mode

Weakness: None, once I installed the latest firmware (1007)

This is a great router for its purpose. I bought it and set it up in a few minutes. I then checked to see if there was new firmware and upgraded to 1007 which now includes WPA as well as WEP security. I used it at 2 different hotels and at home and it worked out great. In the hotels, I switched it (by an external switch) to single user mode, so other guests in adjacent hotel rooms couldn't get...
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By zap999 - Sep 13, 2005

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