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Netgear Rangemax Next Wireless Router

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Pros
Great design and usability
Very good routing features
Cons
Poor long-range performance; no QoS support
Only 90 days of free phone support

$29.99 - $123.80
From 33 Merchants

PC World Editor's Review

by Becky Waring

If you want to buy a draft-n router now, the RangeMax Next is your best choice, with very good features, setup, and ease of use, and reasonable performance.

Among the draft-n routers we tested for our October issue roundup, only the RangeMax Next, based on Broadcom's Intensi-fi draft-n technology (as opposed to the newer but identically named WNR834M model based on Marvell's TopDog chip, which we did not test), came close to the Asus and Netgear RangeMax 240 models in short and midrange performance. However, it faltered in our long-range tests, indicating a smaller coverage area than that of its top-rated RangeMax 240 sibling.

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In other respects the RangeMax Next is much like the RangeMax 240, offering the same straightforward setup and advanced client-card connection utility, although its cost is a little higher. Only a few settings differ significantly, mostly those having to do with draft-n. For example, the RangeMax Next is the only draft-n router in the group we tested that does not support WEP encryption when in high-speed 40-MHz channel-bonding mode, since that would result in poor performance for draft-n adapters.

The most visible difference between the RangeMax Next and RangeMax 240 is in case design. The RangeMax Next is a slim upright box with internal antennas, as opposed to the typical external design. While attractive, it has no wall-mount option, and we found it hard to use in the upright position since our cables kept pulling the lightweight box over. You can place the unit flat, but then the internal antennas will likely not be oriented optimally since, unlike external antennas, they cannot be flipped to accommodate the box orientation.

If you want to purchase a draft-n router now and bet on the product's being upgradable to the final standard, Netgear's RangeMax Next is our top choice, with the only major disadvantage being its long-range performance.

Becky Waring

User Reviews for Netgear Rangemax Next Wireless Router

Reviewed by: bunkey

Duration of ownership: 1 Month

Strengths: Fast, easy setup, good help and documentation.

Weaknesses: Trouble with NetGear WiFi card software.

Overall Evaluation: This router will deliver, as promised, but you have to do your research and learning about it first. Do a firmware upgrade, but you must reset the router right after the upgrade is completed and this will put the settings back to default. I had to put my phone line DSL modem into bridge mode, so the router handles firewall and PPoE sign in duties. Lastly, poor performance will happen, if using NetGear PCI WiFi card Smart Wizard software utility to setup your connection. It appears to clash with some software, that loads during bootup and gets corrupted. Re-install the software for the card and during the card setup choose Windows to configure your connection.
Reviewed by: SoopahMan

Duration of ownership: 1 Day

Strengths: Good range; Draft N support may help later; Stands vertically saving space with no antennas to mess with

Weaknesses: Setup freezes Internet Explorer; 30 second pause and restart for every change made to Router; fails to connect to the Internet without serious custom configuration; XP laptop cannot connect over wifi; Nintendo DS cannot connect over Wifi

Overall Evaluation: The NetGear RangeMax Next wifi router was a serious disappointment. You begin by inserting the CD which they say over and over. This CD loads a page in your browser; if that browser is Internet Explorer it pegs your CPU at 100% and generally freaks out. It doesn't technically "freeze," but it does slow your computer to a crawl and causes setup to never finish. Moving into Firefox with the same URL, setup runs but in my case ultimately couldn't get me online. This isn't user error - my SMC Barricade I was upgrading from connected just fine to Comcast, who have an extremely simple Internet arrangement (no locked MAC address, no user/pass, no static IP - just connect to it). After I returned this Netgear I got a Linksys WRT54G instead and that connected in less than 5 minutes, as part of its setup process. The Netgear setup software is horribly broken. Back to the Netgear process. I had to kill setup and browse to the configuration URL, 192.168.1.1. After serious reconfiguration of the Router I finally got it to connect to Comcast. This took over an hour, caused partly by the fact that every time you make a change to the Router's settings, you get a wait screen. The router completely shuts down, causing you to lose your connection. 30 seconds to a minute later it comes back. Then you can make your next change and sit around another minute. In fact, I'm reducing my rating from 2 stars to 1 right now because of how amazingly frustrating that process is. Do not buy this router. The programmers writing this router software didn't waste their time making it work well for you. Don't waste your time or money on their shoddy product.

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