NetGear WPN824 July 20th, 2005 | by Brandon King

Features and Design

With all the hype over pre-N hardware getting yanked from shelves, the current top-of-the-line routers offer MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology.  Two major competing implementations have been devised, both of which basically will not be noticeable unless you're running off a T3.  The general idea is to use multiple antennas to create multiple connections to your computer, and to alter which antennas are connected based on each signal's strength.  In the MIMO arena, there are two players:  Atheros and Video54.  The WPN824 uses the Video54 technology, with the main advantage being more antennas; those antennas mounted internally.

The overall appearance is a refreshing departure from the old blue box design.  The sleek white finish and stealth activity lights are tasteful, but the best part is what we have dubbed "The Orb."  The Orb is a blue-tinted plastic circle with LED lights mounted around the edges.  Each light is attached to some form of router activity (we assume one LED is attached per antenna and indicates activity).  As that antenna is accessed, the LED flickers.  The result is a mesmerizing, ever-changing, random dance of blue light that will steal more productivity than any screensaver in recent memory.  If you sleep in the same room as the router, you may want to cover the light at night, as it is pretty bright.

One design problem we had with this cool little display of form following function is the size of the router as a whole.  It is easily the largest piece of networking equipment that most home users will have (larger than most cable modems, switches, access points, and VOIP adapters).  While the WPN824 comes with feet to mount it sideways, it is naturally a "bottom of the stack" component, which means you'll be piling other boxes on top of the precious blue Orb.  Perhaps a revamp of the design in a later model will move the LEDs to the outer edge, where we can get the same aesthetics in a more efficient design.

On the technical front, the WPN824 has nearly every feature a pro-sumer could want.  It builds on the Netgear web-based interface that led the charge in router browser interfaces.  The setup is straightforward and will automatically detect your connection type.  We've heard some complaints from people on other forums about problems with the setup.  We've tested two different units on four different computers and had absolutely no problems whatsoever.  It supports PPPoE logins, static IPs, manual DNS settings, MAC address selection, and MTU adjustments.  Setup must occur over a wired connection for security reasons.  Various status options are available, including a display of all connected devices and the ability to allow only trusted devices.  Unlike past Netgear devices, the selection of trusted devices is simplified by providing a list of attached devices and the ability to directly add them to the trusted list with a few clicks.  Previous versions required manually entering the MAC addresses, which was unnecessarily annoying.

The router can check the Netgear website for firmware updates, download them, and install them, all on its own.  This is another feature that has crept its way into recent Netgear products, and makes upgrading the firmware much easier for regular consumers.  Also available is the ability to back up the router setting to your PC, as well as logging with an option to email those logs to you on a schedule.  The router settings can be remotely managed, which can be useful if you want to lock down your home network but occasionally access files.  For security, you can limit the remote management to a specific IP address or range of IP addresses.

The wireless options include the usual SSID broadcast name and channel selection.  Password protection comes in the form of either WEP or WPA-PSK.  You can choose to disable the SSID broadcast and enable/disable 108Mbps, Adaptive Radio, and eXtended Range.  If you choose in the basic wireless setting to keep the router in 108Mbps-only mode, the Adaptive Radio and eXtended Range options are not available.  As mentioned above, the router can be set to only allow predetermined devices identified by the MAC address to connect.  One of the options we really liked was the option to daily disable connections for a scheduled amount of time.  Since broadband connections are always on, it's nice to know our home networks can be automatically isolated during the day while at work, without worry of intrusion.