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Compatible with 10/100 Mbps networks, the Netgear RT311 establishes a firewall that prevents hackers and unauthorized users from interfering in your business. NAT protocols hide the local IP addresses from outside Internet users. Port forwarding and customizable filters allow only authorized users to gain access to your site and files.
The Netgear RT311 is compatible with Internet conferencing, RealAudio, RealVideo, and most chat programs. FirstGear, a Windows-based configuration tool, enables simple installation. All the necessary cables are included, as is a setup guide.
Netgear provides a five-year warranty on parts and labor.
After several long waits for short and unsuccessful conversations with tech support I tried using their web site to reach a resolution. I posted my case in July. Now it's October. I can still see my posting on the site, but I never received anything other than an automatic acknowledgement of the problem report.
The box won't do the one thing I need. The phone support is ineffective. The web support is non-existent. Money wasted.
I bought this almost a year ago, in late 2000. It was extremely easy item to set up. I followed the instructions, making only one mistake -- using a regular Ethernet cable instead of a rolled one. It worked right immediately (as I recall), or perhaps after one restart. Since then, I haven't ever had to use its Web-based administration. It sits in a corner of my basement, between the DSL modem and the hub with its wires leading off to various rooms.
Before I opened it I phoned NetGear to reconfirm that it was the right item for my needs. They answered quickly and accurately.
My only complaint is that the product doesn't include a hub -- who'd use it without one? Or, these days, a wireless hub. I figure that five stars shouldn't go to a product that requires you to buy another product too, but only to a full solution. Other than that, though, this has been great.
I purchased the Netgear RT311 after purchasing and returning a Linksys DSL/Cable router. Despite several firmware updates to the Linksys unit, it would continually lock up and would require that I shut down the unit as well as every computer connected to it. Using Gamespy would lock it up immediately. This was completely unacceptable. Imagine that in a corporate envrionment! The internet gateway locking up requiring people to shut their computers off? Simply awful!
So on the advice of a friend, I picked up this router and a switch. Installation was very very simple. I was up and running within minutes. It's been in operation for over a year and has never locked up once. As far as configuration goes, the interface definitely isn't as slick as the Linksys product. There's two ways to set it up, however. One way is to install the windows software and configure it there. It's very easy and user friendly. The other method is to "telnet" into the router. This is also easy, but it might be a bit more confusing for the average user. I consider the average user to be someone that got DSL or Cable and simply wants to surf the net or play games online. If all you ever want is to surf, send email, play internet games (Quake, Half-Life, etc.) then you can take it out of the box, plug it up, and use the standard Windows program to configure it with your username and password for your ISP (it does PPPoE for you.) If you are a more advanced user and wish to set up, say, a DMZ and a web server, or would like to set up an FTP site or some other way of accessing your network from the Internet then you'll need to telnet into the router to set it up.
The firewall that is built into this thing is already configured at the factory and needs no adjustment for average users. You're completely protected yet you can still play games online.
I guess the think I like best about this router is that it covers a wide array of possible users. If you're just wanting simple stuff you simply take it out of the box, plug it up, and go. If you want to get more complex then this is also the box for you as it allows much more complicated filtering schemes and configuration options, if you want to get into it.
As far as DHCP goes, I've never had a problem. I had 4 computers and a print server connected to it and never had an IP problem. I'm not sure what the other individual was talking about as I've never had a problem.
All in all, I would buy this thing again in a heartbeat. The only thing to consider, I believe, is whether or not you want a built in switch to connect more computers to it. It has only two connections on it, one for the internet and one for an internal network, whether it's just one computer or one switch or hub. If you have a couple computers that you'd like to share the internet connection with, then you'll need to get a separate switch or hub, or you could consider getting the RT314 which has, I believe, four ports on it so you can connect four computers to it. I'm pretty sure that's the correct model number.
Enjoy!
Problem #1. Netgear's RT311 DSL/Cable Router has DHCP renewal problems/issues. For Dynamically assigned IP customers, reset at 50% and 88% of IP expiration has problems reissuing IP due to default Firewall setting(s). Netgear support swears its a Windows issue.
Problem #2. Difficult setup process. New users unfamiliar with setup and configuring a network Router will find Netgear's RT311 DSL/Cable Router setup process confusing and frustrating. Unlike the more simplified setup process of LinkSys Routers, the Netgear are overtly Technical when they don't need to be. Unfamiliar users have complained about Netgear's over-complicated technical manual and lack of step-by-step instruction.
Problem #3. Little Netgear Customer Support. Really bad...
Problem #4. Confusing Firewall configuration and Setting(s). This firewall really needs improvement to keep customers safe from hackers. Similarly, a better interface is needed to simplify the level of protection (see Problem #1).
Home-based Routers are supposed to simple to setup, configure, and use. Unfortunately, the Netgear RT311 may not be the best product for every DSL/Cable customer. While the price is very attractive, the overly-complex documentation and little ease-of-use make the Netgear RT311 a choice only for those who are already familiar with Networking (and willing to take the time...). Try a LinkSys Router instead. They are simple for the common user and have fewer quirks than that of Netgear.
Anyway, since I couldn't resist, I ripped open the seal, and removed all the packaging. It was so easy to set up that it actually took longer to open the box! All I did was connect my router to my 3Com hub, and my modem to the RT311. I re-powered both units, and I was flying on the net.
The product comes with a web-based configuration utitlity, but my computer automatically recognized the connection. Troubleshooting is easy with the online wizard, and the product comes with 24x7 tech support. This has been the best network purchase I've made in a while, and I will definately continue to purchase with NetGear, so it's the perfect place to buyit. I LOVE this product!! :-)
It's a great price. I truly recommend it! It rocks.
When I picked up the box for the Netgear unit, I noticed it weighed twice as much as the cheaply constructed Linksys router, which is enclosed in a plastic case. The Netgear unit comes in a hefty 7-pound steal enclosure.
Installation literally took 5 minutes! I connected my cable modem to the router and the router to my hub. I used the web driven program to setup the router. I set everything for DHCP and it took me about 45 seconds to setup the router. After that was done, all 4 of my machines were able to access the net without a hitch! The performance of this unit blows away the Linksys. With the Linksys router, I could see a noticeable drop in speeds while the Netgear actually improved my net connection and even cleared up my Collisions I received when transferring data from my other machines. I just flashed the ROM of the router to the latest version and it actually improved my speed even more! You also no longer have to telnet into the unit to setup FTP and WWW servers. Everything is adjustable from any web browser on your LAN. I rate this unit 100% -- I've never been this happy with a computer product! GREAT WORK NETGEAR!
It works well so far...Basic setup is a breeze and i had everything safely surfing (using the rt311 as the firewall) in 10 minutes...
did lots of research...linksys vs netgear, etc...i've had good luck with netgear hardware for the past 3 years and most of the problems and bad reviews i've seen with the netgears seem to have been with advanced users...which i am not...
the netgear should do the job very well for any basic to intermediate user...
The web interface offers only the most basic configuration. For a more geek-level config, you'll need to telnet into the router. Luckily the telnet menus are layed out well and are easy to navigate. After a bit more configuring, I'm able to send inbound DNS and SMTP requests to our Linux machine and HTTP requests to our Windows 2000 machine. Only problem I had was my Windows 2000 machine not being able to get an IP address using DHCP. Very minor though, since DHCP is not required and you can configure your machines with static IP addresses. Overal, I'm extremely impressed and satisified with this router.
With this router, I have not rebooted for about a month.
Greate product for my PPPoE connection at Toronto.
Anyway, this is a great device. I pulled it out of the box, plugged in the wires and everything worked immediately. I'm sharing cable internet between a windows 2000 box and PowerMac (running OS9 and DAVE 2.5) with no problems at all.
It's 4 stars because the web interface is really quite useless. To properly configure this device (including the very cool dynamic dns capabilities) you need to telnet to the box. Not a *big* deal, but still a minor nuisance. There's no reason the web interface couldn't handle these other configuration options as well.
I had considered the Linksys box which is very similar in capabilities, but searching usenet archives revealed that the netgear is a much more reliable device.
I saw mention that few thought the advanced feature documentation was shallow, however, there is much better documentation on the CD in .PDF format than the silly foldout that was included with mine. I'm not sure if the RT311 has this documentation or not, however.
All in all it's a great router for the home/small office and this is a competitive price as well...
I just plugged the thing in, hooked up all the cables, and it worked. That simple.
I went to grc.com to test the firewall capability, and found that it works very well. No complaints.
I knocked my rating down one star because the documentation leaves something to be desired if you want to get into advanced firewall filters. The HTML browser-based setup utility doesn't go far enough in getting into advanced filters, and instead you'll find using a decidedly unintuitive interface to make such changes.
The good news is that probably 99% of the folks out there won't even need to do the advanced stuff. They can just plug it in, use the default settings, and it works great. Good job, Netgear.
My one major concern would be how to configure additional filters, should I desire them (which, right now, I do not need). The documentation could be more extensive in this area. However, for a simple home application like mine, it is all golden.
Neither the router I was replacing or the router I eventually used gave me even the slightest problem. I've done network administration for large scale multiprotocol LANs, WANs and VPNs. I didn't want to have to break out the toys for my simple home network. Each of the three Netgear 311s I tried simply refused to forward packets to the big WAN (Internet.)
I can overlook that Netgear doesn't have any form of support that I could find. No email, no chat and certainly no phone support.
I can overlook that their documentation assumes there are no other operating systems other than those from Redmond. Yet even with this level of concentration, it could not cover a small fraction the possible issues.
I can overlook that, unlike most of it's competition in this price point, the 311 does not have a print server, multiple ports (incorporated mini-hub) or more than a rudimentary firewall (net translation only.)
What I cannot overlook, though, is not working.
Although I've been very happy with Netgear hubs and switches, I will not consider Netgear routers.
Great box.
I ran the firewall test at ShieldsUp against the RT311, and the RT311 passed all tests. This should help prevent others from breaking in to your computer across an always-up link.
The product is well crafted, including a metal case. Documentation is excellent. There appears to be no degrading of the data throughput with the insertion of the RT311. In short, this is an excellent router and firewall. Highly recommended.
It turns out that where I work ran out of class C IP addresses - so after only using the box for a day at home, I brought it into work to let 32 more IPs use the LAN - both Linux and Windows 2000 Professional boxen.
After several weeks of solid, heavy use in a development environment (note that it is a 100BT on the LAN side - VERY fast!) - not ONE packet collision.
Note that the web-based administration tool is sufficient for most installations - but telnet to the thing, and you can tweak the filters and SUA and whathaveyou six ways till Thursday.
One other note - if you have problems with SMB (Windows file sharing) - make sure you telnet to the box and turn off the SMB LAN filters. Yes, Virginia, SMB does work through SUA/NAT just fine, thank you very much (as opposed to several remarks made by usenet posters)...
This is a one trick pony that does it's trick VERY well.
This product provides you with a lot of flexibility. You can either use their web-browser type interface to configure and control the router, or you can telnet directly into the router and use a simple but powerful text based interface.
I work with computers, but I am by no means a hardware or networking expert. The manual that came (on cd-rom) with the router was relatively easy to follow, and reading it gave me the confidence to go for using the direct telnet interface. Like I said in the title of this review, it only took me one try to get absolutely everything running correctly.
I replaced an existing software-based Firewall (Norton Internet 2000), and was suprised to find how much faster my network access is using the Netgear (not to mention how much faster my PC is now that it doesn't have to act as a firewall...). It also gets my previous "firewall" PC off the Internet, so I don't have to worry about it being attacked anymore, while I can still access the Internet from all 3 attached PCs.
I recently upgraded the Netgear's firmware to v3.20, and that went very smoothly. I just had to FTP the new firmware image and config file to the router. Then after the router rebooted (automatically), I re-configured my network settings, rebooted my PCs, and all was well. The new firmware even handles passing the domain name to the connected PCs, which I had to manually configure before. This makes setup even easier. I haven't yet done anything with filters- the default config works fine for me, and all of the applications I use work- but I have tried the Telnet interface, and while the menu arrangement isn't always intuitive, it isn't very difficult to find what you need.
Give it a try and I bet most people will be very happy. Easy setup, dependable hardware, prompt software upgrades, and reasonable documentation... highly recommended.
Most situations can be covered with the Windows-based installation tool. You'll need all the pertinent info from your provider (IP address, gateway address, DNS address, netmask, etc.), but with this in-hand, the graphical installer makes it easy.
More advanced needs, and people who frequently play online multi-user games, will need more expertise to use the RT311. Advanced configurations can only be made by telnetting to the box itself, or by connecting a serial cable and using a terminal program. This won't be an easy task for average users, and while the manual is well-written and thorough, it can't (and doesn't) train newbies on the basics; some level of skill is assumed.
Its "firewall" security is centered around NAT (network address translation), which does afford some level of security for your network. (It's also what makes connection sharing work.) In short, private IP addresses are assigned to PCs on your network, and the RT311 remaps connections to a single public IP address assigned by your provider. In this way, your PC is not directly accessible from the outside world, since by default, unsolicited incoming TCP/IP connections are denied access to the network. That's fine, but for real security, look to a SonicWall or something more advanced. The RT311 won't likely do much for certain types of hacker attacks, like Denial of Service (DoS), "ping of death," IP spoofing, and the like, which some more sophisticated solutions do address.
NAT also causes problems for some applications. For example, IRC will be tough to use, because most IRC servers require IDENT, and IDENT requests won't pass through the device to your desktop. Dialpad.com, Napster uploads to other users, and a variety of other applications will not work in the RT311's default configuration. You'll need to configure "SUA" for this (i.e., port remapping), but again, that requires telnet or a terminal program, and non-technical users will likely find this a challenge (at least at first).
In addition, your port remapping capabilities are limited. You have your choice of remapping everything to a particular machine on the network (not a good idea, and defeats all firewall security, so use it temporarily and sparingly), or mapping selected ports by number. But you can configure a maximum of only six (6) of those, which may not be enough for power users or networks with many users and applications. (The D-Link and Linksys solutions that compete with the RT311 offer just slightly more flexibility here.)
Using a hardware solution like the RT311 is, in my experience, far better and more reliable than software-based solutions like WinProxy. (But of course, WinProxy offers web caching, content filtering, and other features that the RT311 and its competitors do not. But I favor the reliability of a dedicated piece of hardware to loading down my PC with yet another task.)
Otherwise, the unit does as advertised. It's economical, well supported, well warranted, and well built. Its manual, which is supplied electronically, is as good as they come. And most everything you'll need is in the box (including the basic required cables).
One final note: Be aware that this is a real, Ethernet-based solution. You'll need a 10-Base-T or 100-Base-T local area network (LAN), including hubs or switches as needed, and your DSL or cable modem will also need 10-Base-T Ethernet for hook-up. (This box is not really the right choice for sharing dial-up or ISDN connections.)
It works wonderfully, but the "FirstGear" software on the included CD apparently does not work with Windows2000. (This does not appear to be a problem with Windows2000, though...)
Instead, I read the Reference Manual (in the form of a .pdf file) on the CD and configured the router via the ASCII interface (by telnet-ing to the IP address of the router.) Twenty minutes later, I have a DHCP server and both of my computers are sharing the internet connection (via a hub that I already had.)
Finally, I tried Quake 3 Arena thru the router and it worked perfectly, so I'd say this router is everything you could want.
Instead, I read the reference manual (in the form of a .pdf file) that was on the FirstGear CD and configured the router by telnet-ing to it and using the ASCII interface. After about 20 minutes, it was up and running and I was using the RT311 as a DHCP server for both my desktop and laptop machines and both computers were on the internet at the same time (via a hub I already had.)
I comes with all the cables you will need and the instructions are fairly clear, but you definately have to read them.
Finally, multiplayer Quake 3 Arena still works thru the router!
But if you get the ResourceCDVersion 1.1 - throw it away ! There is a alert from NetGear @[their web site] about a problem with a .dll file - Install this file may cause your system to take a page fault.
You should download the new software from [their web site], and read the online information on how to install the software on to the RT311
After doing the setup, the only other problem was that I had to power cycle my cable modem, this reset the cable modem and I was good to go.
The total amount time it took to get everthing setup and back on-line was about 35-40 min's.
This is better than using software to do the same thing. This is a nice product for the home - when you have a small network.
It allows up to 32 PCs to share either a cable or DSL modem and use just one IP address. It also provides firewall support to help keep netizens out of your PC which is supposed to work better than the software-only firewalls. For those who need to change the default configuration of the router can do so either by telnetting into it or through the serial port.
It looks rock solid since it has a metal case. It comes with a five-year warranty and 24/7 support. Ours has been in use for less than a day but it was easy to set up and so far the performance is excellent.
I could dance with you till the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather
dance with the cows till you come home.
-- Groucho Marx
Q: What is purple and concord the world?
A: Alexander the Grape.
