Netgear DG834G 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Firewall Router review

We appreciate the styling of Netgear's latest wireless devices. Looking like an alien mothership, or so we imagine, the rounded corners and silver styling make the DG834G one attractive piece of kit. When you compare this to the other wireless routers, it wins the catwalk parade by a mile - something that will seriously appeal to house-proud folk and style-conscious office managers.

All the usual features are here including a Stateful Packet Inspection firewall to offer first-line protection from opportunistic hackers. There's also 64-bit and 128-bit WEP, WPA, MAC address control and IP filtering. But there are few extras beyond status notification via email.

Performance was steady and reliable if unspectacular. Times of 100 and 102 seconds for close- and medium-range tests were noticeably slower than competitors. But the 802.11b test time of 221 seconds was reasonable and few bettered 122 seconds in the long-range test.

Anyone wanting to share a home ADSL connection (PPPoE or PPPoA) will find the Netgear perfectly suitable. It's easy to set up and offers extensive instructions on each web menu. The Belkin may be better featured and faster up close, but that's no comfort if you can't get a connection a few walls away. The Corega is also a better all-rounder, offering more features and faster performance - but note that performance dropped off faster with distance than the Netgear, and it's far uglier.

If you don't need outright speed and want a reliable piece of kit that you know is going to work, the Netgear is a fine choice.