Labs

Netgear's RangeMax Next Wireless-N Router Gigabit Edition might seem expensive but, as its name suggests, it has a four-port Gigabit Ethernet switch. This is perfect if you use a lot of wired clients and network storage, as you'll be able to transfer files quickly.

Netgear usually provides an excellent CD-based setup wizard, but we had trouble getting it to work, as an error message appeared saying that it couldn't detect a network adaptor. We had to switch to the router's web-based management page and set up the internet settings and wireless security separately. Fortunately, the web interface is easy to understand and it didn't take us long.

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Netgear doesn't have QoS built in, which is strange for such an expensive router. Web filtering is included, and you can filter sites by web address and keyword. Again, you'll have to be careful with your choice of keywords to avoid blocking legitimate sites.

We were impressed with the RangeMax Next Wireless-N's performance, as it achieved the fastest Centrino speed here. Throughputs of 21.51Mbit/s at 1m and 20.46Mbit/s at 10m are great, but it was the 15.08Mbit/s at 25m that really impressed us.

Throughputs were still impressive after switching to Netgear's WN511T CardBus adaptor (£38 from www.pixmania-pro.co.uk), although not up to the high standards of Buffalo's Wireless-N Nfiniti Broadband Router. Even so, 53.09Mbit/s at 1m and 16.47Mbit/s at 25m are still impressive and good enough for file and video sharing.

If you've got network storage and wired clients, the RangeMax Next Wireless-N's Gigabit Ethernet switch looks attractive. With incredible Centrino performance and quick Draft-N throughputs, it's a good router. However, it's expensive considering that it doesn't have QoS. Buffalo's Nfiniti router is a better choice for most people.