Enhanced NETGEAR WG602 High-Speed 802.11g Wireless Access Point - Up to 54 Mbps Review

I have my third WG602v4 now (I'm about to buy another one). The first, v3, lasted 21 months and the second (V4) around 12 months. Newer version == less lifetime? I strongly suspect that Netgear and other manufacturers are now using cheap electronic components that fail after about 2 years. However, this device works quite well as a wireless Ethernet bridge between a Netgear WPN824v2 uplink (192.168.1.1) and a Linksys BEFSX41 downlink Ethernet router on its own network (192.168.2.1). Setting up…

I have to say the initial setup on a Dell WinXP laptop was very easy. It was up and running in minutes. BUT I encountered problems when trying to enable encryption which I think is mandatory. After that I just couldn't connect to the internet anymore! I've spent hours with their tech support going through the same things - even level 2 technology - and they still couldn't connect with any kind of encryption. I was told someone would call me within 24 hours so we'll see. So far I'm not happy…

Okay, I'm laughing. Many of the electronics reviews you see online are filled with complaints about customer service. The reason I have to laugh is because I think this is more a symptom of our self-service society than any particular company's customer service. I mean I had a problem with an item I ordered from Home Depot and the hospital treating my son lost his blood samples and then lied about it. But I digress. This product was easy to set up and worked flawlessly for seven months. I have…

Installed V4 in December 2011. Works fine. BUT: If you are a Mac user with an OSX operating system, you must expect some problems during setup, especially when it comes to security. The installation CD is useless except that it contains a copy of the PDF manual (which you need for the installation). Netgear makes no mention of Apple products or the OSX operating system - only Windows. To set up the security (encryption) I had to dig up an old Windows XP PC and connect it directly to the WG602…

I bought this refurbished AP for less than $20 and am completely satisfied with it. I only need wireless access for guests surfing the web from their laptops and a wireless printer, which I rarely use. I don't need the latest and greatest 802.11n WiFi, I have gigabit ethernet if more bandwidth is needed. I had another same access point a few years ago and in the 4-5 years of use I've never had a problem. I lost it in a house fire, otherwise I'd probably still be using it. I don't use it as a…