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Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar John Surtees
I've always been a very satisfied user of Thomson routers. I've had two and always left them on 24/7 with no problems. With the occasional reboot in an attempt to get the speed up a little, they have proved to be very reliable.

After years of being with Demon I decided to give MacAce a try. They sold me a preconfigured Netgear DGN2000. It seems ok, but runs very hot. This has made me a little nervous about leaving this router on continuously. I have looked on the web and this seems to be a bit of a problem with this model.

Does anybody have any thoughts, words of wisdom, or horror stories.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Mick Burrell
I've always used Netgear - though not that model - and always left them on permanently without problems. Having said that, my current DG834N is quite cool.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Roy Rainford
My Netgear DG834N is also on 24/7 and runs cooly.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Mick Burrell
Anyone else got a DGN2000?

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar John Surtees
Regarding the router running very hot. I noticed on the web, people recommending standing the unit upright. In the box were two scrappy pieces of plastic that I now realise were feet. This has overcome the problem, with the unit now only warm to the touch. It's not very elegant and is obviously an afterthought by Netgear, as the feet only connect in one way. In this situation, I cannot see the status lights as the front of the router now becomes the bottom, facing the shelf, with the ethernet ports facing the ceiling. It looks a real mess, but luckily it's out of sight in a large built-in cupboard, sharing space with among other things the gas and electric meters.

The two Thomson routers, I had, both had provision for wall mounting. But there is no provision on the Netgear. As a point of interest, Thompson routers are now sold under the name of Technicolour. Wish they would make their mind up, they were Alcatel before that.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Douglas Cheney
You should be able to move the position of the feet so that it stands up with the lights at the front, I have mine set up that way

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Mick Burrell
Doug is right John - both feet on one end so it stands on that end. See this:

http://www.aussiebroadband.com.au/support/images/modemimages/dg834.jpg

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar John Surtees
Doug, Mick, many thanks.

I was a little concerned that in this configuration the aerials would be horizontal, rather than vertical, using this configuration. I had read somewhere that the horizontal position was best for those wanting to maximise their signal strength for those with rooms above or below, and vertical position for use on a single floor. As we live in a bungalow, I naturally thought it had to be vertical. But for our use, it doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference.

I have to admit, from my experience so far, I think the industry may have oversold the increased range advantage of the 'N' standard routers, over the 'G' standard.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Lionel Ogden
Will the aerial not turn through 90deg so it will stand upright when the router is mounted vertically, as it does on the DG834?

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar John Surtees
Because the aerials are on the same side as the ports, only one of them will, but the other, is hampered by the leads into the ports.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar Mick Burrell
Unless you stand it on a block so the bottom aerial can point down.

Re: Hot Netgear DGN2000

Avatar John Surtees
Well it's good to be back. No I haven't been anywhere. On the 12th I lost internet connection and have been without, for a couple of weeks. Moral of the story: Hot working router - good. Cold non working router - bad.

As it turned out, is wasn't the router at all. While the whole episode was very frustrating, it did underline how much nicer it is speaking to a UK based ISP when you have problems.

The whole experience left me with the feeling that ISP's get just as much of a runaround by BT as the ordinary punters do. After several calls and a load of messing about trying different things, BT admitted that for some reason, they had put a 'cease' on the line.

In the meantime MacAce sent me another router (a Thomson) to try. On Saturday 24th I finally got reconnected. There being nothing wrong with the router, I was able to return the Thomson.

So my feelings on this episode:
MacAce answered the phone promptly and were very easy to talk to. A vast improvement on Demon and their Indian based helpline. My one criticism would be that they didn't always ring back when they said they would. They also seem to be at the mercy of BT, who, it seems, would initially, rather make excuses, than investigate a problem.

So Mick, I have now put the Netgear on a block, with one aerial up and one down, as you suggested. I am getting a good airport signal, and it's running slightly warm, rather than hot. It doesn't look too elegant, but it's not on show, so no problem.

Regarding the two routers. On balance, I feel the Thomson comes out ahead of the Netgear. It somehow looks a sturdier and is supplied with longer power and telecom cables, plus it has holes for wall mounting. Sadly, the Thomson supplied to me as a test unit, was only 'G' standard rather than 'N', or I would have asked to do a swap.
 
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