Netgear DGN2000 review

Netgear's DGN2000 Draft-N wireless ADSL router is particularly easy to set up.

Its web interface includes a configuration wizard that automatically detects your ADSL settings and lets you enter your username and password. This makes getting online almost as easy as connecting the router to your PC and phone line and logging into it via a browser. The installation disc will even show you how to connect your ADSL line and PC to your new router in an illustrated step-by-step guide.

It has lots of security options that will be useful if you want to keep tabs on your family's browsing habits. You can blacklist sites either by exact domain or by keywords, and the blacklist can be linked to a schedule, so banned sites can be made available only at specified hours - perfect if you want to keep your kids off MySpace when they're supposed to be doing their homework. The router's email alert system will even warn you if anyone tries to access a blocked site.

If you want more advanced control, the router's firewall settings are reasonably friendly and well documented. You can use them to restrict access to specific IP address ranges and a selection of ports used by common services. You can even add port ranges of your own, making it easy to block those commonly used for games or peer-to-peer clients, and rules can be applied to specific PCs or your entire network.

Its wireless transfer speeds were excellent. Tests using our Centrino 2 laptop produced particularly good results when compared to other wireless routers, such as Belkin's similarly priced N+ Wireless ADSL Router. We were particularly impressed by its 22.3Mbit/s transfer speed at a distance of 25m, which is the fastest we've seen at this distance and means you should be able to get a reliable wireless connection anywhere in your home. We enabled channel-bonding to produce speeds of 58.6Mbit/s at a distance of 15m when we used Netgear's WN111 Wireless-N USB adaptor (around £26), compared to 51.4Mbit/s with channel-bonding disabled. However, we were unable to get a consistent signal in channel-bonding mode at 25m.

There's no support for Gigabit Ethernet, which is a shame given that most home NAS devices are Gigabit-capable. If you need it, you'll have to buy a more expensive router such as Billion's BiPAC 7402NX (What's New, Shopper 254) or a separate Gigabit switch for around £20. The DGN2000 is still a good choice if you want a signal that will reach anywhere in most homes. If you're on a budget, though, SMC's Draft-N SMC7904WBRA-N comes with a USB Draft-N wireless adaptor.