Netgear RangeMax Next Wireless ADSL2+ Modem Router review

The 802.11n wireless standard, which will eventually be used to create faster, more reliable wireless kit, is taking its time being completed; the current draft standard has only just been passed after several attempts.

Netgear has used this draft standard for its RangeMax Next Wireless ADSL2+ router, which has a claimed throughput of 270Mbit/s.

To get these speeds, the router uses channel bonding, where it transmits data on two 2.4GHz channels. As the 2.4GHz band is already congested and only three of the channels don't overlap (1, 6 and 11), too many RangeMax Next routers in close proximity could cause problems. To reduce the impact, the RangeMax is a 'good neighbour' and constantly monitors the transmission, switching back to a single channel when it detects interference with another network.

Configuration of the router is like Netgear's other products. The easiest way is to use the wizard provided on the CD, which shows you how to plug the router into your ADSL line and network. It also helps you configure your internet settings, wireless settings and wireless security. If the router is set to its maximum 270Mbit/s mode, only WPA encryption is supported; WEP is also supported if you downgrade the router to standard 802.11b/g mode. If you have older devices that have to use WEP, you may as well save a bit of money and buy a standard 802.11b/g router instead.

If you're familiar with wireless networking, you can skip the wizard and plough straight into the web-based management, which also lets you configure advanced settings such as port forwarding and the firewall. The RangeMax Next uses the same interface as Netgear's other products, which is no bad thing. The clear layout and handy help panel, which describes what each setting on a particular page does, make it one of the best we've seen.

The main draw of this product is its claimed speed, so we put it through our standard throughput tests. Our first test results were terrible, as the router's auto-channel configuration had used channel 6, which is already congested in our building. Switching to channel 1 improved things with our Centrino notebook. Switching to Netgear's WN511B RangeMax Next notebook adaptor was a little disappointing, though. At close range, we only got slightly better throughput than from our Centrino notebook, while at long range the score was worse than MIMO routers we've seen. Turning off all the other wireless routers in range didn't improve things.

Guessing the problem was the 270Mbit/s mode having trouble using two channels, we decided to downgrade the operating mode to 130Mbit/s. This mode uses a single data channel and is less prone to interference. In this mode, we recorded throughputs of 38.34Mbit/s at close range and 38.18Mbit/s at long range when using the Rangemax Next notebook adaptor; the fastest throughputs we've seen. Unless you happen to live in an area with no other wireless networks, this is probably the best bet.

If you must have the fastest wireless network and don't mind playing with advanced settings, Netgear's RangeMax Next router is extremely quick. However, it's based on a draft standard, so there's no guarantee it will work with true 802.11n kit when released. If you're a less experienced user, it could be a headache getting it to work, especially as the default settings may not work well in your house. In this case, we'd recommend US Robotic's MAXg ADSL2+ router or Belkin's G+ MIMO Modem Router instead.