User Reviews (11 - 21 of 95)

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One of the Best routers available

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: November 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am not sure what people are complaining about other than microsoft bashing. The original MN-500 router and this one have PHENOMENAL signal strength, and WHEN PROPERLY SET-UP it does not EVER drop connection from what I have seen. I have had a Linksys, SMC, Netgear, and Dell, and The Dell and Microsoft are the tops, and Microsofts signal strength pushes it over the top for me.

A Novice get it to work on the first try

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: January 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is my first introduction to wireless networking. I just got this router in January of 2004 and have no disconnection problem reported by other users. I did do an update during setup. It has worked in every way I expected to be. I picked MS MN-700 over the competition, because I heard it is very easy to use.

The setup,
I am a novice and didn't want to be hassles by a lot of informational inputs. This device worked on the first try with Wizard setup. I first plugged it straight to a network card with a cable it worked fine. I have a window 98 and a win2000 computer on. I am using Linksys's Dual band A&G on my XP laptop and all I had to do is enter the network key on the card and it will work. You might have to plug the router with an ethernet cable before you can set up the wireless connection; that is what I did.

Conclusion,
I read that you can not extend the range with a wireless bridge with the MN-700 and I was a little bum (never had to also). If you want to compare performances with this device to other go to CNET first. This is a simple device, which doesn't have much configuration to play with. The exterior design is nice; I like how it looks standing up or sideway on my desk. Most of my friends said go with D-link, but I am happy with this pick.

Easy and reliable

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: January 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First, a disclaimer - I am an ex-Microsoft employee (but not in this area). I bought this at retail after I had left, so my experience is as a normal customer.

I bought this to replace a Linksys wireless router that I had set up on an existing network as a wireless access point for my wife's laptop (which wasn't located in a spot convenient to our Ethernet connections).

The Linksys was very unreliable as an access point and I am not a networking expert. So I decided to try the MS solution (where I knew the focus was on ease of installation). Since I was upgrading anyway, I bumped up to G.

Installation went completely by the book (including an auto update after I installed the base software). Within 30 minutes, I had the hardware set up, the software installed, the new notebook adaptor in my wife's laptop and the connections made.

It has worked flawlessly for 6 weeks since then. I also have a Dell laptop with the Centrino B wireless adaptor built in and it connects easily and reliably as well.

I also like the vertical setup over the Linksys. It looks better and is more space efficient. And the status lights are visible from more angles.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily this setup and how well it has worked. Recommended.

Beats Linksys any day

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hi,
I had Linksys in as their Cable/DSL Gateway and their Wireless Access Product and it just had far too many problems. My Internet interface was available only about 55 percent of the time.

I tried the MN-700 and it works great. 100% internet connection, better signal for the same distance from the node, less interference from wireless phones and the microwave. I've now replace all my Linksys equipment with these and have excellent coverage, no drop outs, consistent connection etc.

What a great product!

Check your settings

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Was getting dropped wireless connection every couple of minutes until I tried this:

To disable 802.1x authentication in Windows XP

1. Click Start, point to Connect To, click Show all connections, and then double-click your wireless network.
2. On the General tab, click Properties.
3. Click the Wireless Networks tab.
4. Under Preferred Networks, click your home network, and then click Properties.
5. Click the Authentication tab, and then click to clear the Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network check box, if it is selected. If you cannot click this check box, then you are not using 802.1x authentication or wireless security.

Seems ok now ... now to get the workgroup working.

Absolutely dreadful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: March 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My first advice to anyone considering purchasing this router would be to go to the Microsoft website and read through the community newsgroups (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/broadbandnetworking/10_Newsgroups.mspx). The number of users experiencing problems with this unit should give you a good idea about the quality of this product.

I bought the MN-700 for use in my home office and my first impression of it was that it seemed very clumsy to set up and use compared to my non-wireless Linksys router I've been using. The documentation was very sparse and somewhat confusing. The setup program also reset my computer's network settings without my permission, which really iritates me. Eventually, though, I was able to get my ethernet clients on the Internet, but I was never able to get my wireless clients connected, nor was I able to get the port forwarding to work. I didn't bother to contact tech support because (as you'll read in the newsgroups) the support for this product has been outsourced to India and appears to be pretty useless.

I get the feeling after using this router that it's designed to be fairly plug-and-play for non-technical home users, but I think that might be its greatest problem. It tries to configure everything itself and does not provide enough control or technical documentation to the end user. So when something doesn't work right, its much more difficult to figure out the problem.

Great tool for 1st time wireless users

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I recently purchased the MN-700 and MN-710 (wireless USB 2.0 adaptor). Installation is quick and easy. Directions are clear and concise. They even provide a floppy for you to format and retain your network settings. This allows you to quickly and easily get other machines up and running. The Broadband Network Management Utility is great to troubleshoot any problems.

I like the fact you have options from no encryption all the way up to 256 bit, and your choice of WEP or WPA.

One word of warning here, if you have any firewall software on (XP's, Norton, or freeware such as ZoneAlarm), you MUST disable them before installation. I, in fact, had some serious issues as I tried networking an additional PC and was unaware a firewall was enabled on the machine. As soon as I uninstalled it, I got it working in less than 5 minutes. The MN-700 has a built in firewall, so you don't really need anything else, but you can always add more.

The USB adaptor is a lot easier to handle than the PCI card. Just install the software, plug the device in and your off. Only question so far is signal strength appears to vary, but it might be interferance from my 2.4 GHz wireless phone.

Main concern is signal strength, but only time will tell. Overall, a very good tool for novice-intermediate network guru's. Don't be intimidated by trying to set this up. Microsoft's 24/7 technical assistance is also available and I highly recommend it if problems occur. They helped me out on some compatibility issues that occured (again, ended up being a conflict between the router and a hidden firewall program.)

If your helping somebody out, fully understand all the software on their machine prior to installation. Will save you hours.

Very good product.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Easy setup, inexpensive, reliable, and Wi-Fi certified. Very good range when combined with D-Link's DWL-G650 card (Microsoft's MN-720 card has shorter range).

Great product

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

the router i got came with instrution about the possible flaw - possible inconsistent connection and the solution to it.

that is to disable the 802.1 verification check box... once that is done.. the connection works fine. i had the same problem with a linksys wireless router... so returned that and got this instead. same prob at first the only difference is that the linksys didn't not document the issue. microsoft did.

microsoft released a fix couple of days ago... via windows update... but since it was already working fine... i won't know the difference.

in comparison with the linksys... it seems to work better with stronger signal within my place. the signal is stronger... and the connection stayed on for longer even with the problem mentioned above...

so far... have not had any prob since

on top the setup was much easier with the microsoft router... much more user friendly.

i think the price was reasonable..... in comparison

Easy Setup, Great Range and Performance

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It took a few minutes to get this setup and working from my cable modem. Compared to my previous router (SMC 7004AWBR), this one has better range and supports UPnP - critical if you like to use MSN Messenger and the advanced features. Before trying this one I tried to get a Netgear model working and had no luck getting an IP address. After spending hours on the phone and trying everything, the Netgear rep told me to return it. I am glad I chose this router in the end.

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