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You should expect more from a wireless router...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

One big issue I have is intermittent disconnects, maybe once or twice an hour. Not a big deal for the average surf the web, read some email user, but as an multi-player gamer, I can't stand being disconnected. I don't know what the router is doing when it drops, I imagine a firmware update may fix this (one day). I have 2 PC's connected, and they both drop, so it's definately the router. I've had experiences with MANY different wireless routers, and I wish I listened to the little voice inside my head when I bought this one. I wanted to try Microsoft, I was curious how their entry into the hardware market would play out. As they say, curiousity killed the cat, and Microsoft belongs in software. If you don't mind a disconnect here or there, and you really want to save $30...then buy Microsoft...otherwise, stick with the network hardware companies...Linksys, Netgear, Belkin. So does anyone want to buy a slightly-used MN-700 wireless router?

DONT BUY THIS...FOR U WILL LOSE UR MONEY!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: October 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am all about XBOX and wanted to get wireless with MS products. You think MS will always come up w/ great products. WRONNNNNNNNNG!!!!! This router just sucks!! I mean, I got my cable internet and the router the same day. So I tried the router. Well, the internet connection fell at least TWICE a day!!! I blamed the ISP because I trusted MS. Wrong again. Its just the router. Horrible connection!! Dont always trust MS. I strongly recommend the LINKSYS!!! Very reliable they are.

Stay away from this product at all means possible!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: June 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Where do I start? The thing cannot keep a wireless connection to save it's life. I have my PC hooked up via ethernet, and my laptop using the wireless card. My laptop has been disconnected from the internet more than it has had a connection. When it finally does connect to the base station it will hold a connection anywhere from an hour to just a minute or two. The latter is the more common of the two. When there is a connection, the transmission speeds might indicate 54 Mbps...but actual throughput is only about 2000 Mbps testing from sites like dslreports.com. That is only utilizing about half of what my actual connection speeds are. My PC consistantly gets what I pay for from my ISP. By the way...my laptop is only about two and a half feet from the base station...so distance is not a factor here. So far we have slow internet performance, and it's almost as if the thing refuses to connect to the base station. From there we go to Microsoft's customer support. I spent 4.5 hours on the phone one day with their customer support concerning file and printer sharing. I guess if I could understand what the tech was saying it might have been a little smoother...but seeing as how he was from India it made it very hard to understand him. On a last ditch effort before he was going to send my case to the research team, it was figured out. All it was is a simple little box that needed to be checked. Shouldn't have taken 4.5 hours to get to that point...and it was just an option in the TCP/IP settings. That should have been one of the first things they should have checked in my opinion. Later on that day I spent another 3 hours on the phone with another non-English speaking person trying to figure out why I cannot keep my laptop connected to the network (base station). Nothing was ever resolved...still cannot keep it connected worth a darn. This product isn't worth the $80 I paid for it. $80 is very cheap for both a wireless router and notebook card...but you get what you pay for. Cheap. Do not get this product...avoid it all all costs! Go for a D Link product...that's what I'm returning this junk for.

What a mistake

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: December 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had set up wired networks before and wanted to add a wireless laptop to my home wired network. I down-loaded the MBN user's guide, read it and learned on page 46 it promised to do exactly that. I purchased the MN-500 and bought Microsoft's notebook adaptor too, because there might be a need to contact customer support and two vendors complicate things.

Out of the box, the stuff did not work. I attempted this on PC with Windows XP, a PC with Windows ME. Same bad story. The India tech-support is useless. It turns out the drivers simply do not work with PPPoE.

But, what a mess the set-up created! The Microsoft set-up disk ruined a perfectly good laptop that is used for PowerPoint presentations for two weeks. The set-up installed hidden spy-ware that kept attempting to access the non-functioning wireless network at home and blocked access to the corporate networks used for presentations. It took hours of rooting through the registry and using removal software (thanks EarthLink) before it worked again.

My story is not unique check the wireless forums on the internet. I have never posted a review here before, but I felt it was important to do a user's review of this product.

Wireless Router

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Good functioning router for local, home use. Could be a bit challeging to integrate with internet provider/modem, depending on what you use. Don't expect to get top data transmission; too many variables within each network system.

The least headaches the most reliability to date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am in the I.T. industry. When I get home the last thing I want to do is mess with my home equipment. I have installed over 15 wireless networks for friends and family. Everytime its a linksys or a netgear and they are a complete and total task to install.

Enter the Microsoft broadband router. I have had it for 5 years now and it has worked flawlessly. My only issue is I cant find it in stores anymore because Microsoft for some reason decided to stop manufacturing them. Its a shame because I would recomend this to anyone. If you dont want to constantly wrestle with setting up epuipment this is the router for you.

Nice features, easy install, 2-yr tech support

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Got it 2 weeks ago, from amazon.com for under $44...looks like it raised the price already.

I was very careful in following the instruction--knowing that the order of installation is paramount in making installation go smoothly... and it all worked well, nearly the first time.
1) make sure cable modem is first working.
2) then install router, then make sure all still works,
3) then install software to each wired and wireless clients,
4) then install the wireless connection, WEP key.
All went fairly smoothly....if you follow the directions, carefully....

The wired connection 100Mbps is obviously good, and the wireless connection is stable, and fairly fast...I get 54Mbps when I am nearly the router, and even near top speed when I am on second floor, have not tried from the basement; From outside the garage, about 50 feet away from the router, the speed decreased to about 1/2, which is still good enough, given that the cable modem gives me max 2Mbps anyway.

I finally was playing around the configuration and messed up the configuration, so that my wireless connection was lost....called MS, and was told I have 24-hour support for 2 years... and talked to an 'offshore' tech support.... At first he tried to pass me off as HW problem, and ask me to talk to PC vendor...but after some convincing, he stayed on and tried several other fixes, and finally fixed the problem....(I had accidently changed my laptop to act as a brideg instead of just being a client). So, so far so good....the price is great. The product works, the connection is good, and support is there.... Recommended!

Excellent wireless router!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Great product AND an affordale price!
I use the 265kbps MSN-Qwest DSL at home.
I previously struggled endlessly with Linksys and D-Link Wireless G routers to get the network parameters right. I had to shutdown and restart my DSL modem, my router and my computer more than 2-3 times to even get the router to serve 1 computer. The moment I hooked on a second machine, the connection would die.

I must say that the software that comes with this router does an excellent job of configuring TCP/IP parameters. All I had to do was to insert the CD, install the software and follow the instructions. AND THEY ACTUALLY WORKED! To hook up my laptop, I had to copy the encryption key to my network adapter settings and it worked immediately. Full credit to Microsoft for a great and affordable product!

Hardware works, but instructions need rewriting

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought the MN-700 wireless router because it's much cheaper than the other brands. I followed the instructions per the foldout guide and couldn't get the router to recognize my cable modem. Also, the documentation stated I would get prompts for certain things and I never got these prompts. After an hour or so of reviewing the documentation, I decided to follow my gut and rebooted my computer, turned off the cable modem and router and restarted everything. After that, everything worked fine. I don't have any connection drops and getting my laptop to recognize the wireless was very easy.

Plenty bad

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: October 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Really, really sad. Trying to setup by myself for 3 hours, then 2 hours and 31 minutes on the phone with a very helpful person who was unable to help. Won't respond, computer (running ME) won't recognize the router. Deleted my SW, modified their settings, ran through all the ideas, rebooted 7 times on the phone.... Still nothing - next step, a Microsoft expert calls within 3 days..... When they call (at 3 days) it is to set up an appointment to call in TWO WEEKS. They call this service???

Update -- I took this back and bought a Linksys WRT54G -- installed and fully operational during a commercial break while watching "Survivor" the other night. Hours and weeks of work for the MN-700, less than 5 mins for the Linksys...

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