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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.

Worked great first time, every time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: January 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am using this router and running 2 laptops and a desktop with it. Set-up was fairly easy (I did some manual configurations)and, since I am not using Microsoft wireless adapters, I had to manually configure the computers. I am running an 4 yr old IBM Thinkpad with a Netgear MA111 adapter and also a Dell 3800 laptop (about 2 or 3 yrs old) with the same adapter (802.11b). No problems at all once I configured the WEP security keys,etc. The desktop is an H-P running Windows 98SE, also no problems. When my daughter was here with her new Dell with a 802.11G card, she seemed to have even faster connections.

The farthest I have taken the laptops is out on my deck which is 2 or 3 walls and maybe 50 feet from the router. I have the router conncected to my Comcast cable modem and am surfing the net usually at 1.2-1.7 meg per sec. I would recommend this as a simple, effective way to set up wi-fi at home.

This Unit Seems To Run As Solid As It's Predacessors...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: October 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I read the other reviews, and I admit I was a bit apprehensive in buying the G verison of the Microsoft's Wireless Base Station. But after having so many problems trying to get the one from Linksys running, and how great Microsoft's Wired Base Station worked out for me, I threw caution to the wind and purchased one (just don't let my wife know).

Just like the wired version, the setup of this wireless Base Station is easy. It only took 5 minutes to get setup and running. Kudos to Microsoft for getting this right.

As far as hang-ups and connections problems, I have been spared of this. I have two XP machines connected via ethernet, and an older XP laptop connected via Microsoft's Wireless G card, and having downloaded various XP and Office service packs, and the AOL 9.0 update (all of which took longer than 3 to 5 minutes mind you), I have yet to experience any problems.

The only complaint that I have is that the laptop connection is sluggish, but compared to 100mps, a max of 54 would be I suppose.

Now if only I can get the Win 98 machine to setup as easily... but that is another question...

YOU CAN'T ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: November 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have been around the globe and back searching for the right networking. I told myself that I would want it for internet, network printing, and sharing files. I read tons of reviews and listened to stories from my friends and relatives about many companies. Being the gullible person that I am, I bought D-link. I thought I had a one in a million chance of having to return it considering the fact that they are the #1 leading company for networking. Well I had a four day weekend from work to set it up to enjoy and admire the wonderful technology. That was my dream, not my reality. The "quick installation guide" shouldn't even come with it because it won't do you any good. The service is pointless because they don't have a clue about setting it up. I called 11 times total. You can tell the technician 1 level has people just reading the words off paper because they all were the same. AFTER 3 DAYS of pure torture, it was working. *Problem*: It worked every 30 seconds. I spent another day fixing it and got to know every tech's name there: Mark, Carlos,etc (now you know that is a problem right there).

So I returned the waste of space and purchased this Microsoft MN-700 with of course the network adapter for my laptop. From the reviews I read I heard it worked and was easy. I couldn't believe that because the D-link ratings are higher than this for some very odd reason. Keep in mine I am a tech person and work with computers constantly. So I bought it after talking with a friend who told me that she had it and it was perfect. The first feature I noticed that was different was that right on the box it said you could network for printing and transferring files. With the D-link, it didn't say it on the box and from every single option on the D-link webpage, I don't think there is a way to do that which isn't at all what I truly wanted. Plus if they are the same price, why not get more for your buck.

Now all the other reviews said it only took 15 minutes. I definetely disagree with them because that is false advertisement. It only took 10 minutes :) . I had *2* laptops and a desktop running at the speed of light in 10 minuts. The setup was absolutely amazing from where I was coming from. First of all, YOU GET REAL SOFTWARE!!! With D-link, you are praying that you can access your own personal website for your system. That is BS because if you needed help then obviously the web isn't looking good. The interface is wonderful and nicely setup. You can view detailed specs of your system. When you setup their quick installation guide (which actually works) follow it exactly and carefully and there is no way to come to any problems. It is very fast. In fact, I am typing this review ON MY LAPTOP.

I am able to send my docs. directly to the printer wirelessly! No more saving to floppy disk and bringing over, etc. I can share my documents with other computers and I think music files. Still trying out all the features. KEEP IN MIND that you can't share everything!!! Program files is locked and some other files are too. Plus, even files that are allowed to share won't let you share even if you can access one's computer from another computer.

They have a nice customer service considering I only called them once with a miniscule problem. For the curious, the question was: How do I share files with other computers? See they tell you a little about that in the wonderful big manual that comes with it (that D-link doesn't have), but you have a 1 in 20 chance of picking a folder that matches the information in the book. See each folder is different. If you right click on one folder it might be a major folder where the option would be *Sharing and Security* whereas the minor folders don't have one. Of course I was clicking on the minor so I wasn't doing it right. ***Remember when you call, you have started the first day of the 2 years you can call for free!*** I didn't care because I know I wouldn't use them again because the whole product is so simple and if there ever was a problem, I just would take the software off and start over again.

Well this is my review and I am sure you can trust my help. This product you WILL NOT be dissapointed of. This is wonderful and works like it is suppose to. I am running windows XP so that I am sure this will work. Thank you for reading.

Perfect for first time networker.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: October 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This was my first wireless network setup. I was worried that it was going to be a long tedious setup process & require tons of tweaking before I could actually use it....BOY was I pleasantly surprised! Out the box; plain simple instructions Step1.Install software before you install hardware. Step2. Follow directions on screen. After 3 or four easy steps my base station was installed in 10 minutes!!! Next I installed the wireless adapter on my 2nd pc in under 20 minutes with the same degree of ease (took me longest to open up the PC & install the card, but once that was done the software pare took 10 min). With both pieces of hardware up & running, the software simply walked me right through configuring the network; ACTUALLY IT did ALL the work while I sat & watched as it basically set my network up on autopilot. I highly recommend this to everyone thinking about seting up a wireless network at home. The software interface works seemlessly with Windows XP as most microsoft products are designed to do. I trust that everyone will be as pleased with this product as I am.

What more could I ask for?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've had this router for 3+ years. Bombproof. Never had a single problem that could have remotely been traced to this router. I really don't know what else to say.

Full disclosure: I work for MS. But if something doesn't work, I dump it. And this thing has been nothing short of perfect.

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.

Technical Literacy and Common Sense

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you are technically literate install it yourself, if you are not, have someone that is install it. This product is great for the money. What it comes down to is either you can use technical know how with common sense to figure out your installation or you will be whining like these babies. Obviously, they cannot write a manual with every possible setup scenario in it! Buy and enjoy your computer where you want to. It is great to be wireless!

Very Easy setup, If u've problems, reinstall the software.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

MICROSOFT HAS PULLED OUT THIS PRODUCT. So, I don't think this review counts. Anyways, unless you are getting this one for FREE, DON'T BUY.

Well, I read all the reviews on Amazon and was almost on the verge of concluding that ONLY LINKSYS is the real wireless router and the others are just cheap imitations. Thankfully i didn't rush to buy a $100 router and bought this cheap router from "unreliable" microsoft as many would put it. Its nice looking too instead of looking like an alien with two long antennae. The setup is easy if you read the instructions first!! I hooked to the ethernet connection of my computer for setup. i think its just better that way. I had a hiccup in the beginning coz the software probably didn't load correctly. happens, its Microsoft. so i uninstalled it, rebooted and reloaded the software where in the options it showed me the basestation setup option. it wasn't available on first attempt. i think my compy had a grudge then. anyway, the setup is easy, asks you what you want to do, how to setup and all that. I had the mixed mode default for wireless. It has MAC Filtering (is that an option??) and 128/256 bit encryption that i use from my notebook to the basestation just in case some peeping tom wants to see what i do. A thing to note though, when you try getting that key from the base station utility, the textbox doesn't show the whole damn key so i fought for about an hour on my notebook blaming everyone and everything around me and in this world for the mess till i read that the key is 26 characters and the one i had was smaller. Now i started blaming myself and yes, Microsoft. anyways, i connect perfectly. even when you run that utility, it will tell u your IP, your base station, whether you are connected to the internet and yes, any other network shared devices. i have two desktops on the ethernet connections and a laptop and i share the printer on one of the desktops, fax software on the other. so am pretty happy and content with the setup. the speed is pretty good too. i copied a huge file, about 600MB from my laptop to my desktop and it was pretty fast. I use an Asante FriendlyLAN 802.11G card for
my notebook FYI.
Update: I had dropped connection problems too but then i found them to be with my wireless card since I use it at work too sometimes. I figured that i have to use its own software to choose the profile instead of allowing windows to automatically connect since Windows tries to be oversmart and disconnects often.

Nice router backed by Microsoft reliability

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Despite all the negative comments that all the Microsoft haters post here, I can say that I have had this router for more than a year and haven't had any problems with it. It has a pretty good admin interface, and you can get used to it quickly. It is stable, and I don't remember having any disconnects when I finalized all the settings. I had a D-Link Super G D-624 (?) and that product was x2 expensive and wouldn't work, period.

I can open ports on this router and make my webcam, or my webserver available to my friends, I can access it's settings from the intranet or internet; it's protected by the password. I disabled SSID broadcasting, setup encryption, using only MAC address recognition, changed the password for the admin access, and totally forgot that I have a router somewhere on my network.

Would be nice to see if MS comes up with the next model sometime later. But, there is an MS Broadband Network client running on some of my PCs and it tells me when it's time to upgrade a firmware or local software. And, the router itself is running Windows CE OS. If you have problems with your current router, you may look for this one as a safe replacement.

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