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Netgear RP334 Cable/DSL Phoneline Router
Author: Tim Higgins Review Date: 6/18/2001
Model: RP334
Pros:
- Fast - Integrated HPNA 2 port - Keyword content filtering with scheduling - Three 10/100 Auto MDI/MDI-X LAN ports
Cons:
- No port filtering capability - On the expensive side
CD with PDF copy of User guide and Applications Notes
one page printed Installation Guide
one UTP Normal cable
one phone cabler
120VAC power supply
Other
Hardware Reset switch
Power switch
LAN ports are auto-MDI/MDI-X sensing (see this page for more info).
Introduction
The RP334 is essentially an RP114 (minus one port) and PE102 in one box, and even includes two processors...one for the router and the other for the HPNA/Ethernet bridge. This dual-processor architecture causes the RP334 to cost about $100 more than Linksys' HPR0200 (reviewed here), but for the extra money you get a faster, more stable product, with three 10/100 switched LAN ports vs. Linksys single port.
I found it to be a solid performer, with no unexpected problems found. Just about anything you need to know about the 334's features can be found in either the RP114 or PE102 reviews. It already comes with 3.25 firmware already installed, so it supports 10 sets of forwarded port ranges.
Router Performance
I ran three sets of performance tests on the 334. One with an HPNA LAN client, the second with an Ethernet client, and the third to test HPNA/Ethernet bridging speed:
Qcheck Response Time (msec) [10 iterations 100byte data size]
Qcheck UDP stream [10S@500kbps]
(Actual throughput- kbps)
(Lost data- %)
LAN Adapter: NETGEAR PA301 10Mbps HPNA
WAN - LAN
5.3
5 avg 10 max
499
0%
LAN - WAN
5.3
5 avg 7 max
473
4%
Routing - Ethernet LAN Client
Firmware/Driver Version:
V3.25(CH.0) | 5/17/2001
Test Description
Qcheck Transfer Rate (Mbps)
Qcheck Response Time (msec) [10 iterations 100byte data size]
Qcheck UDP stream [10S@500kbps]
(Actual throughput- kbps)
(Lost data- %)
LAN Adapter: UMAX 10BaseT Ethernet PCMCIA adapter
WAN - LAN
5.1
3 avg 6 max
499
0%
LAN - WAN
5.1
3 avg 4 max
483
3%
Bridging - HPNA & Ethernet LAN Clients Remember the following test does not include the router performance!
Firmware/Driver Version:
V3.25(CH.0) | 5/17/2001
Test Description
Qcheck Transfer Rate (Mbps)
Qcheck Response Time (msec) [10 iterations 100byte data size]
Qcheck UDP stream [10S@500kbps]
(Actual throughput- kbps)
(Lost data- %)
ETH LAN Adapter: UMAX 10BaseT Ethernet PCMCIA adapter HPNA LAN Adapter: NETGEAR PA301 PCI
HPNA -> Ethernet
5.0
3 avg 5 max
499
0%
Ethernet -> HPNA
5.9
3 avg 5 max
499
0%
Comments: Excellent performance on all routing tests, including UDP streaming performance. The HPNA/Ethernet bridging speeds are slower than I measured for the PE102, but this could be due to my use of a slower 16 bit Ethernet card.
If you have both HPNA1.0 and 2.0 devices on your network, your 2.0 clients will not reach 10Mbps speeds. This is not a problem with the RP334, but the way that the HPNA spec works. See this for the explanation!
Summary
The RP334 was easy to set up and easy to use, with the HPNA & Ethernet ports nicely integrated. Whether your data stays local or is bound for the Internet, your HPNA and Ethernet clients get the same speedy treatment. If it weren't for the different jack on the back and lights on the front, you wouldn't know that HPNA was there!
So if HPNA, Ethernet, and Internet sharing are in your networking plans, you definitely should consider the RP334.
100.0% | 
0.0% | out of 11 reviews 
