| New Firmware for WPNT834 This is the new beta firmware for the WPNT834 that fixes the Intel 3945 ABG reboot problem. It also seems a bit faster in the web interface. Not sure what other fixes there are.
This is beta firmware given to me by a support tech at Netgear. You cannot rollback after applying it, but it has worked well for me so far.
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-Sterling
[IMG]»www.speedtest.net/result/39893726.png[/IMG] |
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| This is a North American firmware only and you will be prompted whether or not to install on Non-NA routers
I chose no as i'm unsure what the difference is between the firmwares, whether it is cosmetic or not. |
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| Ah well, I reasoned that the NA firmware was the same as non-NA firmware as version 1.0.24 was the same file for both firmwares, gave this one a go and it works fine.
My region is greyed out but still set to Australia
This is the only new item I could find:
Automatically switch channels to avoid interference
When checking this box, the router will periodically survey the wireless environment to ensure that it is using the clearest channel. If a clearer channel is available, it may automatically switch channels. Note: there may be a slight delay for your wireless computers to reconnect to the router after switching channels. To avoid this possibility, leave this box unchecked.
Detection Period
The default value is 60 mins which means every 60 mins we will detect the channel utilization and find a clearer channel. If the clearer channel is still the current one, then no clients will be disconnected due to we don¡¯t need to change channel. The value range of Detection Period is 1~9999. |
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| This is very strange...
I could never get my two network cards to stay connected with the 1.0.41 firmware when the wireless interference settings were set to anything but max range.
Now I can get them both to connect and stay connected but these are the speeds:
Max Speed=250KB/s & 65KB/s
Great Range & Speed=400KB/s & 550KB/s
Maximum Range=1.1MB/s & 700KB/s
this is for data transfers between two wireless G devices on this network (Atheros AR5211 & RaLink RT61) |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
Thanks for the new firmware BuggyBoyNYC! You rock! |
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claykin
join:2003-08-22
Fort Lauderdale, FL | reply to SterlingJ85
So is it safe to buy this router now?
Does it pass QOS data properly? Can you use Skype and Xbox Live without issue? |
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yelraf
join:2006-09-06
Boxford, MA | Can anyone confirm that this beta firmware version 1.0.44 eliminates reboots due to QoS issues with the Intel Pro/Wireless 3945? I tried consulting with a Netgear tech and they made no mention of a beta firmware version and just referred me to version 1.0.41. I certainly hope that 1.0.44 is indeed valid because Netgear's workaround that is listed on their site (the one that simply states to disable QoS) doesn't fix the rebooting problem with my WPNT834. 
Many thanks... |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
Thanks for the firmware. I have been running my dual core Centrino notebookwith Intel 3945ABG chipset for 30 minutes already without hanging WPNT834. The only problem I found is that I could not use Intel Pro/Set to manage wifi network profile, but got to let Windows manage it. I wonder if it got to do with WPA. Anyway, I am running v10.5.1.57 of Intel Pro wireless driver.
Many thanks.  |
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twixt
join:2004-06-27
North Vancouver, BC | said by colinloh:Thanks for the firmware. I have been running my dual core Centrino notebookwith Intel 3945ABG chipset for 30 minutes already without hanging WPNT834. The only problem I found is that I could not use Intel Pro/Set to manage wifi network profile, but got to let Windows manage it. I wonder if it got to do with WPA. Anyway, I am running v10.5.1.57 of Intel Pro wireless driver. There is an upgrade to the Intel Pro driver/manager set.
The latest driver is V10.5.1.59 - this is contained in the bugfix set released as 10.5.0.1 rather than the original buggy 10.5.0.0 - which is no longer available for download from the Intel website.
Go and get the new one. The memory leaks in the 10.5.0.0 driver/manager set cause all sorts of unpredictable failure modes - your problem may be linked to this.
twixt |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
I first updated the Intel Drivers just to make sure that I couldn't solve the problem with non-beta software. This didn't seem to have any effect, but I do feel a little better.
When updating the firmware, I was careful to not change any settings on any machines, just to make sure that it was the firmware update that solved the problem.
I am happy to report that it was indeed successful. I hope that a full release of this version will be available soon so fewer people have to go through this pain and suffering. |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
Can someone please reupload this file? It appears to be corrupt. Thanks! |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
I have been using this new beta firmware for almost a week now on my European WPNT834 (Netherlands) without any problem so far. My Intel Centrino 3945ABG equipped Acer notebook connects flawless at maximum speed without buggering up my network as the previous firmware version used to do. |
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hts123
join:2006-09-23
Villa Park, IL | reply to SterlingJ85
Beta firmware is great for the centrino wireless problem. My wireless has been solid ever since. Attempting to connect XBOX live via the wireless XBOX 360 adapter is still a problem. In fact, it is a little worse because I cannot even connect to the wireless network. It sees my SSID in the site survey, but I cannot connect. With the previous firmware, I was able to connect to the network, but could not get an IP address. |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
Has anyone found out anymore info on what this beta firmware fixes or adds? I am getting a WNPT384 router this week (due in the mail) and want to know if it is worth it to apply this beta firmware. Is netgear still supporting this router and chipset or are they dropping it to work on the draft-n stuff? I hope that I did not waste all my money investing in this supposedly highly rated router... I have a Dlink DIR-625 Draft-N router with two Dlink DWA-642 cards that is working really well. I thought that I would get more speed and range with the Netgear Pre-M Rangemax 240 based on all the test reviews scattered about on the web. Hope it was not hype... I have some days left to return the Dlink stuff after I test out this Netgear router with its matching laptop PC card. Someone please tell me that it was not a mistake. I don't do any gamining but my kids do. They never mentioned anything nor made it clear about the poor gaming compatibility of this router in all of the pro reviews. What a bunch of ... I hope I am happy with the refurb I am getting off ebay. The PC cards I bought new from Buy.com which had the cheapest price at this time. Still way expensive IMO. |
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| Looks like no one is interested in this particular router eh? I am having much trouble and headaches after receiving my WPNT834 today. Although I must say that I bought it off of ebay from JustDeals.com as a refurbished but guaranteed like new unit. It has a piece of white tape covering up the serial number. It came with a sheet of paper seemingly from Netgear themselves saying it is a refurbed unit and only carries a 30 day guarantee period.
Anyway, right off the bat I had problems with it. While configuring all of my options into it via the browser, the browser screen kept hanging up and not responding after so many config entries. I always had to reset the router by pressing the rear panel reset switch which wipes the config clean again each time. After reloading the config it does the same thing. I reloaded the latest 1.0.41 firmware several times and reset it also many times. Either I have a defective unit or this firmware is buggy as all hell. After resetting it one last time and manually entering all my config parameters again to the point where it would not freeze the browser, I got it semi-working. My wired PC's started working and some wired laptop PC's associated with it and ran for a little while with regular 802.11g adapter connections. But after I added a few more ip_address reservations and hit save and reboot, guess what? The wireless connections would not connect anymore! Sheesh! I pulled my hair out. I had MAC address filters on and ipaddress reservations on for many PC's and devices. To make a long story short, I finally decided to remove all of the ipaddress reservations and disable the MAC address filter. Then all of my PC's could connect again both wired and wireless. So it seems like this firmware is buggy and ipaddress reservation does not work properly nor does the access list for filtering on MAC addresses. Is it my refurbed hardware unit or is it the fault of the firmware is my question? I cannot downgrade back to the original firmware version 1.0.24 is this normal or a defect with my router? If I upgrade to the BETA firmware, will it fix these bugs or just add more problems to it? If I do upgrade to the BETA and cannot go back to 1.0.41 firmware version will this void my warranty? This I would like to get answered because I am itching to try the new beta firmware version but am afraid if I do, I cannot return the router for a refund.
Someone please respond if you know anything about this router and its firmware.
Thank You! |
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| er... mine has worked fine since I got it five months ago
1.0.28 firmware it came with (this one isn't on their site) ... straight away I firmware updated to 1.0.41
have not had any problems whatsoever
now using 1.0.44 |
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| I can tell you that the WPNT834 works great with the latest firmware but I don't have the USB unit and Laptop card so can't comment on the drivers for those.
They only sell the Laptop card here in Aus so if I want to get the USB unit I have to either buy one directly from Netgear (who seem to have some in stock but don't tell anyone) for an extortionate price or buy them from abroad with a similar power supply specification (like the UK which has 230V 50hz) |
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| reply to SterlingJ85
Z3r03557, hey finally a response on this router! Well, at the moment I am on firmware 1.0.41 still and have it running stable since yesterday. I did not configure all of the things into the firmware that I wanted to for now since it seems that if I add too many config entries into the IP Address Reservations list and/or the Access List MAC address filter list, the router fails and hangs. I started out disabling the access list filter totally and removing all ip address reservations. That got the router stable and it started working fine allowing all PC's wired and wireless to connect. That was yesterday. I let it run all day and night until today, when I gradually started to enable first the access list (and it kept running fine) and then I started to add a few (but not all) of the ip address reservations back into the configuration and saving it. The router kept running. I should add that it did run once like this before but after a power off and power on reset of the router, the router would not assign ip address to any machine and I would have to reset it and start from scratch. Even reloading the config file (which I saved to a file) did not work before. Today however, after loading a few (but not all) of my desired ip address reservations, saving and re-powering off and on, the router continued to work. I think that there is a firmware glitch (or maybe indeed it is my router hardware) where if I add too many ip address reservations the firmware locks up and it's browser interface quits responding. So at this point I just have not added a lot of ip address reservations to it. It continues to work right now.
I am wondering now if I update the firmware using the BETA 1.0.44 if it may fix this problem I am experiencing. Has anyone figured out a way to back level to a previous firmware version? I would like to be able to do that if I need to.
Also, FYI, I have a Dlink DIR-625 Draft-N router and matching DWA-642 laptop cards that I am also testing out. The Dlink DIR-625 combo gives me higher data transfer rates than this Netgear WPNT834 combo! The Netgear RF signal seems a bit stronger yes, but it does not register the high speeds that all the test reports say it does compared to this Draft-N router. So either my Netgear is not operating at peak capacity (which I doubt because it seems fine in this respect while I have it working) or those test report reviews are not telling the truth. Dlink combo has speeds of up to 300Mbps averaging meter readings around 216 to 243Mbps while the Netgear combo peaks at 240Mbps and averages reading of 116 to 143Mbps using the same laptop PC at the same locations setup in my house. The Laptop reading were taken from a room 1 floor up and 1 room over from the routers location downstairs. Dlink wins here. This is my case, it does not jive with all of the test reports I have read highly raving about this Netgear WPNY834. nuff' said. The only hope I have for this Netgear router is that I found a Netgear link providing what seems to be GNU open source source code to compile the routers v1.0.24 and v1.0.41 firmwares! So maybe some guru hackers out there can tweak the firmware to fix the bugs and make this a really winning router setup. |
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sandcas
join:2006-10-01
Lincoln City, OR | reply to SterlingJ85
File link does not seem to work anymore. anyone have some place else to find this file? it would be nice to get this router to work its driving me nuts. This look like the answer i have been lokking for. To be so close to a solution and have one dead link get in the way, Argggggg! |
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| I think you have to register first before you can download.
Try it. |
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![www.speedtest.net/result/39893726.png[/IMG]](http://www.speedtest.net/result/39893726.png[/IMG]){kind=link}