print servers and device servers

I read the other reviews here with some dismay before I bought this unit. I decided to go ahead with the purchase because I had spent a lot of time researching router/switch combos with print server capability and true SPI firewall capability. There are not a lot of reasonably priced options out there. In summary this unit has performed like a dream. I had two PC's, a NIC laserprinter, and a parallel port printer (via print server) all plugged in, configured with my DSL service, and all up and running in less than 30 minutes. Please note that BEFORE I purchased this unit I made 3 separate "pre-sales" calls to Netgear tech support and received what I considered to be good information in each instance (I even placed a call at 3am one morning to check if they really were 24/7). Read the installation guide from cover to cover BEFORE you actually DO anything and you will probably find (as I did) that this is a no-brainer deal.

I looked at over 10 different cable/DSL routers and decided on the Netgear FR114P based on features, price, and reviews (and past bad experiences with LinkSys.) Being a Network Engineer, this puppy was a no brainer to setup. Now I have port forwarding setup and Dynamic DNS working like a charm! When the RPC worms hit and was shutting down Microsoft computers all over the planet - I never even noticed! The print server was a snap to setup and didn't even require drivers to be installed if you are running XP or Linux (I run both) - I use LPR and it works great! The only issue I have had is with Shareaza (Gnutella client) when I enable EDonkey2000 support - It floods the router until it refuses to pass traffic.... no big deal. Speeds are excellent and management is a breeze.

The only complaints I have are:
DynamicDNS doesn't update unless the IP changes - if it's on all the time, the IP never changes and eventually I get an Email from DynDNS.org stating no updates in 30 days and if I don't update within 5 days my account will be suspended.... <sigh>
Not enough versatility with port forwarding... I want to have the ability to accept requests on port 9945 and forward to an internal port 80 instead of being forced to have both port numbers to be the same.... no big deal though....

Never could hook up the printer, but it worked OK for a while until it started making erratic connection with the cable modem. Then "POP", a bad smell, and I'm out $100!
Serial FR14A278A011564