By the Light of the Silvery...

If looks matter in the router race, NetGear wins by more than a few lengths. The spaceship-like low-slung silver case has indicator lights softly glowing behind a plastic band around the edge; the lights are shaped as icons that let you see what's what from across the room. The four Ethernet port lights glow amber for 10Mbps connections, and green for 100Mbps connections, making troubleshooting easy.

Behind the Scenes

Four Ethernet ports and a WAN port for your cable or DSL modem are tucked in the back of the case. The power port is at the bottom, and there's a reset button just under the antenna in case you need to go back to factory default settings or forget your password.

It's in the Box

The NetGear MR814v2 comes with everything you need to get up and running in minutes, including Ethernet cable and stand. While the CD contains a full manual, the clear Installation Guide is enough to get connected.

Going Skyward

The NetGear looks just as good positioned vertically on the included stand as it does in the horizontal stance. Position the router and antenna after experimenting with reception in various rooms in your house.