Netgear DG834 (series)

Netgear DG834G v3

The DG834 series are popular Wi-Fi ADSL modem router products from Netgear. The devices can be directly connected to the phone line and establish an ADSL broadband Internet connection to the ISP and share it among several computers via 802.3 Ethernet and (on many models) 802.11b/g wireless data links.

These devices are popular among ISPs as they provide an all in one solution (ADSL modem/router/firewall/switch), which is ideal for home broadband users. The Netgear UK website claims the DG834G is the most popular wireless router in the UK and lists five awards that it has received.

The DG834G is perhaps the most popular product of the series, and has been produced in 5 versions. All versions have Wi-Fi.

The DG834 (without the G suffix) is the same product but without Wi-Fi.

The DG834GT is a similar product - it looks like a DG834G v2 or v3, but has a Broadcom chipset like a DG834G v4 and supports Atheros Super G which can achieve a 108 Mbit/s signaling rate (double that of standard 802.11g). In the United Kingdom, many DG834GT routers were supplied by Sky Broadband and are branded with a Sky logo. Sky later supplied a DG934G router, which is a DG834G v3 router in a black case.

The DG834PN model has Wi-Fi but no external antenna. It has 6 internal antennas, and is easily recognised by the blue dome on the top of its case.

Background

Netgear DG834G v4 rear plugs, in order: the RJ-11, the Ethernet switch (4 ports, from v3 is yellow coloured), the reset, the DC power plug, the 2.4GHz antenna

The DG834G comes in five versions, the DG834G (also referred to as the DG834G v1), the DG834G v2, DG834G v3, DG834G v4 and the DG834G v5 (aka DG834GNA for North America). The first three versions have a TI-AR7 (MIPS32) processor and 16 MB of SDRAM and 4MB of flash memory. The DG834G v4 has a Broadcom BCM6348 V0.7 chipset. The DG834G v5 introduces support for Wi-Fi Protected Setup and also introduces a switch on the router to turn the Wi-Fi on and off.

Firmware

Netgear's stock firmware on all products in the series runs Linux on a MIPS CPU. This has led to popularity among computer enthusiasts as it provides a cheaper alternative to a full Linux router. It is possible to place the router in a debug mode using http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug which allows users to connect via telnet directly to its embedded Linux system. Much of the Netgear firmware is built from open-source software, and Netgear provide this source code and the build system to enable users to reassemble a new firmware image. As a result, various individuals and projects have produced modified firmware which extend the capabilities of the built-in firmware. It is also possible to replace the built-in firmware for TI-AR7 and Broadcom chipsets with firmware from other projects, such as openwrt.

Default settings

• IP address: 192.168.0.1
• Username: admin
• Password: password

Specifications

• 4-port 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet switch
• Wireless Access Point (802.11b+g) (not on DG834 models)
• ADSL/ADSL2/ADSL2+ modem
• Firewall (as of DG834G v5 restricted to 20 rules)
• Router

Differences between revisions/versions

Netgear DG834G v4, in order: the power led, the 4 Ethernet cable detection LEDs, the wireless power state and activity, the carrier wave LED (off/on) and the PPP LED (off, on, blinking when there's activity)

• DG834G v1: first release. Black removable antenna using an RP-SMA connector. 15V AC power supply.
• DG834G v2: new smaller design. White removable antenna. Different power supply requirements from v1, otherwise almost identical electrically (uses same firmware as v1).
• DG834G v3:
  • RoHS-compliant construction.
  • Expands the Wireless encryption options to include:
    • WPA2-PSK(Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 with Pre-Shared Key)
    • WPA-PSK+WPA2-PSK
    • WPA2-802.1x
    • WPA-802.1x+WPA2-802.1x
  • Adds an "Advanced Wireless Settings" page to the enable, various wireless Bridge and Repeater modes.
  • Removes the Parental control and Trend Micro Security Services functionality.
  • Add a PPPoE relay mode.
  • Improves Sync speeds, on good / short lines.
  • White removable antenna.
• DG834G v4: Fixed antenna. Now uses a broadcom CPU (before it was T.I.), also the Ethernet switch is now broadcom (before it was Marvell) and the wifi module is branded broadcom (before it was T.I.). Frontal connection led split in 2: one for "carrier wave" connection, another for PPP link. The 4 Ethernet LEDs are now on the left of the front panel - all previous models had them to the right.
• DG834G v5: The fixed antenna is now on the right (when viewed from front) - all previous models had antenna on the left. Comes with additional buttons for power, Push 'n' Connect using Wi-Fi Protected Setup, and for switching the wireless radio on and off. Reset is achieved by holding in both side buttons simultaneously for about 6 seconds until power light flashes. The CPU used is a Conexant CX94610. Quality of Service was also added as a fully changeable feature which was available with firmware version 6.00.25 but with the newer firmware version 1.6.01.34 the Quality of Service and Wireless Distribution System is not available.

Modified firmware

Amongst the various individuals and projects who have produced modified versions of the built-in firmware, or who have intended to, are:

• DGTeam (Dead project as of October 2010)
• UberGT
• OpenDG834
• FreeDG

External links

• Official Netgear DG834G Information
• OpenDG834
• OpenWRT Netgear DG834G Forum (Archive - read only)
• DGTeam unofficial custom firmware
• RouterStats, a monitoring and downstream noise margin tweaking program for DG834X modems
• Super-G (108 Mbit/s) & 802.11g (54 Mbit/s) Routers
• Netgear DG834PN DD-WRT