I was looking for a wireless solution for my living room. I was in the process of setting up a Netgear WPN824 as my primary router and it did a good job of covering the entire apartment. Wired Ethernet really wasn’t an option for me because I was renting the apartment and didn’t want Ethernet cables running along the baseboard of my rooms. I was then considering putting wireless network cards in each of the units in my entertainment system. All the wireless cards were platform specific and if I ever upgraded any of my equipment I would have to purchase a wireless card in each additional item. Since all the equipment I was looking to connect had a built in Ethernet port as well as any future equipment I looked into a wireless bridge. In my opinion, this was the most cost effective solution to my problem. Since I already had Netgear equipment and I was happy with it I went and purchased the Netgear WGPS606, which has a built in print server and 4 Ethernet ports and the ability to bridge two wireless networks.

The Netgear WGPS606 does not use Netgear’s new RangeMax technology, but I figured 802.11g bandwidth over a short distance would be adequate for my needs. After the initial web setup I was able to easy setup WPA security and bridge the WGPS606 to the existing network. As far as speed is concerned I am able to stream audio and video over the network. Surfing the Internet is just as reliable. Latency over wireless isn’t too bad for what I am doing. For the most part, the unit seems to work.

Only occasionally, the Netgear WGPS606 seems to lose connection with the other base station. It is rarely a problem and I tend not to notice it at all. It does not lose connection any more than any other wireless products that I use. There are a lot of wireless base stations across the apartment complex and I never seem to find that a problem when using my equipment.

If you are looking to connect two networks together or are looking for a wireless print server at a reasonable price, I would consider the Netgear WGPS606. I don’t know how well it works with non-Netgear products, but I can say the configuration and reliability with Netgear products is done well. This is a much better solution as opposed to purchasing wireless cards for each product, especially if all the equipment is located in the same area. With this unit I am able to expand my entertainment unit by simply plugging an Ethernet cable into the Netgear WGPS606. If there are any comments feel free to post.