Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.23 firmware released

The latest firmware version 1.03.23 has been released for the Netgear DG834GT 108Mbps Wireless ADSL router.

The previous firmware versions (specifically 1.02.19 and 1.03.22) were sub-standard and frustrating to use, mainly because of DHCP problems and reserved IP address issues. According to Netgear these issues have been addressed in the latest 1.03.23 firmware version.

I upgraded to 1.03.23 and did some tests on my home LAN; the DHCP issue has been resolved. Nice!

Problem - Cannot delete Firewall Rules

There's a new bug in this version: If you select a Firewall Rule you created and select 'Delete', it just displays a blank page in the router interface. It does not delete the firewall rule! I tested it in several browsers: Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera. Luckily you can enable/disable a Firewall Rule but if you have a long list of Firewall Rules then it would have been nice if you could delete them to manage the list better.

Related links
108 Mbps Super Wireless ADSL Router - Official product page
My comments on previous 1.03.22 version
My comments on previous 1.02.19 version Read more on "Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.23 firmware released"!

Thumbs up to Acer Support

About a week ago my Acer laptop's keyboard started giving me problems. I would press a key and nothing happened. The problem was intermittent but happened more frequently over time.

I first did all the usual anti-virus scans and found nothing wrong. I then rebooted into BIOS and the problem persisted while moving around the menus, so that meant it was not a problem with the Windows OS, since the operating system has not loaded yet. So it could only be a hardware problem.

I contacted Acer Support in Johannesburg via email; they first checked if they had stock of the components for my model and the next day the fault was logged. The DVD writer also gave me hassles and stop burning DVD's a while ago, so I logged that too.

Timeline

18 Jan: Contacted Acer Support via email
19 Jan: Received reply, said they had to check if they had components in stock first
20 Jan: Confirmed they did and fault was logged, received Case ID
21 Jan: Courier collected laptop in Cape Town and sent it to Johannesburg
28 Jan: Courier delivered laptop to me early morning

The keyboard and DVD writer was replaced as well as a plastic long strip which covers the internal speakers. Problem solved. I was without the laptop for five working days; so apart from two travel days they had the laptop for three days. I've dealt with Acer Support on two occasions and in both cases the experience was good. No hassles at all.

I'm just glad I had an extended warranty! Read more on "Thumbs up to Acer Support"!

Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.22 firmware released

The latest firmware version 1.03.22 has been released.

The previous firmware version 1.02.19 was an important release since it provided important new functionality like VPN (virtual private network) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2) wireless encryption BUT that version was very unstable and quite frankly a nightmare, as discussed in a previous blog post so this latest release is long overdue.





Problems with version 1.03.22

DHCP problem

Some people are still experiencing DHCP errors even after upgrading from 1.02.19 to 1.03.22. Quite unfortunate since it therefore appears as if Netgear did not bother to fix all the issues that came with the previous 1.02.19 firmware version!

Since I have a small home network and use assigned internal IP addresses, I don't experience this problem but anyone with a bigger network where the DHCP server needs to automatically assign random IP addresses to the connected devices, may experience issues. It also appears as if the DHCP issue only arises when people connect wirelessly to their network?

I suggest you push Netgear support by logging an official ticket, informing them that the issues still exist when using 1.03.22.

Administrator time-out not working in Google Chrome

In the router admin interface at 192.168.0.1, I clicked on "Set Password" and set the "Administrator login times out after idle" to 5 minutes and saved it. However, in Google Chrome (version 3.0.195.33), this setting seems to be ignored! I left the browser window open displaying the router admin interface at 192.168.0.1 and returned after 15 minutes and when I clicked on the router interface menu options, it did not ask me to login again (it never logged me out as it should have). This can obviously lead to security problems. You have to shutdown the browser and re-open it for the username/password to be requested again.

It works fine in Firefox and Internet Explorer (i.e. it automatically logs you out after 5 mins and you have to re-enter your username and password if you want to continue working on the router interface).

General

I've been a Netgear fan for a while but this constant reluctance (or ignorance?) of Netgear support to fix well-reported problems of previous firmware versions may force me to eventually switch to a different networking manufacturer altogether.

LATEST UPDATE - 16 March 2010

Netgear has released the latest firmware version 1.03.23 which according to Netgear, resolves the DHCP and reserved IP address issues.

See related blog post.

Related links
108 Mbps Super Wireless ADSL Router - Official product page
DG834GT firmware version 1.03.22 - Netgear forum
New firmware for Netgear DG834GT 1.03.22 - DSL ZoneUK Read more on "Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.22 firmware released"!

WPA Wi-Fi encryption now cracked in a minute

Scientists at the Hiroshima University and Kobe University in Japan revealed that they can break WPA (WiFi Protected Access) encryption in wireless routers, in about one minute.

The initial encryption (WEP) used on wireless routers was cracked a few years ago and was therefore quickly identified as a very weak encryption to use. Industry experts have always suggested to use the much stronger WPA security on your router instead. Great, everyone was happy and felt safe. WPA's TKIP algorithm was first cracked in November 2008 but the exploit by the Japanese takes it to a new level.

Bad news

Once the Japanese scientists make their findings public, users who use the WPA encryption standard will suddenly become vulnerable. The weakness lies specifically in the TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) algorithm used by WPA.

Good news

All is not lost though, most of the latest wireless routers available today offers WPA and WPA2 encryption with the much stronger AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm. The AES algorithm has not been cracked yet (at time of writing anyway, haha).

Stay safe

If you therefore have a wireless network in your home and your wireless router and wireless adapter supports WPA and/or WPA2 encryption, go into the router configuration and change the algorithm option from TKIP to AES.

If only TKIP is supported by your router, then you'll probably be fine for a while but know that the encryption has now been cracked already and you'll eventually be left vulnerable to attacks. WPA/WPA2 with the AES algorithm is the way to go.

Related link
New Attack Cracks Common Wi-Fi Encryption in a Minute - PCWorld

For the Netgear fans

I use a Netgear DG834GT wireless router and the latest firmware version 1.02.19 does support WPA2 with AES but unfortunately the 1.02.19 firmware release is very unstable and causes several other problems as well, as discussed in that blogpost. So that meant I had to downgrade to version 1.02.16 again, which is the latest stable release for the router but unfortunately... it does not support WPA2 with AES!

So I'm sincerely hoping that Netgear will get their act together and release another firmware version soon in order for users of the Netgear DG834GT wireless router to utilise the WPA2 with AES encryption. Read more on "WPA Wi-Fi encryption now cracked in a minute"!

Netgear DG834GT router - 1.02.19 firmware issue?

I make a point of upgrading my DG834GT 108 Mbps Super Wireless ADSL Router's firmware (low-level internal software) every time a new version is released. Usually it makes the router more stable and new features are added.

The latest firmware version 1.02.19 provides functionality like VPN (virtual private network) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2) wireless encryption, the latter being the main reason why I upgraded.

Problem

However, after I flashed the router with this new firmware version, I encountered a problem with the WPA2 encryption. After changing my settings to WPA2, my laptop would connect successfully to the router but if I disconnect and re-connect, it wouldn't work. It behaves as if there's an authentication problem with WPA2.

I then re-created the wireless connection profile with my Intel PROset software (manages the laptop's wireless adapter connections), changed the password, rebooted the laptop, rebooted the router, flushed the DNS - it made no difference. It would simply not connect again. I then disabled the WPA2 security and enabled the standard WPA security and that connected once, but the behaviour of the wireless was erratic, something I have not encountered before.

Solution

So I decided to downgrade to the previous firmware version 1.02.16 and I could successfully access the router using a wireless connection, using WPA-PSK encryption. So it appears that the 1.02.19 firmware's new WPA2/AES capability is dodgy at best OR my laptop's
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG wireless adapter doesn't fully support WPA2 encryption (even though the Intel PROset software indicates that it does).
If you use the popular Netgear DG834GT wireless ADSL router and experience a similar problem, post a comment below.


Note:
If you decide to downgrade to the previous 1.02.16 version as well, just remember that before you do that (therefore while you're still using 1.02.19), first disable the wireless security in the router settings on the admin page before downgrading, otherwise when you're using 1.02.16 again and click on the "Wireless Settings" link in the left-side menu, you'll get a "Can't open file wire_wpa2.htm" error. If you disable the wireless encryption before the downgrade, you'll simply be able to setup the wireless encryption as usual on the "Wireless Settings" menu and all other router settings will stay intact.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Looking at all the comments on this page, it is obvious the 1.02.19 firmware version has a LOT of issues. However, how much of these issues are known to Netgear? It is important that Netgear is made aware of all these issues.

I therefore suggest that you still leave a comment on this page but that you also log an official support ticket for your problem at Netgear Support.
Just remember to also mention this specific blogpost URL: http://globetrottingonline.blogspot.com/2009/04/netgear-dg834gt-router-10219-firmware.html in your support ticket as added proof so Netgear can read all the user complaints about the 1.02.19 firmware. Netgear will then hopefully take note and speed up the process of releasing new firmware that actually works...

ANOTHER UPDATE - 27 August 2009

Scientists in Japan cracked the WPA wireless TKIP encryption in one minute (read that blogpost for more details) so it is best advised to use the WPA/WPA2 encryption that specifically uses the stronger AES algorithm in future. Of course, as luck would have it, it's only the 1.02.19 version that supports WPA2 with AES and as we now know, it's very unstable. Version 1.02.16 is stable but Netgear better release an improvement on 1.02.19 soon so we can all benefit from the WPA2 with AES encryption.

LATEST UPDATE - 10 November 2009

Netgear has released the latest firmware version 1.03.22 which should resolve all the issues mentioned on this page.

However, I've seen comments of people who still experience DHCP errors even after upgrading from 1.02.19 to 1.03.22. Push Netgear support by logging an official ticket so they can fix this problem in the next firmware release.

Also see my related blog post.

LATEST UPDATE - 16 March 2010

Netgear has released the latest firmware version 1.03.23 which according to Netgear, resolves the DHCP and reserved IP address issues.

Read more on "Netgear DG834GT router - 1.02.19 firmware issue?"!

My computer setup at home

I've worked on quite a few PC's but I've inadvertently switched to a laptop in recent years. I spend more time in front of my Acer 5626 laptop than I should but somehow I don't feel guilty about it. If we were still living in the 80's I'd simply be called a "nerd" but today I safely fall into the category of "advanced internet user". Suits me!


Acer 5626 quick specs:
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T7400 (4 MB L2 cache, 2.16 GHz, 667 MHz FSB)
17" WXGA+ TFT LCD, 1440 x 900 pixel resolution
NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 (256Mb VRAM)
DVD-Super Multi Double-layer Drive
160GB HDD
2048MB DDRII memory
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
5-in-1 card reader
Bluetooth
1.3MP Orbicam

I use a Logitech wireless mouse with the laptop and the touchpad is only used on the road. I simply work quicker with a mouse. As much as I love the laptop, they are notorious for having bad little built-in speakers so I use some external stereo speakers with a subwoofer.



Laptop problems

The laptop is essentially a desktop replacement machine and I'm happy with the performance. Although I love the 17" screen I would have hated it too carry this laptop around all day long. Definitely not a machine for a student due to its size. I did have my fair share of trouble when I ordered the laptop... I immediately noticed a few dead pixels on the LCD screen which was annoying but Acer Support replaced the screen since the dead pixels were right in the centre of the screen which meant it could be replaced as stated in their Dead Pixel Policy (yup, all laptop manufacturers have one!).

I also had another problem, the laptop would get very hot from time to time and although I had concerns about this, the laptop performed well so I ignored it. Well, that was short-lived because on a lovely summer's day, the laptop overheated and would not start up anymore. Again, Acer's support was great and since it was still under warranty, they replaced the blown thermal fan and everything was fine again.

After some research (trusty Google) I figured out why the laptop overheated... I don't like the so-called 'bloatware' that is always installed by manufacturers on new machines so I removed it. It turns out that there's a defect on this Acer series (not sure about their other product ranges) where, if you didn't have the Acer ePower software installed, the fan would not come on after the laptop has been in hibernation or sleep mode! But because I rarely used the sleep mode function, I never recognised the pattern when the machine overheated. If you however rebooted the machine, then the fan would come on again. So I obviously put it into sleep mode one day, started working on the laptop again and eventually the machine just overheated and died on me. Yes, I don't use sleep mode anymore because I don't want to install their software for various other reasons.

Switched from Vista to XP due to driver issues

The laptop had the Vista Business operating system installed but at the time Vista was still having major problems with vendors whose drivers were not compatible with the OS so I downgraded the machine to Windows XP Pro (the XP license is included if you get Vista Business). Some say the downgrade to XP is actually an "upgrade"! Since the release of Vista SP1 most driver issues have apparently been resolved but I have not upgraded to Vista again. I'm happy with XP Pro and quite frankly, as long as I can run the software of my choice ON the OS, I'm satisfied.

Microsoft's Vista operating system was in general not well-received by the industry at first and it turned out to be quite a PR disaster. A lot of companies didn't bother switching from XP to Vista since it was not clear what they would gain by doing it and then there were the driver issues. Microsoft has announced their new operating system, Windows 7, which is currently in beta and it is receiving good reviews so far. The development cycle of Windows 7 is also a lot quicker than was the case with Vista so it should reach the shelves in about a year? At this stage I'll probably switch directly from XP to Windows 7 since Windows 7's quick release is "proof" that Vista will be a distant memory quite soon. Reminds me of Windows Me's demise.

Other hardware

Apart from my laptop, I use an older PC as well (mostly because of its bigger hard drives), with the monitor connected as dualscreen with my laptop and then I just use software like LogMeIn or TeamViewer to control the PC remotely. That way I don't have to switch between keyboards to work on different machines. Due to a lack of space, I have a HP Officejet 6313 All-In-One fax/scanner/printer that rests on top of the PC tower. It's starting to look like the Tower of Babel! The printer has an ethernet card so I set it up as a network printer on the LAN. I use the Netgear DG834GT Wireless ADSL Router to connect to the internet. A router I'm very happy with since it's so user friendly. Setting up things like port-forwarding for the different machines on the LAN (Local Area Network) was a breeze.

One day when I grow up I may get an insane home office setup like Stefan Didak did. :)


Read more on "My computer setup at home"!