Netgear WNDR3700 Wireless Router Product Details
The Netgear WNDR3700 Dual-Band Gigabit Wireless Router delivers the ultimate in wireless performance for home and small business networking. With twice the available bandwidth, separate wireless-N access points for media and data, and four Gigabit Ethernet ports, you enjoy more reliable connections, faster wireless, and maximum wired speeds— ideal for connecting multiple computers running multiple applications.
Dual-Band & Easy to Connect
The Dual Band Gigabit Router manages network traffic too, so there’s less lag in streaming, VoIP, and other critical tasks. Centralizing an external storage device and file sharing is easy. Just connect your USB storage device to the router, and every computer on your network can easily exchange media, documents, music, and more.
Additional Features
NEW FEATURE — Control your NETGEAR WiFi network with simple voice commands by using Amazon Alexa.
READYSHARE Vault — Free software for automatic PC backup to a USB hard drive connected to the router.
USB Access — Wirelessly access & share USB hard drives via one (1) USB 2.0 port.
Remotely Access from the Comfort of Your Couch
When you enable the remote access feature you can access your network through NETGEAR genie even when away from home. With genie remote features all you need is your tablet or smartphone to diagnose and repair network issues provide guest access look at the network map and even reboot your router.
Easy Configuration with Netgear Genie
With NETGEAR sharing across your network is fun and easy like accessing stored photos & music.
With the new look-and-feel and ease-of-use of NETGEAR genie managing your router is fun. NETGEAR genie now supports a single sign-on (SSO) feature that allows you to use one set of login credentials for all of your NETGEAR accounts. Easily monitor connect and control your home network from a tablet or smartphone. With NETGEAR genie you can share and stream music or videos diagnose and repair network issues set up parental controls and more.
M. Ebels –
I bought this router as an upgrade to the Linksys Dual Band (A+G) Wireless router I had been using previously. I have been connecting many more devices to my home network and reliability and bandwidth were becoming issues. I was streaming Netflix to both my Xbox and Blu-Ray player and was beginning to see consistent dropped connections from the Linksys. So it was time to start upgrading to the new wireless N band of spectrum. Issue was I still had several devices which were capable of wireless G. Liking the dual band option of the Linksys, I went in search of something similar for a new router with the new N band included. I looked across all the main networking equipment providers (Linksys, Netgear, Buffalo, etc.) and settled on the Netgear WNDR3700. All I can say is that I am not disappointed in my decision!!!
This router is great. It has dual band wireless (N & G) as well as a USB port for connecting a external drive which can be shared over the network. Amazingly enough, this is a tremendous feature which should not be overlooked! Setting this up is a snap and I now I have access to my movies, music and files from any computer in the house!
The router performs very well. The N band signal strength could be better but with a simple upgrade to N band wireless adapters it performs much better. I am no longer dropping the connection when streaming on the N band to my devices as well as maintaining a connection on G band computers or other devices (i.e. my son can watch movies on my Xbox streaming Netflix while I continue to work on my laptop upstairs… this was not the case with my old Linksys).
If you are thinking of upgrading to wireless N (and you should), then this is the router for you!
It’s Me –
I wanted to wait a bit (4-months) before writing a review to make sure this router did what is expected. I find the reviews of a techincal nature to not be very meaningful if it occurs during the “honeymoon period.” My previous router could not handle the loads that I was requiring (both voice and data) and required constant resetting. The former router was also a Netgear so I was a bit leery of this one, but due to the reviews, the processor, and dual band capabilities, I decided to purchase this one and I am glad I did.
This router is as easy to set up as any other router. I went to the setup web page and entered in my codes and made relatively few configuration changes. One configuration change I made was modifying the speed cap for one of the bands. It came configured at 150 Mbps for one of the bands for some unknown reason.
I especially like the “guest” login feature as I can control the speed and do not have to give out my “real” password to guests with Iphones. This is also an important feature for me as I sometimes have clients come to the house who need internet access. I can provide it to them while limiting what they can see/do on my network.
I have to say, I thought the broadband meter would be neat. However, it turns out that I never even look at it. I find no need for this right now although if I had kids, I think it would be more important.
Anyway, I have had one reset issue since setting up the router within the first couple of days. Since then, everything has been smooth sailing. I like that it keeps up with my phones, wireless data, and wired data requirements, often at the same time, with very little extra interaction. Set-it and forget-it is the way a router should be and I find it is the case with this router.
Robert C. Snyder –
I had read many of the reviews online before purchasing this router and was somewhat hesitant to purchase one due to quite a few low opinions of this product. Having been a netgear user for over 6 years now, I know their products can be hit or miss. My biggest worry from reading the reviews/issues of this router were the VPN problems that were reported since I use VPN everyday to work from home.
I am happy to state that I have yet to have any major (or minor for that fact) issues with this router. I was able to set it up quickly manually (without the wizard) as I had print screens of my previous netgear routers settings and just plugged them all into the new router. It took very little time and I was back on the internet. On thing I did not do however was perform the router upgrade yet. From the reviews I read, some users had problems once they upgraded the firmware. Since I have had no issues yet, I am waiting for a newer version of the firmware before I upgrade. As for VPN, my company uses Juniper and Citrix and I have had no problems connecting and working from home. I am on 8 hours or more a day (VPN) and have yet to lose the connection as some have reported.
The router itself is a good looking piece of hardware, all in black with a stand to have it stand on edge, taking up much less space than my previous one laying flat. I find the LED’s rather subdued myself compared to my last netgear rangemax router with it’s ‘disco lights’ anttenna. My PC’s are all on the 2.4ghz band so I can’t comment on the 5.0ghz but I did notice a slight increase in signal strength. Speed through the wired connection is the same as with the old router.
I did purchase an external USB drive from Iomega, although I have yet to set it up with the router. From what I have heard speeds are very slow but at this point I can’t commment on that since I have yet to try it though the router. I did buy the router for this feature (USB) since Windows 7 has back-up problems writing to my other Iomega USB drive. I am hopeful that if I can get this one up and running, it may solve that problem by going through the router, we shall see.
My only complaint so far about the router is some lack of documentation. There are two buttons on the front which I cannot find any explanation as to what they do. I was hoping one would turn off the wireless since I don’t need the kids on the net during my work hours eating up bandwidth.
In closing, my experience so far with this router has been all good. I realize I don’t use it for all it’s features but for a wired/wireless router with USB it works for me.
A Glass –
I purchased this recently because I had upgraded to Cable internet from DSL. My DSL router was a combo modem/router, so I bought this one for my cable connection. My previous DSL unit was also a Netgear wireless and it was extremely easy to set up, so that’s why I purchased another Netgear for cable internet. Again, it was extremely easy to set up, no glitches during the install, it pretty much automatically detected everything for me, except I set up my own passwords, security, etc. In a two-story home, I can connect with my laptop wireless downstairs inside a room with the door closed – no problem. I can also connect anywhere outside in my yard with all doors and windows closed. My home and yard are not large, but the range works for me.
I’ve used other brand modems/wireless routers in the past and did have some difficulties with set up and had to contact tech support. I really love the ease of set up with the Netgear routers. I’ve not had to reset the router yet either as I’ve had to do with a previous different brand.
For my cable connection, I am using a Zoom cable modem, which is connected to this Netgear router. No problems setting them all up, they work perfectly together. I’ve had no issues whatsoever connecting my laptop, netbook, or iPod touch to my network either. I do not notice any speed lags with any item either while wirelessly connected.
I believe this is capable of connecting USB units, such as a hard drive, to share over a network, which is a nice plus, though I’ve not done this yet. I really love this one and have already recommended it to others I know.
Ken M –
I replaced a very old (Version 2) WRT54G wired/wireless B/G router with this N600 model a few days ago. The first thing I noticed was that the B/G signal was much better at the far ends of my house. At least 30% and in some areas almost 50% more signal.
My existing wireless G desktop, at the far end of my house reports 99% signal strength, with my old router the signal would average around 60%.
Using ‘dslreports’ online speed test, I was able to get a down load speed of 7.4 Mb/s and an up load speed of 856 Kb/s on the wireless G connection. I have a cable modem and the upload speed is throttled.
The exciting thing for me is the wireless N performance. My new Windows 7 laptop, with a wireless N connection, at the far end of my house, gets 15.5 Mb/s down load speed and 850 Kb/s upload speed. My wired connection is 19.4 Mb/s and 861 Kb/s. With a cable modem, the speed varies but my old router’s best down load speed was 17 Mb/s on the wired connection.
The USB shared connection is a nice feature. I was having trouble sharing files between my Windows 7 computer and my Windows XP computers. I connected an 8 Gig. USB thumb drive to this router, set it up as a share, and my problem was solved. One thing to note; the Win 7 computer did not automatically see the share (funny, because it automatically saw the media server on the share). I had to type in the address of the router (in my case 192.168.1.1) and browse to the shared folder. After that, I was able to map it as a shared drive.
If something changes in the future, I will edit this review. At this point in time, I am very happy with this device.
T Acar –
My D-Link DI-624 started giving trouble; more trouble that is. It always had the problem of rebooting when more than one RJ-45 LAN ports were connected and active. So, I had another switch connected to only one of its LAN ports, and DI-624 was my wireless AP and internet gateway/switch without affecting my internal network. That was all fine when I had only one WiFi device active at once. Things have changed, and I have multiple WiFi devices active simultaneously, and DI-624 started crapping out: reboots, infinite delays and just dropping one or more of the WiFi connections. It was time to get a better Firewall/WirelessAP.
I gave up on D-Link with my rather extensive home network (several switches, multiple floors, heteregoneous devices, wired/wireless of all sorts, media streaming, etc.), and started looking at “better” ones. I don’t want to pay a real Cisco router I use at work, so dumb it down and look at LinkSys or NetGear. Well, it was a tought decision, actually. NetGear won at the end not only because I had a number of Netgear switches already and they work without a glitch for many years. It won because its detailed specs; also, this device sits somewhere in the back of something else where no one looks at other than me peeking at it every now and then – not that it malfunctions. Cisco/LinkSys one appear too shiny with less advanced features.
This is not perfect. I don’t care about the USB NAS drive; I have real stuff for that – so I am not going to comment on it. Otherwise, this thing just works in my environment. No problem NetFlix/YouTube/etc. streaming at all. WiFi (I only tested 2.4GHz so far) works with multiple devices active at the same time: I tested with 5 simultaneous devices so far spread across the guest and internal network (yes, that separation is a must for me, and it works, AFAICT).
What is missing? DNS setting is very primitive. I want to specify an internal DNS server with scoping, and then want to say “for all others, relay to DNS you received from WAM DHCP”. This is pretty common with private DNS servers (think NAT). NetGear, I like your products, but do you hear this? It is not a big deal, add that on, please.
P. Moran –
I purchased this router to upgrade from from an equally capable wireless router (an SMC). I have dual computers at my home office and the gigabit wired connection was a welcomed upgrade from the SMC 10/100. The Guest wireless network is an awesome feature that would be good if you have a lot of guests visiting and want to allow them to get to the internet but not access your home computers. The buit in dynamic dns updater if great if you utilize network “NannyCams”. I don’t really have a use for the Network attached USB Storage, but its a neat add-on if you decide to share files to all the computers on your home network. It has a rather long “bootup” sequence (1-3 minutes) so I would not recomend turning it off to often. But I DO like the fact that it has an on/off button in case I need to reset it due to your modem needing to be powercycled. ( I hate having to unplug something and then chase the cord when it falls behind the desk) I also like that you can turn the wireless off seprately. Good for telling guests its time to go without having to shut it all down. Has plenty of routing, priority, and parental controls. I am a net admin, so for me the interface seems straight forward and self explanatory. The interface has a very detailed description of what each setting does in a sidebar for those not so experienced. When I first set this device up it checked for updates and found a few already. Make sure you do them! I have had it a couple months and it has been perfectly reliable thus far.
P. Lamarine –
I have been a loyal DSL customer with Verizon for 10 years. My speeds were 6mbps, fine for streaming HD Netflix. Well, Santa brought the kids both an iPod Touch so now they are all over the internet (Netflix streaming mostly). My 6mbps service was starting to choke under all the use. Did a little research and it turns out Charter was running a $19.99 special for 15mbps service. How could I say no?
I signed up online and two days later it was installed. Only problem, is now I have a bandwidth cap of 100Gb per month. Having no way to monitor my usage, I researched and found that Netgear routers have a Traffic Meter for just this purpose. You set our monthly cap and it will worn you when you get near it and warn when you have hit it. In addition, you can track usage by the day, week, and month. I find this very handy.
I replaced a Linksys WRT600N which, other than requiring daily unplugs to keep the router up, was a great router. The WNDR3700v2 is better. I have read complaints that v2 has low 5Ghz coverage and speed. Not in my case. I am getting wireless connection speeds on 5Ghz that exceed the WRT600N. I also have not had to unplug the router yet. Imagine.
The build quality is nice, but not as heavy a router as I would have thought. All things considered, this was a great upgrade.
At the refurbished price I got this for it was a no brainer and will cover me till 802.11ac comes around!
Ranty –
I’m no router expert, but my last Linksys draft G router was dropping connectivity a lot, and firmware upgrades didn’t seem to fix it. Decided to try this, and our connectivity is much better. Range reads as a bit less than that linksys, possibly owing to the fact that that one had 3 big antennas poking out of it, and this one’s got everything tucked inside.
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Edit: been running this for a couple months now. Seems fairly solid, but range has been lacking a bit, and some of the alleged features don’t actually work at all.
For instance: “Guess access” doesn’t work. If you enable it, guests have access to your entire LAN, as if it weren’t guest access at all. When you tick off the boxes to restrict access to the local network, then no one can connect to the guest channel at all. There are forum posts about this issue at netgear suggesting a firmware upgrade BUT there are many, many more forum posts detailing that the firmware upgrade can be a nightmare, and rolling back (if necessary) and even bigger nightmare. It was a non-issue for me anyway as Netgear’s support site is broken and didn’t let me get the firmware files. (lucky me, I guess).
Woodchuck –
My previous router was a D-Link Dir-625. It had adequate speed, and range for my needs, and I also liked the D-Link interface. The problem I was having was that it required a reboot at least once or twice a day. This may have been because I have over a dozen devices that connect to my network. Another problem was that because my wireless webcam only had the B & G wireless protocol, I was prevented from using my router in N mode. After a little research, I zeroed in on the Netgear n600 Dual Band Gigabit. I was very tempted to go with a D-link dual band router (dual band lets you operate both N compatible and non-N compatible devices). The deciding factor in switching to Netgear was that I had been using the very useful Netgear Genie router utility. This free, downloadable utility will function with any router, but some of the features are only compatible with Netgear routers.
Setup was pretty simple. I hate reading manuals and found the Netgear interface pretty intuitive. I would recommend you use your browser and URL […] to access the router’s interface. If you are a beginner, you should use the Genie utility and follow instructions. After connecting all the cables, remember to reboot your modem before booting up the router the first time. You should also turn off other devices that are connected to your network. The dual band set up is a little confusing and I am still not sure I am using it correctly. I might just have to read the manual.
The reason I am only giving 4 starts is that I cannot say that I have noticed any super increase in range or speed, although I can now use the N mode on my laptop thanks to the Dual Band feature. I was a little worried that with no external antennas, range would have been compromised, but so far no problems.
The biggest benefit is that after two days, I have not had any dropouts requiring a reboot. I will keep you posted if this changes. I also like the interface which is easy to navigate with a multitude of features, and easy to configure. It’s as good, if not better than the D-Link. It also includes a built-in help feature.
Oh yes, the router has an actual on/off switch so you don’t have to struggle with the power cord every time you need to do a reboot. That alone could be considered the fifth star.
E. A. Bustos –
I’ve been using this router for about two years now, and for a long time it worked just fine. The range is quite good as well; I have the router on the first floor and have a good connection on the second floor and in the basement and garage. However, in the past few months I’ve noticed issues with the connection, mostly to the high speed. Suddenly the high speed connection gets lost on my iPhone and iPad, and sometimes both connections disappear (My new TWC modem also has WiFi built in, so sometimes I notice that my wireless devices are connected to that instead of the router). I recall that with my iPhone 5 there was no problem with the connection, and when I went to Netgear’s website they have a notice that says
“Wi-Fi issues with iOS 6
There have been widespread reports of wireless connection and speed problems with devices using Apple’s newly-released iOS 6 connecting to NETGEAR products. The problems that you are experiencing may be due to a recent upgrade of the Apple iOS 6. While the nature and extent of the iOS 6 and Wi-Fi connectivity issues are unknown, NETGEAR will do our best to continue to monitor the updates from Apple and continue to work with our customers to ensure that we can help provide support and work-arounds (when possible) to get your devices connect properly.
In the mean time, please check out the following websites and forums discussions for additional updates and information regarding this Wi-Fi issues between your Apple iOS 6 devices and NETGEAR wireless devices:”
It’s nice to know that I’m not going crazy, because I kept restarting the router to try and fix the problem, but it doesn’t seem like they are too concerned with the issue. The upgrade was a number of months ago; if they cared about the customers I would think they would work with Apple to address the issue and not just “monitor” the situation. The connection seems quite good with other items I have that use a wireless connection (Roku, Sony bluray player) and the wired connection seems solid as well, but considering that I use my iPhone and iPad constantly for work it’s a bit of a deal breaker. If Netgear doesn’t fix the situation, I’m upgrading to the Western Digital router which seems pretty awesome (they were at NYCC and the sales pitch was pretty good). If you don’t have any Apple devices (or are using an older iOS), then this is a good choice for you. Just remembered, I sometimes use the wireless connection on my Mac mini and that worked fine as well. So let me actually amend my statement to say this is great if you don’t have any iOS 6 devices.
Randman –
We’re subscribers to Comcast. I’ve got a fairly complex network layout in my house. I was using Cisco ( Linksys) products previously for years. With my wife now working from home (telecommuting) it’s critical that the home network be up 100% of the time. I was using a first gen wireless N router from Linksys and we were experiencing significant downtime with the network. This caused her many hours of frustration (and me many hours of troubleshooting) with her company’s tech support. I had Comcast come out and they analyzed out signal coming into the house and everything looked good. The Comcast tech was super knowledgeable and after hearing me explain how I’ve got the network configured recommended this router from Netgear, he said he used the same one at home. That’s not their official recommendation, it was just his personal one.
I ordered this from Amazon the day he was here, it was delivered in two days, I plugged it in, configured the router using the routers web page and it’s been seamlessly working ever since. I can now forget about coming home and scanning through the router logs looking for red herrings as to why my wife was having connectivity issues that day. She’d call me at work 1-2 times each day saying the network was down. It was becoming a real bother.
This Netgear wireless router has been working great since I’ve hooked it up. I would have to say that we “push” the router with all the devices we have connected to it. We can have up to twenty devices in the house connecting to it either wirelessly or plain ‘ol cat5. My wife might be streaming Netflix on her tablet while I’m downloading some gargantuan installer from MSDN and the network never hiccups.
I have a 4TB external USB drive hooked up to the USB port that allows me to backup our machines through the router. That frees up a port on my main machine for more toys.
***Pros***: Simple easy to read/interpret user interface, dual band, guest network, USBReadyShare, Gigabit ethernet
The network interface (webpage) for the router that Netgear has designed is simple, intuitive, and gives you a quick snapshot of your setup on the ‘Basic’ tab. You can then drill down into menu items on the left column to get more detailed information about ‘wireless’, ‘parental controls’, ‘internet’, etc.
For the more adventurous there is the ‘Advanced’ tab which allows you to go deeper into the router’s functionality, ‘security’, ‘administration,’wireless setup’, etc.
***Cons:*** I have yet to have an issue with this router. It’s been up now for two months with no issues.
Macy Lapham –
I actually like those folks in India. They’re always been courteous to me and they seem to try hard. Well, that past experience was shattered with this router. Router was shipped just fine, packaged just fine, hooked up just fine, and then the software configuration is where the problem started. Even though I’d upgraded to the latest version, the software screen did not match the instructions on their website. So for instance I went to Netgear’s tech support, entered the exact model number of my unit and it would say 1) do this, 2) do that, etc but what they were saying did not match the software screens at their web page driven configuration. So calling tech support I explained all I wanted to do was change the login password for the network from “password” which is the default to my own password. This was like something new to them, the gal tried to help me and then moved me to an upper tier tech support person who was one unhappy camper, he was surly and short tempered, and just plain nasty. I really didn’t care, so I went through it step by step with him and we couldn’t do it either. I finally had an friend of mine who’s a network pro come over and he showed me how it’s done in 60 seconds. I showed him the discrepancies between what they said to do and the screens I had to work with, and he said he sees this all the time.
So far it’s running just great but their tech support made me want to pull my hair out. I worry about older Americans like my parents who have to call and deal with these tech support people that are so angry and hateful.
Jrad –
This is the newest WNDR3700v4 router, so it has the increased CPU, RAM, ROM and better DD-WRT support compared to the previous V3 model (it also returns to the superior Atheros wireless chipset, compared with Broadcomm on the V3). It replaced an Ubee modem/router device from Time Warner, and I can easily tell a massive difference in wireless range and performance. Wireless range has increased noticeably, and I have far fewer timeouts when streaming multiple media sources. My over network transfer speeds have also quadrupled, which is just fantastic.
The administrative interface isn’t too bad out of the box, and it does support some nice features, like the mounting of USB devices for basic NAS functionality. Overall, the stock firmware gives all the features and functionality that would be required by normal users, and most of what power users would like to see.
Con:
I had to reboot this router once so far, but that’s not the end of the world. It is also IMPOSSIBLE to fully disable WPS device pairing on this router with default firmware. You can ax the WPS PIN, which would technically stop connections, but the WPS protocol is still being broadcast. This will be remedied when I change over to DD-WRT firmware at some point in the future. The only other “con” is a USB wi-fi adapter (D-Link WNA-125, which is pretty old all things considered) I had in one of my HTPC’s would not connect to this router if the router was set to automatic channel selection. Immediately after I manually chose a Wi-Fi channel, it connected and worked like nothing was wrong. Not necessarily the routers fault, but still something worth mentioning that was odd.
Overall, I would recommend this router to friends and family compared to some of other similarly priced Linksys or D-Link routers on the market today. I definitely prefer this over my parents Asus RT-N56U, which I didn’t think would be the case.
Dan –
Purchased this to replace WMDR3400 router which wasn’t getting the job done for Netflix wireless/wired service. This router plus a Netgear Ethernet splitter is now allowing us to watch Netflix w/o any interruptions. We used a wired connection to our TV as I was tired of non stop problems with the wireless setup as our Router is in the basement w/computer & the TV is on the 1st floor. I know it’s possible to do wireless connection by putting the router on a high shelf in the basement, but we had so much trouble with getting the 3400 to work wireless or wired that I decided to upgrade the router, add the Splitter & designate the Fastest(High Priority) port to the TV. Our iPad is still wireless which had almost always worked with the 3400 & always w/the 3700. I used wired to get the fastest & most reliable connection to the TV,TiVo & computer. We were sick & tired of fighting the wireless setup & having the reset everything prior to watching every episode of a certain series. We fought with Netflix, contacted Our TV manufacturer & our ISP provider to solve the issue. This combination has solved our problem. We found Cat-7 cables cheap on Amazon & all is working Great! No more Interruptions!
Customer –
We decided to switch from U-verse to cable due to the faster speeds, but paying $20 a month to “rent” a router is insane. (looking at you Charter…). I decided to buy this when it wen’t on sale and i have to say i am incredibly pleased. I simply connected the router to the modem supplied by charter and followed the easy set up steps to password protect my wifi. I don’t think i will ever use the shared USB info, but the range is good enough to cover 2 stories of my high-rise so i’m pretty happy with the results!
My previous U-verse router kept failing and misassigning IP addresses which was extremely frustrating, and for $48 a month i expected a lot more. With this router i get 50 mbps download and 5 mbps upload. In addition the 5ghz option is really nice if you have a lot of devices on the 2.4 ghz and want a private network to connect for a dedicated network. This was pretty key since my dad isn’t technologically advanced, but he needs to pull up patient files from the hospital. The dedicated network seems to be pretty quick as you can decide the usage for each network on the router setup menu.
Also no more remembering an IP address to access the router, just a simple url routerlogin.net
Very satisfied at the moment, but i will update if anything changes!
William B. Houseman –
Ordered this on Saturday from CCV with free shipping, and it arrived on the following Tuesday. No installation CD needed for setup. Came with a unique Netgear password so did not need to change it. It is dual channel, one channel is slower for older computers, and the other is a faster one for later models and iPhone 5’s. Installation instructions were detailed and easily followed. Firmware updates were available and no trouble to install. Minor detail – insrtructions say to go to Maintenance > Firmware Updates, but there is no Maintenance button on the page. You have to look for a button that essentially says click to update firmware. Range is better than the 6-year old Netgear it replaced. There is a USB port that the instructions say you can plug a flash drive into and download its data to other devices on the net. Router has an On-Off button. On initial startup, wait for the specified lights to come on before connecting to the modem and computer. I’m very satisfied, so far.
wulfsburg –
Just a little bit of background, I work as an network engineer for an ISP who I have an internet connection with. I am capable of troubleshooting equipment and have a strong opinion based upon my experience.
That being said, I have had this for about 2 years, but it is at its end of life. I kept up on the firmware and everything was fine until about 2 months ago. The wifi would stop working. The SSID would stop broadcasting, although the wired connections would still stay operational. However, when the wifi would cut out, the USB drive attached to it would become unavailable. On top of that, when it was in this state, I was not able to log into the router to check and see if it detected anything. A reset would correct the issue, and everything would be fine. At first it started to occur every week, then every few days, and now it happens 3-6 times a day. This is a hassle for me as I use my network drive to stream movies and music to my tv. I just upgraded the firmware to the latest version again today, with no success.
When it worked, it was great. I was VERY skeptical about buying a Netgear, as when I worked customer support at my ISP it seemed that Netgear was consistently the brand of router (varying models of course) that had the most issues. I had a small, entry level Linksys that only did G wireless for almost 7 years before it died. I paid $60 bucks for it, and although it had no frills, it lasted FOREVER. I put a lot of thought into this model, and was convinced by a co worker who said it was a really good bang for your buck. At the time, I think I paid almost $160 bucks for it, and it only lasted a few years. I would not recommend purchasing a Netgear router again. Stick with big hardware manufacturers (Cisco, Asus, Linksys, etc).
Hooked –
Ok…so here’s the scoop…. “old dog, new tricks!” This was so darn easy to set up… Non-techy senior lady did it in less than 10 minutes. Got TV set up on wi-fi router, and p.c (still using cable) – just wanted to be able to “get things going”. Was able to watch Amazon instant video on TV without any problems within a few minutes. EXTREMELY simple 5 step router install..
1. Unplug the power to turn off your modem.
2. Connect one end of yellow Ethernet cable to your modem; other end to internet port on router (cable is included AND labeled, so really hard to screw this up.!)
3. Plug in the power to the modem.
4. Plug in the power to the router. (also included)
5. Connect your computer to the router.
That’s it, folks. Just do these steps *in sequence*, and you should be fine.
NOTE: the plastic film packaging protecting the router has your router name and pre-assigned password on a label. You can change them if you want, but otherwise, everything is pre-set and ready to go. Based on reviews that said there might be a short “life” on this product, I invested $5.25 for a 2-year replacement warranty. Will let you know if I need to use it!
Woodworker –
I purchased this router to replace an older Netgear (WPN824 V3), which lost connection frequently and needed re-booting. The new unit works much better: good connections, good speed, and no loss of signal. The only problem I had was with the set-up. When I first tried to open the set-up screen by logging on to the router, it was blank. Later on the same day, and after a re-boot, all the options were visible, and I could set everything to my liking. Also, the colors of the LED indicator lights were not explained in the pamphlet that came with the router. I had to go on-line to find this information.
Steven M. –
Over the years, I’ve purchase just about every type of router one can imagine. I’ve had expensive “business” quality routers and cheapo home routers with basic wireless capability. I’ve flashed routers to newer firmware and non-OEM firmware (dd-wrt and tomato). This router, however, is one of the few routers I’ve been truly disappointed in.
The power output is horrible. Up close, the connection is fine, but walk just one room away and your connection speed drops to levels that prevent normal streaming, file sharing, etc. I’m talking about 30-40ft here, which is not a great distance in a regular home. My living room to my guest bedroom causes the signal to drop considerably and it is about 30 ft with a wall in between. Yes, I realize walls can cause interference, but no other router I’ve owned/used/tested in this location has the same issue (Linksys, Buffalo, etc). There are some reports that the power is set too low, but I am not able to confirm the dB (or mW) these are set to.
The user interface, on the other hand, is fairly clean. I haven’t had an issue configuring, reviewing, or even remotely controlling the router during the test phases. I was sad to learn that the 20/40 coexistence feature (2.4GHz wireless setting) causes issues if you live in an area where other wireless routers exist (just about everywhere in the country these days), so I disabled it and now get great throughput on the 2.4GHz band. The ability to remotely control the router is an added bonus, as I can help friends/family with their network settings without having to actually travel.
As an additional negative (besides the lack of range), this little router puts out considerable heat. When it was placed flat on a surface the bottom got so hot that it was nearly dangerous to touch. I have since instructed anyone that purchases this router to ensure it is upright (as pictured in most ads) to aid in dissipating heat. That had an added bonus of reducing other issues (signal strength, reboots required, etc), as the device wasn’t constantly overheating.
Overall, I’m a big fan of any company that builds their user interface with the actual user in mind. And the added bonus that this router can be flashed to dd-wrt or tomato gives it a little star boost. The fact that range is so poor, heat is excessive (when laying flat) and “coexistence” mode fails to work if other wireless routers are detected is a downer and would have resulted in 2 stars if Netgear hadn’t take some time to at least add in some decent features. If you’re in the market for a router, however, I’d recommend another brand above this particular model – especially for this price point (see Linksys and/or Buffalo).
R. Ybarra –
I came back here looking for the hardware model in getting tech support on something else and saw a lot of problem reviews. I have been running this router since March, 2010 and thought I should share my experiences with it.
First, connections have been generally quite reliable. I have connected desktop computers and printers by both CAT5 and WiFi. I have also connected a variety of smartphones, tablets, laptops game consoles and my smart TV without difficulty. OS connections have included Windows versions from XP through Win 10, iOS, Android, OSX, Nintendo’s Wii/Wii U OS and whatever drives my 50″ Panasonic plasma TV.
The router is located in my basement office/man-cave and the 2.4 GHz connection still reaches nearly to the street. That means through the floor, a couple of interior walls and a brick exterior wall. The 5 GHz connection is, of course, more range restricted. While it will make it through the floor and walls within the house, it is damped enough that I generally get better throughput with the 2.4 GHz connection. I typically keep the 5 GHz reserved for equipment in the basement where I can take best advantage of the speed.
Michelle –
I’ve had various WiFi routers and they always seemed marginal. So far this one seems solid. WiFi Signal reports SNR consistently above 40%. The last router was 25-40 % fluctuating. No one has come down the hall wondering what has happened to the WiFi network since I started this router up. Set up was easy and user-friendly. I entered all my network data without even slowing down, checked that the defaults I care about were set correctly and I was done. It just sits there.
One good non-WiFi function are the router lights. They are visible, but dim. It sits on a high shelf and the lights flash subtly enough not to be distracting, but if I want to see them I just look right at them and can read them easily.
One negative, a user in our house still only connects at a/b/g, non n. I had to check out his self built computer to find that out. This modem is not as good as the old one for the old protocols. He will just have to upgrade. It is the 21st Century.
Paracelsus –
Excellent wireless router. Setup took all of 5 minutes, it comes with a pre-set network ID and password so it’s basically plug ‘n’ play. I did not install DD-WRT on it as I don’t need much functionality currently, but it would be as easy as installing new firmware from the router’s web control panel. Throughput speeds were better than expected for the internet connection I plugged in, but my connection provides nowhere near the bandwidth capacity of the router, so I wouldn’t know if it does 300 Mbps reliably. Still it’s been perfectly reliable, no faults or bugs yet. Setup/configuration is “open minded” and convenient, with a fair amount of advanced settings, which is nice.
Customer –
Plug it in, and it works. No hassle. No hoops to jump through connecting to it so long as you follow the instructions, which are quite clear and easy to follow.
Extras: the Netgear Genie software is a bonus – I can see who is on my network and (if I ever had to) remove any uninvited guests. It has a link to speedtest.net – kind of handy. Has parental controls, but I haven’t needed that feature. I really like the ability to add an external storage device (via USB) to the router. It’s convenient for sharing files with others on the network.
Range? Well, I’m going to have to walk around with my phone and laptop a bit more to give a more accurate assessment of the router’s capabilities. But I can say this: the router and cable modem are in a ~13×13 room with wooden walls and one window. I placed it next to the window. About 25 ft. away (and through a wall), it gets a minimum of 3 bars, no less. That’s not particularly mind-blowing. However, the Internet signal is steady and doesn’t seem any slower than when I’m right next to the router. I suspect that in a larger home, or one with many rooms, that adding a netgear signal booster/repeater/range-extender would be a worthwhile investment. I personally would go with this one here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L0YLRUW?keywords=netgearrangeextender&qid=1445977820&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
Overall, I’m very satisfied with this router. Quite a solid purchase. It works, and the extra features are quite functional rather than superfluous.
Lk –
This router replaced my poor quality TP-LINK TL-WR841N Router (AVOID). Out of the box this router looks good. It was very easy to set up, and even has a ‘cute’ pre-set password. Mine was good enough that I’ll probably keep it forever; maybe I’ll even use it on my bank accounts! (okay, maybe not..)
All of my speed tests with it have had great results. This is not the bottleneck to my 60Mbps internet speed, which is what you want in a router. I am able to stream video easily. It has dual-band networks, but I’ve only used the 2.4 GHz frequency because that’s what my Chromecast is on and its still plenty fast.
Ports were easy to forward (if you’re in to that type of thing), firmware was easy to update (I think you can even use open source firmware, if you’re in to that type of thing), and the network covers a nice area (like my car when I’m outside sitting in it).
Its a bit more expensive than some routers, but also less expensive for others. Due to my experience with inexpensive/cheap routers, I would recommend this router.
Joe Dunbar –
Just what I needed!
Long enough range to get from one end of the house to the other.
(two story home about 2500 square feet – with the unit at the far end of the house)
Two channels – set one up for the lap-tops
the other for the cell phones
Now everyone can be online with no problem.
Very easy to set up with the disk provided.
Step by step instructions get the job done quick. (very few steps)
Netgear was recommended by a friend, and now I am HAPPY to recommend it to you.
Customer –
If you have windows 10, you have to download an older version of netgear genie for this to work. I looked around and tried about 5 different download links without luck before I finally found one that worked. Unfortunately the newest version of netgear genie will not work for you so with a little work, I was able to make it work.
I bought this in used condition and paid half of the price. I had to push the little hidden button underneath to factory reset it because the seller didn’t do it. Shipping was fast when I paisley 8.99 for 1 day shipping and got it on a Saturday. Works with xfinity. My Internet is much faster. With a little bit of research, you can do this yourself. I am not an expert but I got it done. When you do finally find the right netgear genie download that will work for you, setup is a breeze. Just don’t update the genie because the newest version crashes! Make sure you do update the firmware.
It gives you an option to change channels and shows how many in your area are on 1,6 and 11. Find one of these that has the least amount of houses on them and nothing on a channel near them if you can.
I was able to put some of my other devices on the other 5ghz band to free up space on the 2.4ghz channel. My phones, xbox 1, Amazon stick and a kindle were able to move to the 5ghz. I get 54 down and 12 up speed on my laptop with other things running on xfinity blast Internet about 20 feet away. I usually have about 10 things running at the same time and it is fast! Nice upgrade.
It took some time and a little work but I got it done. Only 4 stars for the hassle of the latest netgear genie crashing on Windows 10.
Jnb003 –
I live in a huge apartment building with at least 40 apartments all in the same building. This caused a lot of problems with my wifi, because all these apartments are all on the 2.4ghz network with their routers, including me. With so many people on the same network, I could never get reliable wifi speeds and nowhere near even half the speeds I paid for. After downloading Wifi Analyzer app, I saw just how crowded my network was, yet no one was on the 5ghz network. So, I took a gamble and ordered this router in a effort to get on that open 5ghz network…and it worked like a charm! I went from getting at best 30mbps speeds (usually 20mbps, and at prime time 10pm at night was lucky to get 8mbps) to regularly pulling around 80mbps! I did end up with some other issues however, the biggest one being that the range on this router with the 5ghz network is not the best. I experience slower speeds when there are walls between me and the router. Also, neither my chromecast nor my laptop are compatable with 5ghz. My Amazon firestick works great though, and the new model chromecast is compatible so I will just need to upgrade that in the future. For right now, since this is a dual band router, my laptop and chromecast run on the 2.4ghz network, and my phone and firestick connect to the 5ghz. I am also adding a wifi adapter to my laptop that will allow me to pick up the faster network as well. As soon as I upgrade all of my equipment, I will have blazing speeds all the time! I definitely recommend this router to anyone who is having connection and speed issues due to an over crowded network. And since you can always buy an adapter for your laptop, compatability problems can be easily solved.
Ernesto Hernández-Novich –
The one I bought is actually a WNDR3700v4.
The stock NetGear firmware is flaky and slow. Signal power was very poor inside my house (brick and concrete, not drywall) not being able to connect two rooms away from its location. There’s no way to set the router’s time and date by hand, and it tries to use NTP (Network Time Protocol) in order to fetch time from remote servers. This would be okay, however it only tries to use the hardcoded Netgear’s servers (that are usualy down or broken), and there’s no way to pick alternate NTP servers. The access restriction, firewall, and VPN setup were also quite limited. Five firmware upgrades since I bought it didn’t improve nor solve my issues.
Fortunately, this router is compatible with DD-WRT. After reading DD-WRT’s on-line documentation, I was able to replace Netgear’s firmware with DD-WRT in an easy to follow, ten minutes, two-stage process. It is now faster, properly in sync with global NTP servers, and there are waaaaaaaay more features you can control. In particular, I was able too boost transmission power: not only am I able to use it anywhere in my apartment, but I can get a good signal from the ground floor (I live on the 7th. floor) also.
It is a good piece of hardware with a lousy firmware. Plan to use DD-WRT if you want to enjoy it thoroughly. If you feel that installing DD-WRT is way over your abilities, and don’t have a friend nearby able to help you, don’t buy it.
Zoltan the Gypsy –
Way late for a review but for anyone else who has one and finds wired speeds are slow: after using several of these for years I upgraded my internet service to 400mbps. Didn’t get any where near that. After a couple of days of troubleshooting it turns out that even though these routers advertise GigE ports they can only support around 300mbps. Talking about _wired_ not wireless.
Gary –
This is the third router of this model that I have used. This particular version (5) came out in 2015. The first version came out in 2010 so the architecture is somewhat dated. I purchased it again because the settings I used were 99% the same and it was moderately priced for the features it has. This version 5 unit has a few features not found in version 4 or earlier. You can setup the router to act as a VPN server for secure access to your LAN remotely (say from a laptop, tablet or smart phone.). There is a special case support for IPTV that cannot use NAT firewall. The indicator lights are somewhat different. The previous versions’ connection lights stayed on solid if there was a connection. Now they flash when there is activity, including wireless activity.