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Review on πŸ”Œ Enhanced Netgear N600 Wireless Router - Dual Band Gigabit (WNDR3700) by Derrick Milkie

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Late Review by a Longtime User

I came back here looking for a hardware model to get tech support for something else and saw a lot of feedback about problems. I've been using this router since March 2010 and thought I should share my experience with it. First, the connections were generally pretty reliable. I have connected desktops and printers via both CAT5 and WiFi. I've also easily connected various smartphones, tablets, laptops, game consoles and my smart TV. OS connections included versions of Windows from XP to Win 10, iOS, Android, OSX, Nintendo Wii/Wii U OS and anything that powers my 50 inch Panasonic Plasma TV. Communication still extends almost out to the street, so through the floor, some interior walls, and a brick exterior wall. A 5 GHz connection is of course more limited in range. It's so muted at home that I usually get the best throughput when connected to 2.4GHz. I usually reserve 5GHz for devices in the basement where I can get the most out of the speed. What about throughput? " at 300/300Mbps, but these numbers are actually typical dummy numbers for ANY router. This only gives you a benchmark for comparing products. Don't expect something like this in the real world where physics intervene unless you're in line of sight at the right distance, temperature, and humidity Depending on current conditions, my wife's laptop will still pull 95-100Mbps with a floor and a couple of walls in between Prevailing conditions can raise it above 100 or drop it to 54 but both are unusual. My desktop when using wireless instead of CAT5 pulls at least 150Mbps on the 5GHz channel. On CAT5 it screams. As I said, the numbers don't mean that much the real world.What matters is actual performance.He's had HD video streaming on a TV, heavy web surfing with frequent WiFi taps, multiple smartphones (one with YouTube), while nd I was recording in Facetime with a tablet dcast on desktop (which was also running YouTube for clips). And lately my son has been adding running CoD on the Wii U controller into the mix (e.g. while watching a movie stream and using YouTube on his iPad to complete levels), often in addition to some of the above . I really can't complain about the performance. I'll note that I have to restart it every few months, but I already know that the problem is almost always with the cable modem and not the router. However, I've found that I usually get better results by restarting both computers together. Some IT pros do this regularly as scheduled maintenance, but I only do this when I see a permanent drop in performance. However, as said, this is almost always related to the cable modem and most often after a charter failure or failure. The web control panel seems a little sluggish but does what is acceptable for its intended purpose. It's not something you should do very often, if at all. I have no experience with Genie apps or Readyshare software, although I've made various home computer upgrades and will likely be adding these features over the next few weeks. If so, I will update this review. Overall I was quite happy with this router and would consider Netgear again.

Pros
  • Computers and Accessories
Cons
  • No Color Required