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

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Constant freezing and WiFi eventually went out

My previous internet setup was a modem and router combo but in December 2011 I finally split into a separate pair and this Netgear was part of a WiFi router in mine Network. Setup was relatively easy and the admin pages are pretty easy to navigate. I was able to get it up and running in minutes and connect all my wired and wireless devices with no issues. The guest network was also good for the visitors. So it seemed to work without too many issues for the first couple of weeks, but then the problems started - online games were reporting "strict" or "restricted" access being blocked, WiFi was down, wired devices were losing their network connections. A hard reset is required at least once a week when powering off. The speeds on the wired side of the network varied greatly, even though it was hard-wired to a 24-port gigabit switch. I struggled with this until July 2012 when I woke up one morning to hear an ultra high pitched squeak coming from the device and it had no Wi-Fi. The status lights indicated that Wi-Fi was on, as did the setup pages, but searching for Wi-Fi with InSSIDer (Wi-Fi tracking software) showed that the device wasn't even sending out a carrier signal. Netgear's support is terrible and their phone lines go to India where "Bob" doesn't understand a word you're saying. They only have a 90-day guarantee, so no more than that, and you even pay to get an RMA number for a return. Basically, I knew that I could send the device back to them, but I would get a refurbished device. What do I have to pay for. I do IT in a few small shops and I'm pretty good with networking stuff, but I've never come across a router that burns out so quickly. Very disappointed with Netgear support and their product in general. I think I'll be handing over their devices in the future - one of their 5 port desktop switches went down last month so two products in two months. #fail.

Pros
  • Electronics
Cons
  • Long delivery time