NETGEAR WNDR3800-100NAS N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Open Source Router - IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n

Pros: Stable Connection, Reliable, Sleek looking.

Cons: Attracts Fingerprints.

Other Thoughts: Before I got this router I owned the Netgear WNDR3700. What a nightmare! The 3700 model would drop my wireless connection all the time. I live in a condo where there are a lot of wireless signals floating through the air and this 3800 model provides a rock stable wireless connection. I am assuming this is because of the Clear Channel Selector which according to Netgear:- Dynamically avoids busy Wi-Fi channels for clear and fast wireless connections automatically. I at first did not believe it would work but boy does it! Also, set up was easy, in fact TOO easy. In a blink of an eye I had a stable and fast internet and wireless connection. This is one amazing router! Do not get the WNDR3700.

Pros: All you need to know is this: This router is used as "known-good" hardware for the CeroWRT/Bufferbloat project that involves some of the inventors of modern computing (Jim Getty, to name the most prominent) who are tackling very subtle bugs in TCP/IP networking. They are using this device because it has stable, well-understood hardware and can really stand up to even gigabit speeds for testing.

Even if you do not want to do academic research on this device with CeroWRT, you can put standard OpenWRT on it and have a great hobbyist router.

Cons: The default firmware is not great, but you'll replace it anyway.

Pros: Fast 600MHz CPU, 128MB RAM
OpenWRT Available.

Cons: Atheros chipset may be problematic
Has occasional 2.4GHz issues, though issues appear to be resolved with current Firmware

Other Thoughts: Apparently a regression error crept into the Linux kernel used in this device. Many Atheros based routers had this issue. Netgear appears to have fixed this problem.

Pros: Excellent feature set.

Cons: I'e had the router for about 2 months now. The USB options are really good... when they are working. I've had considerable problems with USB devices (printers and hard drives) disconnecting. Usually it helps to reboot the router, but sometimes you seem to have to wait for the phase of the moon to change or something. I'm on the latest firmware, which is less buggy than what was shipped but still not bulletproof. I don't know if the hardware is defective or they are still trying to work the kinks out of the firmware.

Pros: TONS of features.
Versatile USB port.
Offsite access to USB storage.
VERY fast.

Cons: I have a mixed home of 2.4ghz g/n devices and one 5ghz n device. About once a week, all of my 2.4ghz devices stop being able to connect to the network. Power cycling doesn't fix the problem and switching the wireless on/off using the button on the front does not fix it. The ONLY way to fix it is to log into the router, and switch the speed of the 2.4ghz band.

It doesn't matter what speed you change it to. You just need to change the speed, click apply, and then my 2.4ghz devices can connect.

Other Thoughts: I'm very glad I have a 5ghz device and a wired device in the house that can connect when I have this problem. Otherwise this problem would be unbearable and I would return it. I really LOVE this router. The menus are easy to navigate and it has a ton of features. But I really hope they push out a firmware update that fixes this problem.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi reiththestud,

Thanks for your honest review of the router, and we're glad that it seems to be working well overall for you. However, we're concerned that you have to readjust your settings each week to maintain a connection--you should not have to do that.

The first thing you should try is to perform an update to the latest firmware. An update was released recently that fixes issues reported by some users. If that doesn't fix the issue, please contact us at newegg@netgear.com.

Regards,

NETGEAR Team

Pros: This was a great router. I finally decided to get rid of the previous garbage router and trade up to what I had read was a great selection. Installed and started using the new one and was fantastically pleased with the connection speed, and quality.
Then a couple of days ago, something happened that has more or less crippled this beast. For no rhyme or reason the wired connection to my desktop stops working! I have two desktops on this router and both will go offline, but at the same time I will have a strong wireless signal! I can sit at my desk with the desktop and laptop both running, the desktop will lose the connection, but the laptop is still going strong.
Tried to post to the Netgear forums for help and so far no response, sucks that the support they provide free of charge is only good for 90 days, you're out of luck if you are outside that I guess. Now the decision comes down to do I buy this again after only 4 - 5 months of use or do I get a different product?

Cons: Mysterious failure and connection issues, if these issues had not shown up this would have received 5 eggs. It gets 3 because for the brief time is was working well it was a strong solution for wireless/wired networking.

Pros: This is a great router. Has a number of great features. I have used both the 2.4 Ghz and the 5 Ghz bands. Both work great, have good range, and never have lost a connection. I am able to use this router with all my devices; from android, windows 7, and Linux. Netgear's web interface is intuitive and easy to use.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: After owning a Linksys for years, I am really happy with this router and would highly recommend it for anyone.

Pros: My trusty DLink DIR-655 was donated to a non tech savvy friend as it never crashed in the 2 years I had it, so I needed a router. I flashed this router with firmware 1.0.0.25 immediately and set it up with my DSL connections. I easily set up port forwarding, reserved a few IP addresses, and was good to go. The wireless range on this router is incredible, I live in an old concrete pre-war building (generally bad for wi-fi), and I get connection 7 floors down waiting for the elevator! I haven't used ReadyShare, but it's a cool feature if you have fast upload speeds. The gigabit switch is excellent and saves me lots of time when transferring files between computers. Bottom line it works well and once you set it, you can forget about it!

Cons: Reboots take longer than my previous D-Link

Pros: Good with openwrt, fast

Cons: Not free

Other Thoughts: Nearly identical to 3700, but has more memory, which is helpful with open source os. Most recent openwrt, 10.3, supported directly as a 3700 v2.

Pros: none

Cons: wirless connection failed after one month

Other Thoughts: shouldn't purchase this product. Now, I end up to pay shipping for replacement.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi RLu,

We hope that we have been able to help and that your problem has been resolved.

As a general update for those who have reported issues with the WNDR3800, we are posting an announcement below (it may not be directly connected to your original post, but may help resolve issues for you and other WNDR3800 customers.)

Regards,

NETGEAR Team

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Some of you have faced the WiFi disconnect problem in the last few months on the 2.4 Ghz frequency band. There were a few situations with Intel clients and Android smartphones in heavy traffic the WiFi devices were disconnecting from the router. We have resolved the problems. Our engineering team was working with many of you to debug the problem and work on a fix. Thanks for supporting and helping us.

Please download the latest firmware from the following website, or use Desktop Genie App (www.netgear.com/genie) to upgrade your routers. Alternatively you can log in to the router interface routerlogin.net and upgrade your WNDR3800.

http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20264