NETGEAR WNDR4500 N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Open Source Router - IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n NETGEAR WNDR4500 N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Open Source Router - IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n

Pros: Fast Wi-Fi when it worked!

Cons: less than 6 months and completely dead! had problems with connecting many times but could usually restart!

Pros: the specs and reviews look ohhhh so very promising. the design looks elegant and simple.

Cons: Simply cannot configure it. the configuration page will not load no matter what browser I use. Even after doing multiple resets, the location of the pin hole is a bit awkward but I guess in a reasonable place for, how many times would one have to reset settings. Opened a ticket with Netgear supper. It looks so far to be a dud. This is my 4th (or is it 5th) Netgear router. Maybe the last one.

Other Thoughts: I have tried other named brand routers and keep coming back to Netgear. But not sure that, for at least this model, it was a good choice. Very disappointed. Will see what Netgear support comes back with. For now, I think it is bad hardware. But, out of the sealed box?....that smells like bad quality control.

Pros: Fast Wi-Fi (Before 802.11ac was released)

Cons: After 1 yr it no longer works as a router. I'm still using it as a Wireless Access Point.

Problems from the begining

Rare firmware updates fix one problem and always introduce another.

Does not play nice with Xbox 360

Constantly loses connection to WAN port

Other Thoughts: I replaced the WNDR3700 with this over a year ago. The 3700 was an awesome router for its day. This was intended as an upgrade. The moment I pulled it out of the box and connected everything (as a direct replacement for an existing network) I had problems with my Xbox 360 connecting to the internet. I complained on their forums, and many insisted I must not know what I'm doing. They later released an update that fixed the issue. Lag is rampant with this product, and connecting any kind of storage product to the USB ports dramatically intensifies it. When I bought this router they were $200, and today I don't think it's worth the reduced price. I've asked for help from Netgear tech support many times, but I've been ignored on my issues. I'm through with this product. I'm willing to try them one more time, because I've had great experiences with them in the past, but this router is definitely a DO NOT BUY. Avoid, and find a better solution.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello Elimino,

We are very sorry for your issues and frustrations. We would like to investigate your case as soon as possible-- please email us at newegg@netgear.com.

In the email please be sure to include the forum link, a copy and paste of your review, any case numbers you receieved from support, or any other usefull information that you can include.

We hope to hear from you soon,

NETGEAR Team

Pros: Forums were full of knowledgeable people.
Easy to set up once I downloaded and fixed the firmware.
I might be generous with the 3 stars, considering it was D.O.A, and phone support probably would have told me to RMA it. Although had I needed to RMA, it would be getting 1 star. Had it actually worked out of the box like the n600 I bought for my In-law's and set up for them, it would be getting 5 stars.

Cons: Was D.O.A. - Had bad firmware installed
Per Netgear's forum - apparently Netgear's Tech support is less than useful, so I didn't even bother calling, just followed the steps on their forums to fix the issue.

Other Thoughts: Once the firmware was fixed, I went through the set up, which was a breeze even though the router was not connected to the internet.
As I mentioned -3 stars because it was D.O.A. but something I still managed to fix.
This won't prevent me from buying Netgear in the future. But may make me more open to considering other brands.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello,

Thank you for your review-- we take what you say very seriously and are glad to hear that the forums were able to help.

If you have any more issues lease contact us directly at newegg@netgear.com.

We apologize for the initial frustrations and hope you have a good one!

Regards,

NETGEAR Team

Pros: The new NetGear Genie UI is incredibly easy to use and allows for both novice and advanced users alike to be able to set this router up with minimal problems.

Cons: The WNDR4500 N900 router has major issue within it's firmware that is causing extensive connectivity issues. The router drops the WAN connection about 10-20 times a day since I purchased it about 2 weeks ago. After extensive research on the NetGear forums and on live chat and phone support with their Tech Support, I have come to the conclusion that no two problems are alike (and yet all alike!) which makes troubleshooting nearly impossible. I am returning this model ASAP and although I have used NetGear products for many years now, this will be the last time.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello ENGF,

We are very sorry for your frustrations and would like nothing more than to earn your business again. Please contact us at amazon@netgear.com with a copy and paste of your review and any case numbers you received from support.

We would like to get this issue solved right away.

Regards,

NETGEAR Team

Pros: gigabit speeds

Cons: This device will randomly start blocking VPN traffic. There are no configuration settings in the device to manage VPN connections such as pass through traffic.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello John,

If you would like support to take a look and see if they can help, please feel free to contact them at support.netgear.com.

You can also check out our forums and see if there are any answers there. Please feel free to post a question or suggestion if need be.
forum1.netgear.com

We thank you for trying NETGEAR and we hope to earn your business again in the future.

Our apologies,

Netgear team

Pros: Gigabit ethernet ports, works relativily well.
Has some nice features with a decent price.

Cons: Doesn't consitenly work, have to reset it occassionally.
fails to pass VPN traffic properly occassionlly.
Have to reset to fix issue.
After a power cycle one day it became a brick, amber llight flashing, meaning corrupt firmware.
Online reseach said I had to reflash.
Had to use my phone to download flash file.
How many people have a second internet connection or router to be able to fix something like this?
Go to your neighbor?
It did come back up, but how disappointing.

Bought it 10-2012.

Other Thoughts: At this point in technology, I should have these issues.
I have had serveral other brands with better luck.
This is the second NetGear wireless router, and I am not impressed.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi Duane,

We are very sorry for your frustrations and would like to offer our assistance. When you get a chance you can contact us at newegg@netgear.com. provide a copy and paste of your review and any additional information that you can add-- such as which firmware you are running.

You can also use our forums and post a question if need be:
forum1.netgear.com

Regards,

NETGEAR Team

Pros: - Wireless coverage is outstanding... You wouldn't think so with the internal antennas, but it has WAY better coverage in the 2.4ghz and 5 ghz ranges than the older Netgear WNDR3400 wireless router I had.
- SPEED! 4 gigabit LAN ports, 1 gigabit WAN port for awesome wired networking. 2.4ghz and 5ghz get awesome speeds as well.
- Setup is super easy if you've owned a Netgear wireless router before and if not, it's still super easy to get up and running.
- Packed with features... even though I haven't used the DLNA, ReadySHARE USB ACCESS, ReadySHARE Printer, or ReadySHARE CLOUD features; it's nice to know that those features are there, if I decide to utilize them one day down the road.

Cons: - Size... I know it's not a big deal in some cases, but if you are limited on space, I'd check the measurements on this router first. It's WAY bigger than I expected and WAY bigger than the WNDR3400 I had.
- Vertical configuriation... Seems like it's only configured to stand vertically, mounted to some sort of clear plastic. Not sure it comes off of the clear plastic OR if it's wall mountable. Not a huge deal if it's going to live on a desk, but it would be nice to have those other options (horizontal and wall mountable) available for a users choosing.

Other Thoughts: - Even though it's way bigger than I expected and seems to only stand vertically, I does not disappoint at all. The speed (wired and wireless) and coverage of the wireless network are just awesome. I tried to locate the router as close to the center of our house as possible and on the first floor. With this implementation, I can still get great wireless coverage all over the house, even in our garage which is to one side of our property and through a bunch of walls!
- I don't see the draw to go to IEEE 802.11ac JUST yet... it's still in draft and isn't projected to be a common wireless standard until 2015 or later. This will hopefully be the router to hold us over until IEEE 802.11ac, whenever that is.

Pros: Easy to configure, wireless access can be restricted by MAC address (so only approved devices can connect), service restriction works well and cuts off internet access when it should (great for parents who want to control their kids time on the internet). This router replaced a 3+ yr. old Netgear WNDR3700 which was beginning to falter. Speed while transferring files to my NAS box is up a slight bit. Simultaneous dual band networking means I don't have to sacrifice speed on my N devices.

Cons: None really, but I'll list a few... isn't the latest and greatest protocols, but none of my devices can take advantage of anything faster than N speeds anyway; only has USB 2 ports, not USB 3, but it isn't a feature I'm using anyway.. at this point.

Other Thoughts: Being familiar with Netgear it didn't take me long to get used to the interface while configuring this router. I did have to search a bit for the wireless access control list. If you don't need the latest speeds of the new ac standards this router is a great buy and a solid performer.

Pros: If you don't mind buying a new one every 18 months, then the pros are that it works well until it dies. Not much of a "pro" in my opinion; lack of reliability trumps any real pros.

Cons: About one month after warranty expired, the router began losing wireless connections. Resolution was either to connect via Ethernet and reset, or unplug and leave alone overnight (not simply reboot, yes leave unplugged overnight). This happened for 6 months and then it would not boot properly and was sent on a trash can vacation.

Other Thoughts: I would rather pay more and not have to be inconvenienced with the lack of reliablity. Considering you will need to replace this about every 18 months, buy something less expensive, or pay more for something that will last longer.

Manufacturer Response:

Hello Powpow,

We are sorry to hear that you are no longer using the WNDR4500.

In the future, if you have any problems with one of our products, there are a couple of things you can do. First would be to contact our support team at support.netgear.com.

There is also a support page available for all of our products:
http://support.netgear.com/product/WNDR4500

Our forums are also another great place to go:
forum1.netgear.com

Thank you for choosing NETGEAR and sorry things didn't work out. We hope to earn your business again in the future.

Regards,

NETGEAR Team