NETGEAR N600 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router (WNDR3400)

We have been using this router for about a year now with no complaints. The signal is great, quality is good, speed is good, even when storms bring down electricity it doesn't take long to boot back up. For the price I'd definitely recommend. I even purchased a second for my parents house and they have had no complaints either. It gives you a preset password and information to register the machine and your Netgear account. It is a simple set up, this was my first time setting one up and I had no issues. Regarding signal ours reaches upstairs and out into our yard quite a ways. We also have multiple machines on it the majority of the time including TV, tablets, phones and laptops. It never slows the signal down. Overall great product.

I would highly recommend this product to anyone that is comtiplating purchasing it. We bought this about three months ago and I admit at first i was skeptical because i bought it used. The repsose of the router was light years ahead of my old NETGEAR, the easy set up that comes in the package makes is very simple to get going. My wife was able to do this while I was at work with little understanding of how networks work. The wifi Password is printed on a label on the side of the device which is handy for anyone that stops by the house to be able to jump on the network. I currently run three tablets, two phones, two Ipods, playstation 3, Wii, and two Laptops on our network and the performance is perfect. I've read a few other reviews on this product and I dissagree with the users that say this router drops thier signal twice or more a day. My wife works from home, she runs an online fabric company and is never disconnected from the internet. She has not once had a dropped signal. I would suggest those expiriencing this check there ISP and possibly understand that the ISP is the issue. I will recommend this to everyone and anyone that asks me about a good router product. Not too expensive and continues to superscede my expectations every day.

Hope this helps, if you don't get it, your loss.

-Vince

First of all, how can you beat the price? under $25! It did not come with any documentation but it was easy to find the necessary files on Netgear's website. The user manual and setup guide are available in pdf to download. Just follow the directions on the setup guide and you will be up and running in less than 10 minutes. Setting up a guest network was very easy as well using the directions in the user manual. I didn't have to do any other tweaking to the default settings. And I did the setup using the manual method. I have a Actiontec router with my FIOS account that no one seems to like. It had marginal signal range which caused me havoc upstairs in my bedroom tying watch a movie on a ROKU. I did manage to turn off the wireless signal on that router so it basically serves as the cable box now. I am now getting a significantly stronger wireless signal upstairs now.

So now I have 3 networks - a 2.4ghz for normal use; a 5ghz that I reserve for devices when streaming from Netflix and Amazon; and the guest 2.4ghz network. Sometimes when my daughter has friends over and they are all using their iPhones on our network, I have been suffering because of the bandwidth drain. I am going to read the user manual as I am pretty sure I can tweak the settings to limit the bandwidth available to the guest network. That way they can all text, do Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. but not make my movies freeze.

I see some other reviewers had issues with the updated firmware. As soon as I started setting the router up, it notified me there was a firmware update and asked me if I wanted to download and install it. I did so without any issues.

I do not do any gaming so I can't give any feedback in the area. We figured out we actually have 16 devices connected to our WIFI network including our VOIP phones.

So in summary, a great price for a really nice dual band router. Just read and follow the setup guide.

I'm not sure where others are having issues.

This product has worked FLAWLESSLY for me out of the box.

I have had zero issues with dropping signal. It's been set up and running without interruption since March. Set up out of the box was done with my smartphone, zero issues getting the router configured and running. As far as customer ease of use, I'd have to rate Netgear's interface as one of the easier/more intuitive set ups.

This unit broadcasts signal from my basement to the second floor with no issue (-60db signal on the second flr). I have solid signal through the entire house (appx 1500sq ft 2 flr house) with this unit. The signal is 'worst' on the first floor, on the opposite side of the house from where the router is located in the basement (signal drops to -50db) This works so well I'm getting a second one to use as an AP in an outdoor area. For the price it's a terrific unit.

The newer AC routers are nice, but the price tag that goes with them doesn't quite justify them. My home network doesn't have need of gigabit capability or 'beam forming'. This product fits my bill almost to the T.

I ordered two of these. The first one, the seller who I bought it from (used) sent me an older model, where the WPS didn't work. I returned it, but they had it a week before they refunded my money and i needed to show them my tracking number before the issued the refund. The second one I ordered was "like new" which was fulfilled by amazon. This one is almost perfect.It work perfectly except for ethernet port 1. According to Time warner cable, its a bad port as my computer could not make an ethernet connect with it. I'm not going to bother sending it back since there are 4 ports on it and the other three work great. I don't normally use ethernet, but I am using it for my gbox which it gives 100mps. I'm also get 60+mps with the wifi, which without a booster I think is great. I have partnered this router up with the NETGEAR High Speed DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (CM400-1AZNAS)

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Feature Product

• Faster WiFi Speed: N600 Dual Band WiFi delivers 300 + 300Mbps
• Ideal WiFi range for medium to large homes. System Requirements: Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 10,Vista, XP, 2000, Mac OS, UNIX, or Linux, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, Firefox 2.0, Safari 1.4, Chrome
• Simultaneous Dual Band: Reduces interferences for better connections to more WiFi devices
• NETGEAR genie home network manager for easy installation and home network management
• Supports Windows 8

Description

Simultaneous dual band Wireless-N offers twice the bandwidth with better connection and less interference, Ready SHARE provides fast and easy shared access to an external USB storage device, Broadband Usage Meter ensures accurate measurement of Internet traffic daily, weekly and monthly with customized alerts Live Parental Controls, powered by OpenDNS, Blocks unsafe Internet content and applications, Flexible and customizable settings through Web interface, accessible remotely, Protects devices connected through the router such as PCs, gaming consoles, and iPod touch, And it's FREE! To learn more visit www.netgear.com/lpc, Multiple SSID support - Set up a second network for guests with restricted access or a dedicated network for video and gaming, Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) - Enjoy enhanced media, gaming, and Internet telephone performance with automatic application prioritization, Push 'N' Connect securely connects devices at the touch of a button. Spend less time installing your router and setting up your network and more time gaming, surfing the Internet, and conducting business, NETGEAR Green, Convenient one-touch on/off switch and Wi-Fi button conserve energy, Efficient Energy Star compliant power supply, Packaging manufactured with at least 80% recycled materials.

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I bought this router to replace a 12-year-old 802.11g router. The new one worked right out of the box. Looking through the menus/options by going to http://192.168.1.1, I saw that it had many, many nice features that I had never imagined. Of course I didn't want to use all the factory default settings (especially the router's password being "password"), so I made a lot of changes, e.g., changing the regular and "guest" network parameters, setting the Address Reservation Table and changing the QoS Priority Rule List. You can go to Advanced > Administration > Backup Settings to save the configuration to and restore it from a disk file. However, this didn't work for the QoS List. After hours on the phone with tech support, I was advised to return the unit. However, I didn't give up, and discovered this:

After editing the QoS List, you click on Apply, and the field blinks, indicating (I thought) that the action had been carried out. However, I had to make several clicks on Apply before I saw "Updating Settings" and a running line of squares appear. Unless that happens, THERE IS NO UPDATE.

I live in a large house and wanted to find out what the antennas' radiation patterns were. Tech support was totally ignorant about it. One tech advised me to keep the router horizontal because "in the vertical position it may not get a strong signal from the modem (although connected by an Ethernet cable), and the cables may fall out of the router." However, p.9 of the manual states, "To ensure proper heat dissipation and for router stability, it is important that you connect the stand and place your router in an upright position."

In summary. I give: tech support = 2 stars, device software = 4 stars, device hardware and software functions = 5 stars.

I have had this product for over two weeks now and I am very happy with this product. Since I switched to this product I have had no problems with intermittent drops like I had hourly with my Motorola Arris 6580.

Speed: The speed test also shows that the bandwidth is actually 15-25% faster even though I am still using the Motorola as the cable modem.

Range: I can now get a signal in my storage area and the backyard. It is not as strong as inside but I can still use Pandora and watch smaller youtube videos. That is a huge improvement for me.

Cons: If there was one con, it was that the installation cd was useless for me. Every time I tried to use it the pc would not recognize the modem. But they also give instructions on just logging in to the website and setting everything up manually. The manual setup took me about 15 minutes and I haven't had to login since.

The only reason for knocking off a star was a weird problem that required me to do the firmware upgrade twice and twice start from scratch on the settings before I got it working right (initially it would only associate on 2.4 GHz using WEP and WPS didn't work on either band). However, support walked me through several things to try and it is now working as expected. Throughput and stability are excellent and the signal strength is fine for the application and adequately covers the house from a central position.
My only caution would be if you do have to update the firmware, make sure you explicitly do a reset of the factory settings before you proceed with configuration once the new firmware is in place. Omitting the factory reset after the firmware update seems to have been the cause of the problems I experienced.

At under $30, this N, dual band router is a great choice. The router worked, unsecured, as soon as I connected it. By logging into it's setup page, it was easy to set up the SSID and pass-phrase (= password) for each band. (This router has a "normal' 2.4 GHz band, and also a 5 GHz band, hence "dual-band").

This router replaced an older Linksys "b/g" router, which is ok up to 54 Mbps (mega bits per second). That is way faster than the bandwidth that Cablevision provides, so, on paper at least, the old router was more than adequate. But, my new Dell Inspiron only measured 9 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. My wife's HP Pavilion Dv6 measured a miserable 2 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed whatever we did, or wherever we placed the laptop. (I use Speedtest.net by Ookla for these numbers). The other "issue" with the Linksys was drop-outs, now happening every couple of days as the unit got older.

The new NETGEAR WNDR3400 router has changed all that. The Dell Inspiron now measures 17 Mbps download, and 5 Mbps upload. The HP Pavilion is almost the same: 16 down and 5 up - what a difference in web performance! (note - the "N" band supports up to 145 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, but in our case it is limited by the incoming Cablevision signal.)

I connected a Seagate "Go Flex" 2 TB NAS (= network attached storage) drive to the USB port on the Netgear router. The NAS drive continued to connect and operate as it did on the old router, with no change or adjustment. One difference, though, is how much faster the initial backup takes place after you start up either laptop.

One other point - neither of the laptops can see the 5 GHz signal, but my Samsung 4G LTE phone, my company Dell Latitude and a Motorola Zoom tablet can see and connect to the 5G signal. That's cool, but the download and upload speeds are exactly the same on the 5G band, because it is limited by the incoming Cablevision signal.

I fitted the plastic feet (included), so this router stands upright, takes less shelf space than the older Linksys, and probably cools better. Remember to remove the plastic sheets protecting the front and back surfaces, which block the cooling vents around the edges. An Ethernet cable is included, which I used during setup - it's just quicker and easier than doing the setup wirelessly.

During setup, I opted to use the higher security "WPA2-PSK [AES]" setting. The older router used WPA-PSK. I used the same SSID and passphrase as the old router, but because I changed the security setting, I had to "reconnect" the other devices in the house - Smart TV, Blue Ray Disk, ROKU, tablets and laptops. This only took a minute or so for each unit.

Any downsides? The setup screen does take almost a minute to save each change that you make, but you will only ever do this setup once, so who cares? The refurbished unit does not include the setup instructions, but does give you a link to the user manual on line (if you need it, download the manual BEFORE you disconnect the old router - duh!) Both are minor points, considering how much less you pay for the refurbished unit.

So far, no dropouts in the week or so that it has been installed - hooray!. Easy setup, much better performance, and all for less than $30!

Like so many electronics manufacturers their instructions a lacking. They think we are all Geek Squad employees.

I followed the set-up & installation instructions and had everything up and running in fairly short order, I was quite pleased but that soon ended.

After only a few minutes I decided to change the default name of one of the channels (this unit has 2 channels - one for uploads & one for down) so I changed the name and hit save. A moment later the router crashed and I lost my internet connection. I re-booted the router and it cycled and came back up. This loss of connection was happening about 5 or 6 times a day for 4 days.

Like another reviewer I was ready to rip it out and send it back to Amazon but I calmed down and called Netgear customer help line and now it appears the problem is gone. With the help of someone named Anthony (yeh sure) in India he explained the 2 channel feature and that I had managed to set the router up to use only one channel for both up & down loads.

That is why it would crash - if you try to up-load something & download on the same channel - guess what - you crash. Its like driving the wrong way on the oneway street, sometimes you make it through & sometimes you crash.

You have 90 days free tech support, if you are having problems make use of tech support and if you can get Anthony you'll be in good hands.

GoodLuck.