yejun
Occasional Visitor
It's an AP. It seems everything in the wireless chart are routers.
NETGEAR WNDR3700 Reviewed
- Thread starter thiggins
- Start date
It's an AP. It seems everything in the wireless chart are routers.
That's because I concentrate on consumer wireless products. Manfs don't make APs for consumers.
if it can wait until this evening european time (8-10 hours from now), i can connect one of mine via serial console to a computer. i should be able to make out the chipset from the console output.
Quick question:
In a VERY extreme situation that I can't get my DGL 4500-DWA 160 situation worked out, which my research is starting to indicate that it might not be very promising
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035228367&postcount=474 and expanded post here: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=16589&postcount=63
I may end up going the Netgear route with this router. For years, I had a 614 G router from them and it lasted me 5 years without ever having the first issue.
If I do, for the PC two floors away what would be a better option for me to use?
The WNDA3100 USB adapter, the WNHDE111, MOCA (this sounds great), or the Powerline XAV1004 kit? Or even without a router change? Are those Powerline products like that considered pretty darned solid and reliable? They sound very promising to me.
In a VERY extreme situation that I can't get my DGL 4500-DWA 160 situation worked out, which my research is starting to indicate that it might not be very promising
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1035228367&postcount=474 and expanded post here: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=16589&postcount=63
I may end up going the Netgear route with this router. For years, I had a 614 G router from them and it lasted me 5 years without ever having the first issue.
If I do, for the PC two floors away what would be a better option for me to use?
The WNDA3100 USB adapter, the WNHDE111, MOCA (this sounds great), or the Powerline XAV1004 kit? Or even without a router change? Are those Powerline products like that considered pretty darned solid and reliable? They sound very promising to me.
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I just bought an WNDR3700 and whilst it is indeed very very fast the firmware still needs a LOT of work. There are many bugs in this unit, some of which are rather frustrating.
If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, it will lose connection every few hours.
It is a known issue which Netgear claimed to have fixed in the latest .55 firmware but has not.
Static routes are also unusable, as is UPnP and sharing of NTFS formatted drives.
DHCP implementation is also buggy and will present problems over time.
I'm running mine with DHCP and UPnP disabled and am pretty happy with it, but this router still needs a lot of work and I have little confidence in Netgear actually fixing all these problems.
It is definitely fast but certainly not the perfect router as implied in the review.
See here for current issues before buying:
http://forum1.netgear.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105
If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, it will lose connection every few hours.
It is a known issue which Netgear claimed to have fixed in the latest .55 firmware but has not.
Static routes are also unusable, as is UPnP and sharing of NTFS formatted drives.
DHCP implementation is also buggy and will present problems over time.
I'm running mine with DHCP and UPnP disabled and am pretty happy with it, but this router still needs a lot of work and I have little confidence in Netgear actually fixing all these problems.
It is definitely fast but certainly not the perfect router as implied in the review.
See here for current issues before buying:
http://forum1.netgear.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105
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VPN Exchange/Outlook
Don't know if this will help you, but to use Exchange/Outlook over our VPN, I use remote desktop to my work Windows desktop, which is setup using Exchange/Outlook and has all my email folders, etc.. If you don't have a Windows desktop system that you can use remote desktop with on the VPN, a Windows VM is just as good, as long as it is setup with Exchange/Outlook and your email folders.
Apparently this is not what you've been doing, but I find that using Exchange/Outlook this way is much more efficient than trying to use it directly over a VPN.
I also have a WNDR3700 which works great over our VPN. But then, I just use remote desktop to get to my Windows desktop system at work so that I have all my work tools, etc. at my disposal, as opposed to having to have them all installed on a home laptop (slower) or on a home desktop (slower). I use a Windows XP Home VM on my Windows 7 home desktop...the VM has only enough software on it to get on the VPN and use remote desktop. This works perfectly for me. The Windows VM works well because my home desktop processor chipset has built-in virtualization technology, it is a relatively recent quad-core processor desktop. However, if I were using a laptop, my first plan would be exactly the same, use remote desktop via the VPN to my work Windows desktop...that just makes sense to me.
-Roger
Don't know if this will help you, but to use Exchange/Outlook over our VPN, I use remote desktop to my work Windows desktop, which is setup using Exchange/Outlook and has all my email folders, etc.. If you don't have a Windows desktop system that you can use remote desktop with on the VPN, a Windows VM is just as good, as long as it is setup with Exchange/Outlook and your email folders.
Apparently this is not what you've been doing, but I find that using Exchange/Outlook this way is much more efficient than trying to use it directly over a VPN.
I also have a WNDR3700 which works great over our VPN. But then, I just use remote desktop to get to my Windows desktop system at work so that I have all my work tools, etc. at my disposal, as opposed to having to have them all installed on a home laptop (slower) or on a home desktop (slower). I use a Windows XP Home VM on my Windows 7 home desktop...the VM has only enough software on it to get on the VPN and use remote desktop. This works perfectly for me. The Windows VM works well because my home desktop processor chipset has built-in virtualization technology, it is a relatively recent quad-core processor desktop. However, if I were using a laptop, my first plan would be exactly the same, use remote desktop via the VPN to my work Windows desktop...that just makes sense to me.
-Roger
U
Unregistered
Guest
Xbox 360 802.11a?
Hi All,
I'm setting up a newly purchased WNDR3700 and was hoping to connect my xbox 360 via 802.11a to the 5GHz network on the router rather than using the 2.4 GHz network.
However, the xbox 360 won't connect, it just acts as if it's unable to find the network.
The Xbox 360 wireless adapter supports a/b/g and I've had it connected to a 802.11a network a few years ago (to a really shockingly bad linksys router).
Should I be able to connect to the WNDR3700 in this way?
Thanks.
Hi All,
I'm setting up a newly purchased WNDR3700 and was hoping to connect my xbox 360 via 802.11a to the 5GHz network on the router rather than using the 2.4 GHz network.
However, the xbox 360 won't connect, it just acts as if it's unable to find the network.
The Xbox 360 wireless adapter supports a/b/g and I've had it connected to a 802.11a network a few years ago (to a really shockingly bad linksys router).
Should I be able to connect to the WNDR3700 in this way?
Thanks.
The WNDR3700 does not broadcast in 802.11a so I do not believe you can connect this way... However, if you get the new Microsoft wireless adapter that is black and has 2 antennae on it you can connect using 5ghz 802.11n. This is how mine is set up and it works wonderfully. I get great speeds and host matches in MW2 about 85% of the time with my router approximately 10 feet away from my 360. Hope this helps.
Sorry, my fault then. I assumed it didn't as I had exactly the same problem as the gentleman I responded to , and once I switched to connection via N I had no difficulty at all. I learn something new here every day. I suppose there is a flaw between xbox 360 adapter chip and wndr chipset in communication then since we both experienced the same problem. I was able to connect to the local network, but was unable to achieve connection to the outside internet through A using the wndr.
Actually, for me it doesn't even find the 5Ghz network. I tried turning on SSID broadcast but it didn't even appear. I'm beginning to wonder if the signal strength was too low as the xbox is a fair distance from the router. My laptop was able to connect from further away but the signal strength was quite low when I did so. I knew 5GHz range was limited but I must admit, I didn't think it would be that bad. I've been thinking about relocating the router to a more optimal position but that means it has to be close to a phone line (for DSL) and then all four of my PC's will need a wireless adapter. Alternatively, I could buy a second WNDR3700 and set it up as a repeater mounted in the optimal postion.
What sort of trade-offs are there when using a repeater? Much impact on bandwidth/latency? If the WNDR3700 is configured as a repeater can the wired connections be used? Just as a hypothetical, if I wanted to connect my xbox 360, PS3 etc. to the WNDR3700 and use that as the shared wireless adapter connected to another WNDR3700 wireless would that work? With other routers I believe you pretty much have to use the dd-wrt firmware to pull this off. To me it makes more sense to drop the money on more WNDR3700 routers than it does to pay $100 for the Xbox 360 Wireless-N adapter (I already paid $100 for the G!) if of course, it could be made to work. Buying three of these routers is getting a little crazy though.
Can't use MOCA since I have Dish Network (Satellite), powerline ethernet is too hit and miss, no CAT5/6 running through my walls and the wall cavities are too convoluted between router and xbox/PS3 to make running cat 5/6practical. So I'm stuck with some form of wireless!
I don't think A and N 5GHz range are the same but I am not sure. Throughput is of course different because of MIMO and wider bandwidth channels.
Nonetheless if you all have the same problem not being able to connect to the router using 802.11A while being close enough, perhaps make a case at NETGEAR for them too look into it?
Nonetheless if you all have the same problem not being able to connect to the router using 802.11A while being close enough, perhaps make a case at NETGEAR for them too look into it?
5 GHz band range is significantly smaller than 2.4 GHz band. Temporarily move the Xbox closer and see if it sees the router.
Also set the bandwidth mode to "Up to 130 Mbps". "Up to 300 Mbps" will reduce your range.
Yes, you can use the Ethernet connections on the far-end WNDR3700. Bandwidth / latency will probably be about the same as using the
Xbox 360 adapter since the second WNDR3700 is acting like a wireless client.
If you use wireless connections to the far end WNDR3700, then throughput will be cut at least in half and latency will at least double. This is because the single radio must receive, then retransmit the signal.
Really? Have you tried it?
Yes. Most recently:
A Work In Progress: Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit Reviewed
HD Streaming Smackdown: Draft 11n vs. Powerline
Others here:Articles on powerline
The biggest issue with today's powerline technology is the impact of AFCI breakers on performance, which are becoming more prevalent in new U.S. homes. Some brands of AFCI breakers can significantly reduce performance.
But even then, powerline can deliver much more consistent bandwidth than wireless, especially in an area with many neighboring networks.
Ah! I will try that out and see if it improves things.
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