NETGEAR WNDR3700 Reviewed

[Sydero]

Since WMM should be enabled on the router, should we also enable it on our adapters? All Intel cards seem to have the default setting of WMM as off.

 

[Unregistered]

Confused by multiple connections

Will all my devices connect at their fastest speed or will it get held back by the slowest link?

I'll have connected:-
PC (Hard wired on 1 Gigabit link)
PS3 (Hardwired via Powerline kit)
iPhone 3GS (802.11b/g Wi-Fi)
iPhone 4G (802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi but n at 2.4ghz only)
iPad (Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

Is a case the wireless devices can all be connected at the same time but say as long as as long as the 3GS isn't downloading the iPad with get n 5ghz, what about the iPhone 4G?

 

[thiggins]

Will all my devices connect at their fastest speed or will it get held back by the slowest link?

In mixed, networks, the slowest device always limits performance of the faster devices. That's why it is advisable to set up a dedicated 11b/g network for busy wireless LANs.

 

[Sydero]

Just thought I'd post the current performance results from DD-WRT vs. Stock for myself:

Two floors above router
Stock Firmware
Write to Drive: 3.25 MB/s
Read from Drive: 4.90 MB/s
Write to Networked Computer: 2.04 MB/s
Read from Networked Computer: 3.20 MB/s
Signal: 121 Mbps

DD-WRT Firmare
Write to Drive: 2.80 MB/s
Read from Drive: 1.69 MB/s
Write to Networked Computer: 1.09 MB/s
Read from Networked Computer: 1.50 MB/s
Signal: 78 Mbps

Some people are reporting potentially better results than the stock, but it's also possible that they don't actually remember the results.

 

[Unregistered]

Issue with USB readyshare

Bought this router recently and like it a lot except that the USB hard drive seems to disappear after a week or so, requiring a reboot of the router. Then it's fine again for another week... Running the latest firmware. Spoke to netgear support but they had no suggestions.

Anyone else experienced this? Thanks.

 

[ynohtna]

Just thought I'd post the current performance results from DD-WRT vs. Stock for myself:



Some people are reporting potentially better results than the stock, but it's also possible that they don't actually remember the results.

thanks for this update... nothing new on the 5ghz front?

 

[Sydero]

thanks for this update... nothing new on the 5ghz front?

For me it was just as disappointing as stock... but slower.

 

[ynohtna]

For me it was just as disappointing as stock... but slower.

I'm lucky that I don't need to cross floors to my router...

 

[rkuo]

My experience with this router is not good so far in terms of WAN performance. I get approx 2-2.5 MB/sec download speed using the latest netgear firmware. My trusty DGL-4500 has been getting 3-3.5 MB/sec, but has been flaky recently.

I'm going to flash DD-WRT to this thing since I really don't care much about the wireless performance and see what happens. But my real world experience does not match the testing done here so far.

 

[rkuo]

DD-WRT was a disaster. Slows down to 8 mbps within minutes.

Not sure why my results are so different from anyone else. I've gone back to the

I'm tired of trying to buy a router that will be fast, stable, and able to handle many connections. Think i'm going to go the smoothwall route and see how that goes.

 

[simonpink]

is this thing still really slow when using 40mhz in the 5ghz band?
I've got a macbook that's restricted(thanks Steve) from using 40mhz in 2.4ghz, so it wouldn't be much good to me if it is.

can anyone suggest to me the next best if it is?
thanks

 

[jalyst]

I'm amazed that this is still the best consumer grade dual-band router so long after it's release!
Surely there's a new contender on the horizon?!

Just poured through all SNB's reviews for the year, nothing...
Yet to more closely scrutinise the router/wifi charts, but based on the reviews alone...

What is 3rd party firmware support like for this now?
Is there decent dd-wrt/tomato builds like there is for the WRT610n's etc?

 

[freesafety13]

Here is the DD-WRT page for the 3700. I have been unable to locate a specific Tomato build for this router but short of lackluster VPN support and the issue with certain revisions having bad/failing ath0/ath1 on both radios, this is the current champion of dual band Wireless N routers.

 

[jalyst]

Here is the DD-WRT page for the 3700. I have been unable to locate a specific Tomato build for this router but short of lackluster VPN support and the issue with certain revisions having bad/failing ath0/ath1 on both radios, this is the current champion of dual band Wireless N routers.

Thanks,

Lacklustre VPN support wouldn't be a result of the dd-wrt (GNU/*nix) implementation.
So I'm guessing the crytpo hardware used by the 3700 was ordinary from the outset?

Bad/failing ath0/ath1 on both radios for certain revisions?
Crap, hopefully that's well doco'd on the wiki, thanks for the heads up!

 

[freesafety13]

I actually just updated the WIKI recently so you should be good to go from that stand point. As far as the VPN support, you are correct it has nothing to do with the DD-WRT builds themselves. Even openVPN has issues and there is alot of speculation as to why it isn't working but nobody has narrowed it down yet.

 

[jalyst]

thanks for being kind enough to share what you know here & on the wiki, all the best!

 

[Unregistered]

Outstanding Product

I purchased a WNDR37AV at a local Retailer (Fry's), after reviewing comments and reviews on SmallNetBuilder, NetGear's website, and others. I was intending to purchase a WNDR3700v2, however, when I couldn't find one marked that way, thought I'd go with the new name designation on the WNDR37AV (Same as the WNDR3700). Interesting to note upon installation and using the CD, it says WNDR3700v2! Not sure what's up with that, but I must say that this so far appears to a VERY SOLID Product. It didn't need to have further firmware upgrade...it was current out of the box.

I replaced an older Netgear RangeMax Router (the first Rangemax that came out). It's been running good all these years, but it was time to upgrade and take advantage of some of the new features....

In just an hour of so, I had the new Router configured and running with 4 XP Laptops, 1 XP Desktop, and 2 wireless printers. Will be adding 2 MacBooks and 1 iPad in the near future. That includes setting up the 5GHz and 2.4GHz and Guest Networks! Most of that hour was configuring the PC's and Printers....

The installation is a SNAP. The feature set on this product is OUTSTANDING. All you could want in a home setting. And, it appears to be VERY fast. I'm delighted so far.

I give it 5 stars....

 

[Agecoat]

Port translation

Reviewer says:

Firewall - The SPI+NAT firewall is pretty basic, although you can disable SPI. Both port forwarding and triggered port forwarding are supported. You get a rather short pick list of services in the Port Forwarding add screen, but you can specify the port numbers and protocols directly for both the outbound trigger port and inbound port range.

My question is:

What about port translation, i.e. WAN IP port 80 to LAN IP port 8080, is that possible and if not, why not reviewed as an omission for this device?

 

[bimmerdriver]

I purchased a WNDR37AV at a local Retailer (Fry's), after reviewing comments and reviews on SmallNetBuilder, NetGear's website, and others. I was intending to purchase a WNDR3700v2, however, when I couldn't find one marked that way, thought I'd go with the new name designation on the WNDR37AV (Same as the WNDR3700). Interesting to note upon installation and using the CD, it says WNDR3700v2! Not sure what's up with that, but I must say that this so far appears to a VERY SOLID Product. It didn't need to have further firmware upgrade...it was current out of the box.

I replaced an older Netgear RangeMax Router (the first Rangemax that came out). It's been running good all these years, but it was time to upgrade and take advantage of some of the new features....

In just an hour of so, I had the new Router configured and running with 4 XP Laptops, 1 XP Desktop, and 2 wireless printers. Will be adding 2 MacBooks and 1 iPad in the near future. That includes setting up the 5GHz and 2.4GHz and Guest Networks! Most of that hour was configuring the PC's and Printers....

The installation is a SNAP. The feature set on this product is OUTSTANDING. All you could want in a home setting. And, it appears to be VERY fast. I'm delighted so far.

I give it 5 stars....

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, buying a Netgear product is like buying a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Go over the netgear forum and read about the problems other people are experiencing with the firmware and how enamored they are with Netgear's support.

(I'm one of those Netgear customers with a bad case of buyer remorse.)

 

[EATTHERICH]

Would you guys recommend a 3700 over an AirPort Extreme Base Station?...