NETGEAR’s CES 2018 Announcements:

[Temchenko]

In spirit of discussion here on XR500 QoS and other features, you can view the videos below that shows the value added benefits of DumaOS features:

Would you share plans of NG by porting that firmware for other routers, R7800 for instance?

 

[rbird2]

This was part of NETGEAR's CES announcements.

Based on the article, it looks like the NETGEAR Armor feature is an annual subscription that costs $69.99. This cost will include the Bitdefender Family Pack anti-malware applications for protecting up to 20 Android, iOS, Windows or MacOS systems or devices. Also sounds like this coverage is not a full Anti-Virus package or Internet Security Suite.

Since ASUS is offering free AiProtection network security powered by Trend Micro in their router software, Netgear is not being competitive. All Netgear is doing is trying to do is sell their customers an annual subscription.

Hopefully Netgear will wake up and provide a service simular to the ASUS free AiProtection but I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Killhippie]

The R7800 should have had updates to its QoS with regularity, it started off that way then v4 landed in April 2017 and has been buggy ever since. Now in 1.0.2.40 with the ASCII long password issue my QoS is stuck on low priority for many devices apart from four (that makes absolutely no sense) so till they work out which ASCII character is causing these issues or what mistake they make between 1.0.2.38 and now, leaving people like pec and I getting blank windows when trying to change priority on a QoS that leaves gaming consoles and 4k HDR TV's on low priority for myself untill a fix is released (and this was marketed as a gaming router) I wont hold my breath for the xr500 to be any better until Netgear really deal with the blatant disregard for their own firmware issues.

I thought Streamboost with its quarterly <cough> updates and massive database was reasonably okay, simple but it worked. The r7800 feels a mess in stock and it does not help that the last QoS update is almost a year old now. So buying another router (much more expensive and maybe a little to game orientated for many) based on the same hardware to fix issues that should be sorted by now in the r7800 feels wrong on so many levels.

Netgear make good hardware, but the firmware is getting worse with each release and nobody seems to be taking any responsibility for it within Netgears higher echelons. Does the company actually know they are still using firmware that in some areas has not been updated in a decade! Why would anyone buy a new router from Netgear when they don't bother to actually update the basic and most important parts of their stock firmware with each release as needed to support the ever increasing need for tighter security. Instead of adding more features which feels which like a solution looking for a problem. If Voxel can update so many out of date and vulnerable packages himself, what's stopping the guys in Taiwan?

 

[thiggins]

Since ASUS is offering free AiProtection network security powered by Trend Micro in their router software, Netgear is not being competitive. All Netgear is doing is trying to do is sell their customers an annual subscription.

Does AiProtection include endpoint (Windows, MacOs, Android, iOS) antivirus/antimalware protection?

 

[Killhippie]

You

Does AiProtection include endpoint (Windows, MacOs, Android, iOS) antivirus/antimalware protection?

You can’t run any antivirus direct on iOS all bitdefender does on iOS from what I can see is check your email is private and offer cloud backup services it’s a bit vague. The trouble with paid for subscription service is that some devices may not work with that service it’s an extra add-on that costs more money and many people might already have an AV that they are very happy with.

On my iMac I use malwarebytes, my android TV can’t have an antivirus run on it, and as I said iOS doesn’t let anti-virus have access to the kernel from what I know hence there are no antivirus programs for iOSso that cuts out my iPhone and iPad. Buying a router and then paying for a subscription service on top seems Like a money pit, without that subscription service what do you really get? I would prefer something like Asus Aiprotection which I know is running in the background doing what it does all the time and it comes with the router at no extra cost and I can choose my own AV as needed. AiProtection seems a better fit for a router than a paid for AV subscription. That’s just my take on it.

 

[RMerlin]

Does AiProtection include endpoint (Windows, MacOs, Android, iOS) antivirus/antimalware protection?

It doesn't. That means it can't really protect you against malware installations on your devices and such. That's a different take from Netgear's product.

 

[roo]

i'm interested in this router purely for the firmware aspects. can I get the same geofilter functionality on an r7800 or any other router? I "game" so like to avoid matchmaking with people in Australia.

 

[Mordred]

Tim, Netgear are not doing it alone and are now partnered with Netduma who created the OS

No they did not create the OS/FW etc. The GPL release holds the same basic openwrt based firmware from the R7800, it just adds a few binary modules. + extra webif code, that's it.

This feature is a simple as other firmwares had for years, e.g. dd-wrt with it's qos rules that are based on ndpi protocol detection.


Just like mesh, gaming buzzwords, these are features from 10y old opensource projects.

 

[avtella]

Yup it’s pretty much the Duma stuff overlaid on Netgear firmware. When you click “Netgear Settings” in the Duma UI, you end up with the stock UI layout. I liked the UI overlay, QoS settings and monitoring features during testing, but I don’t think the extra $100 over the R7800 is worth it TBH, plus I thought the stock StreamBoost QoS which is not available in the XR500 was simpler to use. Kinda disappointed they didn’t at least move to newer gen hardware like in the AC86U with improved VPN performance to justify a price increase.

Was hoping the Duma team would add Cake which is a huge improvement over FQ_Codel at least in my testing with OpenWRT/LEDE 17.xx.

 

[NowhereMan]

For those wondering, DumaOS = OpenWRT with some extra add-ons by Netduma on top of it.

So does OpenWRT have the Geofencing features that DumaOS has?

 

[RMerlin]

So does OpenWRT have the Geofencing features that DumaOS has?

Depends what their marketing department mean by "Geofencing". Keep in mind OpenWRT is a modular platform. You install the core operating system, then you can add a lot of add-ons through external packages. Who knows if Netduma developed something from the ground up, or merely generated a few iptables rules using the open-source GeoIP kernel module.

 

[XSXS]

Depends what their marketing department mean by "Geofencing". Keep in mind OpenWRT is a modular platform. You install the core operating system, then you can add a lot of add-ons through external packages. Who knows if Netduma developed something from the ground up, or merely generated a few iptables rules using the open-source GeoIP kernel module.

Geo filter makes sure you connect to a specific host.
As for the Duma OS, from what I heard over on their forums is that they built the firmware ground up. Their older firmware which is believe is openwrt does a better job using QoS with buffet bloat than any firmware I've used on my Asus and netgears. Firmware I tried on those routers are stock, Merlin, John's, and Xvortex.

 

[e38BimmerFN]

I presume if your having "buffet bloat" XSXS then you need to stop eating out so much.

Geo filter makes sure you connect to a specific host.
As for the Duma OS, from what I heard over on their forums is that they built the firmware ground up. Their older firmware which is believe is openwrt does a better job using QoS with buffet bloat than any firmware I've used on my Asus and netgears. Firmware I tried on those routers are stock, Merlin, John's, and Xvortex.

 

[XSXS]

I presume if your having "buffet bloat" XSXS then you need to stop eating out so much.

LOL good one!

 

[e38BimmerFN]

 

[sharpz44]

No they did not create the OS/FW etc. The GPL release holds the same basic openwrt based firmware from the R7800, it just adds a few binary modules. + extra webif code, that's it.

This feature is a simple as other firmwares had for years, e.g. dd-wrt with it's qos rules that are based on ndpi protocol detection.


Just like mesh, gaming buzzwords, these are features from 10y old opensource projects.

Wrong,They built this from the ground up,also they did start with open WRT, and I have never come across a firmware like this,and to top it off I have replaced the Asus GT-5300 and it blows it out the water with regards to ping and ping spikes,jitter and on bufferbloat tests... no matter about all the techno babble real world performance is what counts and this does what it says on the box.this was a big decision after spending so much on the asus///// this just works...cheers

 

[doc octopus]

They changed it from what I recall, unless I’m mistaken. Similar thing happened with the D7800 at the last minute, but it was RAM on that one. R7500v2 on some boxes said 256 MB RAM while it had 512 MB in actuality.

Oddly a bunch of sites including PC World also say 256MB flash, but checking now manual says 128 MB. Thiggins maybe you can get a clarification from Netgear.


Regardless it’s pretty much an R7800 lol, as some have stated above.


EDIT: A Netgear mod posted specs as being 256 MB flash.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Ni...awk-Pro-Gaming-WiFI-Router-XR500/td-p/1481350

System Info in the dashboard indicates approximately 100 MB