Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router review

Questionable review

This review implies a review that spans several different router models. There is no router names the "Netgear N600 Wireless Router", there are a few routers though that that are of that specification.

I have the DGND3700... and if you tested that with the Playstation 3 you would have found this this device is very flawed, it simply is not compatible with a machine that has sold nearly 50,000,000 units. So is this going to be compatible with all network adaptors on PCs and Laptops which are so varied they will very rarely reach the 10,000,000 units sold number? Doubtful at the very best.

Chris, you need to specify which N600 compliant router you tested here, and you need to start giving far more vigourous tests. You need to test several PCs with different adaptors, operating systems, and start testing other devices as well such PS3's, Xbox 360's, several USB wireless adapators and even wireless TVs and wireless Blu-Ray players etc.

You need to test several USB Hard Drives for the Media Server... because lots of common external Hard Drives are not compatible with this series.

We need expert reviews, from my experience and from the experiences of the people on the official Netgear forums.... this entire series is deeply flawed. Weak signals, drop outs and it even mis-identifies what type of internet you have. People, and me included, have reported on the Netgear website that all the different N600 Netgear routers see some PPPoA connections as PPPoE, and some PPPoE connnections as PPPoA.

Most people haven't a clue what this means, but in leymans terms it means about 90% reduced internet speed and unreliable connections.

Come on, give us a proper review because Netgear are not going to fix the firmware unless people like you start pointing out all the flaws, we need people like you to help us get the best out of our equipment that we buy. The hardware is amazing on paper but the software leads alot to be desired, that is where you come in and highlight the issue in a way we could never hope to do. And Netgear then get really busy squeezing everything it can get out of this series of devices. I hope you take note, because we are relying on you to help us finally get our money's worth out of this product.

:)

By welshwarrior on 5 Jul 2011

Router name

@welshwarrior Thanks for your comments. The router is named exactly as Netgear calls it - if you look at the Specs tab you will see the specific model of this router.

By chrisexpertreviews on 6 Jul 2011

Hi welshwarrior--we apologize for any frustration you experienced with your router. We'd like to connect with you directly to help you resolve the issues. You can contact us directly at amazon@netgear.com (we also use this address for responses on Amazon.com--it will go directly to our tech team who can further assist you.)

Sincerely,

NETGEAR Team

By NETGEAR_Team on 6 Jul 2011

Valid point by welshwarrior

If you look on Netgear's website, N600 is a series, not a model. On their "High Performance Wireless Internet Routers" page for instance, there is the WNDR3800, WNDR3700, WNDR3400 and DGND3700... all of which are N600 series routers.

What you are reviewing, is the DGND3700, so the article should have been titled "N600 (DGND3700)" for clarity. Nobody would generally think to look in Specs for the model number, as a model number is not a "specification", more a designation.

By LeeC22 on 11 Jul 2011

Router name

@LeeC22 There is only one router on Netgear's website called "Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router" which is the router I have reviewed. This is the reason that I stated the full product name in the review title. There are several different types of Ford Mondeo - the trick is to look at the full model name, such as 'Ford Mondeo 1.8 tdci Zetec", or "Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router".

By chrisexpertreviews on 11 Jul 2011

Review?

The router may have been given 5 stars but the quality of this 'review' does not even deserve a single star.

I wouldn't really call it a review. Just a descriptive essay. If we wanted to know what specs the routers has we would have gone to the Netgear website itself.

For example 'Plugging a USB hard disk or flash drive into the router's front or rear USB ports lets you mount it as a local shared hard disk or set it up to be accessed over the internet via FTP or HTTPS'. Had you actually tested the USB ports on the router you would have discovered the problems they have.

What's worse is instead of apologizing you are just offering pathetic excuses as to why you could not even get the name right.

Consider it a wake up call.

By Rob1102 on 14 Jul 2011

USB disks

Dear Rob1102,

I tested the USB ports with both a USB flash drive and a USB hard disk and had no problems. Everything else that was mentioned in the review was also tested. The model name is the same as is listed on the box and on Netgear's website: http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessroute
rs/high-performance/DGND3700.aspx. The model number I listed on the specifications page http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/wireless-routers/12
85564/netgear-n600-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-adsl
2-modem-router/specifications also corresponds to that listed on Netgear's website.

By chrisexpertreviews on 14 Jul 2011

Confused over rating!

From the reviews and the comments I have seen on this router I am now very confused! On paper it does exectly what I am looking for and the review seems to confirm that. However, I'm worried by the comments above and on other web sites that say it is very unreliable often losing connections, it is slower for broadband use than other routers, some of the features like guest SSID and traffic measurement don't work well (or at all?). How much testing do Computer Shopper do to ensure that advertised features actually work and to check reliability and broadband speed rather than just wireless speed? Is this router still a safe buy or should I avoid it? If the latter then can you recommend something else with similar features that would be more reliable?

By Rob_AH on 17 Oct 2011

Confused over rating!

From the reviews and the comments I have seen on this router I am now very confused! On paper it does exectly what I am looking for and the review seems to confirm that. However, I'm worried by the comments above and on other web sites that say it is very unreliable often losing connections, it is slower for broadband use than other routers, some of the features like guest SSID and traffic measurement don't work well (or at all?). How much testing do Computer Shopper do to ensure that advertised features actually work and to check reliability and broadband speed rather than just wireless speed? Is this router still a safe buy or should I avoid it? If the latter then can you recommend something else with similar features that would be more reliable?

By Rob_AH on 17 Oct 2011

More questions

Hi Chris, thanks for the review. I've seen opposite comments from consumers saying that this router (DGND3700) is very unstable and disconnects regularly. I saw that the latest firmware has progressed quite a bit from its release. Do you know if the stability problems have been resolved?

By KentLee on 4 Dec 2011

NETGEAR N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router DGND3700

Ipurchased this router 6 months ago. All was great once setup. After being switched on for a day NO Internet, despite all indications being normal. Changed the router 3 times! Still th same problem. Netgear service line was less than helpful and unable to sort the problem. persevered with the router for a month - having to re-set daily! Gave up in the end and now await some kind of fix from Netgear as the router definately has a problem...

By Mayday on 20 Feb 2012

Reviews and reviews...

I have just purchased this piece of kit and read the comments above with interest... In fairness if the review is unpaid and / or a general sales review ( usually termed a product advertisement) we it is ok .. but it is NOT technical or user review.

Trying to justify the title of the review is very poor..... it was a decent critique the reviewer should / could have taken it on the chin and said fair enough... after all can all of us get it 100% right all the time >>? ( the answer is NO )

This modem / router is one in a long line of Netgear product I have used with mixed results. In this particular case I found a great increase in wireless coverage and it is very easy to set up. However I have spent a LOT of time trying to stay connected to a Powerline connection which disconnects every 1-2 mins ( worked flawlessly on previous Netgear Modem / router )

This is hugely annoying and apparently very common…. And frankly would be a deal breaker on this Modem had I not waited for 3 months after purchase to install and not chucked the box and packaging away .

While the wireless is better the modem is slower than the previous unit and there are a number of other issues….. the fact that I was sold by a leading on-line company what I consider to be a problematic model with very old version/firmware is even more annoying…..

The real point is that I come to “EXPERT Reviews” for exactly that…… if I want recycled sales bumpf I will read the on-line sellers descriptions….. please rip the product apart and tell us all the problems as well as the joys…..

Remember that information is as valuable as the price that you paid for it…

By Traxcorp on 5 Apr 2012