Netgear WNDR4500 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router review

When we performed the same test using the WNDA3100 Wi-Fi adaptor, we experienced a sudden speed boost, scoring a phenomenal 139.8Mbit/s at one metre, 139.8Mbit/s at 10 metres and 60.1Mbit/s at 25 metres. These are the best scores we’ve ever seen for an 802.11n router and single the WNDR4500 out as the must-have router for busy wire-free offices and media enthusiasts who don’t want to invest in an 802.11ac setup.

Indeed, we could play Full HD video at 25 metres using the WNDA3100 adaptor on the 5GHz band and could quickly jump to other locations within the video with barely noticeable buffering. When using the 2.4GHz band our built-in Wi-Fi adaptor we could still watch and move through 720p video smoothly but there 1080p video played jerkily and took around four seconds to buffer when moving to a point in the video. The video was played from a USB drive connected to one of the WNDR4500’s USB ports.

Accessing a connected USB drive is straightforward. In common with other Netgear ReadyNAS routers, you just open the run command and type “readyshare”. You can configure it for HTTP and FTP access, too. Streaming media from it is also hassle-free.

To connect to USB printers you must download Netgear’s Readyshare utility and install it on each PC that will share the printer. The utility lists connected printers and from there you choose the one you need and click connect to use it as you would a locally attached printer.

Despite its features and great performance, the WNDR4500 isn’t particularly expensive. At £115, it’s excellent value compared to the AVM Fritz!box 7390, which has similar features. If you want the best 802.11n experience, purchase the Netgear WNDR4500 and WNDA3100 Wi-Fi adaptor.