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Netgear Bad Modem/Router ?

Washac

Washac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 2, 2006
2,549
137
For the past few months I have been using a Netgear N300 Modem/DGN2200V3 Router.

It seems to stay stable for some weeks then I get big speed drops and have to reboot it to get things back to normal again, I assume it is not a very good model as I read things that are not good on the net about this model.

What would be a good reliable stable average priced Wireless Modem/Router to buy
 
Washac said:
For the past few months I have been using a Netgear N300 Modem/DGN2200V3 Router.

It seems to stay stable for some weeks then I get big speed drops and have to reboot it to get things back to normal again, I assume it is not a very good model as I read things that are not good on the net about this model.

What would be a good reliable stable average priced Wireless Modem/Router to buy
Click to expand...

I have heard great things about ASUS networking gear, but I mainly deal with Apple networking now and Cisco. Any of the moderately priced routers are going to have some shortcomings but if you get an ASUS or Apple AirPort I don't think you will have any issues.
 
I would shy away from a combo modem and router. Splitting the devices allows for upgrade of one without having to upgrade the whole thing.

I have a Motorola SB6141 and a Netgear WNDR3700 that work great together. I suggest you visit your provider's page and find out what modems that recommend/approve for use on their network, but the SB6141 is a great modem.
 
hallux said:
I would shy away from a combo modem and router. Splitting the devices allows for upgrade of one without having to upgrade the whole thing.

I have a Motorola SB6141 and a Netgear WNDR3700 that work great together. I suggest you visit your provider's page and find out what modems that recommend/approve for use on their network, but the SB6141 is a great modem.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but this works out at over £200 here in the UK, o_O OUCH!

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Altemose said:
I have heard great things about ASUS networking gear, but I mainly deal with Apple networking now and Cisco. Any of the moderately priced routers are going to have some shortcomings but if you get an ASUS or Apple AirPort I don't think you will have any issues.
Click to expand...

Thanks, have been taking a look at the ASUS stuff.
 
Washac said:
Thanks, but this works out at over £200 here in the UK, o_O OUCH!

----------



Thanks, have been taking a look at the ASUS stuff.
Click to expand...

Being a person who runs a 75+ user network of eight AirPort Expresses and one Extreme I can tell you with full honesty that AirPort is very stable. All traffic from the Expresses passes through the Extreme. With 70+ bandwidth hungry users, that is alot of strain but the Extreme runs without issue. I personally have seen 35 concurrent connections on one Express in my network under the strain of visitors to the school. Needless to say, the guest network was putting out a healthy 15 Mbps down and 6 up even with the usage load.

The Express is a great option if all you want is wireless-n. Coupled with drop-dead easy configuration, stable and consistent performance, and AirPlay, it is really a great piece of hardware. If you want AC, then the Extreme is the way to go. I was just reading about ASUS routers being hacked over FTP on external hard drives, and needless to say was shocked. ASUS makes some quality kit, but if security is critical you may want to wait until they patch it.
 
I agree that ASUS makes very good routers, but their stock firmware is a PITA. Flash them with something like shibby tomato and they are worth every penny.

I have an Apple Airport Extreme that's 2 generations old. You will hate them. They last forever so there is never an excuse to upgrade your equipment.

Never EVER buy Netgear. Many devices like iPhones, HP wireless printers, some Android tablets, and anything with an Intel wireless card will have trouble with them. It's as bad as those stupid Arris gateways Time Warner insists on using in my area.

If you like to tinker and want to save money, buy an ASUS router. If you want reliability over all else, go with Apple.

TP-Link and D-Link makes some decent wireless stuff, but if you find it in brick and mortar store, its probably not one of their best models.
 
mentaluproar said:
I agree that ASUS makes very good routers, but their stock firmware is a PITA. Flash them with something like shibby tomato and they are worth every penny.

I have an Apple Airport Extreme that's 2 generations old. You will hate them. They last forever so there is never an excuse to upgrade your equipment.

Never EVER buy Netgear. Many devices like iPhones, HP wireless printers, some Android tablets, and anything with an Intel wireless card will have trouble with them. It's as bad as those stupid Arris gateways Time Warner insists on using in my area.

If you like to tinker and want to save money, buy an ASUS router. If you want reliability over all else, go with Apple.

TP-Link and D-Link makes some decent wireless stuff, but if you find it in brick and mortar store, its probably not one of their best models.
Click to expand...

D-Link has gone way down hill since I last used them. Their routers are all plastic nowadays. However, I just installed a TP-Link router at my school not too long ago. Up to four WAN ports, under $55.00, and a 5-year warranty sealed the deal. Similar equipment runs about $200 for multi-WAN routers. Not to mention that the sixty or so machines it serves, it never hits more than 45% usage. I cannot say anything better about TP-Link, that is why they are my router of choice and are all my switches for my wireless.

The problem with Apple AirPort is they don't die like you said. I see people with original AirPort Extremes still in use and going strong on the original firmware that was never updated. They are a symbol of the quality network hardware Apple makes. Now if they could just add features back into AirPort Utility :rolleyes: .
 
mentaluproar said:
It's better than it was but holy crap it still needs so much work.
Click to expand...

The things I clamor most for are Multicast Rate, Transmit Power, the ability to "Identify" the AP, as well as advanced configuration. I love the UI of 6 and it is great for basic editing, but in my network that doesn't cut the cake.
 
mentaluproar said:
Can't you flash ddwrt on them now?
Click to expand...

On what, AirPorts? Absolutely not. Then again I have no need to run DD-WRT for my setup. However, some people want or need all the additional functionality of DD-WRT and will buy what they want or need. I like simplicity, speed, reliability, and support. What happens if the flashed router dies, I can assure you customer service will bring a whole ton of issues. With Apple I call them and someone is on the phone with me helping to troubleshoot it, or a Genius is checking the issue out.
 
mentaluproar said:
I agree that ASUS makes very good routers, but their stock firmware is a PITA. Flash them with something like shibby tomato and they are worth every penny.

I have an Apple Airport Extreme that's 2 generations old. You will hate them. They last forever so there is never an excuse to upgrade your equipment.

Never EVER buy Netgear. Many devices like iPhones, HP wireless printers, some Android tablets, and anything with an Intel wireless card will have trouble with them. It's as bad as those stupid Arris gateways Time Warner insists on using in my area.

If you like to tinker and want to save money, buy an ASUS router. If you want reliability over all else, go with Apple.

TP-Link and D-Link makes some decent wireless stuff, but if you find it in brick and mortar store, its probably not one of their best models.
Click to expand...

Tell that to my Netgear WNDR3700. With the exception of a bad firmware update it has been rock solid. I connect a MBP, ATV, iPad, Android tablet and Android phone - all wireless. Speed is great, RARELY needs a reboot, network printing works fine (though it's a wired printer not wireless).
 
I recently bought the Asus RT-AC68U and couldn't be more pleased with it. It is definitely the finest router I've ever owned and I've had my share of Netgear, Linksys and Buffalo units through the years.
 
hallux said:
Tell that to my Netgear WNDR3700. With the exception of a bad firmware update it has been rock solid. I connect a MBP, ATV, iPad, Android tablet and Android phone - all wireless. Speed is great, RARELY needs a reboot, network printing works fine (though it's a wired printer not wireless).
Click to expand...

I have used Netgear, Belkin, Linksys, and AirPorts. The Linksys died within a year under the bandwidth hunger of just a small family. The Belkin made it two years before repeatedly shutting itself down. The Netgear also went for two years but not without giving us a whole slew of issues with printers and attached devices dropping. The AirPort has been rock solid, fast, and neat.

Some of the stupidest things I have seen come from Belkin. Why should I need "Belkin Storage Manager" to simply access a hard drive? With the Netgear it shows as a shared device similar to AirPort. At least with AirPort, by default it shares with Macs in the side bar. They can also be configured to join a Windows workgroup.

One thing I do love about AirPorts is the fact that since I use primarily Macs I keep my external hard drives in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). When a drive is plugged into the Extreme, Windows can see and edit the files. The drive mounts as Fat32. I cannot say anything better since that bridges the gap between Windows and Mac for filesharing on my network.
 
And on my Netgear I can read/write a shared NTFS drive from my Mac, when the drive is plugged into the router's USB port.
 
I have an ISP supplied so called top of the range Netgear modem / router.

It's wifi capabilities are truly awful, and I disabled them fro day one..as a modem, it works fine..good steady speeds but it's connected to a TC and an Aiport Extreme...they take care of the wifi nicely.
 
hallux said:
And on my Netgear I can read/write a shared NTFS drive from my Mac, when the drive is plugged into the router's USB port.
Click to expand...

I was talking about sharing a Mac format onto a Windows PC. Enabling NTFS on a Mac is not hard, but enabling Mac OS Extended on a PC is terrible. You either use a program, or let the AirPort handle it.
 
Altemose said:
I was talking about sharing a Mac format onto a Windows PC. Enabling NTFS on a Mac is not hard, but enabling Mac OS Extended on a PC is terrible. You either use a program, or let the AirPort handle it.
Click to expand...

Did I say I used a 3rd-party app to make changes to the NTFS drive from my Mac? I didn't, it was handled by the router, and I think it may be in many cases where a router can share a storage device.
 
hallux said:
Did I say I used a 3rd-party app to make changes to the NTFS drive from my Mac? I didn't, it was handled by the router, and I think it may be in many cases where a router can share a storage device.
Click to expand...

I know that you didn't use an application. I was pointing out that connecting an NTFS drive to a Mac works a whole lot easier than going with a Mac OS Extended drive to a PC. I said nothing about using a program but was pointing out that AirPort can share them either way. I am not sure that Netgear routers will go from a Mac format to Windows.
 
What do you need?

- 2.4GHz? 5GHz? simultaneous? ac? high power?
- How many ports (LAN+WAN) ? gigabit ?
- USB ?
 
Thanks for all the replies, all very interesting, but all I am looking for is a good reliable Modem/Router for use indoors.
 
If it has to be combo, I've always been interested in FRITZ!box for consumer gear, but I have never used them.
 
Washac said:
Thanks for all the replies, all very interesting, but all I am looking for is a good reliable Modem/Router for use indoors.
Click to expand...

I would never buy a combo of a router and a modem. I am not sure if you use DSL or cable. Either way, you want a simple modem (or bridged modem) along with a separate router. If you are using DSL, then the router will connect through the modem using PPPoE. Otherwise, if you use cable, it will use DHCP. This essentially gives the router the global IP, and the router handles DHCP and NAT for the private network.

Never get a combo of the two as if one starts to go you lose both. If you have cable ensure that it is DOCSIS 3.0 or higher. Comcast/Xfinity offers a great list of what modems work with what Internet speed packages. I would imagine your ISP has a similar list.
 
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