NETGEAR WNDR3700 Reviewed

[beginner_]

Are you asking about the WNDR3700?

Depends on a lot of things. But in general, most people don't find wireless good for trouble-free HD streaming, especially in areas with many networks.

Yes. But would also need to buy a 5 ghz usb dongle for the other end. But it seems that's not the way to go. cabling won't be easy also.

 

[stephenju]

Is it possible to stream 1080p using wireless? I assume not but doesn't hurt to ask. (read in a user review 1080p youtube worked for him).

distance about 15 feet.

I didn't know youtube has 1080p video. Even if it does, it has to be bit-starved so it's not going to consume too much bandwidth.

The thing about video is, resolution like 720p or 1080p doesn't tell the whole story. The bit rate does. A high bit rate 480p video can look much better than a low bit rate of anything.

I did have a setup that was 2 WNHDE111s between 2 floors. It did stream ATSC video at about 18-19 mbps well enough to watch TV on the remote computer. The tuner is an HD Homerun in the basement. It still stuttered at time.

 

[vashthestampede83]

Hi all, finally my WNDR3700 arrived! I setup it without any problem using my DG834G as modem only. I make some test coping a 700MB file from my iMac (SnowLeopard,5Ghz) to my father's notebook (Vista Business,Gigabit), my result is an average speed of 7/8MB/s *; this is in line with your review test (and also other user speed ) but i'm very surprised to see some people scoring 15MB/s via wireless. My iMac is 3 meters far from the router, and i notice that connecting also the notebook via wireless (1 meters far, always in 5Ghz), in the vista connection properties i can see only 130Mps; could be that the iMac non recognize the maximun speed connection of 300Mbit and so also the notebook show 130Mbps? In this case with 130Mps speed connection, real 7/8MB/s is a "correct" speed.
Anyone that using a Mac know a program to see the wireless network properties? I tri iStumbler but it doesn't work with Snow Leopard

* I try also some tuning changing the channel, the protection, enabling the video mode without significant results.

 

[thiggins]

Make sure the WNDR3700 Wireless Settings > Mode is set to "Up to 300Mbps" on both radios.

You may also need to change the wireless adapter on the iMac to use 40 MHz channel bandwidth.

 

[Persiflage101]

Godsend!

Just wanted to send my sincere thanks for stopping the madness that has consumed me in trying to upgrade my wireless router (old NetGear WGR614 v6) to a "n" router. I'm computer literate, but not network savvy and trying to research the "best" dual-band router has been a complete nightmare... until I stumbled upon this site and read this review and the helpful posts in this forum.

Kudos to you, Tim, and the people who have asked the questions and posted their experiences. I'm ordering the WNDR3700 and will be sure to come back and post my experiences (and any questions I may have).

Looking forward to removing the dead spots and dropped connections, while improving speed for my wife's desktop (her office downstairs), kid's laptop (all over the place), and the three gaming systems in the living room (PS3, Wii, X-box 360 using the TRENDnet TEW-647GA adapter). My rig (wired as I am the gamer and heaviest user) and the router are in my home office in the room above the garage and all the rest are downstairs and the gaming systems at the other end of the house. I do have a Linksys WRE54G range expander for the PS3 and the Wii's "g" access, so I think all will be well.

Thanks again!

 

[Unregistered]

New firmware V1.0.4.49NA?

Anyone had bad experiences with this new firmware?

I took the leap after reading the release notes, and it seems fine to me.

Thanks.

-Roger

 

[ksudeadeye]

Local Domain/DNS Forwarding

My main point is that the WNDR3700 comes with a broken local DNS implementation that prevents you from accessing local machines via their local host names. With the WNDR3700 as your DHCP server in your network you can no longer access the Web Based management tools of your NAS via the hostname of that NAS.

Damn...not good at all.

I've currently got a WRT54G running Tomato v1.25 and am looking into upgrading to a dual radio N router. I currently use my router as the primary DNS for all my LAN machines. I have a custom built NAS with a 3TB RAID5 array running Ubuntu but have never needed anything fancy when it comes to DNS. Tomato uses dnsmasq I think.

I think the DLink 825/855 routers handle this issue "properly"...might have to look into one of those.

Rigolo, can you confirm this is still an issue with the WNDR3700 firmware rev 1.0.4.49.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Widber]

Damn...not good at all.

Rigolo, can you confirm this is still an issue with the WNDR3700 firmware rev 1.0.4.49.

Thanks for the info guys.

I'm not exactly Rigolo but I can confirm this issue with the 1.0.4.49 as well.
I'm waiting now for DD-WRT

 

[Widber]

Software-trick of Apple Inc.?

Hi all, finally my WNDR3700 arrived! I setup it without any problem using my DG834G as modem only. I make some test coping a 700MB file from my iMac (SnowLeopard,5Ghz) to my father's notebook (Vista Business,Gigabit), my result is an average speed of 7/8MB/s *; this is in line with your review test (and also other user speed ) but i'm very surprised to see some people scoring 15MB/s via wireless. My iMac is 3 meters far from the router, and i notice that connecting also the notebook via wireless (1 meters far, always in 5Ghz), in the vista connection properties i can see only 130Mps; could be that the iMac non recognize the maximun speed connection of 300Mbit and so also the notebook show 130Mbps? In this case with 130Mps speed connection, real 7/8MB/s is a "correct" speed.
Anyone that using a Mac know a program to see the wireless network properties? I tri iStumbler but it doesn't work with Snow Leopard

* I try also some tuning changing the channel, the protection, enabling the video mode without significant results.

Hi vashthestampede83,
did you manage this issue between your Mac and WNDR?

I experienced the same problem but it seems that this is a software-trick of Apple Inc. - the full speed of 811.n (300MB/s) can be achieved only between the Mac's and the Apple's AirPorts-routers. With all other brands the wireless link will be limited only by 130MB/s

 

[chenghs]

VPN Issue with WNDR3700

I am not sure whether anyone met this issue: I recently bought this WNDR3700 to replace my DLink DI-524. Everything works fine except the VPN. I can't connect to company Microsoft Exchange server (to receive email in outlook) through VPN. I first run the VPN from my laptop and it looks good showing connected. Then I fired up the Outlook and the outlook shows "trying to connect to Microsoft Exchange...". Then it just keeps trying but never got connected. This is not an issue with my old DI-524. Anyone can help me with this? Thanks a lot in advance,

 

[digitalfreak]

Thought I'd throw this out there. Using 5Ghz N, I'm getting ~70Mbps throughput between my Laptop with an Intel 5300 adapter and my home server. 3700 is connected via gigabit to a Dell gigabit switch, as is the server. I used ntttcp from the Windows Resource Kit. Laptop was on the first floor, directly above the 3700 in the basement.

 

[stateless]

WNDR3700 and WNR3500

First off, thank you VERY much for all the help you provide on this site. It's been an invaluable resource while I've been working my way through a new network setup at home.

No, I have a WNDR3700 that I have bridged using WDS to a WNR3500. This setup is working correctly, but file transfer speed between a client on the LAN points of each AP is very slow - about 700k.

I don't need WDS for wireless extending, just sharing internet access wirelessly between two clusters of ethernet clients.

I've read though all the articles on this site and it seems these are my options:

* Remove WEP as a security standard. Leaving me with no security as WDS only allows WEP or nothing. If I remove WEP, MAC address filtering and hiding the SSID should be enough for me (I'm not exactly the Pentagon).

* Check channels to find a clear one. I'll have to hunt around for a Windows 7 app that lets me view clients and the channel they're on.

* Separate bands - this seems to be the big one. The 3700 and 3500 are connected via the 2.4Ghz b/g/n radio (the 3500 is 2.4 only). The 5Ghz radio is not bridged at all. They have separate SSID's.

If I turn off client access on the 3500, wireless clients will have to connect to the 3700 (which should reduce the "hop tax").

Should I use the 5Ghz radio just for the clients that can access it (Macbooks, Acer Aspire Revo 3610 as a HTPC) and switch the 2.4Ghz radio to b/g only for the others (Wii, iPhones, etc)? Will that eliminate the mixed mode slowdown?

Or is there some other configuration that will allow me to keep throughput high, but still enable WDS?

Sorry for the LONG post, but finding the right combination of settings is starting to drive me up batty.


Cheers,
S.

 

[rpwoodman]

Guest networks

What are the implications of using the guest networks on the WNDR3700?

I have a WNDR3700 all set up and working fine, both frequencies are using WPA2.
I have a Topfield PVR to which I've connected an Asus router (via USB) with hacked firmware. This router was an access point to my old Linksys router (matching SSID and WEP).
Can I just turn on one of the guest networks, set the security to be WEP on that guest network, and it should work ok?

Or can I not have a different security method on the guest network to the non-guest network? Will using WEP on the guest slow down the performance of the non-guest network?

Has anyone else done this?

Many thanks

 

[thiggins]

I have a WNDR3700 that I have bridged using WDS to a WNR3500. This setup is working correctly, but file transfer speed between a client on the LAN points of each AP is very slow - about 700k.

I don't need WDS for wireless extending, just sharing internet access wirelessly between two clusters of ethernet clients.

A wireless-to-Ethernet bridge is a much better way to get remote Ethernet clients wirelessly connected to a main network. Bridges act as clients, so they can use WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption, and support multiple Ethernet clients by just attaching a switch (if the bridge doesn't already have one built in).

If you don't need the current setup for wireless extension, then, yes, shut off client connection on the WNR3500 and see if that helps throughput. But then you'll still be left with the 54Mbps connect rate limitation imposed by WDS / WEP.

 

[thiggins]

What are the implications of using the guest networks on the WNDR3700?

Why don't you just try it?

Yes, you can set different encryption on the Guest network. But since it is using the same radio, bandwidth will be reduced on the "main" network when the Guest client is active.

 

[first_bas]

Client Adapter

I'm the owner of a WNDR3700. Now i'm looking for a good client adapter.
My OS is Windows 7 64 bit.
I have connected my PS3 to the LAN port of the WNDR3700.
I want to stream HD content from the Windows7 pc too the PS3.

I was looing at the WND3100v2, but this model has not got official Windows 7 support. Other options are the Linksys WUSB600N and WUSB300N.

Can anybody confirm wich product is working well with the WNDR3700?

Thanks!

Bas

 

[Unregistered]

All locations were checked. If you don't see results for a location, it's because the router would not support client connection there.

Internal vs. external antennas are not a major factor in wireless router performance.

Think you'll find this is a major factor if you live in an old house with stone walls, have a big house or even have steel frame within the walls that degrade the signal. In my case the dir-655 performs badly on wireless until i attach an external ariel whereby i get a massive performance boost in speed & range.

 

[thiggins]

In my case the dir-655 performs badly on wireless until i attach an external ariel whereby i get a massive performance boost in speed & range.

That's a different issue (attaching a higher-gain antenna).
If the internal and external antennas have the same gain, it doesn't matter whether they are behind a thin layer of plastic or sticking up outside the router.

Think about the last time you saw a cellphone with an external antenna!

 

[lessblue]

Are you asking about the WNDR3700?

Depends on a lot of things. But in general, most people don't find wireless good for trouble-free HD streaming, especially in areas with many networks.

Hello everyone, sorry to intrude. My research led me to Tim's WNDRR3700 review and the forums.

I was a little disheartened to read the above. In my living room, the router is on one side of the room, and across the room (only ~15 ft away) I have my HTPC/Xbox 360.

Right now I connect/disconnect using a wire that drags across the living room. I started searching for a solid wireless solution and was looking at higher end (relative to my Buffalo WHR-G54S dd-wrt router) routers coupled with a bridge hoping to eliminate this problem.

Now it looks like I may have to stick with the wired connection for HD streaming. Maybe I need to buy a NAS/Server and place it on the HTPC side instead.

Doesn't the Popcorn Hour stream 1080p?

 

[jodyjody11]

At the end of the review article, Tim mentions that "I've yet to see a product that clearly beats all the rest." Upon reading some reviews on internet, I think the following products clearly beat all the others in terms of speed, stability and reliability, though they are access points, not routers:
Netgear WNDAP350
Aironet 1140 Dual-band Wireless-N access point

As people said, they are extremely stable and you can hardly experience any network drop-off or stuttering during file transfer. Obviously, it's not difficult at all to manufacture highly stable wireless-N products. Whether you are willing to find them or to pay that money is totally another story.