NetGear WNDR3700 - Giga Switch - Overkill?

[Jeradin]

Read so much here and each time I think I know what I am doing I read something that makes me think twice or 5 times!

I was all set on purchasing the NETGEAR WNDR3700 after reading the reviews and looking at the charts.. its seems its close to the top on both wireless and WAN to LAN.

Then I read more and people say its better to have a giga switch separate from your router, really how much difference can that make? seems like why bother getting a router (other then for wireless of course)

Also for me, I use wireless for my iphone/android and sometimes a laptop so is the Netgear WNDR3700 overkill since I really dont have many 2.4ghz bands around me. no real N devices that I use a lot on wireless.


Once I read that it might be overkill I started to look for a cheaper wireless router but not sure what to get cause each time I go to the charts the NetGear WNDR3700 still jumps out to me as a solid router...

Any help would be great!

 

[thiggins]

An N router provides no benefit over a G router for G devices.

The suggestion to separate Gigabit switch from the router is to provide a wider selection of routers and for reliability. Gigabit switch chips run hot and tend to fail a lot.

If you don't have much wireless traffic around you and are covering only a small area than any wireless router should serve you just fine.

 

[Jeradin]

Thanks for the reply Tim.

You use the NetGear, the reviews for it are so solid, what would be a comparable wireless router to use? I would rather have less devices going so giga router/wireless would be much nicer.

So comparing giga router to giga switch is mainly heat build up but doesn't actually hinder the transfer speeds? mainly relates to the lifespan of the router?

 

[thiggins]

I'm having a hard time following you.

If you have no N devices, any G router should work fine for you.

Gigabit switches, whether built into a router or separate run hot. When built into a router, the extra heat and generally poor thermal design lead to shorter life and/or flaky operation.

When the switch is in its own box, its heat stays away from the router and wireless devices.

Unless you have devices with Gigabit Ethernet connections, a Gigabit switch provides no benefit.

 

[Jeradin]

Thanks again Tim,

Sorry I didnt have my coffee before replying!

I was mainly trying to get the best quality router I could and can not find one that seems to compare to the charts you have posted related to the NetGear.

If I dont need N then the NetGear is maybe overkill. I do use gigabit in my house already and will do so, so what ever router I get I would rather it have gigabit built in then a secondary switch.

No need to reply of course, I will keep reading reviews and find the right G wireless/gigabit switch.

Thank you for your website and all the amazing resources here.

 

[thiggins]

You may have to hunt harder for G + Gigabit. And really, any G router will work fine.

 

[stevech]

Get a decent 11g WiFi router. 100BT is fine.
Buy a $30 gigabit ethernet switch and plug all your gigabit capable PCs into it by cat5. Don't expect 100Mbps plus at the IP wired equivalent level if 11n is used. So the premium for a WiFi router with built-in gigE is not usually benefical, as compared to a decent $50 11g WiFi router.

 

[Jeradin]

Thank you both for the advice!

I ordered a 5port Gigabit switch, I have an old Linksys WRT110 wireless router already so I guess I can use that. I do need to reboot it fairly often but its free. Will see if I can find a better reviewed 11g router.


and again thank you, really helpful, so much information out there and most of it is misleading. People like me just looking at the speed of things that cant even be achieved with the equipment you are feeding it to or from!

Dale Geet Jacobs