12 Issues of The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400
Manufacturer: NetGear Part number: WNDR3400-100NAS
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 is a great dual-band router for any home at an affordable price. Its lack of Gigabit Ethernet might steer enthusiasts away, however.
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CNET editors' review
Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 price range: $64.99 - $103.73
- Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
- Reviewed on: 01/15/2011
The good: The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 supports true dual-band and offers fast wireless performance and long range. It has a useful set of networking features, such as Guest zone, network storage, traffic meter, and USB external hard-drive support for network storage. Also, it's aesthetically pleasing and affordable and comes with an intuitive Web interface.
The bad: The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 doesn't offer Gigabit Ethernet and its network storage performance could be better.
The bottom line: The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 is a great dual-band router for any home at an affordable price. Its lack of Gigabit Ethernet might steer enthusiasts away, however.
It's a bit hard to categorize the Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400. On one hand it has the stellar performance and features of a high-end wireless router; on the other, it doesn't support Gigabit Ethernet, a lack that is only found in budget low-end routers. At the street price of just around $80, however, this is a great deal nonetheless.
The WNDR3400 offers all-around great wireless performance on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands with excellent range, especially on the 2.4GHz band. Apart from the lack of Gigabit Ethernet, the only other complaint we have is the network storage throughput speed, which is mediocre. However, this is common among routers with the same features.
If you're looking for a well-rounded wireless router for your home and don't want to spend much, the WNDR3400 is worth every penny.
Design and setup
The N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 router looks much like a member of Netgear's RangeMax family of routers and access points. On top, right in the middle of the sleek black surface, it has a big, round blue button adorned with eight little LED lights that supposedly represent the directions in which the antennas are directed. Like most Netgear routers and access points, the WNDR3400 has an internal antenna design, making it more compact and tidier than routers with external antennas. This big blue button is also dubbed the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button. Press it and you will start a 2-minute window of time in which other WPS-enabled devices can enter the network.
On the back, the router has four LAN ports (for wired clients) and one WAN port (to be connected to an Internet source such as a broadband modem). These ports, unfortunately, are all regular 10/100Mbps Ethernet. Near the ports are the Wi-Fi on/off switch and a USB 2.0 port to host an external hard drive for the router's network storage feature.
On the front, the WNDR3400 has an array of LED lights that show the status of the network ports, the connection to the Internet, the USB port, and so on. The router has two detachable feet that enable it to work in the vertical position.
The router comes with a setup application called Netgear Genie that includes detailed step-by-step instructions. The instructions are so clear that we believe few would have trouble getting the router up and running. We were able to do so within 5 minutes, including the time spent getting the router out of the box. Note, however, this is an early version of Netgear Genie. During CES 2011, Netgear announced a much more advanced version of the software that can do a lot more than just help set up the device.
Features
The WNDR3400 is the second true dual-band router we've reviewed from Netgear, following the WNDR3700. This means it's capable of simultaneously broadcasting Wireless-N signals on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. The 2.4GHz is the popular wireless band shared with other home devices such as cordless phones and Bluetooth headsets. The 5GHz band is somewhat more exclusive and therefore should offer better throughput performance. By being dual-band, the WNDR3400 supports virtually all existing network clients.
Netgear offers another dual-band router, the WNDR3300, which can work in only one band at a time. In that sense, the WNDR3400 is a big upgrade.
Like the WNDR3700, out of the box, the WNDR3400 has two wireless networks, one for each band. You can turn these networks on or off separately by using the router's Web interface. Apart from these, the router offers the option of another two guest networks--one for each band--which can also be turned on or off separately. A guest network is useful if you want to offer free Internet access to guests while keeping them from accessing your local resources such as your printer or personal files. This is a great feature for a small cafe or restaurant.
Again, like the WNDR3700, the WNDR3400 comes with an NAS function that requires an external USB hard drive (not included) to work. We tried it with a few external hard drives and were pleased with how this feature worked, though we wished it were faster. The router supports hard drives formatted in both NTFS and FAT32 file systems. This means you can just plug in your current external hard drive with data already on it and share it with the rest of the network. The router can also power compact hard drives that are USB bus-powered. The router manages its storage via Netgear's ReadyShare feature, which is also used for the company's NAS servers. The router supports Windows' SMB protocol, which allows any computer in the network to access its storage using a network browser (such as Windows Explorer) without having any additional software installed. It also supports Macs and the shares will automatically appear in Finder.
The router's only means of restricting access to its storage is via password. For example, you can set a password for read-only access and another for read/write access to a particular folder on the external hard drive. Once set, the restriction is applied to anyone wanting to access that folder. This is a primitive but effective way to manage network storage. Most NAS servers use more advanced restriction protocols via user accounts. However, considering the fact that this is primarily a router, we were happy with this level of restriction.
The router's NAS feature can also handle other NAS functions such as FTP and HTTP. You can also set up remote connections to access the data via Internet. To do this, however, you will need to use a dynamic DNS service, such as Dyndns.org, unless your connection to the Internet has a static IP address.
The second feature that we really like about the WNDR3400 is its Traffic Meter, which allows you to control the router's bandwidth. For example, you can set the router to disconnect from the Internet if a certain amount of data has been downloaded (or uploaded, or both) over a certain period of time. This is useful when you have a limited quota and don't want to go over. Unfortunately, the Traffic Meter doesn't offer the bandwidth control for individual computers. This means you can't use it to restrict one individual from downloading too much.
The WNDR3400 also offers the Live Parental Controls feature that was first introduced with Netgear's WNR2000 router. This feature requires a dynamic DNS account with OpenDNS, which is free. You can set up this feature by installing the Live Parental Controls setup software from the included CD and it will walk you though the short installation processes. Once the setup is done, you can access and control the router's comprehensive Web-filtering function, from anywhere in the world, by logging in to http://netgear.opendns.com.
Like most RangeMax routers, the WNDR3400 has a very intuitive and responsive Web interface, which makes managing the router a pleasant job. The router also has many other features found in most RangeMax routers, such as Content Filtering, which lets you block certain Web sites or services, port forwarding, Quality of Service, and Universal Plug and Play.
For security, the router supports all existing wireless encryption methods including WEP, WPA, and WPA2. It also comes with Wi-Fi Protected Setup features that enable you to add a new client to the network at the press of a button, instead of having to type in the encryption key manually.
Performance
The Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 offered very good wireless performance in our testing, although its network storage throughput speed could use some improvement. We tested the router in dual-band mode, and also tested it the way we test other NAS servers.
The router's wireless performance was one of the best we've seen in true dual-band routers. On CNET Labs' max throughput test, where the router is 15 feet from the client, the WND3400 registered 75.8Mbps on the 5GHz band and 65.4Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It was the second fastest on the former and the fastest on the latter among all wireless routers we've reviewed. At these speeds, the router can transmit 500MB of data in about 52 seconds and 62 seconds on the 5GHz band and on 2.4GHz band, respectively.
In a range test, in which the router was placed 100 feet away from the client, it again did impressively at 59.8Mbps on the 5GHz band, topping the charts. On the 2.4GHz band, it did slightly worse at 37.1Mbps, getting third place on our charts.
In the mixed mode test, where the router was set to work with both Wireless-N and legacy Wireless-G and B clients, the score was one of the best we've seen at 59.7Mbps. We tested the mixed mode only on the 2.4GHz bands, as generally legacy clients don't use the 5GHz band.
The WNDR3400 also offers great range, up to 300 feet on the 2.4GHz band and 250 feet on the 5GHz band. Note, however, that at these distances, the wireless connections are only good for light Web surfing and not much else. It's best to use the router within 100 feet. The router also passed our 48-hour stress test, during which time it had to move a large amount of data back and forth between multiple clients. I didn't disconnect once.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
Read | |
Write |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Mixed mode | |
Range | |
Throughput |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Range | |
Throughput |
Like all routers we've seen with a built-in network storage function, the WNDR3400 didn't have very fast throughput performance for data access to the USB external hard drive connected to its USB port. We tested this via network cable and the scores were around 45.6Mbps for writing and 54.6Mbps for reading. These were about the slowest on our charts. With this kind of performance, the WNDR3400 is suited to light and basic network storage tasks, in which only one or two users can access the drive at the same time. If you want to assign the storage to multiple users and transfer a lot of data, you will need a dedicated NAS server.
Service and support
Netgear ships the N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 with a standard one-year warranty--standard for most routers these days. The company offers free (and toll-free) phone technical support that's available 24-7. The support pages on Netgear's site are somewhat elusive (you have to click on many layers of links to get where you want) but nonetheless offer lots of support information from troubleshooting and a knowledge base to firmware, drivers, and manual downloads.
User reviews
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Ran Tests, Works Well
by coldfusion1787 on December 15, 2010
Pros: - Multiple SSID
- Passed Windows Internet Connectivity Tool, thus not DOA as other reviews claim.
- Dual Band N Router
- Stable and Reliable ConnectionCons: - USB port does not support printers, bad move Netgear
- That obnoxiously shiny blue blinking light in the middle can awake light sleepers.
- Some settings are on default that really shouldn't be, like the 5 Ghz band on.Summary: I'm really trying to understand the poor review on this router. Heck, newegg has a bunch of bad reviews too. But given all the tests I've done, which ...
Summary: I'm really trying to understand the poor review on this router. Heck, newegg has a bunch of bad reviews too. But given all the tests I've done, which included not only the Windows Internet Connectivity Tool, but Speakeasy Speedtests, streaming video from 2 separate computers, etc. , thing hasn't failed me yet. I never gave the out of box firmware a chance though, it automatically updated the firmware. If however you do not need. Even installation was freakishly easy, navigating Netgear's router settings is even easier with the guide on the right on every setup page.
8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Very Good Router
by mwgess on November 15, 2010
Pros: Has never dropped a signal and the features are great without going to the next step WNDR-3700. Features are easy to work through once you get past not using netgear products previously.
Cons: Have not noticed one as of yet
Summary: I would recommend anyone to go to netgear's website and review the high performance routers to get more information. As for the other person that posted a low rating, ...
Summary: I would recommend anyone to go to netgear's website and review the high performance routers to get more information. As for the other person that posted a low rating, PLEASE do not pay attention to that. There may have been an issue with the unit he got which is going to happen from time to time or my bet is on the fact there is something wrong with what he is using, but blames it on the router without knowing the facts. My advise be aware of people that do not do full research prior to posting on this site.
7 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good value, good performance, easy enough to set up.
by Davehd2009 on December 23, 2010
Pros: Works great!
Cons: Big blue flashing button on top. Instructions not clear on how to use it - or why...
Summary: Bought 1 of these a few months ago. Easy to set up and easy to use. Decent signal in my 2800 sq. ft home. The master bedroom is on the ...
Summary: Bought 1 of these a few months ago. Easy to set up and easy to use. Decent signal in my 2800 sq. ft home. The master bedroom is on the other side of the house and I can still stream media (Radio stations, YouTube, etc.) to my netbook. I also have a desktop connected to it. Good value, good performance, don't need to understand quantum computing to set it up. I had it up and running in ~15 min. or less.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best I've ever owned
by mario_ramalho on January 15, 2011
Pros: Great throughput and range, easiest set-up I've ever seen, good looks, rear USB port is fantastic
Cons: For someone that is mainly broke (me), it is a bit pricey, but it is worth it, in my opinion. I can see why some people may complain about the blinking blue lights in darker room settings, but it's not a problem in my case.
Summary: I've had Belinks before, both G+ MIMO and N, but set up and technical support were such a nightmare that i got turned off from them. Took a chance ...
Summary: I've had Belinks before, both G+ MIMO and N, but set up and technical support were such a nightmare that i got turned off from them. Took a chance with NETGEAR, and now i wish i had done it sooner.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A nice, affordable upgrade
by tledjazz on January 8, 2011
Pros: Increased Internet speed, easy setup, signal strength
Cons: Have to turn that blue light off
Summary: I bought this router to replace a 5 year old Belkin G. It has noticibly increased the browsing and download speed on my new laptop with an N wireless card. ...
Summary: I bought this router to replace a 5 year old Belkin G. It has noticibly increased the browsing and download speed on my new laptop with an N wireless card. I also like the fact that I can create a seperate SSID for guest use. It also has a USB port to attach an external drive, which I will use for backup. HD video streams effortlessly. Picked this unit up at WalMart for under $80. I'm pleased.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Netgear N600 Router works fine for me!!!
by PeteyBrian on December 29, 2010
Pros: Works great for streaming video simultaneously from multiple computers
Easy setup - for non-engineer!
Beautiful design (subjective comment - but I really like the blue blinking lights which serves as my nightlight!)Cons: RE: Dual Band routers in general - 5 GHz band not really very strong 50 feet or more from the router. I would have been fine with a single band router as most of my computers are greater than 50 feet and several walls from my router.
Summary: I bought Netgear N600 to upgrade my Netgear WNR2000 to improve my need for video streaming on multiple computers and to improve my wifi range/signal strength. Now it is ...
Summary: I bought Netgear N600 to upgrade my Netgear WNR2000 to improve my need for video streaming on multiple computers and to improve my wifi range/signal strength. Now it is so much much better!
I consistently receive 5 bars - excellent speed of 54 Mbps using XP greater than 50 feet from my router with several walls using the 2.4 Mhz band. I haven't used the 5 Ghz band much as the signal is not strong far from the router (unfortunately where I use my computers most and a hassle to move the router to a central location in my house). I probably would have been just fine with a single band router, but now that it sets up fine and works great, I don't want to mess with success!
Finally - I stuck with Netgear bc it was easy for me to setup my WNR2000 - and the N600 was fairly simple and easy to set up by myself - I had the simple manuals read and the router up and running in about an "honest" hour (I'm a non-engineer) without too much of a headache! Previously, setup of an older 3Com g-router setup was torture for me!
MY TEST: I simultaneously streamed video from a laptop and a netbook and iphone's slingplayer using wifi - 60 feet from my router - Then web surfed on another laptop - all four worked great for several hours with no hiccups!
I thought about getting Netgear's Dual Band Wireless N Network Adaptor for my older laptops - but decided that they work just fine without one - no need for one just yet.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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One of the best routers I've owned!
by garvinw on February 6, 2012
Pros: Easy to setup
Reliable connection
Very smartCons: No Gigabit
Summary: I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews on this router.
I have owned Linksys, Belkin, and D-Link routers and this one is one of the best ...Summary: I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews on this router.
I have owned Linksys, Belkin, and D-Link routers and this one is one of the best I've ever owned. This router replaced an old D-Link DIR-628 and did so without issue. I plugged in the router, signed in using the provided key (which was on the router) and ran through the setup in about a minute. The router was even smart enough to change the IP range so that it would not conflict with my ISP's 192.168 address. I even plugged in my portable hard drive and setup the network storage in seconds.
There have been no disconnects, no slowness... no issues. Great router and highly recommended.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Cannot recommend: cons outweigh pros.
by lizaweiss on July 30, 2011
Pros: Strong signal throughout the house.
Cons: Dropped signals.
Reset required several times/day.
Must pay for phone help; were quoted $39.
We (3 of us) thought if we bought a good router and updated from 1Mbps to 20Mbps internet, each of us would have good internet service.
When our internet speedSummary: It's affordable, it was easy to set up. If a person were to buy it thinking they could have several users, with everyone receiving good internet service at the ...
Summary: It's affordable, it was easy to set up. If a person were to buy it thinking they could have several users, with everyone receiving good internet service at the same time, they would probably find this a disappointment.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Netgear Nightmare WORST ROUTER EVER
by nz1186 on July 17, 2011
Pros: nothing
most painful experience of my lifeCons: -installation appears easy... until it just doesn't work at all
-manual installation doesn't work either
-customer service is absolutely horrible
-spent 3 days trying to get through to customer service, no use
-router still doesn't workSummary: I read great reviews on this router, and I was really excited to set it up after buying it. The box comes with the absolute simplest setup guide known to ...
Summary: I read great reviews on this router, and I was really excited to set it up after buying it. The box comes with the absolute simplest setup guide known to man, which is just a single sheet of paper. It seemed easy enough with the hardware connections. And after setting everything up appropriately, I used the Resource CD to connect the software etc. The router worked fine, and the cables were fine... but for some reason, it wouldn't recognize the router. After power cycling and reconnecting and restarting and firewall/security disabling to the max, it still would not recognize the router. I called customer service, which transfers you to 3 separate numbers (one that says Direct TV and then hangs up on you for some reason). It is impossible to reach customer service until you try every combination of touchtone numbers possible. The first representative told me to call my internet provider and promptly hung up on me before I could reply. The second time I managed to reach someone, he put me indefinitely on hold... for 3 hours while I tried to work on my router connection. After manual installation, the firmware upgrade somehow corrupted my router. So the router keeps blinking green, which means it's corrupted. I have read every pdf solution on the Netgear site, and nothing helps. Still on hold... and customer service still hasn't responded. No one should ever have to experience something as painful as this. I can only hope that I can return this horrible device. And I will never ever ever deal with Netgear ever again.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great so far, wish it had usb 3.0
by droolin on June 22, 2011
Pros: I'm happy., Easy set up, dual band. At most there are only 2 of us that access it at a given time other then my phone. Neither of us are heavy media streamers. So, works for me.
Cons: usb 2.0 for network storage, really wsih that was usb 3.0. Want to hook up a tera drive.
Summary: I'm happy. I was forced into buying a router because my other router just quit powering up. To many power spikes killed it. Even with the router being plugged ...
Summary: I'm happy. I was forced into buying a router because my other router just quit powering up. To many power spikes killed it. Even with the router being plugged into a UPS. The new router is faster and also has network storage capabilities which I didn't have before. Even if it isn't usb 3.0.
Works for me.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: NetGear
- Part number: WNDR3400-100NAS
- Description: Simultaneous dual band Wireless-N offers twice the bandwidth with better connection and less interference ReadySHARE provides fast and easy shared access to an external USB storage device Broadband usage meter ensures accurate measurement of Internet traffic daily, weekly and monthly with customized alerts Live parental controls, powered by OpenDNS Multiple SSID support - set up a second network for guests with restricted access or a dedicated network for video and gaming Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) - enjoy enhanced media, gaming, and Internet telephone performance with automatic application prioritization Push 'N' connect securely connects devices at the touch of a button SmartWizard installation CD - spend less time installing your router and setting up your network and more time gaming, surfing the Internet, and conducting business
General
- Device Type Wireless router - 4-port switch (integrated)
- Enclosure Type Desktop
- Connectivity Technology Wireless ,
Wired - Data Link Protocol IEEE 802.11a,
Fast Ethernet,
Ethernet,
IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11n,
IEEE 802.11g - Network / Transport Protocol TCP/IP ,
PPPoE - Routing Protocol RIP-1,
RIP-2 - Remote Management Protocol HTTP
- Encryption Algorithm WPA-PSK,
WPA2-PSK,
128-bit WEP,
64-bit WEP - Features DoS attack prevention ,
Firewall protection ,
Green Ethernet ,
ReadySHARE ,
Live Parental Controls ,
Push ‘N’ Connect button,
Broadband usage meter ,
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) ,
Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) support ,
Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) ,
NAT support ,
Quality of Service (QoS) ,
Multiple SSID support ,
Firmware upgradable - Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11g ,
IEEE 802.11n ,
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ,
IEEE 802.11a ,
Wi-Fi Protected Setup ,
IEEE 802.11b - Processor 1 x MIPS MIPS32 480 MHz
- RAM 64 MB
- Flash Memory 8 MB
- Status Indicators Power,
Status,
Port status Expansion / Connectivity
- Interfaces WAN : 1 x Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45,
LAN : 4 x Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45,
USB : 1 x 4 pin USB Type A Networking
- Networking type Wireless router
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Yes
Communications
- Type None
Miscellaneous
- Width 8.8 in
- Depth 6 in
- Height 1.2 in
- Weight 1.1 lbs
- Included Accessories Vertical stand
- Cables (Details) 1 x Network cable
- Microsoft Certifications Compatible with Windows 7
- Compliant Standards WEEE,
RoHS - Localization North America
Software / System Requirements
- Software Included NETGEAR Smart Wizard
- OS Required UNIX,
Microsoft Windows 2000 / ME / XP/ Vista,
Microsoft Windows 7,
Apple MacOS,
Linux Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse NetGear products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:NetGear
- Address:
350 East Plumeria Drive, San Jose, CA 95134-1911 - Phone: 1-408-907-8000
- Email: support@netgear.com
- Fax: 1-408-907-8097
