Wireless router buyer’s guide 2012/2013

[JP$]

It's probably not bad but it has nothing in common with WNDR3700- different main chip, different Wi-Fi radio resulting in different range and throughput.
It's up to you if you want to keep it or not- I probably wouldn't.

I can't find v2 of the WNDR3700. I could order a WNDR3800 and get it in a few days, or I could get a WNDR4000 in the store. There is another thread in NBR that said WNDR3800 would be the next best thing after WNDR3700v2. Thoughts?

[tijo]

Well, does it have to be a netgear, the Linksys E3200 is on sale for 70$ at NCIX if you're in Canada. I know, doesn't help if you're in the US, but maybe there's a similar deal. The Linksys E3200/E3000 isn't as good as the WNDR 3700v2, but at a price point of near 70$, any of those two will perform quite nicely for the price.

[downloads]

That's true E3200 for $70 is a great deal.

[JP$]

Well, does it have to be a netgear, the Linksys E3200 is on sale for 70$ at NCIX if you're in Canada. I know, doesn't help if you're in the US, but maybe there's a similar deal. The Linksys E3200/E3000 isn't as good as the WNDR 3700v2, but at a price point of near 70$, any of those two will perform quite nicely for the price.

That's true E3200 for $70 is a great deal.

Having trouble finding the E3200 locally. Found it online through Amazon but for $100. I did see that Best Buy has a refurbished E3000 available, but also for $100. I'd like to try to get the router through Best Buy since I bought and opened the WNDR3700v3 and probably will only be able to get store credit.

I definitely would consider any brand/model that you guys think will be reliable. I am trying to escape resetting the router every couple days because the network just dies, which has been the biggest problem with my old Linksys. If I do go for one of the two Netgears above, do you think 3800 would be a better choice than 4000? Or any other brands/models at that $75-$120 price point that you would recommend? I looked for the Linksys E4200v1, but of course Best Buy only has the E4200v2.

And sorry to have hijacked this thread...I do appreciate everyone's advice.

[tijo]

Well, i personally have the E3000 and it was the direct competitor of the WNDR3700 as in both are high end routers that can take a lot of abuse, but the WNDR3700 c2 is a tad faster.

My E3000 has been performing very well, my ipod touch doesn't seem to play nice with ip lease time no matter how many other devices are connected to the router, but aside from that i can have as many as 3 game consoles and 5 computers hooked up to it at the same time and it never failed to deliver. Well, i managed to bottleneck the wireless network's capabilities, but that isn't the router's fault, i was simply at the limit of what 2 stream wireless N could do.

The Asus RT-N56U is also a possibility, the firmware won't be as good as on the Netgear or the Linksys, but again at the time the WNDR3700 was netgear's top performer, it's direct competition was the E3000 and RT-N56U which are both good routers too.

[mccoady]

Downloads do you have any other suggestions for JP$ and me since it looks like the WNDR3700 v2 isn't available are you now recommending either a Linksys E3000 or E3200?

These recommendations are a great service but maybe it's time to go out on a limb and recommend some newer models it would be so helpful for us novices. Thanks!

[downloads]

Looking at Amazon prices E4200 v1 should be available for $110 which seems OK. Neither E4200v2 nor EA4500 are worth their prices though ($150 and $170 respectively).
Netgear WNDR3800 is a good choice too if you can get WNDR3700v2. For around $110 it's interesting.
Asus RT-56U for ~$115 is quite decent too although their firmware is less than stellar and for something like that a price should be less than $115.

Netgear WNDR4000 can be (on occasion) bought for some $70- that's a great deal.

Basically none of the current routers costing more than $120 is worth the money.
If you can get a deal on E3000/E3200 for around $70-80 or for a WNDR3800 for ~$100-110 go for it.
If you come across a WNDR4000 for $70-80 definitely buy one.

[JP$]

Well, i personally have the E3000 and it was the direct competitor of the WNDR3700 as in both are high end routers that can take a lot of abuse, but the WNDR3700 c2 is a tad faster.

My E3000 has been performing very well, my ipod touch doesn't seem to play nice with ip lease time no matter how many other devices are connected to the router, but aside from that i can have as many as 3 game consoles and 5 computers hooked up to it at the same time and it never failed to deliver. Well, i managed to bottleneck the wireless network's capabilities, but that isn't the router's fault, i was simply at the limit of what 2 stream wireless N could do.

The Asus RT-N56U is also a possibility, the firmware won't be as good as on the Netgear or the Linksys, but again at the time the WNDR3700 was netgear's top performer, it's direct competition was the E3000 and RT-N56U which are both good routers too.

Looking at Amazon prices E4200 v1 should be available for $110 which seems OK. Neither E4200v2 nor EA4500 are worth their prices though ($150 and $170 respectively).
Netgear WNDR3800 is a good choice too if you can get WNDR3700v2. For around $110 it's interesting.
Asus RT-56U for ~$115 is quite decent too although their firmware is less than stellar and for something like that a price should be less than $115.

Netgear WNDR4000 can be (on occasion) bought for some $70- that's a great deal.

Basically none of the current routers costing more than $120 is worth the money.
If you can get a deal on E3000/E3200 for around $70-80 or for a WNDR3800 for ~$100-110 go for it.
If you come across a WNDR4000 for $70-80 definitely buy one.

Sage advice. Best Buy has the WNDR3800 on sale for $112, so I think I'm going to pounce on it.

Thank you both for your help. Rep all 'round!

[tijo]

You won't regret it, ever since i switched to a high end router, i've been feeling the difference. I can actually transfer files over wireless at a not too bad speeds. LAN to WAN transfers are somewhat comparable to USB 2.0 speeds and WAN to WAN aren't bad either which means i can grab files from my desktop whenever i need them no matter where i am and either not wait or wait a few minutes only if the file is a couple of GB in size. Oh and 5GHz is just awesome and the reason i'm getting the transfer speeds i'm getting.

[Ag76]

I purchased a refurbished Netgear WNDR3700v2 from a reputable eBay seller for $59 (winning bid) last month, and it's working flawlessly. It looks like they're available if you're still in the market.