DIR-855 Xtreme N Duo or Netgear WNDR3700

Huugs · 19 Dec 2009 at 21:03

Hi Guys,
My current router (a D-Link DGL-4300) has just given up the ghost.

I bought it for the oversized NAT table so it could handle torrents better but it had started struggling and the wireless would fail every now and then, but it now just doesnt turn on.

Current favourites are the following:
Netgear WNDR3700 - http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/WirelessNRoutersandGateways/WNDR3700.aspx
DIR-855 Xtreme N Duo - http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=548

Features needed:

Gigabit (ideally 6+ ports but have another router to use as a switch so atleast 4 ports)
Decent sized NAT table to cope with BitTorrent
Decent ish wireless (nothing in particular as it's only 54G devices I have, greater range would be good)
Would be good to be able to connect a USB printer

I like that you can have a second wireless network on the Netgear one.

Budget wise £150 max would be good.

Any thoughts on which would be best or if there is a better one out there?

Cheers,
Paul

Huugs · 22 Dec 2009 at 22:07

No suggestions on which of those would be better for me?

How about just a suggestion in general if you have any good routers in mind?

Cheers
Paul

PakJai · 22 Dec 2009 at 22:59

I highly recommend this one as I'm using it myself:

DIR-855 Xtreme N Duo - http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=548

You might want to pair it up with the D-Link Wireless N wifi adapters for best result (I've heard compatibility issues with other wifi adapters, resulting in poor performance and signal drops). You will need to update the firmware too for it to benefit the speed of your cable connection.

I was experiencing problems when I first setted it up. I was downloading at 14-16Mb/sec average but I'm now experiencing an average of 45-48Mb/sec after updating the firmware. I'm currently on Virgin's 50Mb tariff.

Hope this helped.

mrk · 24 Jan 2010 at 04:32

What's the point in the D-Link if it has issues with other adapters that are not D-link branded?!

I'm buying the WNDR3700 in the morning after an all nighter reading reviews/amazon reviews, smallnetbuilder reviews of various routers to replace my Sitecom 300N (died yesterday night, is being replaced under the 10yr warranty).

I think the specs for the WNDR3700 speak for themselves, the DD-WRT crew are working on a firmware support as well as OpenWRT crew who (according to the forums) have a working firmware but with slow wireless performance so once that is sorted you can get awesome features as per usual WRT firmware.

I'll use it a week or two and decide which I like best but the lack of DDWRT support on the Sitecom means I am most likely to keep the WND and sell the replacement 300N.

FWIW I have 3 perma N clients, 2 Gigabit, another 2 on and off N clients, 3 G clients and 2 gigabit wired clients. I think my 300N died due to the massive amounts of usage the home LAN gets lol.

Edit*

Installed and all good, looks the business and the dual band modes + dual band guest networks are nice - -the USB storage sharing function is nice too, I think I will just use that to keep core installers such as firefox, drivers for each LAN PC etc on a memory stick \m/