DGND3700 or wait (currently using DGN2000)

[windylim]

I've been using a Netgear DGN2000 DSL/Router, for about 2 years. It works fine most of the time, but speed is not that great lately (I connect more and more devices these days by wifi, and internet browsing seems slow or unstable sometimes (eg. my iPad would sometimes lose the connection and I have to disconnect and reconnect to the router again). My main usage would be:
- iMac connecting (wired)
- ipad, couple of phones (Nokia, HTC) connecting by WIFI
- couple of laptops connecting by WIFI
- additional iMac connecting by WIFI
- Epson AIO printer connecting by WIFI
- PS3 connecting by WIFI

I'm considering getting one of the higher performance DSL/Routers like the DGND3700. However, I've seen some complaints about this browser such as disconnection. I wonder if getting this browser would help.

I'm thinking (hoping) the dual channel would help to improve the performance a bit (at least for devices within near distance).

Any advise or comments from people who have used this? I've also seen a similar thread with some comments about an upcoming firmware that will fix these issues and add IPv6. Any idea when this is coming?

Thank you!

[Scubbie]

I believe that IPv6 is in the wings as Ryster has posted today about v2 being launched in December.

As for v1.0.0.17, the router is a lot more stable now on the whole, but I did have a complete lock-up earlier this afternoon. This is the first time I have had something that serious happen for a long time and I am not sure what caused it.

I was looking to persuade a friend to get one for Christmas, but now I am not so sure. I would resolve a few issues she has with WiFi, but as I am the one who ends up fixing things, and she lives a little too far away, I may end up waiting a little longer before suggesting it for her.

Otherwise the performance is much better than the DGN2000. The WiFi goes up to 300Mb/s and the LAN supports 1Gbit speeds.

You may find that not all your existing devices make use of the full 300Mb/s connection, but this may be obvious already.

However, provided that you are prepared to occasionally reset the router, are happy to upgrade the firmware as and when things develop and not likely to have lots of files on an external drive, then this is becoming a good stable router IMHO.

[laozhu]

Allow the pioneers to take the arrows. IPv6 coming may help but 3700 doesn't like virtual miniport adapter either and the list of bugs in the forum is quite long. Wait for firmware 2 (what was once called beta ) and see how it performs. Trusted reviews have an interesting write up on a new system to improve signal reception.

[windylim]

Thank you both! Looks like it will be wait-and-see for me.

You commented about external drive not having many files. Does it mean the server cannot handle external disk with a lot of files? That sounds like quite a prohibitive problem if so.

[laozhu]

I think what you may be referring to is the issue of USB connection to an external drive. I ethernet connect to a 1 Tb Mybook world edition which works fine. The issue I suspect with these drives via usb is router manufacturers like to add the usb feature so the general user thinks great but when you get to them you find limited formats are handled etc. Don't get me wrong, i am not yet totally against netgear - all other peripherals manufacturers are doing the same -adding features which are non core and generally executed with only moderate competence. What is crucial for the router/modem manufacturer to get right is a stable connection to internet and intranet. The 3700 has just about got there.

[Scubbie]

windylim wrote:
You commented about external drive not having many files. Does it mean the server cannot handle external disk with a lot of files? That sounds like quite a prohibitive problem if so.

As laozhu has suggested, it is a drive which i have connected via the USB port.

I have a music collection of the drive and it has in excess or 70,000 tracks.

The router periodically scans the drive to refresh its memory and share them for the DLNA database.

Since I seem to be in the minority to be complaining about this, I would suggest that it is to do with the the large quantity of files. If I had a smaller collection, I suspect all would be fine.