I contacted NetGear Support today because I had a hardware problem with my router. This afternoon, my WiFi module was completely disabled and when trying to enable, there were no options to enable WiFi. I contacted NetGear Support and they were right, I still had 2 weeks remaining on my hardware because the router itself has a covered 12 month initial warrany period. After discussing the issue with a technician, she attempted to send me to Hardware Support team and in about 2 minutes, she returned only to tell me about their phone warranty packages, ranging from $300 and $50 for 3 months. I find it absolutely ridiculous that I would have to pay for phone support in order to talk with someone regarding a hardware issue, plus the fact my hardware is still covered under manufactuerer warranty. Because of this little incident today, I have made the decison to move forward with a new router manufacturer. Instead of understanding the customers needs, you want to reel in any extra money possible and that is wrong for customer facing situations, especially customers who are still within the hardware period of their warranty!
Netgear does provide a case number and a phone number you have to call where they will do some Q&A to confirm the device need a replacement. Takes typically a minute or two to get the RMA process rolling.
There is no need to subscribe any additional contract or support service to claim your hardware warranty.
