Buying a new router is not an issue. This router was working fine until few weeks ago. It just quit working all of a sudden. I tried re-enabling parental controls and that's when found out the parental controls link redirecting to the Netgear Smart Parental controls. When a device is working fine and doing its job, why would you buy a new router and then pay more for other features.
Read the next message, from @schumaku in that conversation.
When a device is working fine and doing its job, why would you buy a new router and then pay more for other features.
I think it is called "progress". Netgear decided that it wasn't going to carry on providing a free service on a device that it first sold more than 10 years ago.
If you have updated your Internet service at any time since you installed the WNR2000v5, there is a good chance that your Internet is now faster than your router can handle. The router is limited to 100 Mbps, which is a lot slower than many modern Internet services. The wifi is also four or five generations behind the latest.
These things may not matter to many people, but they do show how things have moved on since that router hit the market.
I think it is called "progress". Netgear decided that it wasn't going to carry on providing a free service on a device that it first sold more than 10 years ago.
The choice of words is excellent. PROGRESS. I don't agree with it. When they made the product, they should have never offered this as a free service, they should have mentioned that there would be a time limit on the offer.
When they made the product, they should have never offered this as a free service, they should have mentioned that there would be a time limit on the offer.
When Netgear launched the WNR2000 range way back in 2008 it probably had no idea how the Internet and ISPs would develop over the new few years, let alone decades. Back then it could happily lob in free parental controls as a marketing tool for its routers.
The IT world in general has moved away from selling simple hardware and software both sides now provide "services". So while I used to buy Microsoft office and use it until I was ready to buy a new version I now have to pay an annual fee. It is not alone.
When Netgear sold routers that supported free parental controls, it did so in association with a network business that has now changed hands, probably several times, and has its adapted its own business models.
Netgear now offers various subscription options for security services. Third party operations may give other choices. It is up to you to pick the one that meets your needs.
When you finally get around to replacing your WNR2000v5, 10 years old in 2024, and with 100 Mbps Ethernet and 2.4 GHz wifi, you will find a very different market for hardware designed for a world of multi-gigabit LAN and 6 GHz wifi.
