Netgear Wireless Router for Video and Gaming WNDR37AV

9 Review to this product

• 

  Retired guy
  October 9th, 2010 on 2:42 pm

  Rating

  We just switched from DSL to Cable. I wanted to just have one cable through the wall in the Living Rm. This router was perfect. Wired it to our RoKu, PopBox, and Diretv DVR. Placed a 1.5TB USB Hard Drive at the Router’s USB input as a Network Drive (Z). Then the Computors are Wireless N so the speed is fine.
  
  I do notice N band drops off after 30 to 35′ in signal compared to the G band using inSSIDer program (Free download)
  
  We also have a WII connected wirelessly at the other end of the house in the basement Playroom. It is on G Guest. We stream NetFlixs on it without a problem.
  
  So it fills our needs just fine. Haven’t had to do any reboots yet with the cable modem or the router.

  The bottom says it’s 3700 as others have mentioned.
  
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  {{UPDATE 10/6/10}}

  I removed two stars because of the problem below!!!
  
  The router works fine, it’s the “REGION” that is the problem….

  I found in the setup that the “REGION” is set for Africa!
  
  I am dealing with NetGear to fix this as they tell me

  1. You cannot change the Region, it’s built in the core.

  2. It affects any Firmware and warranty issues.

  Amazon doesn’t seem concerned because all they will do is give me a refund and I can order a new one. OK, How do I know Amazon will send a router with USA as the Region? Huh!

  So now I have emailed Netgear and have told them what Amazon’s atitude is about the problem. Who knows how many of these “AFRICA” routers Amazon is selling here in the States?
• 

  Katt A Shopper
  October 10th, 2010 on 12:05 am

  Rating

  I got this netgear last week and set it up in just minutes. I was streaming netflix movies the rest of the night. I am at novice level and still this was that easy. I did not have any issues with the speeds at all. I do have service from Cox and could stream and be on the computer at the same time without a hint of slowing down…
• 

  K. Bond
  October 10th, 2010 on 5:25 pm

  Rating

  So far it words okay. I feel like it could go faster on wireless, but am finding the online support slightly lacking for the amateur computer user. The ability to plug in an external harddrive was a big draw to purchasing this product, but so far it works sporadically. That is, sometimes my computer can find it, sometimes it cannot. The software utility to find the drive does not seem to work…keeps getting an error that the drive letter is unavailable. Despite trying multiple times on different computers, the auto firmware update feature does not work…I keep getting an error that I’m not connected to the internet.
• 

  Sam
  October 11th, 2010 on 3:49 am

  Rating

  It’s very solid router. I reduced one star for the model name/number confusion caused by Netgear. It’s sold as WNDR37AV and the output side box says WNDR37AV, but the router inside the box is WNDR3700. All the softwre and manual are all WNDR3700. The product support pages for WNDR37AV at Netgear website does not have any contents – which could be confusing to many people.

  Why two different names for the same product?

  Other than this, the router itself is pretty solid.
• 

  Blue
  October 11th, 2010 on 11:02 am

  Rating

  This router was bought to replace a Belkin Play Max model #FD4301. I am very satisfied with the Netgear WNDR37AV. It flies. What I noted about this new router, indeed it is the WNDR3700, even the CD that came with this router, it says WNDR3700. As soon I went to the router page in the internet, the unit was trying to download a new firmware. For now it is working great. I will keep you guys posted on the new router.
• 

  D. Moujaes
  October 13th, 2010 on 2:43 pm

  Rating

  First off, the WNDR37AV is the same unit as WNDR3700. Now as far as routers go, I’ve done a lot of research and finally went with this one. This unit is replacing a D-Link DIR-655 which I’ve had for almost 3 years. For the past 4 months or so, the D-Link was freezing and needed constant reboots. I thought that maybe the router was dying on me, so I purchased another DIR-655 last week from Amazon and unfortunately had to return it; it had more issues than the one I currently have. I believe that the DIR-655 could no longer handle my ever expanding home office network which consists of 6 computers (2 LAN and 4 wireless), 1 HP MediaSmart server, 1 Sony LocationFree, 1 Netgear RangeMax, 2 iPhones, 1 iPod, 1 Playstation3, 1 Wii, 3 switches, 3 Networked Printers,2 Linksys VOIP ATA’s, Linksys Network Cameras etc…

  The setup for the WIDR37AV was pretty easy; I did not use the installation CD. It operates on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously. You can stream data separately on each band. Unfortunately only one of my 4 laptops has a dual band wireless card (older Lenovo); My new Sony VAIO and 3 HPs’ would only work on 2.4 GHz. You can setup a separate network for guests without allowing them access to local files.

  Some people were having issues with this router which were resolved by turning off the traffic meter as well as disabling USB port connected to the router; I have no use for these features so I did the same. The range seems a little better with the WNDR37AV. You have all the bells and whistles available (Qos, Port Forwarding, Port Triggering etc…). I use OpenDNS servers as primary and secondary DNS. You can setup Dynamic DNS, the drawback; you can only choose DynDNS as service provider. MAC filtering (access list) is only available for wireless clients and not LAN.

  All of this said, this router seems to handle my network with ease and so far without hiccups. Thumbs Up!
• 

  R. G. MORO
  October 15th, 2010 on 4:07 am

  Rating

  Best range, reliability, and throughput of any wifi router I’ve owned. And the colored LEDs look BAD ASS in the dark.

  Works great with wifi devices all over the house (~2500 sq ft) and the yard too.

  I choose to get a single dual band router for simplicity (don’t want two routers), and because of the backwards compatibility. Unfortunately my PS3 (first gen, so might be different for the newer ones), and my Wii don’t support 802.11n, hence the dual band router. The xbox360 wifi connection is now 100% reliable and great for streaming hi def netflix, etc., (xbox 360 regularly had wifi connectivity problems with my previous router – even at 20 ft away with minimal wall interference).

  They must’ve figured out some crazy advances in antenna technology, because I still can’t believe how this router outperforms my WRT600N, which had 3 adjustable external antennas.

  Only problem I had was with trying to configure from the CD — Windows 7 did not like that at all, said the router was improperly installed which was BS. Don’t bother with the CD, just open a browser to http://192.168.0.1 (the typical def GW) and familiarize yourself with the options – it will pay off in the long run. Be sure to change the admin password (the default is “password”), and make sure you secure your wifi networks (both of them, since dual band).
• 

  urbaninja
  October 15th, 2010 on 3:35 pm

  Rating

  Introduction
  
  This is my third router in 5 years. I upgrade when the technology takes a jump or when I start to see a lot of network outages or both. This time I replaced a router that was 802.11n but it was not dual band (netgear 3500 series). I used the 3500 about 2.5 years and I was starting to see more and more network outages. Maybe because the router was getting old or maybe because I’m starting to add more devices to my network and it simply could not handle the traffic. Currently I have the following equipment on my wireless network: (1)Desktop, 2(laptops),(1)iPhone4, (2)iTouch, (2)Sony PS3, (1)Kodak Digital Picture, (2)Flat Panel TV’s streaming video. I also support a number of devices wired directly to my router including: (1)Desktop, (1)Network Printer, (1)AT&T 3G Microcell, (1)Synology NAS, (1)Sonos Bridge, (1) Vonage Device. So, I have many devices trying to communicate through my router.

  Router Review
  
  Installation was a snap. Out of the box, follow the quick install guide. Power off modem, connect router to modem, connect computer to router, power on modem (2 minutes), power on router (2 minutes), power on computer (2 minutes). Type in [...] to access router. Default configuration will get you online. Have the router check for firmware updates with the netgear website. If there are any upgrades available, download and install. I always change the router password from default. Setup wireless network both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I named them both the same and added a 5G to the 5GHz band . Setup security preferences (WPA2-PSK [AES] for me) , type in passphrase (network password). Done.

  I use my Synology NAS as an ftp server that can be accessed from outside my home network so I had to setup some port forwarding. This is outside the scope of most setups. Suffice to say that this operation went smoothly with no problems.

  I had a secure network up and running with no problems in a matter of minutes. I added both TV’s to the 5GHz band using WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) and I added the other wireless devices to the 2.4GHz band using the passphrase.

  The network has been up and running for a week now with no outages. I have really taxed the network too by streaming HD movies, moving large files from my computer to my NAS, while uploading large files to a remote backup site. No matter what I throw at this router, it doesn’t miss a beat.

  Pros
  
  Easy setup
  
  Easy to add devices to network (WEP and passphrase)
  
  Strong signal throughout the house (much better than 3500)
  
  Cool looking design, low profile and lights
  
  Reliable (so far after a week of heavy use)
  
  Reasonable price

  Cons
  
  Could have included a Gensu knife or Salad Shooter with router.

  Based on the ease of setup, performance, and reliability under heavy traffic, I highly recommend this router.
• 

  STAT
  October 16th, 2010 on 4:20 am

  Rating

  Save yourself a lot of grief, don’t let the router update on the initial setup. Set up router and internet connections to your liking, then let the router upgrade its firmware. It’s superfast and steady. I am using dual bands simultaneously on one computer. I have a 2.4ghz usb adapter and a 5ghz usb adapter on at the same time, both locks on the signals with smooth HD video streaming and online gaming.