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NEED HELP PLEASE***

post #1 of 6
10/8/12 at 3:36pm
Thread Starter 
As of right now I have no internet... NetGear Router adapter fried and poss router

I am looking to purchase a new router.

I have gotten a load of info from this site so far but still unsure.

Here is what my uses are.
5 Laptops, 2 iPads, 6 iPhones, 1 wireless HP Printer, 1 kindle, 1 Smart TV, 2 PS3, 2 Wii, 2 DS3D, PS Vita plus whatever guest come over. Most of these things are connected all the time except the gaming systems although they are used a lot its mostly laptops, ipad, kindle

Music downloads, programs, Netflix and internet gaming.

I know it seems like a lot to some but not everything is connected at the same time. I also have my sister and her kids living with me my wife and our kids.

My laptops are PC’s wireless N unfortunately 2.5ghz I will be getting a mac soon.

My home is 4300sq ft. I have a Netgear WNDR 3700 unfortunately It drops signal all the time even if I had just 2 laptops on it and that’s it and I would be about 15 feet from the router.

Well the outlet I had it in had a short and it burnt out the adapter so I ordered a new one and am waiting to see if it still works unfortunately Frys, RadioShack and Wal-Mart none had a universal that would work without the connection being loos and disconnecting.

I was looking at the Netgear WNDR 3800, 4000 and the R6300 I also looked at the Linksys EA6500.

I read so much about all and still confused on what would be best for me. I have cox cable and pay for the highest output. I had about 63mpbs on the WNDR 3700 and still would loss connection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
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post #2 of 6
10/8/12 at 4:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zooyork View Post

As of right now I have no internet... NetGear Router adapter fried and poss router
I am looking to purchase a new router.

I have gotten a load of info from this site so far but still unsure.
Here is what my uses are.
5 Laptops, 2 iPads, 6 iPhones, 1 wireless HP Printer, 1 kindle, 1 Smart TV, 2 PS3, 2 Wii, 2 DS3D, PS Vita plus whatever guest come over. Most of these things are connected all the time except the gaming systems although they are used a lot its mostly laptops, ipad, kindle
Music downloads, programs, Netflix and internet gaming.
I know it seems like a lot to some but not everything is connected at the same time. I also have my sister and her kids living with me my wife and our kids.
My laptops are PC’s wireless N unfortunately 2.5ghz I will be getting a mac soon.
My home is 4300sq ft. I have a Netgear WNDR 3700 unfortunately It drops signal all the time even if I had just 2 laptops on it and that’s it and I would be about 15 feet from the router.
Well the outlet I had it in had a short and it burnt out the adapter so I ordered a new one and am waiting to see if it still works unfortunately Frys, RadioShack and Wal-Mart none had a universal that would work without the connection being loos and disconnecting.
I was looking at the Netgear WNDR 3800, 4000 and the R6300 I also looked at the Linksys EA6500.
I read so much about all and still confused on what would be best for me. I have cox cable and pay for the highest output. I had about 63mpbs on the WNDR 3700 and still would loss connection.
Any help would be greatly appreciated


Well you do have a lot going on but it is not unmanageable. First off you need to be aware of is the size of your home. You really need at least 2 wireless points. You do this by using a router as a router and using a second router as an access point. What this means is that you will extend the wireless coverage throughout your home. Using an access point is the best way to extend your wireless range. The other option is using a repeater. This will extend the range but at lower performance.

To use an access point you will need to have a wired connection where this AP will go. If you cannot get a wired connection you can use a PowerLine adapter to do this. But a wire is certainly the least expensive way.

Now regarding all of the clients you have on your net. With the Netgear routers you can create Guest Networks. I suggest you do that to minimize conflicts. One of the things with wifi is the net goes to the slowest device. So what ever you lowest performing device is your net will throttle to that. By creating a Guest Net you spread things across more space. The router treats the guest net as a separate net. So you could create kids net, or media net.

Where possible utilize the 5Ghz net. But the only device you listed that has that is the iPad and the Mac. You can get adapters for the laptops if you want to spread the load further.

Given the size of your house I would suggest either the Netgear WNDR4500 or the R6300. Both of these routers have extended range over the 3700. This amounts to about 10-20% greater range. Netgear has just released the A6200 AC USB adapter so if you were to add an adapter to your laptops then this really would be an upgrade. Plus the AC uses the 5g band so that frees up the 2.4g band for older devices.

You have the challenge of the modern wireless home. But it is solvable.

So if I were you Id buy this

2 Netgear r6300. One as a router and 1 as an access point.
1 Netgear Powerline kit. XAVB5101 for best performance if you can get a wire to the access point
Netgear a6200 AC USB adapters for as many laptops you wish to convert.

This may be more then what you want to spend. But if you want all those devices working at the same time this is what I would do.

Bob Silver
Netgear AV Consultant
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post #3 of 6
10/8/12 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobsilver View Post

Well you do have a lot going on but it is not unmanageable. First off you need to be aware of is the size of your home. You really need at least 2 wireless points. You do this by using a router as a router and using a second router as an access point. What this means is that you will extend the wireless coverage throughout your home. Using an access point is the best way to extend your wireless range. The other option is using a repeater. This will extend the range but at lower performance.
To use an access point you will need to have a wired connection where this AP will go. If you cannot get a wired connection you can use a PowerLine adapter to do this. But a wire is certainly the least expensive way.
Now regarding all of the clients you have on your net. With the Netgear routers you can create Guest Networks. I suggest you do that to minimize conflicts. One of the things with wifi is the net goes to the slowest device. So what ever you lowest performing device is your net will throttle to that. By creating a Guest Net you spread things across more space. The router treats the guest net as a separate net. So you could create kids net, or media net.
Where possible utilize the 5Ghz net. But the only device you listed that has that is the iPad and the Mac. You can get adapters for the laptops if you want to spread the load further.
Given the size of your house I would suggest either the Netgear WNDR4500 or the R6300. Both of these routers have extended range over the 3700. This amounts to about 10-20% greater range. Netgear has just released the A6200 AC USB adapter so if you were to add an adapter to your laptops then this really would be an upgrade. Plus the AC uses the 5g band so that frees up the 2.4g band for older devices.
You have the challenge of the modern wireless home. But it is solvable.
So if I were you Id buy this
2 Netgear r6300. One as a router and 1 as an access point.
1 Netgear Powerline kit. XAVB5101 for best performance if you can get a wire to the access point
Netgear a6200 AC USB adapters for as many laptops you wish to convert.
This may be more then what you want to spend. But if you want all those devices working at the same time this is what I would do.
Bob Silver
Netgear AV Consultant

Thanks so much for your response I appreciate how you responded is there anywere you could direct me into pulling this task of making the routers talk to each other…

I was also interested in the 3800 as well due to what I read can you clarify or assist in this as well will the 6300 cover this as well…

Additionally the 4500 has higher power amplifiers then the 3800 has. This will add to improved range for any device that connects to it. So this is particularly important for those with larger homes or looking for outdoor as well as indoor coverage. Per the specs the amplifiers are 24 dbm on wndr3800 vs. 29 dbm on wndr4500. That 5dbm difference is significant. Also the receive amplifiers on the 4500 are lower noise then there are on the 3800 so clients that have weaker wifi signals will still be heard by the 4500 where they might not be by a 3800.
Other aspects of the 4500 that are new are it has 2 usb ports . While one could add a usb hub to the 3800 as an example this is much cleaner. But functionally it is the same. The second new aspect of the 4500 is it has slightly faster usb performance. It is faster in the 10-15% range according to the Netgear Product Manager
Similar to the 3800 the 4500 does support printer sharing. It also supports the new Genie Dashboard and UI as found in the 3800.
Now compared to the 3800 what doesn’t the 4500 have. It does not support ReadyShare Cloud. Today only the 3800 supports this. Will Netgear add this to the 4500 in the future you are probably thinking? I dont know. MY guess is probably but since RaeadyShare Cloud is so new they will want to make sure they work all the kinks out before adding it to other products.
The 4500 does not support Clear Channel. Clear Channel is an enterprise technology that helps unclog congested 2.4ghz wifi band. This is very import in crowded areas like apartments and urban areas where you are surrounded by many wifi signals. You might think well doesn't the 3 radio aspect of the 4500 help in that too> I suspect it would but it would be a different way to solve the problem. I have not had discussions with Netgear on this but will plan to do so and report back.
The 4500 also does not have a dedicated Video Mode on the 5ghz band that the 3700 and the 3800 both have.
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post #4 of 6
10/8/12 at 5:13pm
The 3800 is really an updated 3700 in as far as the chip set goes. The 4500 and the 6300 are the new platforms that Netgear has moved toward. The 3800 along with the 4500, 6300 are all very good products. But because of your home size you need range. As much as you can get. That is why I suggested either the 4500 or 6300. But as I said the difference is small in the 10-20% range of improvement. Your biggest improvement will be the use of the 2 routers in a router / access point configurations.

The way they need to be able to talk is surprisingly simple. Assuming you have a wire (either cable or Powerline devices) you connect the 2 devices between the lan ports (NOT THE WAN PORT). Then you turn off DHCP on the router you wish to be the access point. Then if you want 1 seamless wifi network you set the SSID and the channels to the same of both the router and access point. And you are good to go.

I have a 3k sq ft ranch. I have my router in my office and another at the far end of my home. I get seamless wireless coverage throughout the house.

Bob Silver
Netgear
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post #5 of 6
10/9/12 at 6:55pm
Thread Starter 
So I just purchased the Netgear R6300 hope I won't be disappointed I just downloaded the app and that has bad reviews the Linksys has great reviews on the app I take everything into consideration so I'm being positive with this
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post #6 of 6
10/10/12 at 3:31pm
What app are you referring to? Netgear Genie?
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