Anyone Have a Netgear Router, are they Okay?

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LoneRanger

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Going to upgrade my old circa 2008 Cisco/Linksys 2.4Ghz 802.11G router now that I've got the new cable modem. Certainly got my money's worth out of it!! Want a good basic Dual Band (2.4 & 5Ghz) job preferably with a USB port so I can connect up an external drive for easy WiFi backups and etc. The Netgear R6200 looks like it fits the bill, and has USB 3.0 port which is the newest standard. Internet subscription is only for 30Mbps (all I need), have only 5 - 7 clients, so I've no worries about an 802.11ac router getting it done. Need the 5Ghz band due to 2.4 getting crowded around me. The Netgear R6200 also has Beam Forming but not sure it works when router on 2nd floor and clients on 1st? https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/R6200.aspx#tab-techspecs Their 6120 is a little less money, has USB 2.0 port instead of 3.0, no Beam Forming: https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/R6120.aspx#tab-techspecs
 
My current and previous routers are netgear no issues, the old router was still running fine but it was old like your cisco.
 
Take a look at TP-Link, most of them can run DD-WRT and have all sorts of cool gadgets. IMO USB 2.0 would probably be fast enough for just backups.
 
Netgear makes decent stuff in the consumer and SMB realm, I think you've made a good choice. I'm not a fan of Toilet Paper Link, or D-Link.
 
Netgear is a decent brand. The 6120 is a lot less of a machine than the 6200, though either one would be suitable for a 30 Mb connection. The ports on the 6120 are limited to 100 Mb while the 6200 is gigabit ready. Personally I'd buy a TP-Link Archer C7. USB3 has not been a great idea for routers since it has GHz signals on the wiring, and the inevitable RF leakage tends to jam the 2.4 GHz radio that is just inches away. Beam Forming kicks in when someone is on the edge of the coverage range. It's basically trading speed for distance.
 
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I agree with the above suggestion for the tp-link archer c7. One of the best routers for the money. I currently have a linksys ac1200wrt and very much like it.
 
I just bought a Netgear AC1900 combo modem/router, and it is nice and fast, especially on 5g. It also has no trouble reaching every corner and floor of my 6,000 square foot house. (It is located roughly in the center.) I got it for 200 bucks at Best Buy, which matched a sale on Amazon.
 
I have a tp-link router that is not capable of DDWRT, and it works fine. Make sure you do your research and get one that can be flashed to open source firmware. I believe the ones with the broadcom chips can not be flashed. For $50 on amazon, a dual band router that works great is a good bargain however.
 
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Originally Posted By: mk378
Netgear is a decent brand. The 6120 is a lot less of a machine than the 6200, though either one would be suitable for a 30 Mb connection. The ports on the 6120 are limited to 100 Mb while the 6200 is gigabit ready. Personally I'd buy a TP-Link Archer C7. USB3 has not been a great idea for routers since it has GHz signals on the wiring, and the inevitable RF leakage tends to jam the 2.4 GHz radio that is just inches away. Beam Forming kicks in when someone is on the edge of the coverage range. It's basically trading speed for distance.
So I want the 6120 that has USB 2.0 port? What a design flaw, if USB 3.0 rf leakage jams the WiFi signals !!! I've never heard of that. Surely, they have the gigabit stuff wrapped in sheathing that contains any rf radiation?
 
I've got a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900-R6900 which I think was a Costco only model with a couple of missing ports--think I paid about $160 for it in 2015. Works good, although I have a Linux Mint box which occasionally doesn't connect, have a couple of wi-fi dongles which I occasionally switch out. I'm probably going to install Ubuntu Mate 18.04 in April and see how things settle out. I've owned three Netgear routers and have no complaints, although I'm not brand loyal.
 
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Originally Posted By: csandste
I've got a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900-R6900 which I think was a Costco only model with a couple of missing ports--think I paid about $160 for it in 2015. Works good, although I have a Linux Mint box which occasionally doesn't connect, have a couple of wi-fi dongles which I occasionally switch out. I'm probably going to install Ubuntu Mate 18.04 in April and see how things settle out. I've owned three Netgear routers and have no complaints, although I'm not brand loyal.
I have a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 as well, though it is a slightly different model (I think AC1900-R7000). I bought mine in late summer 2014 when it first came out for about $200. It has been great. I also really like the Genie desktop software and android app for monitoring and configuring the router. My only minor issue was one of the settings out of the box. It limited upload speeds to 1 mbps. Took a call to tech support to get it figured out. But other than that, no problems now in more than three years. The range is great as well. We currently have a 1600 sq. foot ranch house. It is placed about in the middle of the house, and no issues anywhere in the house. We also get good reception in most of our yard, which is more than 1/3 acre. I would definitely buy it again and recommend it. Right now the model at Costco is on sale for $130.
 
I had a netgear. Worked fine but now the router is built into my xfinity cable modem.
 
Asus RT-AC68U for about $135. Been around for a good while now, and it still gets frequent firmware updates. Can enable AI protection if you want. I got lucky, and bought the T-Mobile version for $60 shipped, and then flashed it to Asus firmware. T-Mobile version has the same hardware as the AC68U, but it has custom T-Mobile firmware. https://goo.gl/whwytX
 
I have had good experiences with Netgear routers, though all are AC. The AC1900 Netgear one at Costco went on sale for $90 a few times. It doesn't have the most basic-level-friendly configuration interface though. Linksys used to be good until they got bought by Cisco which was also bought out by Belkin. Now they're the same as Belkin routers. Asus is good too. If you can wait, the Asus TM-AC1900 have been sold from $60 new and $40-45 refurbished - oftentimes returned units from Tmobile customers that ended their service. It goes on sale at some point almost every month or two.
 
I'm all about a price point of $79 max. The TP-Link Archer C7 fits there, as do the two Netgears I linked in the kick-off post to the thread. I just need a basic dual band router that can connect a hard drive so I can hit the drive via WiFi to backup stuff and such. My mundane 9 yr old cisco only connects 54Mbps as a G router (it purports to max at 150Mbps but that's smoke and mirrors). If I can get true blue WiFi connections to my clients at ac speeds 300Mbps or so that would be thrilling and all I need for a long time I think. Remember, my internet subscription is only 30Mbps and I can't even see a need to bump up to their next tier of 60Mbps anytime soon. If I had a lot of family beating on the internet 24/7 then yeah, maybe one of the $200 routers and 100Mb internet subscription, but that's not the case smile
 
I have a Netgear AC1900 model R7000. It's been solid. Bought about 6 months ago from Target online, picked up at store for about $151.
 
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