Has Netgear's product quality dropped?

K

Kaizer

Gawd
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
737
A long while ago I had bought a RT314 router. It worked like a champ for years.. then all of a sudden it decided it couldnt do PPPOE anymore. I said screw it.. time to upgrade and get one with wireless for the laptop. After 1 year 12 days of use.. it now just resets on me randomly. Due to my past experience with netgear lasting years.. I had my mother, and 3 other friends buy routers from them. Every one of them have died now, about a year after purchase.

Im just curious.. has anyone else seen issues with their routers now? They used to be in some nice metal boxes... maybe that has a little to do with it.. but who knows.
 
I personally don't like netgears routers based on there looks. They all feel plasticy to me, too cheap. Then of course, I like a router that looks like it fits in a rack, or is at least good looking.

I buy all Linksys routers. They may not be metal, but they still feel strong. I haven't had one let me down yet.
 
I don't think their quality was ever good enough to be able to drop anywhere.

I learn something new here everyday... :D
 
I liked them way back in the early days of broadband, when BayNetworks owned them, their routers were all solid metal cases, twin units with Zyxel.

They were never flashy, had very bland firmware and features, but were rock solid and generally faster than equally priced Linkies and DStinks and other entry level brands.

Heck I still have my prehistoric RT314 kicking around in a drawer somewhere.

But somewhere along the line they changed, went to these cheaper lightweight units...and honestly I've had quite a few issues with them on SBC DSL in my area. Sometimes it seems like I have to wrestle with the unit several times to get it to snag a connection.

Also their warranty services left me hanging more than once with a client.
 
I've had nothing but problems with netgear products. Dunno if they were good in the past, but the couple of years I've tried them have been horrible.
 
My wireless B router works like a champ, never had a single problem with it but I've heard some bad things about their latest G routers, though since I've experienced good things with their products in the past I'm thinking of trying out their newer stuff anyway.

I also think they look pretty cool, but that's my opinion.
 
Setup my old wireless B for a family member, have installed 4 of the Gs (they go on sale for less than 20 USD) and have one of the Gs for myself.

No major problems reported so far. Granted the most systems using the wireless are 2 at any of the locations.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Heehee...speaking off.....check this out,
http://www.netgearsettlement.com/
Click to expand...
I got this in my mail today but it seems retarded. Prove some stupid fact about Netgear and get a 15% coupon. WTF? I bought a Netgear Wireless adapter, I recieved no support whatso ever except for the other sould on the Netgear forums trying to follow through with the exact same problems that are plaguing everyone. They make BAD products, have NO technical support (I do not consider outsourced help desks that hang up on you without answering any questions support), and are a BAD company.
 
Shameless Liar said:
(I do not consider outsourced help desks that hang up on you without answering any questions support), and are a BAD company.
Click to expand...

You said it!!! They are not technically trained... they only answer the phone and read general troubleshooting tips back to you. It is a waste of time when you tell them up front that YOU already did the basic troubleshooting... they get stumped and then proceed to tell you to download the latest firmware... which, of course, you also already told them that you did.
 
I have 2 routers, a microsoft one and a old d-link ones, both 802.11 b.
I bought the microsoft one after the d-link died 6 months after i bought it..
My microsoft router seemed to die 3 months after i used it, but when i opened it up, cappy blew.
I fixed the cappy and its been working for 6 years and still going strong.
I've never had to reboot it because it never crashes...
weird???
meh
msft routers pwn

at least the 802.11b ones
:p
 
Yea tech support from them was a joke. They ignored everything I said, and kept telling me to do things I had already done, and had stated in the emails I had done them. Their support script readers there suck.

I went out and bought a new dlink 4300 this time. Now if I can get a good profile setup for gamefuel for WoW, id be golden.
 
killa62 said:
I have 2 routers, a microsoft one and a old d-link ones, both 802.11 b.
I bought the microsoft one after the d-link died 6 months after i bought it..
My microsoft router seemed to die 3 months after i used it, but when i opened it up, cappy blew.
I fixed the cappy and its been working for 6 years and still going strong.
I've never had to reboot it because it never crashes...
weird???
meh
msft routers pwn

at least the 802.11b ones
:p
Click to expand...


Those Microsoft wireless routers actually were pretty good...when they first came out, I had installed quite a few of them. Great range compared to other brands while doing my own impromptu range tests. It's too bad they got out of most of the hardware market like that. :(
 
Which does confirm my theory that MS makes better hardware than software. :)
 
Not been impressed with Netgear, and like the OP, I remember when they made good stuff. I try to get recycled enterprise grade stuff nowadays, I break consumer grade gear :eek:
 
I used to have Netgear (RT314), but finally got fed up with my DCC sends in IRC and various other annoying bugs and moved to Linksys(WRT54G). The only annoying thing about the Linksys is DDNS updates not working automatically. I have to manually update every month to keep my hostname active.
 
The only thing I run from netgear are their FA311 ethernet cards. Those things are little tanks. I won't play with their newer stuff because they wont play nice with opensource stuff (in my experience).
 
I have myself a netgear wireless router (108g hack version) that overheats when there is to much going on, I also have a netgear wireless card for my desktop on which the antenna broke off, and last I have a pcmcia B card from them, never use it so I guess its fine. I only bought the pci card though :p
 
I had the same issue. Now I'm with Linksys, good for now, but making my own router.
 
I wish linksys would make new routers with their older case style (blue box with legs) not the new silver box they have :/
 
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