This is actually a 5stars review, but one star is reduced because of amazon's delivery, more about it at the end.
I'm writing this review after one week of usage. Having accustomed to the standards of my previous router Cisco Linksys WAG120N(my first router, it's actually a modem+router), my new Netgear WNR614 N300(router only) router feels like a rockstar. I had used TataIndicom WiMax with their own modem and Linksys router and currently using ACT Fibernet broadband. ACT gives an ethernet/RJ45 cable connection to home but Linksys had a telephone/ADSL input. To avoid buying another router with RJ45 input, I had configured the first output RJ45 port of linksys as a WAN port so that it acts like a router only device. The experience with Linksys was terrible with frequent packet drops. I work in a cloud company and hence need a very stable internet connection(ISP was fine because no issues when connected to desktop PC), but during the video calls on google hangouts, there were very frequent audio breaks and I was losing important information shared by the American teams. That clearly sucks. Secondly, Linksys was not able to give good performance if 3-4 devices are connected to WiFi, so I had to ask everyone to turnoff their phone's Wifi when I have a meeting(what's the point of having a router then?). Thirdly, if the Wifi is left ON for more than a hour, it stops working until the router is restarted. A router restart was taking 2-3 minutes to get the Internet working. I have a macbook pro which does not have a LAN port, so Wifi was the only way to connect and my Linksys was a nightmare, totally unreliable, so much that I actually started tethering 3G from my phone during meetings! Even ping to router in the wireless layer also had drops, so forget layer3/Internet. Fourth point is that I had the router kept at one corner of the 3BHK flat(<1600Sqft) and there was no signal in the neighbouring room's balcony. Okay, enough of the old router, Let's talk about the Netgear one.
I ordered the product from amazon, it had amazon fulfilled logo and free delivery. The seller was Cloudtail. I had read reviews about fake netgear products from others, so it is important to see seller's rating when buying online. Anyway amazon had returns policy so I went ahead to try the router. The shipment arrived with amazon cardboard packaging and it was not tampered. Any tampering of the tape would have been easily detectable. The product inside was boxed packaging again by Netgear themselves, with a light plastic cover packing around it, again not messed by anyone, so good. The first thing I did on opening the product was to note down the serial number on the back of the router, go to netgear website and register the router. The registration was not denied and was successful, hence I was assured that the product was genuine. (The color should be dull white, someone had posted about a fake router in the reviews that had a bright white colour!). This router can be setup even without a LAN cable and a desktop PC by accessing directly from WiFi layer because the default wifiname and password are already printed on the router's backside. Just skip the automatic setup offered by inbuilt netgear software, it did not seem to work for me but just go to the router's webpage and enter the details of wifi name and new password. Encrytion settings are already selected by default. And once done, forget about any other setup stuff, it just works. I'm not even using the two clips provided to make the router stand and have not even turned the antennas from their vertical position because it is working great already.
Since I had most basic issues with the previous linksys router, let's do a comparison on the same parameters:
1)Booting up:
This router is quick to come up and connect to internet, significantly faster than the old linksys. Satisfactory.
2)Connection Drops:
Very Minimal, not noticeable at all. If at all any, that might be 1% over a long test duration and I think mostly because of Internet service provider. Ping to router's IP is stable.
3)Speed:
I have a 30Mbps ACT fiber connection. The speed test done on laptop from this wifi router gave more than 26Mbps. I cannot judge this correctly because I don't have a similar reading from desktop PC or I don't know if any MTU settings were meant to be changed. Anyways, I don't have any lag while normal usage and since this router is N300, it's capability is upto 300Mbps.
4)Range:
Excellent. I have it in one corner of the apartment and it has a signal in all other corners including the diagonally opposite balcony(longest path in the house). The best part is, along the same diagonal on the other end, there is a second elevator(far away) and I can connect from there too, which was unthinkable in the past with Linksys WAG120N. Range is very good for any regular apartment.
5)Multiple devices:
No issues observed. Connecting 2 laptops and 4 mobile phones, just works fine without any problem.
6)Long usage duration:
I keep it on for 9-10 hours continuously and does not need any restarts!
7)Heating Issues:
What? Never.
8)Does it make any Noise?
So far, None. My tube light makes some noise atleast, this router is quiet.
9)Looks:
It looks not bad, actually decent and is very light weight, can be mounted on wall also. The stand clips idea is good. Whatever! Looks is the least significant thing for any router. The antennas presence actually gives a feel that it is a router and it is comforting to know that it has a specific job to radiate signals and has found it's place. The old linksys router had inbuilt antenna and better looks but what's the point really?
10)Price:
I got it for Rs.1069/- which is not a bad deal. A week later, today the same product is Rs.1125/- on amazon. The seller Cloudtail appears to be genuine in my case.
The product has some more additional features which I don't care for now, just need WiFi(with a password) to be working, that's all. I'm not even using the manual, the stand and the LAN cable. My video meetings are more productive now since this router seems to be reliable.
With so many older issues resolved, I have thrown the Linksys router in a dusty corner(see pic)!
(A note about how old the product is.. it is not very clear. The handbook inside is common for N150 and N300 and it also has August 2014 printed at the end. The plastic cover packaging has a sticker mentioning manufactured date is March 2015 and also says imported date is April 2016 from california to India. My order was placed on 29th July 2016 and delivered on 1st Aug 2016/July 31st)
And coming to the point why one star is deducted:
Firstly, amazon displayed product will be shipped for my location in 3 days I guess but after the order was placed, the estimated delivery date(on or before date) for my shipment was some 4-5 days or more. This is not a good feeling but anyway shipment happened in 3 days if I remember correctly. Secondly, the free shipment was done using India post. I did not like it so much because of the past issues I experienced with India post. Thirdly, on the delivery day, there was no phone call, no email, no SMS informing me that the package is arriving. I would have made my preparations to receive it. Fourthly, I should have gone for Cash on Delivery but since I had Rs.1000 amazon coupons, I did not (and could not. COD cannot be clubbed with gift coupons while checkout). The parcel was left with the apartment's watchman which sounds not so responsible. If you can, go for COD so that they have to meet you personally in order to collect cash. On the delivery day, the order tracking page on Amazon was still showing shipment in progress, undelivered yet. Only on the next day(guess afternoon), they updated the status and informed me the item is delivered. I received the item, so no problem in the end but this whole thing could have been more organized by amazon. Otherwise, this netgear WNR614 N300 router should get a 5 stars review. Go for this one, my friend suggested the same while I was browsing for a router. Buy your peace of mind :)
NOTE: While pasting this review, I just went ahead for the 5 stars. No Big worries.
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