NETGEAR N600 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router (WNDR3400)

At under $30, this N, dual band router is a great choice. The router worked, unsecured, as soon as I connected it. By logging into it's setup page, it was easy to set up the SSID and pass-phrase (= password) for each band. (This router has a "normal' 2.4 GHz band, and also a 5 GHz band, hence "dual-band").This router replaced an older Linksys "b/g" router, which is ok up to 54 Mbps (mega bits per second). That is way faster than the bandwidth that Cablevision provides, so, on paper at least, the old router was more than adequate. But, my new Dell Inspiron only measured 9 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. My wife's HP Pavilion Dv6 measured a miserable 2 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed whatever we did, or wherever we placed the laptop. (I use Speedtest.net by Ookla for these numbers). The other "issue" with the Linksys was drop-outs, now happening every couple of days as the unit got older.The new NETGEAR WNDR3400 router has changed all that. The Dell Inspiron now measures 17 Mbps download, and 5 Mbps upload. The HP Pavilion is almost the same: 16 down and 5 up - what a difference in web performance! (note - the "N" band supports up to 145 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, but in our case it is limited by the incoming Cablevision signal.)I connected a Seagate "Go Flex" 2 TB NAS (= network attached storage) drive to the USB port on the Netgear router. The NAS drive continued to connect and operate as it did on the old router, with no change or adjustment. One difference, though, is how much faster the initial backup takes place after you start up either laptop.One other point - neither of the laptops can see the 5 GHz signal, but my Samsung 4G LTE phone, my company Dell Latitude and a Motorola Zoom tablet can see and connect to the 5G signal. That's cool, but the download and upload speeds are exactly the same on the 5G band, because it is limited by the incoming Cablevision signal.I fitted the plastic feet (included), so this router stands upright, takes less shelf space than the older Linksys, and probably cools better. Remember to remove the plastic sheets protecting the front and back surfaces, which block the cooling vents around the edges. An Ethernet cable is included, which I used during setup - it's just quicker and easier than doing the setup wirelessly.During setup, I opted to use the higher security "WPA2-PSK [AES]" setting. The older router used WPA-PSK. I used the same SSID and passphrase as the old router, but because I changed the security setting, I had to "reconnect" the other devices in the house - Smart TV, Blue Ray Disk, ROKU, tablets and laptops. This only took a minute or so for each unit.Any downsides? The setup screen does take almost a minute to save each change that you make, but you will only ever do this setup once, so who cares? The refurbished unit does not include the setup instructions, but does give you a link to the user manual on line (if you need it, download the manual BEFORE you disconnect the old router - duh!) Both are minor points, considering how much less you pay for the refurbished unit.So far, no dropouts in the week or so that it has been installed - hooray!. Easy setup, much better performance, and all for less than $30!

I didn't bother to proofread my review, so bear with me if I make a few mistakes here or there. I bought this router because I did not want to be a victim of Time Warner Cable's leased products. The router is in great condition and is almost like new. There was no CD or guide in the box that it came with, so I connected it to my modem, which is a Motorola SB6141 (they work great together, by the way), plugged the Ethernet cable into my computer, and I soon had access to the Internet. Then I went to http://192.168.1.1, and set up my router and WiFi there, along with security like WPA2-PSK. Use this site to help you set up your router: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20302. Also, through checking out Netgear's downloads for devices, I found that this series had multiple versions, like v1, v2, and so on, and that the router I received was v1. I'm not sure if this was specified in the description, but I didn't see anything, and people are still asking questions in the Q&A section. I don't don't really mind which version I got because everything is working great, but some people report that they're receiving v1's or v2's, and it might not be possible to guarantee a specific version Anyways, I have tablets, smartphones, and game consoles in the house, and they all work great with this router. I use the 2.4GHz band for low bandwidth devices like my mom's tablet, and 5GHz for when I stream Netflix, Hulu, etc., or when I play MMORPGs.I've seen some people complaining about how the router stops working a few months or even a few weeks after purchase and blame it on the fact that the router is refurbished. To be honest, I don't know if that is the actually reason why this occurs, but it doesn't seem to occur too often amongst customers, so I hope that this will not happen to me. If it does happen, then hey, it's my own fault for wanting to be cheap and buying a refurbished product instead of a new one.Anyways, moving on to function and reliability, this router is great! The speed of the internet plan I pay for is 15 Mbps (there is a difference between MB/s and Mbps, as 8 Mb = 1 MB), and after doing a speed test at speedtest.net, my ping is 9-11 ms, and my download speed ranged from 14-16 Mbps (usually 16 Mbps), which is great. So far, there hasn't been any bumps in the road, and I haven't experienced any downtime in connectivity or anything.In short, this router is working properly, has a stable connection to the Internet, and is giving me the speeds that I paid for (which is all that I ask for). It also works well with the Motorola SB6141 and is easy to set up if you have basic knowledge of setting up networks, configuring IP address, etc.Edit (11/13/14): I have been using this router for 3 and 1/2 months, and I haven't had any major problems so far. The 5GHz band is always fine, but sometimes the 2.4GHz band is really spotty and nothing can stay connected to it. In this case, I just reset the router, and all is well again. The 2.4GHz band is a recurrent issue, but not very often; I just reset the router every few weeks or so, not a big deal for something I saved $20 on.