NETGEAR DGND3300 270 Mbps 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router (DGND3300-100UKS)

I bought this item on ebay for around £50 as second hand. Easy setup without any CD or wizard, I have been on O2 broadband 16MBit contract, so just added DNS address, etc... once set up the connection was perfect. I am disappointed by the fact it is 100MBit ethernet only, it could have been 1GB as nowadays ethernet ports offer. NO, I had to buy magic "300MBit N wifi adapted" for £25 BUT after installing it the speed is actually 300MBit/s for couple of seconds and then it constantly drops to 150-200. btw my laptop is 3m away from the router. I use wired ethernet connection which is 100MBit, so N-WIfi with 150MBit is not such a big improvement. Shame on you, Netgear! I tried to setup shared HDD via USB. succesfully, BUT when I download/upload/or just watch some movie (large files, especially MKV Blu Ray files), be aware of extremely slow speed of data transfer. SO watching Blu Ray MKV file is extremely painfull, stops every 5 sec so basically you can use it for very simple slow browsing of your HDD (i.e. via internet when away) I got 2TB HDD Seagate with USB 3.0 port which is extremely fast when connected via laptop's USB but connecte to this router? Forget it! Another fail is the fact the router loses connection with HDD after some time, so when you want to access it let's say day later after you plugged HDD in to the router's USB - it does not workfind this drive anymore and you have to restart that bloody router!

SO avoid this router for using it for anything else than just simple internet browsing.

There are much better routers with better price/performance ratio. 1 star with no discussion. Shall I buy it for original price £150-200 I would have smash it on the head of the sales person. Seriously, netGear never again.

Works well and seems to keep connection with no noted dropouts after 2 weeks of use (on 24hrs) - would have been far better if the wired ports were Gbit. The dual 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz operation will depend on whether your wireless devices support this but is good to have for the future. Quite a bit bigger than the original DG284G it is replacing but still looks as good in shiny black finish. Would recommend vertical operation so that it runs cooler (and yes, the blue lights can be switched off !!).

Having used Netgear routers for years, I could never fault them. Simple to set up and dependable. So when I wanted to upgrade to an "N range" router, the choice was simple - Netgear once again.
This router should be every thing I needed: separate bands for the "g range" and the "N range" less chance of interference from the other channels or from other household sources. It would even turn you USB hard drive into a network drive. - Perfect I thought! - pity I hadn't read the reviews first.
Mine set up ok, but the range was terrible, in fact the range on the "N" mode was only a few meters, and the "g" mode wasn't much better, in fact, this was worse even than the old Netgear router that I was replacing.
Other reviews (numbering thousands I'd bet) have complained about routers not having firmware installed, which leaves them almost impossible to set-up unless you are computer savvy, and can download the firmware from the internet.
I'm off to check out other brands, and unless Netgear get their act together - I'll not be back!

***Pros****
- Internet speed much faster
- Streaming videos quicker
- wider network coverage
- Allows me to use my external harddisk as a media server

***Cons***
- Disconnects sometimes
- No Software updates

Verdict
Better than the default router that came with my talktalk internet as i get a faster internet speed, worth buying if you need more features and have the money

Just changed from my old GT Netgear to this one. This one is faster than my old one and is very reliable, no drop outs or disconnections.
You can telnet in and set your SNR lower to get a speed increase, and this holds low SNR very well, mines about 2.6 at the moment and it still doesn't disconnect. Netgears are very well known for this, so this doesn't just apply to this model.
I've found wireless coverage to be excellent, with no problems whatsoever, I have about 5 (lappy,xbox,ipad etc)connected wirelessly.
I've yet to plug in a usb hd to this router, so I can't say if it works well or not.
All in all I've found it to be a stable and reliable router, with no complaints.