Netgear N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (WNDR4500)
- Wireless N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router with WiFi Speeds up to 900 Mbps (450 + 450) ideal for HD video streaming and other demaning applications
- Security - Best in class (WPA/WPA2?PSK) and WEP and Push ?N? Connect ensures a quick and secure network connection using WiFi Protected Setup® (WPS)
- NETGEAR Genie® ? Easy dashboard control to manage, monitor and repair your home network
- WiFi Range - Simulateous Dual Band doubles bandwidth while reducing WiFi interefearece and is ideal for larger homes with many connected devices
- Five (5) 10/100/1000 (1 WAN and 4 LAN) Gigabit Ethernet ports with auto-sensing technology
- Create a powerful home network for applications: streaming 3DHD video and multiplayer gaming.
- New N900 wireless provides up to 450 + 450 Mbps speed and with simultaneous dual band technology avoids interference ensuring top WiFi speeds.
- ReadySHARE® USB - easily share media stored on USB thumbdrives and hard drives with any DLNA device on your network, ReadySHARE® Printer - wirelessly print from your computer to a connected USB printer
- The NETGEAR N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router delivers the ultimate in WiFi performance and range.
The NETGEAR N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router delivers the ultimate performance and range, with a fast, reliable and secure wireless connection to the Internet. Create a powerful home network for applications such as streaming 3DHD video and multiplayer gaming. New N900 wireless provides up to 450 + 450 Mbps speed and with simultaneous dual band technology avoids interference ensuring top WiFi speeds. Two USB ports enable connections to external hard drives and printers.
List Price: $ 200.00
Price: $ 163.99
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The new standard in high performance routers,
Let me start off with this, the WNDR4500 is probably The best router you can buy that offers this kind of speed and usability.
Cheap wireless N routers do 150mbps
Good ones do 300mbps on both 2.4 and 5ghz range
Expensive ones get 300mbps on 2.4 and 450mbps on the 5ghz range
This router does 450mbps on BOTH 2.4 and 5ghz
Only 1 other router currently has this capability, a trendnet router, but it offers none of the user friendly capabilities as this one does. Its so fast, There are a very small number of wifi adapters that will even be able to utilize all 450mbps (most of them intel), so this router should remain top of the line for a good while.
If you are a router junkie, you might know that this router is a true upgrade to the renown WNDR3700 , rather then the WNDR4000. This router packs efficient high power amps on both the 2.4 and 5ghz antennas, meaning better throughput throughout the house and better signal and coverage. Whereas I used to get 3 bars in my room, I now get a full 5.
There is also a full host of features on this router,features any high end router has, such as gigabit connections, full range of led status lights, separate guest networks on both bands, etc.
Now, the router dosnt come with a CD, but that’s a plus, you just open a webpage after connecting to the router it will have a prebuilt SSID and password) and type in routerlogin.net or 192.168.1.1 and press enter. There you will be directed to the “netgear Genie” program where you will have a host of things you can change from basic parameters to higher advanced functions. cool things this has is 2 usb ports which can connect printers and harddrives to your network and DLNA functionality. The Genie menu is very simplistic, with thumbnails of menus that actively changes statuses. There you can check everything, and they have a refined version of their “connected devices” list where you will see every device that is connected to the router (great for checking on intruders)
The physical aspect of this router is just as phenomenal. It comes with the clear base attached so its always standing, and its HUGE, well not that big, but bigger then most other routers. However its glossy meaning it will attract fingerprints. Even with it vertically standing, it has a firm foothold, meaning even with many Ethernet cables pulling on its back, it wont tip.
I took it apart and inside, whereas regular routers have one maybe 2 heatsinks, this one has 6 giant black heatsinks cooling off its cpu and ram blocks. While some other reviews may say there is a fan inside, there isnt, its all passive cooled which is good, it means you wont have dust clogging up the inside of your router. Also, the antennaes are patch antannes, which are taped onto the top half of the shell, so be careful removing it if you plan on taking it apart.
Going from the usual norm of atheros chips, the wndr4500 uses a Broadcom BCM4718 processor, the flagship of the Intensi-fi XLR family of router processors. and also ups the flash ram from the usual 64mb to 128mb.
Overall, this is a very expensive router, but you do get what you pay for. It fixes some of the problems of the previous crown holder, the WNDR3700, such as 5ghz connectivity and signal problems and upgrades the speed to a combined 900mbps on 6 spatial data streams. Saying this router is great for “HD streaming” or “gaming” would be the understatement of the year, it is networking overkill for many tasks. A definite buy if you have the means to afford it.
Update—-Sept.27,2011
After A week or two of testing out its capabilities heavily, i can say this is probably my new favorite router. I have not had a dropped connection yet, or random restarts whatsoever, even with 11 wifi devices connected to the router, traffic was not noticeable. So far so good! future firmware updates should make this router even better.
Recommended setting changes—-
-If you dont have any wireless B devices (97% of us) you should set the preamble length to short preamble (under advanced setup-wireless settings tab), this will give a slight boost in thorough put
-while its tempting to set 2.4ghz to 450mbps, i mean, who dosnt want max speed? however 450mbpd uses channel bonding (40mhz channel width), which will cause interference with your neighbor’s wifi signal and also your own if their channel happens to fall under yours. If your house has wifi congestion, i suggest using 217mbps mode, this will give you fast speed without interference on your network, and your neighbors will like you more. 450mbps on the 5ghz band however is recommended because the likely hood of any 5ghz signals is small, and to have that signal fall under your 5ghz channel only decreases the chance any problems will arise. My neighborhood for example has 17 2.4ghz signals, 3 jerks who use…
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|Fast wireless connections, easy install A GREAT product!,
This is a review of the Netgear N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (WNDR4500)
I am an IT professional, author of many technical books, and I work from home and needed a performance upgrade from my older Linksys wireless router (Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Router). So I purchased the Linksys E2500 Advanced Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router (from amazon.com) and it was a disaster, see my 1 star review there for details. I packed it up and returned it. Amazon handled the return smoothly as always. I decided never again for Linksys.
As a replacement, I first thought about getting the NETGEAR N750 (WNDR4000) which had great reviews, but I decided that for the small difference in price I’d go for this top model.
I unpacked the Netgear N900 (WNDR4500) and had it installed in about 5 minutes on my home network (with 11 computers and many wireless devices) What I did:
1) I made the cable and power connections, and directly connected a PC to the Netgear router to obtain the configuration information.
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2) With a web browser I entered the router’s web address. The Netgear N900 reported:
* a 2.4GHz Network Name (SSID) : NETGEARxx and password
* a 5GHz Network Name (SSID) :NETGEARxx-5G and password
Also did a firmware update (single click of the notice that it was available)
3) I turned on a wireless laptop (Windows 7) and opened the wireless connections dialog, it listed the NETGEARxx SSID, I logged in (with the previous info.) and was immediately on the internet.
4) AFTER having confirmed that it was working, I logged into the Netgear N900 as administrator (admin/password) and changed the admin password, the SSID names and passwords. (Then made the corresponding changes on my laptop computer in the Windows’ networking configuration.)
5) I tested it, did some downloads, Norton and Windows updates and rebooted. Then I went to [...] and watched several of my favorites videos (mostly games) in 720p and 1080p, and the video’s played as well as on my direct connection (Road Runner Turbo Internet).
Played my PS3 with the wireless connection (online multiplayer) with several games with no visible lag. Connected my Kindles and they worked well.
Signal strength is excellent: shows 5 bars everywhere in the house, my previous router showed 1 bar (or failed) at some distant points in my home.
This couldn’t have been a better experience, great product, fast and I’ll update this review in a week to report about the reliability etc.
Great quality, good looking device, has 4 LAN ports and 2 USB ports. Includes an network (CAT5E) cable.
Highly recommended
UPDATE: Thought I’d give an update after several weeks of use. It’s great, really worth the price.
We use this router for hours everyday with several laptops, tablets, Kindles, 2 PS3′s; have a printer connected, I download software, ebooks, large work related files, view youtube and netflix videos and have seen no dropped connections at all. Signal strength is great. I am puzzled by all the reviews that report problems, couldn’t have been happier with this router. I’d buy it again.
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|Upgraded from the DLink 855 to the Netgear N900,
I concur with all the other reviewers, it’s a great router. Went and looked at the Amazon and CNET reviews online and bought it on open box discount locally. Very easy network/user friendly install. You can use network Genie software that is provided or do it manually at 192.168.1.1. and/or routerlogin.net
Lots of options in the assorted set up screens. Guest network feature on 2.4 and 5 ghz is really nice so house guests can check email and not invade your main network hard drive.Both band are operational at all times.Getting 4 to 5 bars on the wireless all around the house which is up from 2 to 3 bars in some areas…..
The DLink is an excellent router at 300+300 but I wanted the 450+450 on the Netgear.
Latest bells and whistles seem to work nice……everything coupled to the TWC wideband internet 50gb down and 5gb up via the Motorola DOCIS 3.0 capable modem.
By the way this 900 series is only about $20 more than the 600 series. Stay away from the 750 series, I was told they are having some firmware issues which will be repaired soon. I just don’t want to be the crash test dummy if I can help it…………..
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