DGND3700 router

[Den]

I have the chance to buy a Netgear DGND3700. has anyone any opinions good or bad as it will mean leaving my trusty 2-wire 2700? 

[Simon]

Seems to have received generally good reviews, Den.  Here's one: 

http://m.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/networking-and-wi-fi/modem-routers/netgear-dgnd3700-n600-dual-band-gigabit-router-960825/review

[Steve]

Ask Gary he's just upgraded from it.

[pctech]

Bear in mind though you'll need a modem

[Steve]

Bear in mind though you'll need a modem

I think that has a modem built in

[pctech]

I stand corrected.

[Gary]

I have the chance to buy a Netgear DGND3700. has anyone any opinions good or bad as it will mean leaving my trusty 2-wire 2700? 

Generally a good router, holds onto connections well, has a few bugs, you cant see hard wired devices from wireless ones sometimes, a beta firmware cures this. Sync speeds are good, wifi is ok too, you can get the DGND4000 for almost the same price and that allows VPN where as the 3700v2 does not. Both have IPV6 support. the 3700v2 has a two year warranty, well mine did but the newer routers only have one. One of the reasons i Upgraded was I needed the faster 450 over 5Ghz of the DGND4000 and also the fact that the 3700v2 was sold as having 128mb ram and flash it only has 64mb so Netgear were made aware of this and agreed to exchange. Its  good router, good thoughput. The ASUS DSL-N55U gets good reviews too and may also be worth looking at as well. Both support fibre or cable, the Netgear has a dedicated port for this the Asus in a new firmware update gives one of the four Ethernet ports this function.

Edit make sure you get the DGND3700v2 not the plain DGND3700 as that had a huge bunch of problems, and no IPV6 support. The v2 is its replacement.

[Den]

Well I have bought a DGND3700 v2 from PC world ebay shop and saved my self £30. It arrived today and have set it up, a snip. Everything seems fine and my upload has improved by about 10% but at the moment my download has gone from 8300mbps to 6300mbps. Is this because I set it up at a peak time and need to reboot in the morning (about 7.00am) or will this sort it's self out.
Can't get my head around the twin network (2.4GHz and 5 GHz) and what advantage they are, so any comments would be welcome as I have been with the 2700HGV for so long. The main reason for change was the N networking for the iPads.

[Steve]

It may get better Den although I've no experience with the router, the downstream margin may give a clue ie it may have risen. The two N networks, 2.5 will connect anything ie g devices although their presence tends to slow the faster N connections plus it has a longer range than 5. The 5 Ghz band is still somewhat exclusive so less likely to suffer slow downs from neighbouring Wifi interference. It allows those compatible N devices an isolated connection ie they're not going to be slowed down by legacy G devices as they cannot connect, the downside it has a shorter range than the 2.5 Ghz network.

Seem to have repeated myself in reverse but never mind.

[Gary]

I would update in the morning when there is less noise on the line i managed a great sync speed with it and it was very stable. Also make sure you have the latest firmware update, hard reset and enter settings manually. The router uses a Broadcom 6361 chipset which is very stable. Be aware it does not actually have 128mb ram Netgear kinda lied as the v1 had 128mb the v2 has 64mb but the info still states 128 mb which is incorrect. Wifi is ok not that great on distance compared with some routers as its all SoC (system on a chip) and there are no amplifiers for the wifi, but it's a good router latest firmware adds VPN and some stability features.

[Den]

Down powered again this morning with no effect. Strange as up speed is well up now. I will try again on Sunday as all should be calmer then. Any other thoughts as I am down by 2mbps which is a 25% drop. 

[Den]

Just a thought in case it helps but here are my stats



ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Link Rate 7104 Kbps 1147 Kbps
Line Attenuation 42.0 dB 23.0 dB
Noise Margin 3.2 dB 6.3 dB

[Steve]

Are those the stats immediately on reconnection Den? Just wondering whether that's the negoiated margin or you've got it at a low point.

If it's the true margin I guess the 2700HGV performs better on your line?

[Den]

Those are the stats at about 7.00pm this evening. What should they be as I have never needed to look. My 2700hgv just held on and it has been a shock to lose 25% but I changed routers as I wanted wireless N.

[Steve]

I was wondering whether the noise margin has fallen during the day, it would be good to see whether it's 6 or 9 on  a resync tomorrow morning. If for instance the phone line is good quality and noise free running a margin of 3 is quite possible but in that case you would expect a comparable sync with the 2700HGV . The DLM negotiates the lowest margin to give a stable connection, if the connection is unstable it raises the margin until stability is seen in 3db steps and as a consequence of this the sync falls. Some modems work better than others on particular lines and exchange equipment. For instance and I'm not saying this is correct but the BT2700HGV may just be able to hold on to your connection with a very low margin and thus not force the DLM to take action.

[Gary]

The chipset in that router is designed for longer lines, it may be as Steve suggested, the BT2700HGV gave me a 5Mbps line in my old home when I could normally only really manage about 3Mbps, that router was an exception to the rule though. This routers chipset gives very good performance, better on longer lines than say Trendchip ones which work well for short lines.
My D6300 is giving me the same stats as my DGND4000 and old 3700v2 so it might well be down to that old 2 Wire just being exceptional, but going forward you may have to settle for this, unless you can use it as a modem and the 3700 as the wireless router, I cant remember enough about them to know if that's possible.

Did you update the firmware, Den, and do a hard reset afterwards? Also have you had your line re-profiled? As the upload is great but the download seems low for ADSL2+ Also I know you said its a v2 but there are some Original DGND3700's still out there, it does says v2 on the back near the reset button where its says DGND3700

[Den]

Thanks Gary,
Yes it is a V2 and it tells me that I have the latest firmware. I have done a hard reset the other day and this morning I did a reboot by turning off power for 10mins and came back with this



ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Link Rate 7187 Kbps 1139 Kbps
Line Attenuation 42.0 dB 23.0 dB
Noise Margin 3.1 dB 6.1 dB


I could try another reboot in the morning. I wanted this router because of Wireless N and also because I can use it when I change over to fibre. This is the speed I used to get on ADSL (or even slower) and I got 8.3 on ADSL2.

[Gary]

Thanks Gary,
Yes it is a V2 and it tells me that I have the latest firmware. I have done a hard reset the other day and this morning I did a reboot by turning off power for 10mins and came back with this



ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Link Rate 7187 Kbps 1139 Kbps
Line Attenuation 42.0 dB 23.0 dB
Noise Margin 3.1 dB 6.1 dB


I could try another reboot in the morning. I wanted this router because of Wireless N and also because I can use it when I change over to fibre. This is the speed I used to get on ADSL (or even slower) and I got 8.3 on ADSL2.

is the firmware 1.1.00.14 as that's only just really been released in the last month. I guess the router could have updated when first set up. Worth a double check though. My noise margin was 6db on a 33.5 line and I gained 2Mbps using that router giving me a sync of 15277Mbps until my line became unstable due noise issues.  I think the 2 wire was just exceptional on most peoples lines, I'm a bit surprised your noise margin is 3db I generally see 6db, well it is in my area but I guess this varies with line condition but I thought with ADSL2+ being a bit temperamental with interference they gave you a 6db for stability, Steve may know more about this.

I would not reboot to many times or it may be seen as instability, this router uses the same chipset as the Billion 7800N so its as good as you will get with most routers.  This may be the sync you will get now using any router but the 2 wire, and when FTTC comes along this will improve. Apart from checking cabling, changing filters or better still use a filtered faceplate (I'm personally not convinced Adsl Nation active filter faceplates are that much better than the standard BT passive ones) making sure your wiring is away from power sources and that you are using good quality cables not the flat sort for the modem, there is not much you can do. IDNet can reset your line and give you a new ten day training period, which may help. Give the line a few days and see how it goes.

[Den]

The firmware is 1.1.00.12 but the router informs me that this is the latest    I have just been on the Netgear site and they do not mention a later version than the one I have. How did you come up with the later version?

[Steve]

ADSL2+ will run on 3db margin if the line has minimal interference.

[Gary]

The firmware is 1.1.00.12 but the router informs me that this is the latest    I have just been on the Netgear site and they do not mention a later version than the one I have. How did you come up with the later version?

http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/other/

Grab it here Netgear are slow to update the servers and main page.

Firmware Version 1.1.00.14 (for all regions except North America)

Latest official  Firmware

[Den]

When I try to download it says file corrupted and wont let me open it.

[Gary]

No idea Den, worked for me. (its unzipped automatically by Firefox) Go to the DGND3700v2 update page, go to 'Get more downloads" under the list of ones shown, select firmware and country 'other' and grab the Firmware Version 1.1.00.14 (for all regions except North America)

It could be because I linked via Firefox and its specific to browser I guess.

So main page here http://support.netgear.com/product/DGND3700v2 then just follow Get more downloads, tick Firmware and select country as other

This what it fixes http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22741/~/dgnd3700v2-firmware-version-1.1.00.14-%28na-%26-ww-users%29

[Den]

I've tried with Firefox and IE10 and it still comes up with file corrupted so I think I will have to give that a miss. I will try a full reboot in the morning and if that does not get my sync up I will contact Idnet on Tuesday.
BT tell me I should be getting 10mbps not 8mbps so 6.3mbps is not acceptable. Perhaps I'm just in a bad mood as Wrexham FC lost and are stuck outside the league for yet another year. 

[Gary]

I'
BT tell me I should be getting 10mbps not 8mbps so 6.3mbps is not acceptable.

What BT says never makes sense, BT tells me I should get 7 yet even with an unstable line I get 11, and normally 15  go figure