News - Netgear launches N900 wireless router

[HEXUS]

WNDR4500 arrives later this year.

Read more.

[Myss_tree]

Why oh why is there only ever four ethernet ports on routers. I like cables, work better than wireless. Four ethernet ports are not enough.

[Jedibeeftrix]

is this thing an adsl modem too, i.e. is that yellow port a phone cable socket or another lan port designed to talk with a dedicated adsl modem?

http://www.netgear.com/home/products.../WNDR4500.aspx

[Splash]

Why oh why is there only ever four ethernet ports on routers. I like cables, work better than wireless. Four ethernet ports are not enough.

That's what a switch is for.

[Splash]

is this thing an adsl modem too, i.e. is that yellow port a phone cable socket or another lan port designed to talk with a dedicated adsl modem?

http://www.netgear.com/home/products.../WNDR4500.aspx

Nope, you'd need seperate cable/adsl modem to use this.

[MonkeyL]

Why oh why is there only ever four ethernet ports on routers. I like cables, work better than wireless. Four ethernet ports are not enough.

Agree entirely. 4 is not enough.

[Myss_tree]

That's what a switch is for.

Its a couple of more ethernet ports i want not another box.

[crossy]

Why oh why is there only ever four ethernet ports on routers. I like cables, work better than wireless. Four ethernet ports are not enough.

That's because the powers-that-be have researched and found that the vast majority of folks don't even use the four ports. However, for awkward folks (like you! ) there are a few "specialist" boxes around - although they're invariably categorised as "branch office" business gear, so have a price tag to match. An example of this is DLink's DSR250N - see http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop...roductID=11946 for a typical price (£170 inc VAT), and DLink's website for details. There is a cheaper DLink box - DIR632 - but for some reason that's not sold in this country, which is a shame as it's apparently only £60-70 list price, (US$99 RRP). And no I don't work for DLink!

That out of the way, my concern for the N900 would be for the output power - I'm now on my third Netgear product (two I bought previously, and the latest VirginMedia "SuperHub" which is Netgear produced) and all three have had pretty poor signal propagation in the house. So much so, that all my "serious" gear is now on Devolo powerline ethernet, because I just can't afford the time/hassle-factor of 2 or 3 dropout's a day. Heck, even with the SuperHub my tablet shows a better signal from my neighbours AP than mine - and a little Devolo AP (http://www.devolo.co.uk/consumer/77_...on_1.html?l=en) managed to outdo the "Superhub" when I tried a head-to-head test.

and that users can tinker with settings though any browser on multiple platforms - including smartphones and tablets

Erm - that smacks a little of desperation in the PR department - my old Netgear router worked fine with Linux and iPod Touch's, and the SuperHub seems to work okay with my Android tablet.

[Rolphus]

Good to see Netgear continuing with their "high-end consumer" equipment.

I've got a WNDR3700 (pretty much this thing's predecessor), and it's very decent.

Living in a 3-storey rented house means that I can't really run cables everywhere, and with simultaneous dual-band and GbE out the back, I can back up over 5GHz wifi from my laptop to my little server while flawlessly streaming video over 2.4GHz to smartphones and tablets.

It's also been rock-solid in the 6 months I've had it.