Routers

On the surface, the new Netgear WNDR3800 looks to be a fairly conventional four-port 802.11n wireless router. It supports Gigabit Ethernet and simultaneous dual-band 802.11n wireless operation (letting you avoid wireless congestion by jumping to the 5GHz wireless frequency), but those things aren’t that unusual now. It also has a USB 2.0 port for sharing a storage device or a printer on the network. Again, not that uncommon. What makes the Netgear really stand out, however, is the quality of the firmware.

When it comes to routers, Belkin is probably best known for the original version of BoB, an iiNet-exclusive product with outstanding VoIP support. Its new router, the N600 DB, isn’t quite as feature-rich as the BoB (and it’s also a standard router, not an ADSL modem/router), but at least this one is going to be available to everybody and at an affordable price, too. With its art deco styling, the N600 DB certainly looks more compelling than most wireless routers, although it’s a little large for our liking.

Historically, Netgear has delivered solid and stable products, though perhaps not the most full-featured. It’s a bit of a surprise then that its latest router is one of the most feature-packed we’ve seen. It’s flexible, forward-looking and potentially fast, packing dual-band 2.4/5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, four Gigabit Ethernet ports, USB storage support, a built-in ADSL 2+ modem and a even a WAN port for cable/fibre modems. It’s relatively easy to use and set up, but will require some network know-how to get the most from it.

The novel packaging for the AVM FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7390, and indeed its 1950s-style tailfins, suggest it’s a cheap and cheerful router. The price tag begs to differ. In a market where some of the sub-$150 routers are very impressive, a router at this price point has to work very hard to impress us. The FRITZ!Box managed this, despite our review sample being an early-release model that lacked a streamlined installation procedure for Australian ISPs.