Overview

Netgear is one of the networking devices manufacturers that are very productive and always provides a great selection of diverse products. Netgear also produces a great selection of wireless ADSL modem router and the latest is DGND4000 that is a wireless ADSL modem router with N750 technology. Design products are not much different from the series of other high-performance wireless routers that is slightly flattened box can be placed vertically or laid horizontally on your desk. There is a little difference in the front appearance design compared to other models with golden brown color on the LED indicator display.

DGND4000 ADSL Router

Main features

What makes Netgear DGND4000 different from other wireless ADSL modem routers? You can see the following main features:

• Built-in high speed ADSL modem
• Wireless N750 technology
• USB port with ReadyShare for storage and printer
• Includes one Gigabit WAN port for Cable or Fiber broadband connection

What this product does

For broadband ADSL customers this modem router is one option that has features different from most other models on the market.

All-in-one

With the combined functions consists of high speed ADSL modem, router / firewall, four gigabit Ethernet ports and wireless N750 access point you only need this device to make high-speed wifi network at home.

USB Readyshare

Previous Netgear router products that come with a USB port can only be used to host an external USB drive to be shared over the network. Dgnd4000 has a single USB port that can be used not only to host disk storage but you can also use it to share a printer. It is an advantage if you want to share a printer over the network by attaching to the router, no need to purchase additional print server or using a dedicated computer as a print server.

Since there is only a single USB port then you have to take turns using the printer or storage, cannot simultaneously. There is a difficulty if your documents are stored on disk storage as you need to print to the printer, it must first make a copy to your local computer before printing.

Ready-share cloud

One thing that makes this product different with previous products is the Ready-Share Cloud service which is free until Jan 1, 2013 when you purchase DGND4000. This is a remote access service to let you access your files across the internet securely. Any files stored in the attached storage to the USB port of your router would be appeared in your web as USB storage. You need to logon to the router management http://routerlogin.net interface and register to the Web cloud service server.

Gigabit WAN port

Like DGND3700 Wireless N600 ADSL router and Linksys X2000 ADSL router, DGND4000 includes one Gigabit WAN port in case you need to use Cable services or Fiber optic equipment. But this is not a failover router with dual WAN ports like those small business class dual WAN routers. If you subscribe Cable services, the wireless Cable modem router (such as Surfboard Motorola SBG6580 should be preferred instead of adding Cable modem to the DGND4000. Surfboard SBG6580 is an all-in-one Cable modem router with selectable dual band and Gigabit Ethernet ports.

One more thing that makes this product different from the others is the addition of one gigabit WAN port that you can use to connect to the cable modem in case you need to have cable broadband services or other fiber optic services.

This feature is already there on Netgear Dgnd3700 and Linksys X2000, but most of wireless ADSL modem router products are not equipped with a WAN port for cable modem connection. For example a similar product from Germany namely Fritzbox 7390 ADSL Wireless Modem, even though this device consists of rich features including port for fax machine connection, cordless connection port, telephone and many more.

Network Diagram

Like most wireless ADSL modem routers, simply connect the RJ-11 port to the phone line as shown the network diagram below which uses this Dgnd4000. With the printer and some multimedia devices such as HDTV; Xbox ; iPad and other Android devices, your wifi network is powerful enough for your medium and large home.

Cons and pros

There are always the advantages and disadvantages of a product, especially seen from the user perspective.

Pros:

• High speed simultaneous dual band with N750
• Single compact device for your home wireless network
• Gigabit interface for high speed wired connection
• USB port with Ready-Share Cloud – access your storage across the internet

Cons:

• Single point of failure
• I don’t see this product supports VDSL

It’s been a long time the product was showcased at Netgear website; unfortunately Netgear did not immediately release it to the market. But you can purchase this unit at Amazon and Buy.Com. Of the features offered, the product is very good for a fairly spacious house with ADSL services. Even if you decide to move from ADSL to Cable service, you can still use this product without having to buy a Cable modem gateway. Just connect the WAN port to a cable modem and you are back to business.

By Ki Grinsing