WNR3500 V2 Netgear RangeMax Premium Wireless-N Gigabit Router – do you still need this router? Compare with the newer WNR3500L and WNDR3400 before you purchase one.

WNR3500 Netgear RangeMax was beautiful when it was released at the first time. But today Netgear offers many types of wireless router for ‘work and play’ with better features and performance. If you visit Netgear website, WNR3500 RangeMax is not available in one of the router categories even though you still can find the router in its drop down product list.

Netgear seems to replace the WNR3500 RangeMax with the recent one WNR3500L which is categorized into ‘work and play’ router. What are actually the differences between the two routers? Let’s have a look at t he table 1 below. On the other hand, with nearly the same dollars Netgear also introduces WNDR3400 N600 which is categorized into high performance router.

Wireless Standards

Both WNR3500 RangeMax and WNR3500L are both 802.11n compliant and are compatible with the legacy clients, delivering the speeds up to 300Mbps in ideal conditions. On the other hand WNDR3400 is compliant with N600 simultaneous dual band delivering the high speeds up to 300Mbps each band – doubling your bandwidth demand for streaming up to 1080p high definition video.

If you just want your wireless network for work and play, then WNR3500L is recommended since this router is designed with better technology and features including Guest network.

USB Support

The WNR3500 RangeMax doesn’t support the USB port but the other two routers support one USB port to let you share an external storage. Do not expect that the routers can be used to host a shared printer like new Belkin N600 DB (with one USB port for either shared storage or printer) or new Belkin N750 DB (with two USB ports for both shared storage and printer).

Mostly all Netgear routers with USB port cannot be used for shared printer except the upcoming WNDR3800 Premium edition, not sure when it is released to the market.

Guest Network

The WNR3500 RangeMax doesn’t support Guest network. Guest network feature is the capability of creating virtual SSID (network name) with limited access to your local network you can use for granting internet access to your guests. Both WNR3500L and WNDR3400 support Guest network but the WNDR3400 supports guest network each band.

Ethernet Ports

You have the same feature for both types of WNR3500 routers, they support gigabit Ethernet ports. It is interesting that WNDR3400 which is categorized into high performance router doesn’t support gigabit Ethernet ports. But if you demand the high bandwidth without requiring the gigabit wired connection, WNDR3400 can be ideal solution for your home wireless network.

The prices of the three routers are almost the same under $100, so if you require high performance wireless connectivity – the WNDR3400 is your router. But if gigabit connectivity is required to support your ‘work and play’ environment – the WNDR3500L is yours.

Connection Diagram

The figure 2 shows the wireless networking diagram that can apply for all the three routers in connecting to the modem except shared storage is not applied to WNDR3500 RangeMax. You can add a XBOX wireless adapter for your game console connection to the wireless network.

Summary:

Between the three routers, if you require high performance wireless connectivity you can consider WNDR3400 N600. But if you require gigabit and high speed wireless connectivity, WNR3500L is your router.

By Ki Grinsing

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