The WNDR3400 N600 Wireless Dual Band Router is a new high-performance wireless n router for gaming and video streaming.
High performance network is designed to support time-sensitive applications including streaming high definition video, voice application and online gaming in large home. These types of time sensitive applications should have the first priority on the network for clean, fast, jitter-free and lag-free experiences. To perform that, you require high performance router to support high performance network for streaming and gaming. See also best wireless routers for gaming.
High performance router should support the high speed, the router that is powered by the latest wireless 802.11n technology and supports the dual band to double your bandwidth demand. With dual band support, the router can operate in 5GHz band, the clear band which is less interference than the crowded 2.4GHz band.
For solid connection the router should support the Quality of Services (QoS) to provide traffic prioritization for high-intensive bandwidth applications including streaming HD media and fast responsive gaming over other data traffic.
Click for Spec details
There are many wireless routers that fall into high performance category you can choose out there to support your high performance network environment. One of the affordable high performance routers you can choose is the Netgear WNDR3400 N600 wireless dual band router. Netgear currently introduces several high performance wireless routers including:
- WNDR37-AV wireless dual band gigabit router – replacing WNDR3700
- WNDR4000 N750 dual band gigabit router – the newest version with ideal speeds of up to 450Mbps
- WNDR3800 N600 Premium edition – include USB to share storage or printer
Unlike the three routers above, the WNDR3400 N600 supports only Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps for LAN/WAN interfaces as opposed to gigabit LAN/WAN interfaces in the three routers above.
Note:
Soon, Netgear is shipping new ultimate performance of WNDR4700 N900 router. This is a new router with integrated storage, share-cloud and USB 3.0 port for faster speed.
What this Product Does
High Speed
The NETGEAR WNDR3400 is powered by the 802.11n standards with simultaneous dual band N600 technology, meaning the router delivers high speeds of up to 300Mbps each band. This is theoretical speeds in ideal conditions; in the real world you will never reach those speeds. The router supports the Video QoS for Jitter-free video and gaming and for reliable Internet connections.
QoS and WMM-based QoS
The NETGEAR WNDR3400 N600 also supports Wireless Multimedia (WMM) based QoS to allow the system to separate video traffic and provide prioritization over wireless connection. With QoS for reliable internet connections, you can enjoy multiplayer (wireless) gaming and streaming HD video smoothly, jitter-free, and lag-free. However, the quality of your broadband internet connection contributes the performance of your Internet connection too. For example, Comcast ‘Performance’ and ‘Blast’ services would be different in speed performance.
USB Port
The NETGEAR WNDR3400 N600 supports one USB port with Ready-Share technology to let you host an external shared storage. This is important for storing your huge HD multimedia files for easy access across the network. Unfortunately, you cannot host a USB printer to share across the network. If you require sharing the printer you need to purchase a separate print server. If your environment is used to play and work, you better consider the wireless routers that support the print-server such as new Asus RT-N56U Black Diamond that includes two USB ports for both shared storage and printer. This is beneficial so you don’t need to purchase separate print-server.
Regarding USB port support, interface and guest network, you can compare WNDR3400 Vs Asus RT-N56U Vs Apple Airport Extreme as shown on the table below.
| Wndr3400 | Asus RT-N56U | Apple Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethernet Ports | 4xFast Ethernet | 4xGigabit Ethernet | 3xGigabit Ethernet |
| USB Port | 1 port for shared storage | 2 ports for storage and printer built-in media server with DLNA compliant | 1 port for either storage or printer with built-in media server DLNA compliant |
| Guest network | 1 guest network each band | N/A | 1 guest network |
Apple Extreme is very popular with it’s performance, no wonder it receives very positive responses from the customers with averagely 4.4 out of five stars customer ratings in Amazon. Asus RT-N56U begins to receive it’s popularity knowing very positive responses from the users with averagely 4.1 out of five stars customer ratings.
Green technology
To help the green environment in conserving the energy, you can select the eco-friendly product. The WNDR3400 supports the Green technology for better environment including Wi-Fi and Power On/Off buttons you can switch when they are not in used, Energy Star-compliant power adapter and 80% recycled packaging. See also Green routers.
Advanced Security
When you are worried if your kids are visiting the sites that are not appropriate for their age, you can control the way they visit the sites by Live parental control. Live parental control in WNDR3400 helps you control the sites for clean and safe contents. You can control by blocking the unsafe Internet content and applications. It can also help you protect connected devices through the router such as PCs, gaming consoles, and iPod touch.
WNDR3400 supports Guest network, the feature that allows you create separate SSID (network name) each bands for providing your guest internet access with limited access rights. You can protect your local network from being accessed by public users with guest network.
By default the router provides NETGEAR as the SSID name for 2.4GHz b/g/n SSID and the default NETGEAR-5G for 5GHz a/n SSID. You can configure the router and change the SSID default names for security reasons.
You can easily connect the clients to the network with the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPS) feature by just pressing a button for secured connection using wireless security encryption WPA/WPA2.
The WNDR3400 supports the dual firewall feature (NAT and SPI) as well as DoS (Denial of Service) attack prevention. NAT (network address translation) helps you hide the private network from the public network and allows you to share a single broadband internet connection. Stateful packet inspection (SPI) inspects the incoming traffic thoroughly for false positive packets. This is the protection standard which is enough for home network, and off course you still need anti-virus software installed in your computers.
Connection Diagram
The figure below shows WNDR3400 router in home wireless networking diagram. Connect the Ethernet port of the modem to the WAN port of the router for connecting the network to the internet. Use the UTP cross cable (network cable that comes with the modem / router) and connect each ends of the cable to each of the Ethernet port of the modem and the WAN port of the router.
Other technical notes:
Default user-name “admin”; password is “password”
Default IP address 192.168.1.1 or configure by typing http://www.routerlogin.net from your web browser
Gaming and HD media streaming demand high-performance router including high-speed, QoS, and clear network. The NETGEAR WNDR3400 N600 Wireless Dual Band Router is a high-performance full-featured router that is ideal solution for bandwidth intensive applications such as for smooth gaming and streaming experience. Check more detail manufacturer specs and Amazon reviews here.
Pros:
- Simultaneous dual band for mix clients environment
- Guest network feature
- USB port for shared storage
- Amazon customer reviews: averagely (-) five star customer ratings for range, speed and security features. Averagely four star customer ratings for software feature.
Cons:
- Doesn’t support Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Supports one USB port for shared storage but not for shared printer
For small and compact design, you consider new generation of Apple airport express base station. It can also be configured as the wireless repeater for expanding your network. For travellers, you may consider new Asus WL330N3G with failover broadband to 3G. See Asus WL330N3G Vs Apple express.
You may also like the following articles:
- DWL-G820 D-Link wireless gaming adapter – old fashion G gaming adapter
- DWL-7100 Dlink Access Point – a Dual Band WLAN Access Point 802.11a/G, 108Mbps
- How to troubleshoot the wireless networks in home – best practice troubleshooting
- Best wireless router for gaming – features required for gaming
- Popular wireless mobile routers
I have a netwear wg311v3 54mbps wireless pci adaptar on my desktop..I’m trying to get conncetion from a wndr3400 router.. BUt I can’t, I get no connectivity. Can I get help
@brian: can you scan the availability of the Netgear network (in 2.4GHz)in your computer? wg311 is legacy client which work in 2.4ghz band. starts with security options “none” and see if you can connect to the network. if you can connect to the network, configure the router with 2.4ghz band to support wep security. wg311 only supports the wep.
Can someone tell me how to make my USB Printer wireless using this device??
@Dave: wndr3400 includes one usb port for shared storage, you cannot use it for shared printer.
If you have windows 7 you will not be able to access a USB drive attached. It is a bogus feature. It only works with XP.
not all the USB drives are supported, check the compatibility list here
Need the driver for N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400
I bought a WNDR 3400 dual band router and I can’t get it to connect to my poe adapter, I have called my ISP and determined that I don’t have a static ip, I have set my router settings to PPPoE and input my user name and password, I have called netgear support and they were supposed to send the problem to someone higher up and call me back and I haven’t heard anything, I have seen other people have had this problem can you help? If I set up a broadband connection directly to the pc from the adapter I have service and I can also set up a connection through the router if I don’t use the WAN port. Thanks
“I bought a WNDR 3400 dual band router and I can’t get it to connect to my poe adapter,”
You mean connect to the modem to the router through poe adapter or what?
“If I set up a broadband connection directly to the pc from the adapter I have service and I can also set up a connection through the router if I don’t use the WAN port.”
Not so clear what does it mean.
I don’t have a modem, I have a adapter that hooks into my radio satellite connection, if I plug the Ethernet cord directly from the adapter to my pc I can crate a PPPoE connection, and after a bunch of searching I decided to plug the ethernet cord from the adapter to one of the LAN ports and then from another LAN connect my pc I can also get a connection. But when I am plugged into the WAN port all I get is an amber light that does blink, so it is trying to communicate but for some reason isn’t. I have set the router up for a PPPoE connection and put in my user name and password and all it detects is a static ip
It looks like your radio satellite and the adapter together (or radio satellite device acts as the router with dhcp enable) act as the wired-router so that’s why you can connect to the router LAN’s port and other computer connects to the other port of wndr3400 receives the IP address and can connect to the internet. Wndr3400 is a router and you cannot connect to the other router. What you need is a wireless access poin.
After a week of troubleshooting I still cannot get an internet connection through my router. I don’t have a modem I have a black box called a POE adapter….I don’t know if I have to buy a modem in order for my router to recognize the connection…there are 2 ports on my black box one says POE which is plugged into my satellite and the other is marked LAN, If i plug directly into my computer I can create a PPPoE connection, when I plug it into the WAN port on the router all I get is a orange light.
@Pearl:
make a test in your PC that currently works with the adapter to make sure that the output from the adapter is public IP address or private IP address. From your PC, check the IP address you get by typing the “ipconfig /all” from the dos command. If the ip address is private, that means the box is router with built-in modem, you cannot connect your wndr3400 to the box.
And check with your ISP (what is it actually?) if you can share the connectivity by using a wireless router.
Is there a modem that would work best with the Wndr3400 router?
so far people are satisfied with surfboard docsis 3.0 sb6120 for cable services. not sure which modem is the best for certain router. typically the internet performance of the isp contributes significant performance of your internet experience.