In this review, we cover the Netgear N750 wireless dual band router, model WNDR4300. It checks out to be reliable and is almost reboot free. Indeed it rarely drops connections, and comes with secured WiFi by default. Finally the WNDR4300 brings buffering-free video and audio streaming throughout average size homes.
Its Genie web site supplies browser access to the huge set of settings options. Plus, its state-of-the-art wireless security is ON right out of the box. So you need not worry over creating an unsecure network with it. Hackers will find it hard to crack the WPA2 AES security.
Released in 2014, the Netgear N750 WNDR4300 used the highly efficient components of the day. Thus, it runs with low to moderate warmth. Both the external power supply and the router run lukewarm. The wireless signal here is quite strong, in spite of the internal antennas.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Intro
We bought this wireless router on eBay for use as a spare wireless router. While it’s less beefy than our Asus AC2400, it works with plenty of reserve bandwidth to provide decent speed. We get enough for very good streaming on multiple devices at the same time.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Advantages, Benefits, Pros, and Features
Physical Features
WiFi ON / OFF Button
If you wish to disable the WiFi for a time, you press this front-panel button to do so. Then, you can turn it back on without having to wait the entire boot-up time. Turning WiFi OFF converts the Netgear N750 WNDR4300 into a 4-port gigabit switch. Even when WiFi is OFF, Ethernet devices still work.
WPS Button
To enter Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) mode, press this front panel button. Easily located for easy wireless device authorizations.
Many Front Panel Status LEDs on the Netgear N750 WNDR4300
These include…
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- Power.
- Internet.
- 2.4 Ghz.
- 5 Ghz.
- LAN ports 1 through 4 activity.
- USB, WiFi OFF,
- WPS.
These LEDs change colors and blink, showing the statuses that this router can assume during startup and normal running. See the Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Users Manual for complete talks about of these displays.
Few Front Panel Buttons
These include just two.
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- The Wifi ON / OFF button.
- WPS button discussed above.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: All Connections Made on the Back Panel
Rear panel ports, pictured below, include the following.
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- USB.
- LAN ports 1 through 4 (black).
- WAN port (yellow).
- Power input port.
Power Button on Rear
The hidden ON-OFF button helps ensure against shutting it OFF by mistake.
Hefty Switching Power Adapter
The included 12-volt 2.5 amp 30 watt power supply does not sag, even during high-rate, long length data bursts.
No Fans in the Netgear N750 WNDR4300
There’s no cooling fan inside to draw in dust. The design appears to vent well the heat-generating parts inside wthout a fan.
Security Features
For a complete list of security functions, please see the User’s Guide. We give the link to this below.
Secure WiFi Right Out of the Box
The WNDR4300 comes pre set with password for both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz. bands. And it supports one network per band. Each network can have its own SSID and password. They do not share them cross band.
Furthermore, the WNDR4300 supports WPA and WPA2 security schemes. Plus, the default password is unique to your router. Furthermore, it is quite hard to break for hackers. So many users may wish to not change the pass phrase. Why? Because that way, the password printed on the bottom of the router stays accurate.
Emails you Security Events
The Netgear N750 WNDR4300 router can email an email address you set, with messages and alerts. These tell of security events it sees.
Basic Firewall Function
The built-in firewall supports the following.
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- Port filtering.
- Service blocking.
- Blocking by schedule.
- Keyword in HTTP blocking.
The Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Resists Common Attacks
Stops DoS (Denial of Service) attacks automatically.
DMZ Support
You may opt to bypass its firewall. Then you can allow direct internet access to a specific DMZ (demilitarized zone) computer on your network.
USB Security
You can set which USB devices can share their content on the WNDR4300.
MAC Address Fencing
This unit can fence out devices trying to access it, via their MAC addresses. But the WNDR4300 does not do this by default.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Wireless Features
Access Point Mode
You can set up the WNDR4300 as a router (the default setting), or a wireless access point (WAP). The router function on the WNDR4300 provides network address translation (NAT). This happens between your local area network (LAN) and the wide area network (WAN). You also get a WAP, DHCP, and firewall. These all work together in one device.
Now access point mode turns off the NAT, DHCP, and the firewall. So you can configure the WNDR4300 to act as a good quality WAP. You would do this when you already have these services running elsewhere on your network.
Repeater (WDS) Mode
You can make this WiFi router into a wireless repeater too. Then, it can act as a range extender in a WDS (wireless distribution system).
Dual Bands
2.4 and 5 Ghz. 802.11 AC provided, and this router can broadcast on both at the same time (each network has its own SSID). Users can connect to both networks at the same time as well.
The Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Supports Many Wireless Standards
These include IEEE 802.11 b/g/n on 2.4 Ghz. IEEE 802.11 a/n on 5 Ghz.
Medium Signal Range
Both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz. networks have enough range / reach to function well throughout small to medium homes.
WPS Support
Also known as Push ‘N’ Connect. This allows quick access for WPS devices to your Wi-Fi network. This means that you don’t need host network SSID details or network passwords.
Guest Networks
Features two guest networks. These allow people to access other devices on your network as well as the internet. Furthermore, you can switch ON and OFF access to local network devices. And you can set up guest SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5 Ghz. bands (one for each). The router disables these by default though.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Performance Features
Good Streaming
Our streaming audio and video devices work markedly better, including DVRs, tablets, smart TVs, and iPhones.
IPv6 Support
The Netgear N750 WNDR4300 router can work in IPv6 network settings. You’ll be ready when the internet moves to IPv6. True that this has been, and will likely be, a very slow move. But at least you’ll have the necessary equipment when iPv6 becomes widely available.
Decently Fast Data Rates
Up to 600 Mbps throughput on 5 Ghz., and 600 Mbps on 2.4 Ghz. Speedier than many of the tri-band 3X3 access points.
WMM QoS Support
You can switch ON Quality of Service (QoS) packet prioritization for local devices, applications, and / or Ethernet port numbers.
DLNA Support
Allows searching and playing your media (music and movie files) on DLNA enabled smart TVs and game consoles.
Genie Web Interface
Features Netgear’s Genie setup and admin pages. These make setting up the basic wired and wireless networks a breeze. With Genie, you can do the following.
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- Check router status.
- Access the router’s admin pages from either a wired or wireless device.
- Upgrade the firmware.
- Change wireless network names and passwords.
- Configure over a hundred network specific parameters.
- A mobile Genie app is also available.
But for basic network setup, no need to access Genie at all.
Automatic Firmware Upgrade Detection
The WNDR4300 tells you in its Genie interface, if a firmware update is ready for download. You can then choose to download and install it. So there is no need to first download the firmware file to a PC. Nor must you then upload that file to the router. But an Upgrade option like this is still available. Use this if you want to install a different firmware version than the latest one.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Parental Controls
Supports blocking of specific web sites, to keep children from viewing adult content. You can also apply categorical filtering. The filtering levels include…
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- High.
- Moderate.
- Low.
- Minimal.
- None.
You may set scheduled filtering as well as keyword match filtering.
USB Port
Contains one USB A port on the back panel. This is for attaching a USB hard drive or thumb drive. You can then share to other devices on the same network. Or, you can access it via FTP or HTTP, on the internet.
Internet File Sharing
With a USB storage device attached, the WNDR4300 can act as an FTP server. This allows internet users to access files on that device. Furthermore, this router also supports Windows file sharing on the LAN.
ReadyDLNA Media Server Support
This router can act as a media server. So it supports media streaming from an attached USB storage device to network attached devices. However, these devices must conform to the DLNA/UPnP AV specs.
USB Printer Support
Makes any attached printer accessible to other Mac and Windows computers on your network. But this access needs a utility program running on each client computer.
Broad Device Compatibility
Works with Windows, Android (Nexus, Samsung, Amazon Kindle), and iOS (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) mobile devices.
Easy Setup
For basic wireless setup, you can simply unpack the WNDR4300. Then attach your WAN, LAN, and power cables, and turn the router on. For WANs needing no user Id and passwords, the router connects right away.
All Gigabit Ports
The five back panel Ethernet ports, including the WAN port, all do gigabit speed. So this router can handle demanding internet services throughout both its wired and wireless networks. The ports also auto-detect the speed of devices on them. So they can slow down to either 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps without throttling the other ports.
Save / Restore System Settings
You can save the current router configuration parameters to a file on your computer. Then restore that file if you subsequently make changes to the router that break it.
System Logs
The unit keeps a log of routine and error conditions in memory. Then you can access via its web site. Or, it can email you the log info periodically. Maintains both a general as well as a wireless log.
uPnP Support
Allows universal plug and play devices on the network to discover and communicate with each other.
90-Day Limited Warranty
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Disadvantages, Cons, Limitations, Problems and Concerns
No External Antennas
This limits WiFi antenna selection options for the user, and may also reduce the best possible coverage and speed somewhat.
Needs the Detachable Stand for Best Performance
The router radiates and receives best from its sides. So for table-top operation, use the stand accessory to vertically position the WNDR4300. But you may not need this however, when the router is high above the wireless devices it serves. In this case, lay the router flat, on its bottom side, and forget the stand.
No Multi-User MIMO
The documentation makes no mention of this important feature. MIMO uses multiple antennas, transceivers, and ultra-fast internal processors. So if present, this enables routers to support many users without stutters, drop-outs, clicks, and freezes.
USB Support Limited to Non Driver Devices
You will not be able to access USB storage devices via this router that require additional drivers. So the WNDR4300 only supports basic / standard USB functionality.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Single WAN Support Only
So, no load balancing between different WAN networks on this model.
Non Adaptive QoS
The WMM QoS in this router prioritizes network traffic among connected devices and the Internet according to static rules only. It does not change priorities based on prevalence of specific types of network traffic it sees. Some more advanced and higher priced routers however, like the Asus RT-AC87R, do provide this function.
No System Recovery Option
Now it may happen that you interrupt a firmware upgrade in the WNDR4300. Or some other cause of firmware corruption occurs. But we find no means to restore the router to its previous, working firmware version if this would occur. Note though that you can restore firmware parameters if you saved a backup of them prior.
Long Boot Up Time
Booting takes just over two minutes from initial power on, until the WiFi is ready. But we expected a much shorter boot time, given the two dual-core processors.
No Scheduled Rebooting Option
Some of the high-end routers allow you to schedule a reboot time. This clears any slow-growing memory and handle leaks that might be present in the firmware. Plus it generally improves reliability. But we find no such option in the WNDR4300 though.
May Need Rebooting if You Restart Attached WAN Equipment
To consistently restore full performance to our network, then we find that it’s best to also reboot the WNDR4300. Why? Because sometimes the WiFi connection, after a modem restart, is slow and erratic until we also cold start the WNDR4300. This situation however, will likely improve with subsequent firmware updates to this router.
No Mention of Hardware Based Network Address Translation
This could mean slower internet performance in high data traffic applications like video surveillance, or movie streaming services.
No Wireless AC Support
Not that this router does not provide 802.11ac WiFi speeds. The fastest wireless protocols available on this model are 802.11an.
Netgear N750 WNDR4300 Review: Our Rating
This wireless N router costs little, and is a good-performing unit among the many we have in the shop. Quite happy with the purchase we are thus. We love the low cost yet high speed and reliability, as well as the extensive Genie web-based admin pages. So this gives you high control over hundreds of router settings. Therefore, the IT network expert will truly like this router’s advanced settings. But the novice will marvel at how little they must learn to get this router up and running. Indeed, Netgear did a good job planning this router, playing to beginners and experts alike. So we rate it at 91 out of 100.
Firmware Versions Tested
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- 1.0.1.60
- 1.0.2.80