Need some quick advice - Netgear DGND3300 or WNDR3700

Sorry for the rather lame title, but I could do with some advice on which of these two would be better....when it comes to networking / routers etc etc, Im useless!

The two options I have are DGND3300 (not the 3700 newer version) or WNDR3700 - both Netgear, obviously.

I am aware that the DGND3300 has a built in ADSL Modem, which I require (I am on DSL not cable atm) and can get either of the above, more or less free.

I know that if i go for the WNDR3700, I need to have an ADSL modem connected to it (so two boxes, right?) but what I am wondering is wether its better to get the "all in one" opposed to the other.

If the other is significantly better, in terms of performance etc, I would quite happily look for a decent ADSL modem to partner it - I could also do with a few suggestions for this, should the WNDR3700 prove to be the better option.

Sorry for my pathetic understanding of this but I wouldnt mind getting the better option right off the bat.

Unfortunately, as its a freebie, I only have a choice of these two. That might help out a bit.

Thanks in Advance for any input along with any reasons as to why one may be better than the other!

 

Definitely WNDR3700- it's one of the best routers around and if it's for free it's even better.
Pair it with an ADSL modem based on a Broadcom chipset and you should be fine.
ADSL modems are quite cheap- TP-Link TD-8840T would do fine.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Downloads +1rep.

Do you know of a suitable Netgear ADSL modem to pair it with? - just to keep it all the same brand - incase I run into difficulties, I can just go to Netgear as opposed to two manufacturers!

TIA.

 

This one should be OK although it's not like you have a choice with Netgear- luckily this one supposedly uses Broadcom chip too.

 

Cool. Would this one be suitable and/or any better? - just that it matches the aesthetics of the WNDR3700 moreso than the one you linked to - tbh, I dunno!

 

It's not a modem though- it's a full blown combo- modem and wireless router in one. You'd have to set it to bridge mode to bypass router and disable Wi-Fi but you'd still be paying for them.

 

Ahhhhh. Not worth paying for in that case! - anything suitable by netgear in black, to match ? - I couldnt see anything on Netgear's site in black

 

Sorry for being a total noob at this stuff.....would this one do the job and would it be better than the TP-Link one ? - from what I know (which isnt much on this subject lol) it seems to have some good reviews and I *think* its what I need to hook up the WNDR3700 - I could be wrong though!

 

Yes- that's a good modem also based on a Broadcom chip.
It will do the job just fine.

BTW since you're bothered about matching colors- don't place them one on top of another or something like that.
Even two devices that don't get hot under load placed one on another will end up way hotter than when separated.

 

Thanks - I wouldnt be stacking 'em, I will give them some room from each other. I just didnt see a "black box" sitting well next to a "white box" (that's just the female part of me asking for colour co-ordination!).

Just out of curiosity, how does the DGND3700 stack up ?? - would the DGND3700 be considered to be better than WNDR3700 & Modem combo ? (I can only get the DGND3300 for free, which you said wasnt as good as a WNDR3700 & Modem) but could always look to sell and re-buy to eliminate an additional "box") ? - the guy I spoke to at Netgear earlier said that the DGND3700 was way better than the WNDR3700 & Modem combo ?? - I wasnt too sure, he sounded like he was on a "sales mission" lol

Sorry for the continuous questions

 

DGND3700 has poerfull hardware on board- gual core 400MHz main chip (compared to single core 680MHz one in WNDR3700) and 128MB RAM compared to 64MB in WNDR3700 but what makes WNDR3700 so good is wireless capabilities and flexibility- you can use whatever firmware you want (3rd party firmwares don't work on combos).

I'm not saying DGND3700 is bad but there's no point in buying something that is less flexible- both because of the lack of third party firmware support and because it can be used only with ADSL service.
Routers are tested thoroughly while combos aren't so while we know WNDR3700 is a very good unit we can't be sure about DGND3700.

BTW there's absolutely no reason why DGND3700 would be much better than a WNDR3700 paired with an external ADSL modem.

 

Again, thanks for the quick reply. I think you have nailed it for me. I'm thinking that the WNDR3700 is the way to go, coupled with a good modem. As you say, the flexibility is a a big plus with the firmware.

Oh, do you know if there ismuch of a difference between D-link's DSL-320b and DSL-2320b ?

You have been a great help - cant thank you enough!

 

I don't know except from the obvious which is 2320B has USB port.
Both seem to be based on the same Broadcom chip though.

 

No probs. Thanks for all your help.

EDIT: As I cant seem to find a UK stockist of the DSL-2320b, I guess its gotta be the DSL-320b (plenty available) unless you have another "better" suggestion - price somewhat irrelevant.

Another one I spotted along the lines of the TP-Link you metioned earlier was the TD-8616 but I wonder how that stacks up against the one you linked to before ? - I'ts a fair bit cheaper than the others mentioned but I dont know if its broadcom based or not.

Also, after some looking, it seems that the "t" in the 8840 stands for trendchip as opposed to broadcom ? - I take it that broadcom chip based products would be better ones to look at ?

 

Ok - I think I have narrowed it down a bit but could you advise which of the following would be the best option (I ruled out the very first one you mentioned as the "t" in the model denotes trendchip and not broadcom, right?). The ones I have seen are as follows:

TP-Link TD8840 (no "t")

D-Link DSL-320B

TP-Link TD-8616

The TD-8616 is the latest one according to TP-Link's website - the other models are discontinued. Not sure wether the newer tech. is actually worse than the discontinued stuff or wether its broadcom based.

The D-Link DSL-2320B I linked to earlier, after speaking to D-Link, is only avaiable in the US - so that one is out of the picture!

So, in a nutshell.....which of the two TP-Link products is the better and then, would that TP-Link be better or worse than the D-link one.....

 

TP-Link 8840 is a modem and a router in one- no something you need since you have a separate router.

That narrows it down to TD-8616 (which looks fine) and DSL-320B.
This particular D-Link modem is good but the problem with D-Link in general is complete lack of support.
TP-Link's firmware is almost year younger than D-Link's but all in all ADSL modems (with no router) do not require too much fiddling with software so it's not that important.

Personally I'd go for TP-Link but in this case it seems D-Link is going to be fine too.

EDIT: The reason I recommend Broadcom based modems is that you can manually tweak certain things to improve connection speed and/or stability (and because Broadcom works better on poor quality phone-lines). In case you ever need to play with it- this is just for reference.

 

Thanks for your help!