Netgear WNDR4000

Netgear WNDR4000 Review

Netgear has developed a bad habit of branding its new routers with two different model numbers. Take the WNDR4000—or is it the N750? Both names are printed on the box, and the router itself is labeled “N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4000.” Did someone sleep through Marketing 101, or is this a shameless ploy to mislead uneducated buyers as to the router’s capabilities? We ask because Netgear’s website proclaims “Up to 750 Mbps—maximum combined speed.” The dual-band chipset inside the WNDR4000/N750, you see, delivers theoretical maximum throughput of 300Mb/s on the 2.4GHz band and 450Mb/s on the 5GHz band. Add 300 to 450 and you get—that’s right—750! There’s no way to bond the two bit-streams to deliver 750Mb/s of throughput, of course, but don’t let that get in the way of a juicy brand name. Bad branding decisions aren’t the WNDR4000’s only problem. This router beat our previous champion—Netgear’s WNDR3700—on the 5GHz band at two locations, but it significantly underperformed on the 2.4GHz band. What’s more, the Linksys E4200 absolutely crushed both of Netgear’s routers in most of our test locations in both throughput and range and on both frequencies. Physically, the WNDR4000 looks almost identical to the aging WNDR3700.