Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this from Verizon to take advantage of a promotion they were running. This router replaced my 16 month old "advanced" Actiontec router. The Quantum Gateway is better in just about every respect. There is some conventional wisdom out there that says if you have FiOS speeds of under 75 mbps, this router probably isn't worth it. My take is that this router actually allows you to support more simultaneous connections than the previous model with higher total throughput, plus you get the benefit of dual band wifi. Those alone make it something to seriously consider. Another plus - it's not made by Actiontec. I hate to say this, but in my opinion FiOS has until now been saddled with less-than-worthy routers. No more. Setup is a snap, particularly if you're simply upgrading your existing router. And since the question tends to come up in discussions about dual band routers, I leave the SSIDs the same for both the 2.4 and 5 ghz bands. The equipment seems smart enough to make good choices as to what gets connected to what band. Anything that streams media, for example, seems to default reliably to the 5 ghz band. I experimented both ways and had more trouble with different SSIDs for each band. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I'm all about simple and this scheme keeps it simple, Sam. In terms of range, the previous reviewer pretty well nailed it. I'm in a three story house and with the router on the middle floor I get very good coverage throughout the house. For a plain Jane single family home it's very doubtful you'd need any kind of extender for this. Please note that the nature of the 5 ghz beast is that the range is going to be shorter than the 2.4 band. That's just how it is...the higher the frequency, generally the lower the range and it also has more trouble penetrating walls and things. That said, I had an acceptable 5 ghz signal on each floor of the house. In short, the WiFi on this router is not lacking for power. This router also offers some room for upgrades - for instance, two USB ports which will ultimately be used to allow you to plug in external drives for NAS capabilities. So why not five stars? Because the administration interface is just a reskinned version of the same stupid software that was on the Actiontec. Seriously, Verizon, can we get a refresh here? Doing something as simple as, oh, figuring out what connected devices are using what bandwidth is a baffling ordeal with this software. ---UPDATE--- I think it also bears mentioning...if you are security conscious, this router does have one potential issue. There is a port left open that is used by Verizon to access the router to, for instance, upgrade firmware. This access also allows Verizon to make your WiFi info available through your My Verizon account. In a nutshell, this means that if someone is able to get into your Verizon account on their website, they will also find your SSID and password. This is also leaving aside the fact that some users (myself included) prefer to install their own firmware updates. So just know that while this port issue doesn't necessarily detract from this otherwise fine router, it is a potential issue if you prefer to keep things locked down. ----- I'm also perturbed that there are only four Ethernet ports. True, WiFi is more and more the norm, but I still feel like four Ethernet ports is too limiting. I was hoping to get rid of my switch, but unfortunately that isn't in the cards. But those things aside, it's really nice to finally see Verizon offering some decent equipment to go with their FiOS service. If you're running the Actiontec router, this upgrade should be seriously considered (and yes, even if you are running <75 mbps). If you're running a third party router, think it through...even though the software on the Quantum Gateway will likely be a downgrade.