Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This router did not work well for me at all. I purchased it to replace a 10 year old wireless D-Link router that was working just fine, but did not have WPA encryption and only had 802.11b. After expanding my home network to include several laptops, an Xbox, and an internet TV, I figured it was a good time to upgrade my wireless router. I had read great reviews of the Netgear WNDR3700 but I decided to purchase the WNDR3400 instead because it was $70 cheaper and the only difference was that it did not have the wired gigabit connection, which I figured that I did not need since everything on my network is wireless except for an old PC that doesn't have a gigabit adapter card in it anyway. My first impression of the WNDR3400 was a disliking to the glossy fingerprint magnet finish and the fact that you apparently need to mount it standing up on 2 feet for the best antenna coverage. I figured that I'd probably have to duck tape it down eventually if it kept getting knocked over. I also didn't like the huge 8 LED flashing display that lit up the entire room, but luckily you can toggle this off and on by pushing on the display bezel. I was curious to know if my wireless reception and speed would improve with this investment, so I made sure to check my reception and speeds (using speedtest.net) on all of my devices before and after. My wireless router is in the basement, and I have a two story house. As I said, I was having no problems with reception of the old D-Link router on any of my devices. The 2nd floor PC (running XP) furthest away from router showed "good" reception , and everything in the basement and first floor was showing "excellent" The installation and set-up of the WNDR3400 was very easy. I had no problem at all using the set-up CD to get my wireless system up and running. I immediately checked the speed and signal strength of the device using my laptop, sitting by the router. I found that I had the same signal strength and speed as I had with my old router. This was true if I used the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz signal. But when I went to the second floor of the house to check reception on my PC and Xbox, I found that the PC did not receive the signal AT ALL, and the Xbox, which had received 4 bars on the old router, was only getting 1 bar on the new router. I tried refreshing the Xbox network discovery several times and the signal alternated between 1 bar, and 0 bars. NOT GOOD. So I went back downstairs and re-installed my old D-Link router and now everything is good again. I'm really disappointed to find that a device that is 10 years newer, and twice as expensive as my old D-Link router would work so poorly. The Netgear WNDR3400 is getting returned today. UPDATE: Well it is about 18 months since I wrote this review and my trusty D-Link router has finally passed away. Now being forced to buy a new wireless router I returned to Staples - determined NOT to buy anything by Netgear. I decided to buy a Cisco Linksys E2500 - simply because Linksys has been around as long as D-Link. I was curious to see if I would have the same signal problems that I had with the Netgear device. Right away, I was happy that the Linksys sits flat, not on end like the unstable Netgear. Even better, after I fired it up I found that I had an EXCELLENT signal from top to bottom in my house. This is even better than my old D-Link, and of course light-years better than the Netgear. I don't know, maybe the Netgear was defective...if not, it truly is the worst wireless router on the market.