Why I'll never buy NetGear again - EVER

[whoit]

Support? For a fee? When issues aren't resolved?
Yes, Netgear's support is garbage and I'll never buy another of their products.

What's the story?
I bought 2-XAV5001s and 1-XAV5004 in Oct 2011.
The 5001s work fine.
The 5004 rarely comes out of sleep mode. I usually have to unplug/replug it to get it to connect.

I discovered this within the first 30 days of ownership and had a replacement unit sent from the reseller. Nothing changed - still the same. I opened a case with Netgear and it was never resolved.
The firmware is the same version as when I bought it.
The forum has several other people complaining about the same thing.

I still have the problem and now that I have a little time to address it again, guess what? The case was closed, and they want me to pay for support. The support tech wouldn't stop talking about the one-year contract and how it covers all my devices. I don't want that junk - I can manage my own devices myself. I really don't want their support for my pc or my ipod - how stupid is that?

What I want is for them to stand behind their devices, stand behind their software, and quit ripping off their customers with crappy support for 90 days.

[RobbieOax]

Do you still have the issue?

[whoit]

It seems as though the most recent update for the XAV5001 (0.2.1.1NA)
has resolved my issue.

It's a bit early to tell since it's a sporadic problem, but for the last week or so,
I have not had to restart the XAV5004

Still can't stand their policies or support though...

[clithes]

Is not developing newer firmware to overcome problems support, and at no extra charge? As you say you now have a fully working unit. In my experience of using netgear products, their support along with this forum had been A1.

[ggift_1029]

Just to add to that. All devices regardless of the brands has warranty policy, so it's really normal. Other companies even have 1 month free tech support over the phone only. And when you call the tech support team, you should be informed that after seven days, the case will be automatically closed if there are no updates.

[whoit]

FYI - The problem is NOT resolved. It's intermittent, so not easy to track, but I have had to power down/up several times since my last post.

It would really be nice if they would fix this....it's been a long time.

[whoit]

(FYI they didn't post my previous reply to this) No, firmware updates are part of the cost of doing business. As is a useful period of support. The fact that a lot of companies try to squeeze their customers by reducing their support period is no excuse.
I ran my own software business (Fortune 100 clients) for 10 years and I can tell you that support is the primary distinguishing factor between companies. There are a lot of manufacturers out there and products that do the same thing. I could swap out Netgear in a heartbeat for Belkin, DLink, Linksys/Cisco, or a few others without any noticeable difference in performance - in fact, I may have to since Netgear isn't working.

[ggift_1029]

I agree. But I think, the 90 days is just the phone support. They still support their devices, I believe, only by email. You would need to visit their web portal my.netgear.com. You can send an email there for free and they have some technicians waiting to reply to your email. The reply would be within 24 hours, I think.

[clithes]

Well if it's still not fit for purpose get a refund from the reseller and buy a different brand

[fordem]

We're talking about powerline networking - which piggybacks data across a network of cables designed to distribute electrcial power - an inherently noisy and "data hostile" environment, and one that is "unique" to each user.

You literally have no guarantee that you can transmit data across such a network - it might work fine today, and tomorrow your next door neighbor installs a "new" dishwasher he bought on Craig's list and it could stop.

Doesn't matter what brand either - the technology is the root of the problem.