Netgear Genie

[Scubbie]

Hi folks,

Just a quick cautionary tale worth sharing.

Netgear has released a new tool to help you manage some simple tasks from your main PC called 'Netgear Genie'.

I saw a thread elsewhere on this forum and thought that I would give it a try. Unfortunately it caused a few problems and didn't respond very well so I have reported it.

I've just had a message back from their support:

DGND3700 firmware hasn't been updated to support Genie yet, it should come in a few months.

Thank you.

Now you can read that in a few different ways. I trust that one of those does not mean that we will not see a firmware fix before then.

[Joe_]

Now you can read that in a few different ways. I trust that one of those does not mean that we will not see a firmware fix before then.

Simply amazing isn't it.

Based on some of the "tales of suffering" posted here regarding this unit and the WNDR3700v2, I'm so glad I don't own one of these units, 'else I would have added my say to all the rest! And I can tell you it would have been very biting criticism.

I not defending Netgear one bit. They deserve every bit of criticism and bad publicity on the unresolved matters. I state what is the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

[Scubbie]

Originally Posted by Joe_

Based on some of the "tales of suffering" posted here regarding this unit and the WNDR3700v2, I'm so glad I don't own one of these units, 'else I would have added my say to all the rest!

To be honest I would find it very hard to recommend the DGND3700 in it's current state to someone who has a working router at the present moment.

I love the advanced features and I intend to make more use of them in due course.

My WiFi has been more stable than it has for the last couple of years or so. The 1Gbit LAN helps when it comes to transferring large files. Streaming files to my TV has been really nice but I am now looking at a NAS drive to take this further as it is obvious that the router couldn't cope with the units I have with multiple drives.

Features such as VPN have their limitations though as ADSL2+ has what I consider slow upload speeds (1Mb in my case).

The reporting features need to be fixed too. Only allowing port 25 to be used for emailing is a backward step. The traffic meter is also a little buggy too.

[Joe_]

Hello Scubbie,

Firstly, let me say that fortunately I can benefit from kritikos29's "blunder" and be on my best behavior.

Originally Posted by Scubbie

To be honest I would find it very hard to recommend the DGND3700 in it's current state to someone who has a working router at the present moment.

Fortunately for you, you seemed to have found quite a few positives about the unit.

'Though I don't have this router/modem I'm rather disappointed in the sort of support meted out to persons who do (at least from their posts), as well as those owners of the WNDR3700v2. In a sense, they are all "beta" testers. I just hope for their's and Netgear's sake a resolution of their problems is not too distant.

[jmizoguchi]

DGND3700 firmware hasn't been updated to support Genie yet, it should come in a few months.

Thank you.

firmware are released on quarterly base so you may see some release in next quarter.

[theTechman05]

When does this quarter end for netgear? Its different for everyone. Figuratively a quarter should end this month if it starts in January.

[jmizoguchi]

quarterly counts for first of the year. I would say next month or two it may have some release but that is jack in jukebox...

[Scubbie]

Originally Posted by Joe_

Firstly, let me say that fortunately I can benefit from kritikos29's "blunder" and be on my best behavior.

No problem. Unfortunately in that instance kritikos29 found someone who is prepared to remind people that there is more than one gender who haunt forums such as this.

Originally Posted by Joe_

Fortunately for you, you seemed to have found quite a few positives about the unit.

If I were completely upset with this router I would have returned if for a refund a long time ago.

Like many others on this forum though, I am disappointed with the length of time it has taken to resolve many of the issues. I am also disappointed to find that some issues were known before it was released and have not been addressed.

Originally Posted by Joe_

'Though I don't have this router/modem I'm rather disappointed in the sort of support meted out to persons who do (at least from their posts), as well as those owners of the WNDR3700v2. In a sense, they are all "beta" testers. I just hope for their's and Netgear's sake a resolution of their problems is not too distant.

When looking at the unresolved issues described on this forum, they almost all appear to be related to the firmware. This places an extra burden on the one team who need to fix this problem.

On a side note, I hadn't been been following the section of this forum on the WNDR3700. I was starting to think of this as a possible option for my friend, but this may not be a good idea judging by what you have stated until it too has had a firmware update.

jmizoguchi has stated that Netgear normally release firmware updates on a quarterly basis. With this in mind the the comment I was given is perhaps reflecting that an update will always be within a 3 month period whilst the product is fully supported, where one is required.

This should mean that we may expect an update soon then.

[theTechman05]

Anyone talked to the support guy that gave you the beta? If its this close couldn't there be a 13v2 that's complete to test? If it gets to that point I can always buy and report the problems to get it and not have to wait another half a month.

I kept hoping I'd at least see some movement with the 3700 on the ftp page but its stagnant right now. No one even took the time to put the right time stamp on the support download page.

[Scubbie]

I haven't heard of any new firmwares following the 'PPP' version released for diagnostics the other week.