Netgear DGN 3500 - replace or still decent?

[SlinkyMike]

I have an oldish Netgear DGN3500 router that works OK.

It needs to be rebooted from time to time and I'm having some issues with certain sites that I'm having a tough time troubleshooting.

I haven't ever upgraded the firmware on this router and I'm thinking of doing that but I just wanted to get an opinion on whether it's even worth it at this stage.

The router is several years old (maybe more than 5) but by and large it does the job well.

Are there newer routers that offer features or enhanced performance that I might be missing out on or would a firmware update and reconfigure get this router up to standard?

 

[Rickster]

Update the firmware, it will be much better. Bugs fixed etc.

 

[SlinkyMike]

Shot for the response. I'm reading that as "router is fine, perform standard maintenance" ...that about right?

 

[Ga77a]

The primary specifications for these devices is the WAN connectivity and WiFi. It seems the WAN connectivity is ADSL2+ on this router and technology hasn't really advanced from there. If you get fiber it's a different story, but you could still get a stand alone modem for it and not have any real performance drop unless the fiber is over 150mb/s. The WiFi is rated at 300N and should be able to use the 2.5/5GHz frequency. There is a new standard that has rolled out on the new Chromecast (only one i know) which is 102.11ac (yours is n). There is no real point in upgrading as all devices would need to change to the new standard to see any benefit. Otherwise some new routers have traffic management and diagnostics, but that falls into the 'if you have to ask' catagory.

My advise is update the firmware to the latest stable version you can. If it's really causing issues that get your back up then replace. Routers need to be reset from time to time here in Africa (try set the router to refresh your IP from time to time). I can't help with the website issues, this is usually not a router problem unless you have some advanced (mis)configuration.

 

[Rickster]

Shot for the response. I'm reading that as "router is fine, perform standard maintenance" ...that about right?

Pretty much.

 

[SlinkyMike]

Thanks for the replies.

Now to hunt down an ethernet cable to do the update - haven't used one in years!