Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsTwo units failed in less than a year - router functionality issues.
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2015
This review is being written 11/5/2015 for the NETGEAR Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi VDSL/ADSL Modem Router (D7000-100NAS), advertised and sold on the Amazon website.
Update 7/27/2016
The device failed, and a second unit also failed the next day after one day's usage. Returned and chose another vendor's devices.
Problem #1 was intermittent failure of the router to handle DNS requests properly. This resulted in the appearance of "no Internet access" when trying to access web pages by name (Internet access via IP addresses continued to work fine). By default, the router acts as the DNS relay to forward domain name info to the DNS service provider, and relay the resulting IP address back to the user. This problem could be worked around by manually setting each client to use fixed DNS server addresses (different vendors provide such free service). This problem would not clear by changing the router to use those same fixed DNS server IP addresses, vs. the default of getting the DNS server IP's dynamically from the ISP.
A second unit was purchased to replace the first.
Problem #2 with this unit after 1/2 day of operation was failure to hand out IP addresses (DHCP function) to clients over WiFi or hard-wired LAN connections. This was true with multiple client devices and OS's. In the case of WiFi, the signal was strong and devices would connect, but the router would not offer any IP address. A router reboot would solve the issue. Note that this issue is strictly a router function and not dependent on any DSL connectivity.
Unit #2 was returned due to this problem.
Although the increased range of WiFi was a big plus with this unit, I can no longer recommend it based upon the observed failure.
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I bought this for increased wireless range using traditional ADSL service offered by DSLextreme over AT&T phone lines.
Range increased to whole house from 1/2 house (modem is positioned in one corner of the house). This is using the 2.4 Ghz range (one cannot expect the 5 gHz range to penetrate as far).
This is a full-featured combination device which can be used as a ADSL modem, VDSL modem (although not with AT&T Uverse VDSL) or as a standalone router connected to a cable modem. Only one of these modes can be used at a time.
Configuration is performed using a web browser interface (no client software needs to be downloaded to a PC). Configuration is aided for ADSL connections by selecting the service provider from a drop-down menu which pre-populates some parameters (I chose AT&T as DSLextreme uses AT&T's configuration). Setup took 15 minutes.
Compared to my previous combination modem/router, this unit is much bigger and takes up considerable table space.
Update 4/2/2016
The device continues to work well overall, with the extended wireless range continuing to be consistent and solid.
I've had one occurrence of the WiFi turning itself off (power cycle of the device would not restore service). The WiFi indicator light on the unit was off and the button to turn WiFi on again was pushed to restore service. This button was not pushed by accident and was not even in the same room as the computer user when the outage occurred. Subsequent test power cycles are OK. WiFi remains enabled.
I miss one feature that would be handy. Some DSL modems have a diagnostic menu that will show you the DSL low-level statistics including the current rate and maximum attainable rate. The former is an indication of the service level currently on your line, and the latter is an indication of the local loop quality. This can be very useful in case of slow Internet speeds, or to check if the ISP has indeed enabled the correct speed level on your account.
