Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000
Manufacturer: NetGear Inc. Part number: WNR2000
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 is a no-frills budget wireless-N router, with excellent range and a handy and comprehensive Parental Control feature. It's a good fit for those who just need a simple wireless network and the ability to control access to the Internet.
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CNET editors' review
Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 price range: $78.99 - $91.45
- Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
- Reviewed on: 08/20/2009
The good: The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 offers decent throughput speeds, excellent range, is easy to use, and has an affordable price. It also comes with a free, comprehensive Parental Control feature.
The bad: The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 has no dual-band, Gigabit, USB, or Guest wireless features. Its Web interface is sluggish at times, and the Parental Control requires software installed on the computer to allow exceptions.
The bottom line: The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 is a no-frills budget wireless-N router, with excellent range and a handy and comprehensive Parental Control feature. It's a good fit for those who just need a simple wireless network and the ability to control access to the Internet.
The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 is a compact and simple Wireless-N router with a friendly price of just around $70. The router offers decent throughput speeds and excellent range, and it's also the first router from Netgear to come with a free, comprehensive Web-based Web-filtering tool. Missing are some extras, such as Gigabit Ethernet, USB ports, and 5Ghz band support.
If you're looking for an entry-level Wireless-N router and want control over its Internet access, this is a great router to have. If you don't care for Web filtering and want something even more affordable, we'd recommend the D-Link DIR-615 or the Linksys WRT160N.
Design and setup
The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000 looks like others in Netgear's RangeMax series, with a sleek casing that's, unfortunately, a fingerprint magnet; internal antennas; and a vertical stand design. Measuring only 7 by 5.1 by 1.4 inches, however, it's about two-thirds the size of other routers, making it one of Netgear's most compact Wireless-N routers.
On the front of the router resides an array of LEDs that display the status of each port as well as the status of the Internet and wireless connections. Also on the front is the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button, which instigates a short window of time where other WPS-compliant clients can enter the network without manually entering the encryption code.
On the back of the router are four LAN ports and one WAN port, and an on/off switch. The router is designed to operate in the vertical position and comes with a little detachable stand. It's not wall-mountable, though.
We had no problem setting up the WNR2000. The router comes with a software application that walks you through the setup process, from setting up the hardware to creating the wireless network. Alternatively you can use the router's Web interface for the setup process; the interface itself has another Web-based wizard that walks you through step by step.
Features
Considering its physical size and the price point, we didn't expect a lot of features out of the WNR2000; but the router offers something most routers don't: semi-Web-based Parent Control, which Netgear offers in collaboration with OpenDNS. Overall, this offers a simple, free, and effective way to conveniently oversee the use of Internet at home.
To use this, you first need to install the Netgear Live Parent Control software (which is on the included CD). This guides you through a few steps of setting up a free online account with OpenDNS and setting up the overall Web-filter level between five levels: high, moderate, low, minimum, and none, where high means most will be blocked, and none means nothing will be blocked.
From there, you no longer need the software. From anywhere in the world, you can now go to the Parental Controls Center site, log in with the account you just created, and further customize the Web-filtering feature of the router.
Also, you can define the content that each filtering level will block. For example, by default the "moderate" level doesn't include "video sharing," but you can put a check in front of this category to add it. There are about 54 categories to choose from and each of them states what content it filters.
Once a filtering level is set, all computers using the WNR2000 routers will have the same level of blocking. In order to add an exception, you'll need to create bypass accounts and install the Netgear User Utility (which can be downloaded from the Netgear OpenDNS Web account) on the computer that will make use of the exception.
Other than the Parental Control, the WNR2000 offers a standard set of networking features found in most Wireless-N routers, such as the ability to assign a fixed IP address to a computer in the network and forward certain services to it. This would come in handy if you want to set up a computer within the network to be an FTP or Web server.
For security, the router features virtually all encryption standards found in wireless routers, including all the variations of WEP and WPA. And as mentioned above, it also supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup, a feature that allows users to quickly add wireless clients to the network without having to manually type in the encryption key.
Performance
The Netgear Wireless-N Router WNR2000's throughput performance met our expectations for a router of this size and price point.
In CNET Labs' max throughput tests, the router scored 33.6Mbps, a bit faster than the D-Link DIR-615. At this speed, the Netgear can finish transmitting 500MB of data over the wireless network in less than 2 minutes.
In range tests, the WNR2000 did much better at 32.2Mbps compared with the 21.7Mbps of the D-Link DIR-615. It was also the winner between the two in the mixed mode test at 30Mbps.
We've seen much better performance in other Wireless-N routers, but they are also much more expensive than the WNR2000. On the other hand, the WNR2000 can put bigger and more-expensive routers to shame when it comes to range. We were able to keep a stable connection with the router from more than 310 feet away in our testing facility. Most other high-end routers' range stops at around 270 feet.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Mixed mode | |
Range | |
Throughput |
The WNR2000's Web interface, though intuitive, is sluggish at times without any apparent reason. Sometimes we had to restart the router to be able to log in again, though other functions of the router were working fine. We hope that this will be fixed with a new firmware update.
Service and support
Netgear ships the Wireless-N Router WNR2000's with a standard one-year warranty. On the company's Web site, you'll find lots of support information, including troubleshooting, a knowledge base, and firmware, driver, and manual downloads. The company also has 24-7 free phone tech support.
User reviews
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Excellent Performance & Great Looks!
by mistertee on January 23, 2009
Pros: Easy setup and management, very good range, runs cool, nice cosmetics, reasonable price.
Cons: No USB port (only a "con" if you want to connect a USB print server or other USB device directly to the router).
Summary: I tried several " Draft N" routers in the under $80 price range and found the WNR2000 offered the biggest bang for the buck. The installation CD works in conjunction with ...
Summary: I tried several " Draft N" routers in the under $80 price range and found the WNR2000 offered the biggest bang for the buck. The installation CD works in conjunction with Netgear's online resources and provides a simple yet highly configurable setup procedure suitable for both novice and experienced users. I especially like it's ability to automatically install the latest firmware during setup. Once installed, the router can be managed from any computer in your network or limited to a specific machine if desired. The unique "Push N' Connect" feature allows you to add additional computers to the network quickly and securely. In any case, both the management UI and feature set are useful, well designed and highly intuitive.
Although performance testing (and subsequent results) will vary depending on terrain, wireless adapter, etc., the WNR2000 was the hands down winner of all the units I tested in the under $80 price range. According to Netgear's web site, this router would typically be paired with a WN511B wireless adapter however I found a rather dramatic increase in throughput using the slightly higher priced WN511T adapter. With the "B" version, throughput at 50' typically ranged between 108-162 Mbps whereas the "T" provided an improved speed ranging between 208-270 Mbps. That said, the "B" card showed slightly stronger signal strength averaging 8 of 10 bars on the Netgear management interface versus 7 of 10 bars for the "T". However, using Microsoft's Vista UI both cards were consistent at 4 of 5 bars. The point is, the WNR2000 is quite capable of impressive throughput depending upon your choice of wireless adapter. So far I haven't experienced any random disconnects.
As for cosmetics, the WNR2000 is (in my opinion) a very stylish unit. The array of backlighted icon-like status indicators are very easy to see from a distance of 5 or 6 feet. This certainly isn't the case with many of it's competitors. The unit is designed to be used in the vertical position but the stand is removable for those who prefer horizontal orientation.
Obviously I would highly recommend the WNR2000 to anyone in the market for an "N" (non-gigabit) router. Even so, I always suggest purchasing network devices from a local retailer whenever possible. If things don't work out (often the case with these types of products) it makes returns and exchanges so much easier.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great product under $100.00
by hvchapade on January 2, 2009
Pros: Easy set up, Good Range and Speed, Compact in size and great looks, Good tech support
Cons: Set up instructions could have been made simpler.
Summary: I have been looking for a router for many weeks, and i finally zeroed on this peice, mainly because of the promotional price and the Netgear redemption offer for a ...
Summary: I have been looking for a router for many weeks, and i finally zeroed on this peice, mainly because of the promotional price and the Netgear redemption offer for a adapter with it. I was keen on one from the Rangemax series, but they quite dint fit my budget. Specs on WNR2000 meets most of the Rangemax features including the extra security. Speed (up to 130 mbps) and range (up to 30 meteres), are consistent when moving between rooms or outside home.
Pre Sakes support and Tech support was great
I have not tried any other gadgets (such as a XBox) as yet.
Over all it is good decent router if for an average user who is looking forward to explore its multi functionality in near future.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Weak Parental Control, Very difficult to configure.
by cbTexas on August 27, 2009
Pros: Good Wireless Range.
Cons: Dont buy if you were excited like me for the Open DNS parental controls. Netgear WNR2000 is parental control for Web 1.0. Not able to control chat, file sharing, torrents, online gaming, macs, linux, etc. One policy for the entire household.
Summary: I tried the Netgear WNR2000 as I was using the iBoss Parental Control and was looking for an N router so thought I would try this. After installing, I found ...
Summary: I tried the Netgear WNR2000 as I was using the iBoss Parental Control and was looking for an N router so thought I would try this. After installing, I found it very difficult to set up. After getting up and running, I found that I could only set one policy for the entire house. Thats a problem as I have teens and toddler and I want to be a little more loose with my Teen. Also, I could not set up with my Mac or Linux computer. With Macs market share increasing especially in the home market, thats a big issue. So I run this on my window machine and within minutes, my teen has bypassed this. Turns out, google bypass open dns and it shows simple ways to do this. Worse yet, it was not able to control chat, or file sharing programs. Can not protect against search images, keywords or safe search on the search engines. Basically, all Web 2.0 programs. Netgears WNR2000 really provides a false sense of security to parents out there. Open DNS is like locking the front door and leaving the windows and the back door open. I returned the Netgear and was excited as iBoss released an N router parental control. Its $59/year but WELL worth every penny. Guess the saying is right, you get what you pay for.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Fast, Reliable, Effective.
by s/k on February 20, 2009
Pros: - Amazing coverage.
- 2 internal antennas.
- 'Push 'N' Connect" button on front.
- Up to 300 Mbps speed.
- Quick to set up, but also includes the option to modify advanced settings for experienced users.
- Works fully for online console gaming.Cons: Can not access anything on your home network from external IP Address from inside the network. Not a major issue though.
Summary: The WNR2000 was given to me at no cost from my cable provider when upgrading my service to 50mbps as I was told this router would be able to make ...
Summary: The WNR2000 was given to me at no cost from my cable provider when upgrading my service to 50mbps as I was told this router would be able to make the most of the connection more than my older one, at first I wasn't sure about upgrading my router as the old one did its job fairly well, however I gave it a try and it won me over almost immediately. It was easy to set up, and easy to portforward, which was required for me as I host a website. Wireless security was incredibly easy to set up with WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES].
I have the WNR2000 set up in the Living Room, with the modem, connected via Ethernet to two desktop PCs, one in the Living Room, and one in the bedroom. Also, it is regularly used wirelessly by several wireless devices such as the laptop, PS3 and PSP around the apartment.
It works perfectly with all features of online gaming, heavy downloading, and even hosting a web server. It is a very powerful router, and wouldn't recommend anything else, if you are intending to upgrade your router soon this is a must buy.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Router! Smoked two previous routers I owned
by SledgeNet on January 30, 2009
Pros: Increased range...increased download and streaming speed...sleek design...quick and easy set up
Cons: No Gigabit-Ethernet (printer) slot
Summary: Did tons of research online trying to replace my old Netgear wireless G...Decided to go to Best Buy to ask for advice. Both my cable guy (Cox) and the ...
Summary: Did tons of research online trying to replace my old Netgear wireless G...Decided to go to Best Buy to ask for advice. Both my cable guy (Cox) and the Best Buy rep reccomended a Linksys (RangePlus Pre-N). Bought one of those...It was impossible to set up and it was dropping out to often...plus my wireless connection was no stronger than before...Went back to best Buy and purchased the WNR2000...What a difference, set-up took about 20 minutes-with no issues Netgear set-up the connection and it was good to go. Also,setting up Security was dumb simple-very intuitive. Compared to the other routers I had tried, this one doubled my wireless connection and have had great success with download and streaming...and as of yet no drop outs...This one also has a on/off button-pretty cool. Overall great router. Here's my set-up. 1 bedroom APT in San Diego (Cox Cable)...router in bedroom-wireless devices in living room. Connected to a PS3, TIVO, and a laptop. I was scared about switching to a N-Router, but so far my cable guy was wrong on that one.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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ok it is fast but not easy to configure.
by mojohnburr on December 6, 2009
Pros: very fast. I get at least 50% faster transfer rate over super g.
Cons: the signal kept dropping so I needed to go to the forums for settings etc. It now works and doesn't drop a signal but after much effort.
Summary: If you are not tech savvy I would not buy this product.
Summary: If you are not tech savvy I would not buy this product.
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Great for First Time Owners
by fla55 on December 3, 2009
Pros: This is my first router for my first laptop, but so far I am extremely impressed. I bought it on the day after black friday for 50 bucks on sale, and set it up in about 10 minutes. Coverage is great, I get three bars a floor up and three rooms over.
Cons: I would have liked a usb port for my printer but not a big deal.
Summary: Overall this product is a great value for its money. It may lack dual band frequency, usb port, and amazing parental controls but overall it just performs and gives a ...
Summary: Overall this product is a great value for its money. It may lack dual band frequency, usb port, and amazing parental controls but overall it just performs and gives a strong, fast coverage through a large range of the house. To finish my coverages, I get 5 bars through the whole first floor (5 rooms), 5 bars directly below router in basemant, and 3-4 bars upstairs and a few rooms over. Buy this product, you won't regret it.
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Great value for money home/small office router
Pros: For ease of use and configuration, range of capabilities ie. extended range and connection speed of over 300mbps makes this ideal for small office enviroments and home networks.
Cons: No USB port and although they have now included the power button it would be great to see it on the front panel.
Summary: If you want to run a small home network with VM 20MB broadband service then this is the one to use. With the rolling out of 50MB service across the ...
Summary: If you want to run a small home network with VM 20MB broadband service then this is the one to use. With the rolling out of 50MB service across the UK I will be keeping an eye open for reviews on other Netgear products because there is nothing here to say look elsewhere for a Router supplier.
Nice look, design and range of capabilties and simple features. -
Excellent options, solid, decent range.
by PH03NIX-ZA on June 19, 2009
Pros: Stylish
Very easy to use
apears reliable
Plenty of optionsCons: G 54mbits range on par with old d-link DI-624 router which was 'adequate'.
No signal strength adjustment.Summary: If you're looking for a router that's solid, simple yet flexible and powerful and with decent range you can't go wrong with this router, especially with it'...
Summary: If you're looking for a router that's solid, simple yet flexible and powerful and with decent range you can't go wrong with this router, especially with it's price.
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Stay Away !!!!! This is a TOTAL RIP OFF!!!
by divemaster5734 on June 19, 2009
Pros: There are none. It requires a hard wire internet connection to start, but by turning it on you have just interrupted it. There is no product support.
You have to pay extra for that.
I'm sure I will feel better when I smash this POS on the street.Cons: Every couple months it just quits.
I am sick and tired of having to play paddy-cake with my wireless system for no good reason other than the very expensive equipment totally SUCKS!
If you have a home office, don't buy, you WILL regret it.Summary: I was determined to get my money out of the purchase, but the truth is you never will. You just keep investing more and more time to get a P....
Summary: I was determined to get my money out of the purchase, but the truth is you never will. You just keep investing more and more time to get a P.O.S. operating.
I don't think I will ever buy any Netgear product again.
Last time I checked, only our government has the right to steal from us, everyone else goes to jail.0 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: NetGear Inc.
- Part number: WNR2000
- Description: PRODUCT FEATURES: Simple and secure way to share your high-speed Internet connection Push 'N' Connect securely connects at the touch of a button Wireless-N technology delivers exceptional range and speed Easy setup with Smart Wizard Installation CD Push 'N' Connect using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) allows you to add computers to the network quickly and securely Automatically checks and upgrades to latest software for optimal performance Internal antennas deliver maximum performance and range Convenient on / off switch helps save energy when not in use Energy Star-compliant efficient power supply Packaging manufactured with at least 80% recycled materials
General
- Device Type Wireless router
- Form Factor External
- Width 7 in
- Depth 5.1 in
- Height 1.4 in
- Weight 14.1 oz
Networking
- Connectivity Technology Wired, Wireless
- Integrated Switch 4-port switch
- Frequency Band 2.4 GHz
- Data Link Protocol Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0)
- Switching Protocol Ethernet
- Remote Management Protocol HTTP
- Status Indicators Power, Port status
- Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, Wi-Fi Protected Setup, IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0)
Antenna
- Antenna Internal integrated
Communications
- Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Interfaces 4 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45, 1 x Network - RJ-45 ( WAN )
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Vertical stand
- Cables (Details) 1 x Network cable
- Encryption Algorithm WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
Environmental Standards
- EPA Energy Star Compliant Yes
Software / System Requirements
- Software Included Drivers & Utilities
- OS Required UNIX, Linux, Apple MacOS, Microsoft Windows Vista / 2000 / XP
Manufacturer info
- NetGear Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse NetGear Inc. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.netgear.com/
- Address:
4500 Great America Pkwy.
Santa Clara, CA 95054 - Phone: 408-907-8000
- Email: support@netgear.com
- Fax: 408-907-8097
