NetGear WNDR3700 Vs Linksys E3000 - High Performance Showdown!

Both of these high performance wireless routers represent the flagship models of their respective manufactures consumer line ups. Both can run separate 5GHZ and 2.4GHZ frequency bands simultaneously. Both feature gigabit network ports and the ability to share out media wirelessly from a built-in USB port. Both provide easy, push button setup and provide the ability to provide password protected access to the Internet to guests. They are priced almost identically.

So which is the better router? Here is where they differ:

• The Linksys takes the entertainment route by allowing you to broadcast video and game content to the rest of your network with a built-in media server.
• The Netgear takes the performance route with a powerful 680MHZ processor, eight super sensitive internal antennas and performance boosting amplifiers.

In terms of shear thorough put and range the Netgear outperforms the Linksys in 2.4GHZ wireless N Mode.

The Linksys slightly outperforms the Netgear in 5GHZ wireless N mode.

Not to be outdone by Linksys's internal media server the Netgear has a USB Ready Share port which can also used to stream video content. Unfortunately the Linksys's built-in media server is slow compared to just about all dedicated media servers. Whether you really want to consider the media server feature an advantage or not is debatable.
The truth is sharing media is best done by a dedicated media server device. In any wireless router this feature should be looked at as a convenience feature and not a replacement for the real deal.

So we're neck and neck. The deciding factor in deciding whether to buy the Netgear WNDR3700 or the Cisco E3000 may come down to your own personal aesthetic taste and any compatibility concerns you may have with the rest of the gear on your wireless network.