Netgear has become a nightmare. I bought the WGT624 router from Buy.com February 2nd 2004. It arrived promptly. Installation was easy however, the unit didn't work! The port lights wouldn't light up. I had no internet connection. When I swapped back to my old router, (Netgear MR814 which I've used and still using for a year and a half now) everything instantly worked again.

I called Netgear Tech Support and they were clueless. The techs all have very heavy Indian accents so the language barrier was a problem right off the bat. They were also clueless and rudiment about troubleshooting the product they were supporting. They only know basic setup procedures and troubleshooting procedures. They told me to exchange it for another router. So I had to return the router to Buy.com who provided me with a UPS return label. It took them 1 month to process the return and ship me another unit. (Unfortunately Buy.com doesn't put DOA returns as first priority, they treat it like any other return.) If this happens to you, return the product for a full refund and order a new unit instead. It's much faster that way.

I got the replacement yesterday (March 11th, 2004), and guess what? Dead On Arrival again! I installed the router. This time the ports were working but the router was resetting itself every 2 minutes! I had no internet connection once again. Of course when I plugged my old router back in, everything was fine.

So...I called Netgear Tech support again. The only good thing to mention about the phone calls was that there was no wait to speak to a human being. (I called at 2PM EST.)The first call, the rep. told me to hold and after 6 minutes of holding and not realizing, he accidentally hung up on me (there was no disconnect tone). So I called again and finally got to stay on the phone. Before anything else, I was told to register this product or we couldn't proceed. The agent said it's a new policy of Netgear. He wouldn't be able to help me if my serial number and customer ID weren't in their system. So I had to plug my old router back in and register the unit. I also kept him on the phone so I wouldn't have to call back and risk possible wait time. When we finally got to supporting, he unfortunately had no clue about my problem. This is a rare case in this new model he said. If it's rare, why are other reviewers having the same problem? He said there must be something wrong with the unit if it keeps resetting. I had no problem with my broadband until this router. It also wouldn't obtain an IP address even though it was present and valid. I would sporatically be blocked from entering the router's embedded software settings (192.168.0.1). Long story short, the rep. spoke to his supervisor about my 2 DOA's. Their resolution was to send the unit back to Netgear and they'd have a replacement for me in 5 days. Keep in mind that I already waited one month for the first replacement. He told me it would take 5 days for me to receive it. I disagreed. UPS ground from NY to Tennessee will take at least 3 business days. They have to sort the packages, find mine, process the return and then test a new unit to make sure the third one is not DOA. They will then ship it back to me via UPS Ground. It would take at least a week and a half assuming Netgear doesn't screw something up and slips something through the cracks.

This is the best part...I asked who would pay for shipping back to Netgear. This is also after I had to repeat my address 4 times until the Rep finally got it. Guess what? I do! Unbelievable, Buy.com...a reseller of Netgear products stands behind their sell and will pay for return shipping. (Granted Buy.com will bill Netgear for the return, why couldn't Netgear just cover the cost?) Netgear on the other hand produced two DOA's and is holding me responsible for shipping?! They are clueless. I should not have to pay $9 for something I didn't do. It's not the money, it's the principle.

Don't you hate when you buy a brand new product, under warranty, and the damn thing stops working on you a few days later? So you call the company and instead of replacing it with a new unit, you get a "brand new" refurbished unit. "Technically, it's been used sir so we cannot give you a brand new unit. Our refurbished units are just like new. I'm sorry there is nothing I can do, it's company policy..." This is the same type of BS that major companies do to "cut costs".

So I started to complain and I'm usually not one to make a big fuss of things but this was one of them. I know it's not the Reps fault (I told him) that Netgear now makes crappy, faulty products. I stressed my situation and still all he had to say was "There is nothing more I can do for you". He already spoke to the supervisor. I should've spoken to the Supervisor also, but why? Because Netgear's reps. aren't trained properly in handling Customer Care and in making sound judgement? After 40 minutes, I finally got off the phone with Netgear with no real solution to my problem. I told them I would ship the item back to Buy.com and take my chances on a third unit. I really want to see if Netgear lightning will strike 3 times.

How can you have faith in buying from a company knowing that the company will not stand behind its product? The company cannot and will not help you. That's really the bottom line. Netgear's tech support is not help, it's an excuse for one. It's unfortunately "plug and pray". I used to think "...just call tech support, they'll help me fix it.". I really wanted this Netgear router to work. They do make the nicest looking routers.

For a case like this, what I wanted was for them to say that I had a bad experience with their product and that they would like to maintain a good relationship with me and keep me as a customer. They should've offered to cover the cost of shipping and schedule a pick up. Have my package sent at least 2nd Day Air if not Next Day Air. There should be no inconvenience to me in a case like this. I don't have time to waste. It's expensive but much more expensive when I tell 10 people not to but their product and those 10 tell another 10...you get the idea. It's not like I ordered the wrong product and demanded Next Day Air for a replacement. This is not uncommon practice. I've dealt with great companies that stand behind and support their products in less than severe cases. I know that this is wasting their money paying for shipping, processing and support but if they made products that actually worked, they wouldn't have this problem. Not once but twice. We'll see if it happens a third time. I'll keep you posted...


Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 92.99
Driver Availability: Don''t Know