Netgear GS308P-100NIS Insight WiFi Access Router (White)

The install went pretty smooth, but the performance is not that great.I get better signal with my basic router, and the cloud features seem half baked. I would't recommend this guy.

I have a WAC505 and two WAC510s in my house, which is 2200 sq. ft. + basement. I could have gotten by with two APs, but with three I get 300-600Mbps throughput over the entire space. All things being equal, I would choose the WAC505 over the WAC510, as it is less expensive. and seems to have about the same performance as an AP. The limitations I can see to the WAC505 are that it does not have a router mode and there is no LAN port.I chose to manage my APs locally through the web browser interface, which works well. Basic setup is easy to do, and more advanced options can be left safely at defaults. The AP does seem to take awhile to register changes and reboot when necessary.I would recommend that you upgrade the firmware before you do much else, as there are quite significant differences between versions. I don't know why, but I actually had to upgrade twice to reach the current version, which is 9.0.0.21 as of early Oct. 2020.As far as I'm concerned, one of the key advanced features to the firmware is the option for load balancing based on client RSSI, along with the option to "Force sticky client to dissociate". As I understand it, these settings allow the AP to reject a client that tries to associate if its RSSI is below a specified level, and to disconnect from a client that tries to remain connected even though the signal strength of the connected AP is poor, and there are APs with stronger signals available. This helps assure that clients are always connected to the AP with best signal as they roam. This seems to work very well in my setup.Overall, I can only say good things about the WAC505 as well as the similar WAC510.

I recently updated to the latest NETGEAR Insight app in order to update the firmware on my access point and I was greeted with the message that the basic level of Insight (the free tier) will be discontinued in two months. Screenshots included above.I'm extremely disappointed that NETGEAR suddenly decided to remove this feature retroactively. It's a pure money grab forcing users to go to a fee based subscription when it's not needed. The justification given in the message ("So to deepen our focus on the capabilities that mean the most to you, we've decided to discontinue the NETGEAR Insight Basic subscription...") was laughable. I just want to access the features that were promised to me when I purchased the access point!NETGEAR's own documentation (KB article 000053256, "What Insight subscription plans are available?") advertises "This level of support can accommodate many small businesses without any additional fees." Well that's a bald faced lie. The least that they could do is update their own support documents with the latest change to prevent consumers from being misled. No, apparently that's too big of an ask.Prior to this I was actually decently satisfied with this access point and wouldn't have hesitated to recommend it to those who wanted the management features included with Insight Basic. No more. NETGEAR just burned up all its earned goodwill. I strongly suggest you purchase from a more reputable company that doesn't retroactively remove features from its customers.

I bought this to replace a couple of TRENDnet units that were unreliable. This thing works perfectly. It has a strong signal and maintains connections with no issues. I have it mounted high on a wall in the middle of my house, and I'm getting in the neighborhood of 350-430 Mbps over WiFi, depending on how far I am from the unit. I'm using the optional AC adapter (sold separately, as they say) rather than POE, which I haven't tried. If you're looking for a unit to mount on a wall or ceiling, this is the one to get.

Netgear touted this product as easy to set up: "one step setup." In fact, none of the documented routes in the installation doc or the online allowed me to set up the device as a wired access point. This has been my experience with all Netgear products over the last 20 years. Solid and reliable once setup, but God help you getting there. As a software engineer, I am often flummoxed by how to set up these little beasts. In the end, I returned them and bought a Google mesh system.