Buyers beware. Netgear Nighthawk R6700V2 is no longer Broadcom SOC

[sdifox]

Looks like Netgear decided to swap out the soc to save a few bucks but does not note it clearly on the box.

I jumped on the Amazon Day deal for the R6700 (under 60 with nyc tax in) and only on the side of the box under package content do I see indication of it being R6700V2.

Firmware is a clusterfuck, takes like 30 seconds to save settings. yeah, not flashing rom, saving settings.

It froze on me six times in one day with only one active client and in AP mode no less.

This one is going back.

Supposedly, the V2 box says Dual Core Processor and the original one says 1 GHz Dual Core Processor. The model is R6700-100NAS for the V2.

If anyone has a V1 please post the model number.


here is some info on the soc

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/MediaTek_MT7621

When it is working it is fast and has good coverage, but damn I cannot believe how flaky it is.

 

[VirtualLarry]

MediaTek? Not Broadcom? UGH. Yeah, hope that they don't give you a hassle on returning it.

Edit: This is gonna be fun for buyers of that model device, with Amazon's Commingled Inventory.

Might lead to discerning buyers avoiding buying the device at Amazon, and stick to eg. ebay, from vendors that specify the version.

Or just buy factory refurbs of various-brand routers, where they specify the version number.

I hear that the Netgear R6300V2 is dual-core Broadcom ARM, same or similar hardware to AC68U, but only $34 on ebay, as a refurb/used.

 

[sdifox]

MediaTek? Not Broadcom? UGH. Yeah, hope that they don't give you a hassle on returning it.

Edit: This is gonna be fun for buyers of that model device, with Amazon's Commingled Inventory.

Might lead to discerning buyers avoiding buying the device at Amazon, and stick to eg. ebay, from vendors that specify the version.

Or just buy factory refurbs of various-brand routers, where they specify the version number.

I hear that the Netgear R6300V2 is dual-core Broadcom ARM, same or similar hardware to AC68U, but only $34 on ebay, as a refurb/used.

Oh I requested that they ship me a R6700 that is not V2 and the CSR said he'll make sure. Hopefully it comes through or I'll be refunding the replacement.

 

[ViRGE]

I hear that the Netgear R6300V2 is dual-core Broadcom ARM, same or similar hardware to AC68U, but only $34 on ebay, as a refurb/used.

Didn't Broadcom get out of the WiFi & SoC business? So all of these Broadcom devices are going to dry up as manufacturers replace them with hardware they can actually get...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Didn't Broadcom get out of the WiFi & SoC business? So all of these Broadcom devices are going to dry up as manufacturers replace them with hardware they can actually get...

PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU'RE JOKING!

Tomato Firmware pretty-much, as I understand it, ONLY works with Broadcom hardware. If they've gotten out of the biz... that's NOT good.

I'm going to start buying up routers with Broadcom hardware in them, then, if what you say is true.

 

[sdifox]

PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU'RE JOKING!

Tomato Firmware pretty-much, as I understand it, ONLY works with Broadcom hardware. If they've gotten out of the biz... that's NOT good.

I'm going to start buying up routers with Broadcom hardware in them, then, if what you say is true.

Well, Broadcom wasn't exactly a shining star, but at least it is not MediaTek.

 

[ViRGE]

PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU'RE JOKING!

Tomato Firmware pretty-much, as I understand it, ONLY works with Broadcom hardware. If they've gotten out of the biz... that's NOT good.

I'm going to start buying up routers with Broadcom hardware in them, then, if what you say is true.

http://www.fudzilla.com/news/40254-broadcom-abandons-wi-fi

They still have products in their catalog, but I don't know if they've introduced anything new lately?

Edit: I guess Cypress picked them up? http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329569

I'm still not sure if there have been any new product releases, though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's... unfortunate. I wonder if Cypress's Wifi SoCs (if they're still making Broadcom-based designed products), will be compatible with Tomato firmware going forward, or not.

 

[ViRGE]

That's... unfortunate. I wonder if Cypress's Wifi SoCs (if they're still making Broadcom-based designed products), will be compatible with Tomato firmware going forward, or not.

Cypress is still making some Broadcom designs; they've even been given new CYW prefixes. So all of those should continue to work.

 

[mxnerd]

According to the link:

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1329569

Broadcom (Singapore) said it would continue to focus on its wireless connectivity products for the access and mobility segments that are not IoT related, including serving set-top box, wireless access, smartphone, laptop and notebook customers.

So, no worries.

 

[sdifox]

Sigh, Amazon shipped another 6700V2 to me. I am refunding the sucker.

 

[cn238957]

Looks like Netgear decided to swap out the soc to save a few bucks but does not note it clearly on the box.

Thank you for your post as well as to those w/follow up comments. I just bought this router from Amazon and upon its arrival I quickly note that the '1 GHz' part of the description is missing from the box. *before* I opened it. Sure enough, it's a v2 <sigh>. Going back to the sales order page I see that they have two pics of the box, one with one without the '1 GHz' which appears to be the only way to tell w/o opening it. Not surprisingly the V1 is the much larger thumbnail of the two pics on that page. Looking at the Amazon sales page I then found that a disclaimer of either a V1 or V2 being provided to buyers is the only spec hiding under the 'Show more' area of the description. A quick search led me here so this one is going back unopened.