May 26, 2005

No More Netgear Equipment

Tegan will not be buying any Netgear equipment in the future:

So that's it. I'll never buy another one of their products again. And if anyone asks me, I'll tell them to avoid Netgear like the plague, because Netgear doesn't care about its customers.
I used to be a happy Netgear customer as well but the last Netgear wireless router I bought was incredibly flaky so I spent $60 on a newer Belkin model which has been just fine for the last year.

This equipment is becoming so inexpensive and so widely distributed that I don't believe vendors can really afford to provide much direct customer support. So, the product better work out of the box, be well documented both online and with a local copy (hey, if it is broken you may not be able to get online) and the software upgrade process should be a snap.

Hey, when my $39-$69 phone breaks I just toss it in the trash and go to the nearest store and buy another one which may not be the same brand.

Same with home routers.

Posted by Steve on May 26, 2005
Comments

This is the result of outsourcing, which separate the company from its customers, and the push to reduce manufacturing costs to the point that everything is a commodity, not a piece of equipment.

Back in the early 1980s every microcomputer was tested for 48 hours before delivery to ensure stability and to catch bad parts before the customer took delivery. Today the customer is the "quality control".

My standard response to "you get what you pay for" regarding computer equipment is that I haven't been offered the option of paying more for more reliable equipment.

Posted by Bryan at May 26, 2005 9:59 PM
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