Disclosure: I am a NETGEAR Ambassador and received the NETGEAR Trek N300 Travel Router and Ranger Extender complimentary in exchange for my honest opinion.
Internet access is pretty much essential when running a travel blog and it’s one of the challenges I have when traveling, especially on media trips. Other than 5 a.m., internet access in hotels and resorts seems to be slowcus-pocus during peak usage hours which makes it difficult to upload photos, post to social media channels, respond to emails and make blog posts. As part of my duties as a NETGEAR Ambassador, I recently received the NETGEAR Trek N300 Travel Router and Range Extender to give it a try and share my honest feedback.
The NETGEAR website describes the Travel Router and Range Extender as, “Secure, Share and Extend WiFi. Wherever You Go.” It is supposed to be used “as a router, range extender, access point or bridge to keep you connected wherever you trek, with a simple wall plug design, or convenient USB power options for use with laptops.”
Okay, sounds simple enough. Also seems like something I need on the road especially since some hotels and resorts will offer free WiFi access for one device then charge a fee for other devices. I typically travel with three devices, an iPhone, iPad and laptop. If it’s a quick trip, the laptop most likely stays home.
I read through the instructions on setting up the NETGEAR Trek and it seemed simple, or so I thought. Honestly, I was thinking all I needed to do was plug the device into an outlet then synch it up with Bluetooth or something. If you’re trying to access the setup page for your router, Router-Reset.com has guides for NETGEAR devices and many other brands of routers.
Nope. I plugged the device into a power strip and needed a Ethernet cable to connect it to my laptop.
“WTF???,” I thought, “Who still uses these things?”
Unsure whether I had one or not, I dug through my box of computer accessories and found a blue cable.
At the same time, I snapped a photo and shared it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook stating I was setting the device up and I received a couple of interesting responses. A Twitter follower replied stating:
“it is gonna be difficult. Please take it back while you can. They make you pay just to ask questions. They just want money.”
Whoa! Wasn’t expecting that.
On Facebook, one of my wise-acre friends responded to the photo by stating, “AOL called. ..they need their router back.”
Anyway, I like to form my own opinions and soldiered on. The NETGEAR instructions stated I need to log onto www.routerlogin.net to get the device connected. Only problem, and it’s quite a big one, I couldn’t. I kept getting the “server not found” message.
Ugh.
When it comes to tech, I like things that are easy and simple. Who has time for chasing things down? I Googled for a solution and didn’t find one. I mean, I found several forums in which people had the same issue but the solutions listed didn’t work for me.
After an hour or so of trying to get the NETGEAR Trek N300 Travel Router and Range Extender connected, I gave up.
I’m not totally throwing in the towel and giving up on this piece of tech. I’ll do a little more research and see if I can get it connected in Round 2.
We have begun to use a DropCam camera (now a Nest product) as in some hotels we have had some items taken from our room (not Marriott). But, I found the DropCam would not connect directly to the Marriott provided WiFi in our room. I tried to use our iPad as a hotspot, but the connection was not reliable. I ended up investing in a Netgear Trek N300 WiFi router and was able to log that unit onto the Marriott WiFi with no problems, then connect our devices to the N300. Perfect…