Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				9 Months Ended												9 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2008 companies	Sep. 28, 2014 case patent Y supplier claims	Dec. 31, 2013	May 21, 2013 case	Sep. 17, 2012 patent	Sep. 14, 2010 patents	Sep. 28, 2014 Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Senior Vice President Of Worldwide Operations And Support [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Other Key Executives [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] D-Link [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] NETGEAR [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] Toshiba [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] Belkin [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] Acer Gateway [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member] Dell [Member]	Jul. 23, 2014 Garnet Digital v. NETGEAR [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 46 To 60 Days [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 31 To 45 Days [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Minimum [Member] 46 To 60 Days [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Minimum [Member] 31 To 45 Days [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Maximum [Member] 46 To 60 Days [Member]	Sep. 28, 2014 Maximum [Member] 31 To 45 Days [Member]
Purchase Obligation [Line Items]
Lease Expiration Date		Dec. 31, 2026
Purchase Commitment, Remaining Minimum Amount Committed		$ 193,000,000
Percentage of cancelable orders.																	50.00%	30.00%
Required Notice Period Prior To The Expected Shipment Date																			46 days	31 days	60 days	45 days
Number of days for non-cancellation of purchase obligations prior to expected shipment date		30 days
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of weeks for which salary is payable upon termination of employment without cause (in days)							365 days	273 days	182 days
Continued vesting period after termination without cause (in years)		1 year
Number of years after change of control to trigger full accelerated vest of unvested portion of stock options (in years)							1 year
Maximum number of years covered by accelerated vest for other key executives if term without cause is within one year of change in control (in years)									2 years
Number of exiting cases and procedings that the Company currently believes are liking to have a material adverse effect on its financial position		0
Number of exiting cases and proceedings that the Company currently believes are liking to have a material adverse effect on its financial position		0
The future length the Company currently considered regarding existing cases and proceedings that are likely to have a material adverse effect on it (in months)		12 months
Number of other companies lawsuit was filed against (in companies)	30
Number of Patents Company Is Accused Of Infringing					3	8
Number of cases other company filed against the Company		138
Number of Remaining Patents Company is Accused of Infringing		5
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value										435,000	3,555,000	2,445,000	600,000	1,170,000	1,920,000
Reasonable and nondiscriminatory (RAND) royalty rate (USD per unit)		0.15
Foregone colleting verdict amount (in USD)		3,555,000
Foregone collecting pre-judgment interest ( in USD)		224,141
Foregone collecting pre judgment interest (USD per day)		336
Foregone Collecting Costs (in USD)		41,667
Litigation settlement expense		4,000,000	3,555,000
Liability for Director and Officer Indemnification Agreements		0
Liability For Customers, Distributors, and Resellers Indemnification Agreements		$ 0
Minimum Number of Lawsuits Filed Against Third-Party Suppliers By Competitor		100
Number of Third-Party Suppliers Filing Declaratory Judgment Actions		2
period range to file a joint motion to dismiss the case after the Court ruled in the defendants favor, in days																21
Number of years the plaintiff seeks damages for		3
Number of cases the plaintiff asserted		22
Number of cases the plaintiff filed against other companies, including the company				9