Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2013 companies	Oct. 31, 2008 companies	Dec. 31, 2014 Y supplier case	Dec. 31, 2013 patent	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 28, 2014 case	May 21, 2013 case	Sep. 17, 2012 patent	Sep. 14, 2010 patents	Jul. 23, 2014
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Operating leases expiration date			Dec. 31, 2026
Operating Leases, Rent Expense			$ 10,800,000	$ 9,900,000	$ 7,600,000
Continued vesting period after termination without cause (in years)			1 year
Number of days for non-cancellation of purchase obligations prior to expected shipment date (in days)			30 days
Non-cancelable purchase commitments			165,900,000
Liability for Director and Officer Indemnification Agreements			0
Liability For Customers, Distributors, and Resellers Indemnification Agreements			0
Number of patents company is accused of infringing (in patents)								3	8
Number of Remaining Patents Company is Accused of Infringing				5
Estimated future RAND royalty rate through 2016				0.15
Estimated future RAND royalty rate 2016 through 2018				0.10
Estimated future RAND royalty rate 2018 through 2020				0.05
Reasonable and nondiscriminatory (RAND) royalty rate (USD per unit)				0.15
Foregone colleting verdict amount (in USD)				3,555,000
Foregone colleting prejudgement interest ( in USD)				224,141
Foregone colleting prejectment interest (USD per day)				336
Foregone Collecting Costs (in USD)				41,667
Minimum Number of Lawsuits Filed Against Third-Party Suppliers By Competitor			100
Number of Third-Party Suppliers Filing Declaratory Judgement Actions			2
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 compapy							9
Number of Other Companies Lawsuit Was Filed Against	14	30
Number of cases other company filed against the Company						138
Garnet Digital v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
period range to file a joint motion to dismiss the case after the Court ruled in the defendants favor										21
D-Link [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				435,000
NETGEAR [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				3,555,000
Toshiba [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				2,445,000
Belkin [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				600,000
Acer Gateway [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				1,170,000
Dell [Member] | Ericsson v. NETGEAR [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Damages Awarded, Value				$ 1,920,000
46 To 60 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Percentage of cancelable orders			50.00%
31 To 45 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Percentage of cancelable orders			25.00%
Chief Executive Officer [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of weeks for which salary is payable upon termination of employment without cause (in days)			365 days
Number of years after change of control to trigger full accelerated vest of unvested portion of stock options (in years)			1 year
Senior Vice President Of Worldwide Operations And Support [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of weeks for which salary is payable upon termination of employment without cause (in days)			273 days
Other Key Executives [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of weeks for which salary is payable upon termination of employment without cause (in days)			182 days
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
Minimum [Member] | 46 To 60 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Required notice period prior to the expected shipment date (in days)			46 days
Minimum [Member] | 31 To 45 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Required notice period prior to the expected shipment date (in days)			31 days
Maximum [Member] | 46 To 60 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Required notice period prior to the expected shipment date (in days)			60 days
Maximum [Member] | 31 To 45 Days [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Required notice period prior to the expected shipment date (in days)			45 days