Quarterly Financial Data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jul. 01, 2018	Apr. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Oct. 01, 2017	Jul. 02, 2017	Apr. 02, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017		Dec. 31, 2016
Quarterly Financial Data [Abstract]
Net revenue	$ 288,928	$ 269,411	$ 255,276	$ 245,201	$ 274,149	$ 251,950	$ 251,685	$ 261,385	$ 1,058,816	$ 1,039,169	[1]	$ 1,143,445	[1]
Gross profit	90,654	94,445	80,280	76,319	76,129	76,096	75,380	80,111	341,698	307,716		373,902
Provision for income taxes	19,210	5,483	1,271	(86)	48,496	950	3,061	4,850	25,878	57,357		36,183
Net income from continuing operations	(535)	16,310	533	1,018	(41,778)	9,624	9,989	11,032	17,326	(11,133)		70,312
Net income (loss)	(27,839)	9,150	(5,230)	5,590	$ (31,934)	$ 20,794	$ 14,582	$ 15,994	(18,329)	19,436		75,851
Net income (loss) attributable to NETGEAR, Inc.	$ (19,471)	$ 9,949	$ (5,230)	$ 5,590					$ (9,162)	$ 19,436		$ 75,851
Net income (loss) per share - basic:
Income (loss) per share - basic, continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.02)	$ 0.51	$ 0.02	$ 0.03	$ (1.33)	$ 0.30	$ 0.31	$ 0.33	$ 0.55	$ (0.35)		$ 2.15
Net income (loss) attributable to Netgear per share - basic (in dollars per share)	(0.62)	0.31	(0.17)	0.18	(1.02)	0.66	0.45	0.49	(0.29)	0.61		2.32
Net income (loss) per share - diluted:
Income (loss) per share - diluted, continuing operations (in dollars per share)	(0.02)	0.49	0.02	0.03	(1.33)	0.30	0.30	0.32	0.52	(0.35)		2.08
Net income (loss) attributable to Netgear per share - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (0.62)	$ 0.30	$ (0.16)	$ 0.17	$ (1.02)	$ 0.64	$ 0.44	$ 0.47	$ (0.28)	$ 0.61		$ 2.25

[1] Prior period amounts have not been adjusted to conform with ASC 606 as the Company adopted ASC 606 under the modified retrospective method.