NETGEAR recently opened its NETGEAR Academy to manufacturing partners, creating a free, industry-wide education platform rather than a single-vendor training site. Partners such as Crestron, Q-SYS, Dante by Audinate, Sennheiser, Lightware, SDVoE, AVB Academy, and Powersoft are now contributing their own certified courses alongside NETGEAR's training. We sat down with Gus Marcondes, global training manager at NETGEAR Enterprise, to ask him some pointed questions about the program.
AVN: How is this training different than what manufacturers would offer on their own?
Marcondes: What makes the NETGEAR Academy different is that we’re not just teaching our own products. We’re helping people see the whole system. Each manufacturer usually focuses on their specific solutions, which makes sense, but real projects don’t work that way. In the field, switches, endpoints, and protocols all need to coexist. That’s why we’ve opened our platform to include training content from our partners.
By bringing all these courses together, we are giving students a smooth, unified learning experience where they can understand how the entire ecosystem fits. The goal is to make networking feel less intimidating and more connected to what professionals actually do every day.
AVN: You noted that the training is geared toward Pro AV and broadcast. How is the content geared toward each audience?
Marcondes: For Pro AV professionals, our focus is to help them grow from basic networking skills to full AV-over-IP design and deployment.
We cover topics from simple VLAN configurations to multicast design, clocking, and troubleshooting. At the advanced level, students design a complete network project based on customer requirements. Each project is personally reviewed by our instructors, and every student receives individual feedback. It’s an online course, but there’s always a real human behind the screen.
For the broadcast community, the focus is on IP media standards like ST 2110 and IPMX. We help engineers understand the network layer that supports video, audio, and timing, because that’s where the future of broadcast is heading.
We also show how open standards are connecting both worlds: high-end broadcast and simpler AV distribution, into one scalable IP foundation.
And since the lines between IT, AV, and broadcast are disappearing fast, we’ve added courses on Cloud, Pro WiFi, and Cybersecurity to help everyone build the confidence to manage connected environments.
Below are the topics covered in the partner trainings, with more to come:
AVB Academy: Training around Audio Video Bridging standards for synchronized, low-latency AV over Ethernet.
Crestron: Courses focused on control systems, room solutions, and AV integration with Crestron ecosystems.
Dante by Audinate: Certification and how-to content for Dante audio networking, routing, and deployment.
Lightware: Switchers, signal management, and AV-over-IP workflows with Lightware solutions.
Powersoft: Amplification, audio system design, and tuning using Powersoft platforms.
Q-SYS: Training on Q-SYS platform design, control, and DSP for integrated AV environments.
SDVoE: Education on Software Defined Video over Ethernet for uncompressed, low-latency video distribution.
Sennheiser: Pro audio, wireless systems, and microphone solutions training.
AVN: Please discuss the benefits for end users and integrators.
Marcondes: For end-users, it's all about removing barriers to professional development. The Academy is completely free, on-demand, and designed to make complex topics simple. Whether you're just starting out or already experienced, you can learn at your own pace from practical, real-world examples. What's particularly valuable is the AVIXA accreditation. Professionals can earn AVIXA RUs at no cost, which addresses a real pain point around continuing education expenses.
The curriculum is comprehensive and constantly evolving, with regular content updates that keep pace with industry changes. You're learning from experts who bring field experience directly into the training.
For integrators, the Academy gives their teams a structured way to grow their skills, earn recognized certifications, and demonstrate to customers that they truly understand AV-over-IP systems. The certifications provide tangible credentials that differentiate them in competitive bids. For our official partners, these certifications are directly tied to the NETGEAR Partner Portal, where higher certification levels unlock stronger incentives, co-marketing opportunities, greater visibility in our partner directory, priority technical support, and deeper engagement with our team.
Our third-party manufacturer training section is growing quickly, with eight manufacturers already participating. This is particularly exciting because it demonstrates that education isn't a competitive advantage to be hoarded; it's a rising tide that lifts all boats. When manufacturers collaborate on education, we're collectively raising the technical bar for the entire industry. Partners who invest time in the Academy are building a holistic understanding of how different technologies work together in modern AV installations, which ultimately makes them more valuable consultants to their customers.
