Disclaimer: Netgear has not paid me to write this review or asked me to endorse this product (AX 8). I was fortunate enough to be selected in beta testing of this router. I am providing feedback based on 2++ months real world use of this product.
Pros:
1) Awesome design
2) New Netgear GUI for setup and configuration - very easy to use and fast. I had the router setup in < 5 mins
3) Performance is decent out of the box - I expect with future firmware updates, this performance will improve more. Also performance will be better once you have matching AX clients connecting to the router
4) No wi-fi drops
5) Can handle 20 streaming clients without any issues
7) No buffering or stuttering when streaming wireless or wired
8) No dead spots in a 3500 sq feet home and coverage (3 bars) 30ft outside of house
9) Can create a single SSID which can handle both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz clients seamlessly
10) No issues connecting legacy AC wireless devices (Android and iOS)
11) No issue with VPN
12) Gigabit fiber speed test is 940mb/s up and down with a 2ms ping to testing server
Cons:
1) Price
2) You will need AX clients to really take advantage of this product. AX should be taking off in 2019+
3) You will hear the fan when you first power up the router. Also make sure you upgrade to .36 of the firmware after you setup the router to make sure fan does not stay running under normal use
4) Would have liked to see 8 gigabit ports for this price point
5) Would like to see parental controls, anti-virus add-ons in the future
Overall, I am very happy with the performance of this router (even on the first beta firmware). If you have a router that is more than 4 yrs old or have a household with lots of wireless devices, this router is a good choice.
The price is a bit expensive, but the router is well built. I expect performance to get better as firmware starts to mature. I have used the router every day for 2 months and it has worked flawlessly. Have not found any wi-fi dead spots in the house. Video streaming, web surfing, gaming all work without any issues.
I couldn't be more pleased. I replaced a Cisco N4200 Router that was about 6 years old. I always just assumed that my slow internet speeds were due to my ISP. Prior to this upgrade, I was getting speeds between 5 to 20 mbs, I was continually having my cell phones drop off the wifi and long buffering while streaming TV. Now with the Netgear AC2600, my internet speed are coming in between 90 to 120 mps. I have not had any dropped WIFI from my phones and virtually no buffering on my TV's.
As a test, I tried to load it up. I was streaming 2 Fire Stick TV's with HD movies, 2 cell phones and 1 Ipad with youtube HD videos at the some time. It handled it perfectly. I was truly amazed.
Set up was a breeze. I am not a networking guru, I just used all the basic features of the Netgear Genie, and was up and running in about 10 minutes. I should have upgraded a long time ago!
The router works great, it's fast and has a great range. The only short coming is the configuration software. It prompts you to download their genie software which helps you get through the first part of the setup. But it will only allow you too configure the 2.4ghz radio. To configure the 5ghz radio you have to use the web interface...which you could also use to configure the 2.4ghz radio...so the software is pretty much useless bloat. If Netgear got rid of the download and just directed you straight to the web interface I'd give this thing 5 stars.
Fairly easy setup. If you are buying this, ETHER NET CABLE IS INCLUDED. The product description does not show it is.
Don't waste your time getting the new AX (wifi 6) tech since its not readily available in devices they said. Don't spend the money cause its gonna be like a normal router for a couple of years until more are released.
Let me tell you - ignore that. This is a BEAST. I spent 3+ weeks trying out different solutions on wifi. I tried Orbi mesh. While that is a good product, I am not really in need of a mesh. Speeds averaged 460-525 Mbps. (I tested at different times of day but same time frames with other products).
I tried the XR500 Nighthawk that is one of the highest rated devices with DumaOS. So many issues that I was losing my mind. I tried several fixes. Separate the bands, channels, etc. My security cams were going offline every 30 mins or so for at least 15. I was so fed up with trying to trouble shoot the device. My speeds were 580 - 670 Mbps with it which I did enjoy. But speed is only useful if its actually CONNECTED to the devices.
Last ditch effort I tried this router. The RAX80 and holy moly. Plugged in, used the mobile app and was up within 5 mins. Every device attached with no issues. No disconnects after multiple days use. Speed improvement on every item. I have 38 devices accessing my wifi as part of the smart home. This monster just cranks it out. No problems at all. My speed on several tests as compared to the same day/ time as the ones above - 830-960 Mbps I am not sure why its such a huge improvement but it is. I cannot say enough good things about this router. Not only is is a monster with handling speeds and multiple devices - just look at it. It is not one you want to hide. You want to show this baby off. Several people have asked me what the space ship is. This thing went from being in an Amazon box to installed and cranking out wifi / lan within 10 minutes and NOT a single drop of signal. I am future proof as well. So I say if you can afford it, do not hesitate. You will really like it.
EDIT:
After 2 months this router is still the best one I've ever seen. Still getting top level speeds right at a gig. I've got 42 devices attached to it (smart home) and it doesn't even cough. I rarely am this surprised. This router is still #1 in everything I tried!
Feature Product
- With blazing-fast wireless speeds of up to 6 Gbps, the AX8 lets families simultaneously stream 4K/8K video on multiple devices, video chat with friends, and share large files without network congestion or lag.
- Experience the future of WiFi with next-generation 802.11ax (WiFi 6) technology, designed to handle the increasing demand for wireless connectivity in every part of people's lives.
- High-performance WiFi 6 for Smart Homes with 30-50 devices.
- NETGEAR's quad-core 1.8 GHz processor enables smooth, bufferless 4K/8K Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) video streaming and immersive online gaming for the latest smart TVs, gaming consoles, and mobile devices.
- Get faster file transfers and uninterrupted connections using the six wired gigabit ports, which enable you to aggregate ports for even faster LAN transfer and multi-gig internet.
- Securely access your router anytime and anywhere with the free and easy-to-use Nighthawk app for smartphones and tablets.
- Backwards-compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi technologies, the RAX80 supports all your existing WiFi devices.
Description
The NETGEAR Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream AX6000 WiFi Router (RAX80) offers improved network capacity for more WiFi devices in your home and 2Gbps wired connectivity support for an incredibly fast Internet experience. This 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) router is powered by a 64bit 1.8GHz Quad-core processor designed to transfer multi gigabits of data with almost zero CPU load. 160MHz channel support doubles the speeds as offered by 80MHz channels to provide gigabit speeds to compatible devices.
NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S - AC2600
I purchase the R7800 to replace a R6300v2 dual band wireless router that had become, at best, unstable!
I did not research when I purchased the R6300v2 and was not going to blind buy again.
I did a lot of research and looking and arrived at the Netgear R7800.
My goal was to have dual band internet that I did not have to constantly reboot and reset my wireless router and also to have enough oomph, to get signal to my garage 500 ft away on the 2.4 band.
Router manufactures are always kind of coy, on how well their wireless devices will function, and never really guarantee anything clearly on range but, on this one I took a chance, hoping there was enough oomph, in the R7800 to go the 500ft.
My plan was to set up the R7800, then go to my garage and “extend” the 2.4 with an older Amped sr10000.
And the Quick Start seup is easy, even for me in 20 minutes I was done and the R7000 was pumping away.
The Amped sr10000 set up requested at least a 70% signal to be the low end of signal to be extended.
The Netgear R7800 was delivering 68% signal.
I set it up anyway, and it works like a champ!
I have fiber to the home and our internet speeds are 100Mbps both download and upload.
We are getting full house coverage on both bands and 100 Mbps in all areas of the house and, the extender in the garage is at 10Mbps both download and upload at 2.4.
To get to the garage, I am going through 3 Standard home construction walls, and have my Amped sr10000 located in a window of a steel sided garage!
I almost feel Naughty having this all work as planned!
And Later today...............................
I am updating this review in regards to extending signal to my Garage, just over 500 ft. I have now set up a Belkin N600 dual band range extender, that gets mixed reviews, in the garage and my 5g Download is at 30Mbps and upload at 12Mbps (a bit of an improvement over the 2.4 with the sr10000!) I will continue to report on this as there may be a few out there that are not only interested in full house coverage, but also in low cost ways to extend to other buildings.
NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S - AC2600 4x4 MU-MIMO Smart WiFi Gigabit Gaming Router (R7800-100NAS)
I was having some frustrating wifi speed problems after upgrading my service and it turns out that my wifi router is 7 years old. Yikes! I swear I bought it yesterday! Where the heck does time go?? I decided to also go with an upgrade to my router now that I'm making much more money than back then when I dropped $19.99 on the one I had. The difference since installing the NETGEAR AC1200 is like night and day.
Not only is my signal now reaching out to my apartment parking lot with relatively good strength, but the my upload and download speeds are out of this world compared to before. I'm a FPS gamer, so lag was frustrating but now my load time is faster than some of my teammates. Speaking to the use, I recently bought 3 Alexa devices that control my home security system, entertainment systems (FireTV, Xbox One, Samsung HDTVs, etc.), as well as my house lighting. I think that so many wifi enabled devices on my old wifi router (which was built before so many wifi enabled devices were on the market) that it was struggling to keep up. The NETGEAR AC1200 has absolutely no problems with how many devices are on the network and the NETGEAR network management tool also really helps me monitor the devices that are attached to my network. It's really helpful!
If you are looking for a powerful router for your home, I would totally recommend this!
This router kicks butt! I replaced my old wireless N, which was also a Netgear, and a good router when I got it. I went from 1-2 bars in my garage, and issues with my phone losing my WiFi calling link to 4 SOLID bars. In fact, nowhere in my house do you get anything less than 4 bars, and all the way down the driveway. Setup was a bit a pain, because I like to set my router private IP/gateway address to a specific address (so I don't have to reset all my devices, and it makes it harder to find). It wouldn't let me at first - kept changing it back to 192.168.1,1, which isn't even the right subnet for my home network. I finally figured-out it was because I had the sharing "Genie" app open. Btw, you do not need to configure this from a wireless device (why would anyone want to if you have a hardwired network??). I updated the firmware right away. Setup my port-forwarding for my RDP and other special applications. Wish they had those built-in, but easy enough to look-up the ports and add. You do NOT want this in your bedroom unless you disable the lights. I keep this in my basement laundry room by my cable modem. It looks like a flying saucer in the dark. Very sleek device, and lots of bright blinking lights, if you like that sort of thing (I do!). Btw, we're running 4-5 wired computers (I'm an IT guy/programmer), smart TV/Roku, Wii-U, 4 smart phones, 2 android tablets, an ipad, and 4 laptops, with no problems whatsoever. Btw, a little trick someone else mentioned: you can setup both wireless frequencies to the same Network ID, with the same passwords, so if you do have a connectivity issue on one, it should automatically go to the other. Money well spent!
I have been using Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Smart WiFi Router (R7800) for over 6 months and have been loving it. The speed of data transfer is awesome. I have used X4S router with Verizon FiOS quantum gateway router in bridge mode and it worked great. I'm currently using this with Comcast internet connection and I'm extremely pleased with the performance. Before buying Netgear X4S I had bought Asus AC router but was disappointed when I figured out bridge mode/access point mode was not supported and Netgear has both of these features.
Also note, I have a Plex server running on Debian and 2 Synology NAS devices along with a HD homerun device connected to this router and everything works flawlessly.
The only con I can think about X4S router is updating the firmware while in bridge mode is a hassle as auto update is not supported so I had to update it manually but otherwise I'm very pleased and happy with the purchase and will definitely recommend it.
-Rex
First impressions of the new NETGEAR Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream AX6000 Wi-Fi Router. Previous situation: AT&T DSL service over landline with an old Speedstream modem. My devices were hardwired (via CAT5 and a Linksys 10/100 switch model EZXS55W) and others Wi-Fi to a Linksys WRT1900 AC router. The AT&T service provided a max of 6 Mbps download and .8 Mbps upload. AT&T did not provide any better service to the area so I needed to go with another (Spectrum) provider. This new service was for 100 Mbps download and 5-10 Mbps upload. Considerably better than what I had. I decided that I would go all out and try to get the maximum benefit from the service and a little future proofing. I had purchased a Netgear CM600 modem instead of the supplied modem and router from Spectrum. I also ordered a new switch (Netgear 8 port 10/100/1000 model GS108) for my wired devices. I also pre-ordered the NETGEAR Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream AX6000 Wi-Fi Router. My house is around 1700 sq. ft. with a finished basement. Most of the equipment is in the basement. The previous modem/router was in the basement. It covered the whole house. However, it did not cover any area outside of the house such as the garage and outside the front door. I particularly wanted the range to go out the front door to potentially add security cameras without having to use Wi-Fi extenders. I was lucky enough to be able to get the Spectrum cable fished directly from the outside box to the same location as my previous modem/router. I hooked up the Netgear modem – all good. I connected a PC directly to the modem (CAT 5) and speed tested at 118 Mbps download and 11 Mbps upload. Since I did not have the new router yet, I just reconnected the Linksys WRT1900. The testing PC was then connected to the Linksys WRT1900. It still speed tested at the same. However, other PCs hardwired to a switch and then to the Linksys WRT1900 speed tested around the 60 Mbps download and 9 Mbps upload. Mobile units tested anywhere from 60-90 Mpbs and 11 Mbps upload. I figured the old switch had a lot to do with the hardwired slower speed. When the new switch came in, I installed it and that cleared up the speed problem (now 118 Mbps download and 11 Mbps upload) on the hardwired PCs. Once the Nighthawk AX8 came in, I replaced the Linksys router. Speed on the mobiles tested in at 117 Mbps download and 11.94 upload. The overall range of the Wi-Fi increased. It now covered the whole garage and only started to decrease in strength after moving about 15 ft. from the front door. As for specifics about the Nighthawk AX8, the unit is stylish. May remind you of something that would come out of a Star Wars or Star Trek show. If you are looking for an easy set up of a typical home network, it is very simple. Just follow the instructions in the provided Quick Start guide. If you need more advanced customization, you need to go to the Netgear support site and download the manual for this unit. The only instructions included in the box is the Startup guide and a note about upgrading the firmware. Unit comes with a power supply, network cable and startup guide. The “wings” (antenna units) were folder flat in the box. They simply lift up and then push the wings down to snap into place. Connect the network cable to the modem. Power up the device. I downloaded the app on my phone. The app connects automatically when it is started. Once connected the app prompted to upgrade the firmware. I walked through the rest of the setup on my phone app. Piece of cake. Having been able to max out the provided service from Spectrum on all my devices was icing on the cake. The extended coverage was even more so. I have seen several comments about the fan running on this unit. It did NOT start running when the unit was powered on. It has not yet turned on so I cannot comment if it has a noise issue or not. Firmware level is at 1.0.1.40_1.0.22. The unit seems to be well made and sturdy. There were two caveats to the good experience. Both are concerning the USB connections on the back of the unit. The first is that the USB connections on the back of the unit are too close to each other. I usually, put in two 128 GB sticks in the Linksys with no problems. The ones I used were about 13/16” wide. Way too wide for the Netgear. I would say if you have USBs to use that are wider than 5/8” (maybe 11/16”) two will not fit. My solution will be to see if I can find a couple of short USB extensions with a narrow end. Purely a poor design issue. The other caveat is that there is no information included concerning how to use and configure the USB connections. You must download the manual to get any initial setup and network mapping information. Otherwise, I would have given the unit a 5 star on “Easy to Use”. It is a little pricey at $399. However, I believe it will take me into future a good way and support any speed and protocol changes for a while. As long as there are no immediate performance issues that come up, I would readily recommend it.
0 Komentar