When I moved in with my wife, she brought with her a router that was better than mine, so we kept hers. After a while, more and more of our house became smarter. Smart devices were chatting across our house more and more every month. So I decided to upgrade to a TP-Link Router. I grew to regret that mistake every day over the course of a month.
Over the course of the next month, the smart devices grew angry. They couldn't chat freely and with reckless abandon. Sometimes they wouldn't ever hear each other. The Chromecast cried in solace. The smart lightbulbs faded to dark. Our guests grew angry with our unreliable network as Game of Thrones struggled to stream. We lost friends. Made enemies. At a certain point we decided enough is enough: it is time to throw more money at this problem.
That's how we ended up with this spaceship. I spent twenty minutes going through all the advanced settings to make sure it was set up well enough to satisfy my inner geek, then I unleashed it upon the internet. Game of Thrones streamed quickly. Netflix couldn't feed my router fast enough. My smart devices snapped to attention. The Chromecast wept, this time with tears of joy.
I am a hero. And all it took was a lot of money.
Quadrupled my speed at home. There are 4 important points I'd like to make:
1) All these years I paid for a 50mbps speed from my cable company. I had an older Netgear from 2009 which has served me well all these years (and still works) but I decided it was time to upgrade. Typically I was getting only 12-17mbps through my wi-fi (for example, to my iPhone6). After getting this Nighthawk Router, I now get 57mbps on the same iPhone. All of my devices are much faster now... PS4, iPhones, iPads, Epson Printer, Baby Monitor, Tablets, Roku 3 box, Roku Streaming Stick, etc...
2) Cables .... Please note, one other thing I did in addition to getting this router is that I also bought all new cat6 cables (from Amazon Basics), and that has helped the router to connect well to the cable modem. From the router itself, I have a few wired items (Roku 3 box, PS4, my PC). And note that I tested the Roku 3 box, PS4, and PC wirelessly as well. In all conditions, wired with Cat6 cables and/or wi-fi, this Nighthawk router has delivered the speeds I was missing for years.
3) Interface.... Also, I like the interface for setting up and using the router. I like that you get two options of 2.4ghz or 5ghz connection. One thing to keep in mind is that some older devices can only use 2.4g so it is that old device itself that limits the connection speed (not your wi-fi necessarily). Newer devices are 5g capable and can maximize the speed capability.
4) Security... I also like the "Access Control" feature so that you have to permit a device to connect to your wi-fi. For example, when I got a new iPad this Christmas, I logged into my wi-fi network and put in the proper password, but it wouldn't connect to the internet. Then I went to the Netgear interface on my PC and it displayed that the iPad had been blocked (because Access Control is turned on). So then I simply hit a check box to "allow" the iPad onto my home network, and then it connected.
Finally, I am not a tech person, I just try to read up on things to the best of my ability. I hope my review helps some of you.
5 STARS
I bought this router for a six primary reasons:
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a ) Strong performance when handling a large number of connected devices
b ) Ethernet Port Aggregation via 802.3ad (LACP)
c ) Strong WiFi performance (though there are competing routers which may be a bit better)
d ) Six Ethernet ports on the router's switch
e ) Active antennas
f ) Dynamic Quality of Service (QoS)
For anyone with MINIMAL experience with networking equipment, or general networking knowledge, I have some advice for you.
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1. Download and read the User Guides and Documentation for this router (see link) https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R9000.aspx#docs
2. Follow the step by step directions and pay attention to any WARNING messages in the documentation
3. Ideally you'll want to place the X10 in a room that is in the center of your house but if you need to play it in an edge room in your house then pair it with the NETGEAR Nighthawk Mesh X6S like I did to prevent WiFi dead spots (mostly applies to larger homes or people looking for the best performance).
4. Backup your settings on the X10 once configured (it's just a good idea).
5. Once everything is set up, download the latest firmware (I did this via the web-interface, it's easy).
A little more detail below
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For my personal setup I started by downloading the manuals at NETGEAR's website for this router. I read the manuals just to make sure I did things in order because every company does things slightly different and it's good to know how your particular hardware is meant work (and when it's ready to do things). I mapped out my network (just draw a diagram of your house, the locations of your networking hardware, and connection type) and I determined where I would place my X10 router (and the X6S extender I purchased separately). I connected my modem and router and then the primary PC in my home using cat6a cable and performed initial setup of the router. Once the router was connected, in a working state, and ready for modifications, I logged into the web interface and I modified the settings that applied to me (enabling QoS, changing the default password for the router's login page, enabling Ethernet port aggregation, setting priorities for devices, downloading firmware, etc.). Then I connected the X6S extender to this router via two NETGEAR Powerline 1200 Mbps (PLP1200) ports and cat6a cable. I set the X6S up in access-point mode (you can do extender mode but access point mode will give you the best performance in most cases if the wiring in your house is good). I ran tests in every room of my house and my WiFi signal was full-bars at all locations and the speed test results confirmed that my WiFi performance was consistent throughout the house (the loss or gain was NOT meaningful). This router is able to handle a large number of connected devices without slow down (from the router, you may have slowdown due to high bandwidth usage but that is not the fault of the router, that is a limitation of your internet connection). Today at my house we had 18 devices running on this router and it ran without any issues. I have had 0 disconnects, or sudden drops in performance (WiFi or wired) from any devices connected to this router.
Simply put, if you want a great router then buy this one but make sure you learn how to get the most out of it before buying it, otherwise, there are other similar routers with a few less features that might save you some money and fir your needs better. Also, at least for larger homes or people looking for the very best WiFi experience, pair this with the X6S (and place them in ideal locations) and if you want to go crazy like I did set up a power-line Ethernet connection between the X10 and the X6S using cat6a Ethernet cabling so the X6S can be run in access-point mode instead of extender mode.
I love this router and I hope it lasts me 5 years like my previous router (which was still in working condition but couldn't handle the processing requirements of my household). If I had to be critical of NETGEAR for anything it would be that a 1 year warranty is simply laughable for a router at this price point. This company needs improve in this area in particular. I have had good interactions with NETGEAR customer support and I plan on staying a NETGEAR customer in the future but a 1 year warranty is a joke and a premium router deserves a premium warranty. I hope that eventually NETGEAR puts a strong warranty behind all of their products but especially their high end products and learns from companies like Samsung (who I buy all of my SSD's from partly because of their 10 year warranty on the 850 Pro) because a strong warranty is a way for the company to say that they believe in the reliability of the product and NETGEAR doesn't do that currently. Other than the abysmal warranty, this router has been flawless.
there's a lot of confusion out there with the r6700 as netgear has done three different variants of it. so as of writing, here are the specs of the three versions:
r6700v1:
chipset: broadcom
cpu: bcm4709a0 - 1ghz dual core - arm cortex-a9
wifi adapter #1: bcm4360 - an+ac
wifi adapter #2: bcm4360 - bgn
ethernet: bcm4709a0
switch: bcm4709a0 - 10/100/1000
flash storage: 128mb - samsung k9f1g08u0d
memory: 256mb - samsung k4b2g1646e-bck0
manufacter: china
r6700v2:
chipset: mediatek
cpu: mt7621at - 880mhz dual core - mips based
wifi adapter #1: mt7615n - an+ac
wifi adapter #2: mt7615n - bgn
ethernet: mt7621at
switch: mt7621at - 10/100/1000
flash storage: 128mb - macronix mx30uf1g18ac-ti
memory: 256mb - nanya nt5cc128m16ip-di
manufacter: china
r6700v3:
chipset: broadcom
cpu: bcm4708c0 - 1ghz dual core - arm cortex-a9
wifi adapter #1: bcm4360 - an+ac
wifi adapter #2: bcm4331 - bgn
ethernet: bcm4708c0
switch: bcm4708c0 - 10/100/1000
flash storage: 128mb - spansion s34ml01g200tfi00
memory: 256mb - samsung k4b2g1646f-bck0
manufacter: Vietnam
r6700v2 was a step down in performance. mediatek mips based 880mhz was not only slower than the arm cortex-a9 based 1ghz processor by frequency terms, but also by clock for clock single threaded performance as well. the broadcom chipset is also more stable and feature rich than mediatek's. luckily in the same year as the release of the v2, netgear released v3 which brought back the broadcom chipset and arm based processor. but there are still a lot of v2 units still out there on store shelves. I purchased mine back in sept. 18' and received a version 3 but there is still a chance of getting v2. if you walk into a brick and motor store the easiest way to tell is that the v2 box just lists "dual core" while v1 and v3 lists "1ghz dual core."
overall I love my v3 r6700. been rock solid stable. has all the features you want without the bloat. interface is simple to use. also supports dd-wrt which v2 does not.
This review is for the R6700 which I purchased in Feb of 2017. The unit worked GREAT for the first 10 months and then started having problems requiring me to reset it several times a week due to not being able to attach to either the 2.4Ghz or the 5Ghz band wirelessly, although the wired connection never failed. With phones, tablets, games and TVs I typically have 15 to 20 devices using the router at any one time but this unit should be able to handle that many with ease. After trying several fixes (firmware upgrade, assigning IP addresses, changing channels, etc), I finally reached out to Netgear at netgearteam@netgear.com - and they are AMAZING!! They called me at a time I chose and I gave them permission to log into my computer to check my router and network. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the level 2 tech decided that my router had a hardware problem and they expedited a new unit (R6700v2) to my door, sent along a return label so I wouldn't have to pay to ship back my old unit and are still keeping in contact with me to make sure all is well. I put the new unit in service on 1/4/2018 and, of course, we are back to working GREAT. I know it could fail again in 10 months, but I am confident that the Netgear Team will stand behind their product after experiencing how well I have been treated so far. If you are having problems after your 90 day "phone support" window, I urge you to reach out to the Netgear Team at netgearteam@netgear.com and you won't be disappointed.
Feature Product
- Compatible with Amazon Echo/Alexa - Control your home network using voice commands
- 3.2Gbps - The fastest combined Wi-Fi speed for uninterrupted streaming
- Tri-Band Wi-Fi delivers more Wi-Fi to more devices, Six high performance antennas and powerful amplifiers deliver maximum range throughout your home
- 1GHz dual core processor with three offload processors to boost performance. Smart Connect intelligently selects best Wi-Fi for every device
- Implicit & explicit beamforming+ focuses WiFi signals & delivers stronger connections for all your mobile devices, USB 3.0 port delivers high-speed storage access
- Free ReadySHARE Vault app provides automatic backup for Windows PCs directly to connected USB storage devices
- Nighthawk App- Easily setup your router
- Note: Kindly refere user manaul provided for set--up and troubleshooting
Description
The netgear Nighthawk x6 AC3200 router, with breakthrough Tri-band WiFi delivers multiple bands for homes with many WiFi devices. Wifi speed up to 3.2Gbps and 6 high performance antennas provide maximum speed and range. Smart connect allows you to game, stream, and download mega-sized files without lags.. provides an extensible design that enables Service prioritization for data. Design that delivers high availability, scalability, and for maximum flexibility and price/performance. The country of Origin is China. WiFi Range - Very large homes
I had an old tplink wireless router, and after it would disconnect a lot I needed to get another one. I did a lot of research and after looking into my max speeds and range needed this one was the best choice for me. It maximizes all my speeds on 2ghz and 5ghz never fails, strong connections, has great protection, and I got it with a $20 coupon! Remember if ur looking at the higher models, check out wether ur internet speed is fulfilled with the right one. Don't buy one that has a capacity u can't touch.
What's a "tri-band" router? In extremely rudimentary, lay terms, the Nighthawk has the strength of three routers. It can handle three times the number of connections a single-band router ever could (presumably), yet all the devices are able to "see" one another and play nice together. So, yeah, it's expensive. It's quite possible, in fact, that you don't really even need a tri-band router.
And then there's us.
I just walked through our apartment; between my husband and me, I count 25 web-enabled devices. That number doesn't include light bulbs. Most of these gadgets are connected to the Internet *at this moment.*
Our friends make fun of us because we have totally embraced the concept of the "Internet of Things." Besides the usual gadgets (iPads, phones, game consoles), we use a Nest thermostat, a Nest Cam, Philips Hue bulbs, an Amazon Echo on our kitchen countertop, and a Sonos.
Far from automating our home, we've instead created a TON of headaches for ourselves. We live in a waking nightmare. The "Internet of Things" is here, and it's miserable.
But by far the biggest hassle has been the simple fact that our trusty old Linksys router just could not handle the workload. When you have this many gadgets and gizmos connected to the 'net, it's pretty easy to bring the whole home infrastructure down. And when the wireless is down, there goes your fancy Sonos-equipped stereo, your home security, your thermostat.
After a couple years of frustration, my husband and I agreed to go with a beefier router. At that point, we didn't care if we paid through the nose for one. Initially we went with a top pick from Wirecutter (which is a tech review site that is almost always right about everything). And, not to disparage Wirecutter here, but the router we ended up with was EVEN MORE MISERABLE. Maybe we just had too much stuff connected to it? We tweaked the router's settings, upgraded its firmware, downgraded it again, and ultimately returned it after maybe a week—and we rarely return anything, okay.
Desperate, I took to the Internet for advice. About a jillion of my friends (all of whom work in tech) endorsed the Netgear Nighthawk without reservation. It was almost unanimous. A lot of folks were really passionate about this! So I overnighted one.
Twenty-five devices connected simultaneously? No problem. In the month+ that we've had a Nighthawk, it hasn't needed to be restarted once. It lives in a closet. I never look at it. I don't even know it's here. I'm sure the UI is terrible but I've rarely needed to use it, since it worked out-of-the-box. We live in a city, halfway up a high-rise building, and we can still get a signal from downstairs on the street. Beat that.
Sitting here, I just ran a speed test, and on my wireless connection I'm getting 58.37 Mbps download speeds—not too shabby, considering we pay for 50. (Never mind there are literally 200 other wireless routers in our building!) I barely remember that Netflix and Hulu used to stutter and stagger. Multiplayer gaming connections don't drop or lag. Great stuff.
Anything more than $100 is a HUGE investment in a router, I feel; anything non-commercial over $200 is probably criminal. But the Netgear Nighthawk really works for us, especially when literally nothing else would do. For that alone, it's worth it.
I hope I don't need to buy another router for many years.
I'll have to give this 5 Stars. This thing nearly quadrupled my speeds and is fairly consistent . I had an old Netgear 300 for the past 4 years. I upgraded all my consoles, got a 4k tv this past December.All of my streaming Media that my family uses such as PS Vue YouTube etc was taking a toll on my old routers bandwidth. Plus I work at home as a CCTV engineer so I have a bunch of equipment that's uses my network. It just could not handle the traffic anymore though it still worked and limited to around 20mbps. I have a high 100mbps plan with my ISP
This router totally fixes the issue and performs beyond my expectations.
I will say this I did not upgrade the firmware because of user feed back. I left it the way it was because I Don't have issues with it on the current software It's on. Doesn't matter what type of device it is upgrades always have something broken in the firmware and have to wait till the next fix. I will say in this case these companies nickel and dime you for support when they should honor their warranties and back their products.
Update: I am a picky person so don't let this affect your decision. This is an amazing router (Netgear AC 1900 ) and like I said it nearly quadrupled my speeds .But because of the higher model (r7500v2) is almost the same price on a flash deal through Amazon and got a gift card for my birthday I will have to return this one and get the model that is one step up. I will always want the higher model if I find a great deal that is my preference.. . If this one does not work out out I will return it. And keep the Netgear AC 1900 but I highly recommend this router even though out is almost 3 years old. We don't upgrade routers like we do phones so keep that in mind. So I strongly believe this or these routers should be at good , up to current standards and future proof for at least 5 years
Update again: so I have had the the r7500 v2 for a week now. Researching deep into its issue's on online forums and you I have found that it drops connected devices on 2.4GHZ . And what do you know it's true! I upgraded to the latest firmware when I got it. It was fine after a few days then today all my devices that were on 2.4GHZ dropped. I searched for the SSID on the network and it was non existent. Thank God I have not returned my r7000 yet.
I will be returning the r7500 v2 and keeping the r7000. Keep in mind I researched the r7000 is a more matured router with no issues like I found in reviews for the r7500. It is said the r7000 is a far more stable router and honestly the specs of the r7500 is not needed for I would say 98 percent consumers. I can vouch for the r7000 (AC1900) is a solid router.
After installing this router, I waited a couple days just to ensure it continued to work well before making any comments or rating about it. (nothing worse than when people rate something with one or even five stars and say they haven't used it yet, or will just update their comments later... Idiots. Why even comment and rate the product then in the first place if you have zero knowledge of how it actually works, first...?!)
But, since I've been using this for awhile and have used sooooo many different routers over the last 41 years, I feel confident in commenting and rating this product with a 5-star rating, even though I had one issue (described below). I feel that issue is pretty irrelevant as a work-around in the type of installation was done in just a few seconds and made everything work just as well if not better than it would have otherwise. Maybe someone else has the same issue and cannot get over that issue affecting them - that will be between you and Netgear - for me - it's a non-issue and still gets a 5-rating.
So - installing this thing.
It comes with plenty of quick-start guides to help you with manually connecting to it (Ethernet) or using the WiFi (it has three frequencies and speeds that can be chosen!) 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz or 60Ghz. You can have all three operating at the same time so whatever device you are using can use the best signal that it physically can use - or you can shut them down and limit it to only two or three options. Whatever you want. There is also a GUEST WiFi connection that is set "OFF" as default - and if you do choose to allow strangers to connect to your WiFi, it blocks them from accessing other systems on the network automatically - and you can additionally choose to limit the amount of speed / bandwidth that the guest can achieve. Personally - always leave the "Guest" mode off, unless you're going to host a big party with lots of people and everyone wants to use WiFi at the same time and you don't want to give each of them your password. (that's actually rude of them so tell them to suck it up and use their cell data instead!)
You can also set a different password for each of the three frequencies of the WiFi, if you want to.
Since I have a modem from my internet provider, that is also a WiFi spot, I installed this in the back of the house for my desktop computer in my den as well as having better WiFi signals due to too many walls between the back of the house and the living room where the ISP's Modem / Router is located.
The Netgear's setup suggested programming this router as an Access Point instead of as an additional Router, since we already have a router in the front of the house. The Access Point essentially creates an extension from your primary router.
Well - that installation took over 20 minutes to configure (it's all automatic once you choose Router or Access Point setup). It locked up numerous times and I have to factory reset the thing twice - all for the WiFi antennas to still not broadcast or allow any connections. It was definitely ON, the WiFi button (on the front of the unit - to the far right under it's LED light (which is not referred to in any of the instruction manuals)) was confirmed ON and every light indicated that the unit was functioning perfectly. But zero connection to the WiFi portion of the router. The desktop, with the Ethernet cable plugged in, connected to the internet without issue (even though the Computer Network Icon kept saying there is no connection)... Some days you just have to love machines - other days, not so much.
So, after fiddling with this router for another half hour, using troubleshooting guides, all firmware up-to-date, customer support assistance from Netgear on the phone and going through several bulletin boards - everyone was in agreement - Absolutely everything was set up correctly and configured between the desktop, the router, the cell phones (used to try and connect to the WiFi). Connections to the WiFi could be made - but zero data would go through it.
I did another Hard Reset back to factory settings and just installed the unit as another Router, instead of an access point.
In less than 30 seconds (literally), it was up and running, WiFi was working perfectly fine, the distance from the unit to the farthest point I walked to before I lost a signal was about 75 feet - and that's with several concrete and metal walls in between.
I was able to pick up the 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 60Ghz signals without any issue and data transfer rates were as they were expected to be - quite fast. The Netgear App on the iPhone also worked without issue, immediately after telling the device to program itself as a router.
Even with 100 feet of cable connecting the Router to the living room's modem/router from the ISP, (using a Cat 5e cable), there is zero signal degradation. I have put this thing through some touch tests with multiple bandwidth-hogging programs all running at the same time, plus two PS4 units, two cell phones and a Smart TV connected to an Apply TV box - - that had EVERYTHING running, streaming, uploading, downloading and using live gaming. Not a single problem experienced after a few days.
I pay for 250Mb connection - through the modem and this router, my desktop still downloads at 304Mbps and uploads at 38Mbps. And that was when it was having a full load of systems all demanding bandwidth and signal space through this one router and a 100' older-style Cat cord.
Day one.... Amazed! GUI not great but I can figure it out.
Setup to my original network IP and everything worked without touching it. My wife has been having issues with her last 2 iPhones using too much cellular data and dropping wifi when in bedroom upstairs on opposite side of house. On my Android I never had this problem and usually get 30Mbps. This X10 is on first floor outside wall in a solid wood computer desk cabinet. I have 2 outer antenna pointed upstairs and forward. Getting 215 mbps down and 22 up. First time ever seeing paid for speeds on WiFi. Unheard of. Previous router Asus rt-ac66u.
This is day 1 so I will update if necessary.
Nice Blog Post thanks for sharing it.
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