Netgear Nighthawk Ac1900 Mu-mimo Smart Wi-fi Router Review

The Nighthawk($149.89 at Amazon), is Netgear'southward latest router in the company's premium dual-band 802.11ac router line-upwardly. The router looks as absurd as its proper name suggests, with a trapezoid design and flared sides. The shape is reminiscent of the famed fighter jet of the same name. However the Nighthawk (model R7000) is non just dressed to print: Excellent speeds on the 5GHz band when paired with Netgear'due south latest mini 11ac A6100 USB adapter and enhanced Quality-of-Service (QoS) that really shortens the time to buffer and stream video make the Nighthawk 1 of the height 802.11ac routers currently on the marketplace for heavy-duty throughput tasks.

It's non a perfect device, with only okay throughput at two.4GHz—at least testing in a heavy RF signal surround. Information technology too takes quite some time to apply settings changes. However, with 802.11ac, the speed factor is near important at 5GHz, and the Nighthawk delivers the appurtenances non just in data rate but in range, too. Bonus for router geeks: Nighthawk tin be flashed with open-source firmware.

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Specs and Design
The R7000 is a large router. It measures one.97" ten xi.22" x 7.26" (HWD) and weighs a niggling over 1.6 pounds. Netgear revamped the design from its concluding release of dual-band routers including the Centria($149.89 at Amazon) and the R6300($149.89 at Amazon), both of which have an upright blueprint with the devices meant to operate vertically in attached bases.

The Nighthawk operates horizontally (although it tin can be wall-mounted). The design represents Netgear'due south slickest router expect yet. The wide base of the R7000 makes it very sturdy, even with cables connected to every port. With its wide base and condom anxiety, this large router won't sideslip and slide all over a surface.

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A beefy router certainly deserves beefy specs. Inside the Nighthawk is a dual-cadre 1GHz processor—powerful, for a consumer router. The R7000 supports 600Mbps at 2.4GHz and up to 1300Mbps at the 5GHz ring. Three external antennas ship with the router and adhere to the dorsum console. The R7000 besides has 128MB wink memory and 256MB RAM.
There are two USB ports; ane on the front of the router and the second on the rear. The front port is USB 3.0 and the back port is USB ii.0. The USB 3.0 port was deliberately placed on the front, away from the two.4GHz radio, to reduce Wi-Fi signal interference. Both ports support USB storage and printers.

On the back console are Gigabit WAN and iv Gigabit LAN ports, a reset button, and a power push. LEDs on the height of the router bespeak wireless, Cyberspace, USB device connection, and other network activity condition.

I wasn't surprised that with its hardware specs, the R7000 runs a tad warm. Not hot, just a piddling warmer than room temperature. I would place information technology in a location with proficient air circulation.

1 other pattern attribute to note: The brick on the power cord is huge. Information technology is thin, though, and so you lot shouldn't have a trouble placing it aslope other ability adapters in a strip plug.

Setup
Equally is the example with nearly of the newer routers, the R7000 is easy to set. An installation guide is in the package and outlines the few steps needed to set up the device upwardly. The instructions are clear, concise, and easy to follow.

The concluding step instructs users to launch a Web browser to finish configuration. When I did, a page displayed that the router was successfully connected to the Internet and the pre-configured wireless SSID and passphrase. I had the option to print this page or click a button "Take me to the net." Clicking this button redirected the page to Netgear'south external website where I could download management apps for the router, including the Genie desktop or mobile app, the ReadyVault app (for using the router every bit part of a backup solution), or access a link for help and support.

I take reviewed the 2 aforementioned apps, and they take not changed significantly since those reviews. You tin can read the provided link to the reviews for more details. The R7000's setup procedure is streamlined, well done, and should not present a problem for most users.

QoS

QoS
A feature Netgear is highlighting in the Nighthawk is enhanced QoS. I tested information technology, and am happy to say that, in my testing, the QoS capability of this router isn't but hype. The QoS feature is excellent at optimizing video streaming.

Enabling QoS requires configuring a few settings in the interface. You tin plow on WMM (Wi-Fi MultiMedia) for either the two.four or 5GHz signals (or both). WMM, is a feature that volition give priority to multimedia information, such every bit video or audio streams.

As well, you can set the router to optimize upstream Net traffic for gaming or downstream traffic for video streaming.

I tested playing a Netflix pic while wirelessly connected to the R7000, at first with these QoS settings disabled. The time from when I clicked "play" on my motion-picture show choice and from when I saw the start of the movie was 21 seconds.

Subsequently I turned on these QoS features the fourth dimension from clicking play to viewing was reduced to four seconds. I was impressed. Typically, performing the same test of other routers' QoS volition yield some performance gains with QoS enabled, but I've never seen such a pregnant difference.

QoS has pre-set up rules within the interface. These rules include ones that set upstream traffic from widely used services including Xbox applications, pop games, and VPN to "Loftier" priority. Downstream-intensive data from sites such as Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube are also set to "High."

Netgear does a good job of covering most of the mutual services the typical dwelling user would access. All of the preconfigured settings can be edited. For case, if your Netflix pic must run despite Junior'south online gaming, you tin can set gaming traffic to low or medium priority and video streaming as high priority.

Advanced users can set their own custom QoS rules. Doing then is a mixed handbag—I found setting upwards upstream custom rules quite piece of cake and configuring downstream custom rules absolutely disruptive. I didn't see a fashion to specify ports or priority level for upstream rules. Buffalo's newest 11ac AirStation router, has the edge as far as customizing QoS.
QoS in the R7000 withal impressed me, though. It'due south one of the highlighted features of the router.

Beamforming + and Performance
The R7000 is not the fastest 802.11ac router we've tested, but its throughput at the 5GHz band is amid top speeds nosotros've seen. Besides, the router'south ability to sustain skillful throughput at further altitude is among the best we've tested.

The decent range coverage is courtesy of a characteristic chosen Beamforming +. Beamforming is a wireless applied science that directs a wireless signal from a router to wireless clients, improving throughput and signal strength. Beamforming + is an enhanced version of this engineering that Netgear has broiled into the R7000 for the 5GHz ring.

At a distance of virtually 15 feet testing away from the R7000, the connectedness betwixt my test wireless customer the router had an average speed of 174Mbps. This excellent data charge per unit (in an environment with lots of admission points) was achieved using Netgear's latest 11ac USB adapter, the A6100.

This is still not the fastest 802.11ac throughput we've tested. Buffalo's AirStation AC1300/N900 Gigabit Dual Band Wireless Router WZR-D1800H($149.89 at Amazon) averaged 187 Mbps conducting the same examination, and Trendnet's AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Router (TEW-812DRU)($149.89 at Amazon) averages an unmatched wireless speed (in our lab) of 283Mbps. Still, the Nighthawk sustained throughput at greater range better than the Trendnet router, and just besides as the AirStation.

I was surprised at the rather lackluster functioning at the 2.4GHz band. At present, it's speedy enough to do the tasks you should continue relegated to the 2.4GHz signal, such every bit web browsing and checking east-mail. I did expect better throughput, though. The Nighthawk averaged 69Mbps at a distance of 15 anxiety with the router'south 2.4GHz band configured in up 600Mbps style (equivalent to "Wireless-North merely" mode).

Bank check out the Netgear Nighthawk'southward performance at 5GHz

Check out the Netgear Nighthawk's performance at 2.4GHz

In comparing, the Trendnet router mentioned higher up managed 99 Mbps, and the AirStation clocked 87Mbps in 2.4GHz with comparative configurations.

Netgear plans to release an upcoming firmware update that will add enhanced beamforming to the 2.4GHz radio, and then that may aid with the speed at two.4GHz in the near future. Also, the true speed that the Nighthawk can obtain will not become apparent until we start seeing compatible 3x3 built-in wireless 802.11ac adapters in devices (probably in abother half-dozen months to a yr). The USB adapters available now slow throughput down somewhat because of the limitation of USB speed.

Therefore, I won't knock the R7000 besides difficult for this less-than-expected throughput at two.4GHz. Where yous want the ability in this router is at the 5GHz band, for heavy-duty tasks requiring strong throughput, and that's what you get.

Other Features and Observations
With the USB ports, you go some NAS functionality in the R7000. The NAS capability is Netgear's ReadyShare technology. I fastened a Western Digital My Passport drive to the USB 3.0 port. There is an area in the router's interface for managing attached storage. Drives can be configured to support HTTP/HTTPS or FTP admission. You tin also create network folders via ReadyShare.

I did a file copy of a 1.5GB video clip to the attached My Passport. The Write speed was a little nether eleven MBps. This is absolutely typical speed for copying a large file wirelessly to a USB storage device. Yous volition want to use the NAS functionality for smaller file sharing. If you desire to share big files or stream video within your home network, yous are better off getting a dedicated NAS, or at least, connect your customer device via Ethernet cable to the Nighthawk when y'all desire to piece of work with an attached USB drive and large files.

The USB ports likewise support printers using the ReadyShare printer characteristic and you can turn an attached USB drive into a fill-in solution with Netgear'due south ReadyShare Vault app.

The Nighthawk has many of the same features you lot would notice in other premium dual-ring routers, including invitee networking, DMZ, NAT filtering, parental controls and other access and content controls. One characteristic it has that'southward missing in a number for other routers is full-blown VPN adequacy. You tin set this up for VPN admission into your home network when you are away. We will test the capabililty of the VPN service in a dedicated review.

I did notice while making settings changes within the interface, the time to employ these changes was rather lengthy; a adept 20-30 seconds in some instances. I too noticed that while information technology'southward beneficial that the R7000 can operate equally an access point, bridge, or repeater, merely placing it in Bridge style was a hurting.

In other routers, yous unproblematic click on the wireless network you desire to span the 2nd router to, and the bridging happens pretty much automatically. In the R7000, I had to offset turn off security and set a specific aqueduct for the wireless band I wanted to bridge before I could even click the pick to set in span mode! Then, I had to manually enter the MAC address of the router with which to bridge. Bridging in the Nighthawk is a sloppy affair.

Morning, Noon, and Nighthawk
There'south a lot that I similar virtually the Nighthawk, including its cool proper name and retro stealth design. You become excellent speeds on the 5GHz band and great enhanced Quality-of-Service (QoS). These, forth with the Nighthawk's VPN and NAS adequacy, offset the slower speeds at the 2.4 GHz band, lengthy reboot, and abrasive bridge-mode configuration. Netgear'due south Nighthawk earns 4 out of five stars and the PCMag Editors' Option award for 802.11ac routers.

Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router (R7000)

Cons

The Bottom Line

Excellent throughput and range at the 5GHz band, lots of features (including full VPN)?plus a cool name?all make the Nighthawk one of the best routers we've seen from Netgear in a while, despite a few annoyances.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/netgear-nighthawk-ac1900-smart-wifi-router-r7000

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