If you’re craving a style of the newest prime Wi-Fi speeds however not ready to take out a second mortgage, Netgear’s Nighthawk RAXE300 ($400) could also be good. With a stealth bomber type, this router quietly and successfully blankets your own home in zippy Wi-Fi. It has the velocity, vary, and capability to fulfill a mean household dwelling of avid players. And there’s a slick app, an internet interface for deeper dives, and non-obligatory subscriptions for complete on-line safety and parental controls.
For the previous couple of weeks, the Nighthawk RAXE300 has stored my household of 4 on-line, providing secure entry and among the quickest speeds I’ve recorded. But $400 continues to be some huge cash, and I’m dismayed by the necessity for not only one however two subscription companies on prime.
Flying Under the Radar
Netgear’s Nighthawk vary is aimed squarely at players. The distinctive collapsible wings are a trademark of the sequence, and aside from evoking an Imperial Shuttle, they host an antenna array that ensures a powerful Wi-Fi sign all through your private home. The RAXE300 is a big router, however it may be mounted on the wall.
While it’s unlikely to go unnoticed, the matte black plastic end has beveled edges and pleasing curves, making it a extra engaging gadget than a lot of its arachnid-looking rivals. Routers that bristle with antennas could not look as neat, however the means to angle them manually can show useful when that you must direct the sign.
The RAXE300 is a tri-band router with the latest Wi-Fi 6E support, which implies it will probably connect with units on the 6-GHz band. Naturally, it’s backward-compatible, providing 5-GHz and 2.4-GHz bands to assist all earlier Wi-Fi requirements. There is a single 2.5-Gbps WAN/LAN port and 5 Gigabit LAN ports, with hyperlink aggregation on LAN 3 and 4, enabling you to achieve 2 Gbps. There can also be a USB-C port marked USB 3.0. Some people may have extra or greater capability ports, and the shortage of USB-A might be a difficulty.
The prime speeds I recorded from the Nighthawk RAXE300 are the very best I’ve seen, though I’ve not examined many high-end Wi-Fi 6E methods as a result of they’re too expensive for most people. In shut proximity, the RAXE300 blew away the Deco XE75 (an inexpensive 6E mesh system I examined not too long ago) on each the 6-GHz and 5-GHz bands. I obtained greater than 600 Mbps down on my Pixel 6 Pro sitting round 10 ft away (however keep in mind that 6-GHz speeds drop off sharply with distance and obstacles).
Surveying sign energy in my 1,600 square-foot dwelling produced a warmth map that exposed the Nighthawk RAXE300 delivered robust Wi-Fi to each nook and cranny. Netgear says it will probably cowl as much as 2,500 sq. ft. We regularly had 4 simultaneous on-line video games or video streams working with out noticeable hitches. In the subsequent room to the router, I downloaded a 30-GB recreation in lower than 10 minutes.
For people with similar-sized properties and web connections as much as 1 Gbps, there’s no level in spending greater than this. Netgear’s Nighthawk RAXE500 prices an additional $200, however the primary benefit is the bounce from eight streams to 12, which can solely profit you when you’ve got an especially busy family.
Software and Subscriptions
The cell Nighthawk app is slick and accessible. I used to be up and working rapidly, and the app lists related units, provides entry to primary settings, and reveals the web velocity coming into your private home. I like that it charts web speeds over time, so I can regulate what my ISP is delivering. You can arrange a visitor community, tweak community names and passwords, and dip into analytics to evaluate channel utilization, sign energy, and interference all through your private home.
