Netgear has come up with an upgrade to its previous R7000 router model. Now, it has launched the all-new R8000 Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit Wireless Router. The new router from Netgear is the first tri-band router with a unique and creative design that has a total Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 3,200 Mbps.
Performance
When we look at the performance of Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit Wireless Router, it simply disappoints. It has a 2.4 GHz frequency band that is troublesome. Additionally, its Wi-Fi range is also limited. R8000 works like just another AC1900 router. It runs on a 1,000 MHz dual-core processor. On the 5 GHz band, you can get Wi-Fi speed up to 1,300 Mbps, and on the 2.4 GHz band, you can get speed of up to 600 Mbps. As the 5 GHz band has two access points, you can gain the maximum bandwidth of 3,200 Mbps at any given time.
Appearance
The R8000 router is designed to have six top-foldable antennas. You can have it in black color and it is slightly bigger in size than R7000. It might look like a flying object to you. The router has 1 Gigabit WAN port and 4 Gigabit LAN ports. At the back, it also has two USB ports (USB 3.0 and USB 2.0). In the middle of its top, you will find a row of stylish LEDs indicating its power, port and Wi-Fi network statuses. You also have the option of turning these lights off.
Ease of use
As far as the ease of use is concerned, this router is simpler to use compared to its previous version. This is because it is collapsible and compact. When you need to increase its range, you can simply keep on opening its antennas. Its Wi-Fi signal button is also helpful in turning the connection on or off. You can easily connect a WPS-enabled Wi-Fi client to this router through a simple WPS activation button. It is also simple to manage its interface and setup through the Netgear Genie mobile app or a Web browser.
Usefulness
Two 5 GHz access points may be present, but you will hardly have any use of them. These are only useful in case of intensive data transfer tasks. You will also not notice much improvement in your online tasks. A positive aspect is that you will not have to configure this router due to its supportive default settings. While using two 5 GHz points, you cannot make your choice of directed channels.
Value for money
This new Netgear router is quite expensive at a price of $300. It would not be wrong to say that this product is simply overpriced at a low performance. There is no special benefit of buying it at this price.
