Netgear NightHawk Pro Gaming XR700

amazon Netgear NightHawk Pro Gaming XR700 reviews

The newest addition to Netgear’s line of WiFi routers, the NightHawk Pro Gaming XR700, is a great tri-band router at a comparable price point. Like the Nighthawk X10 AD7200 Smart WiFi Router (R9000) we reviewed last year, the XR700 supports 60GHz 802.11ad WiFi technology. It also offers 10Gb Ethernet connectivity and link aggregation, six LAN ports, and powerful gaming controls.

Gamer-friendly design and features

With its sleek black case, red bezel, and see-through mesh top, there’s no doubt that the XR700 is designed with gamers in mind. At 2.5 x 9.6 x 12.7 inches (HWD), it’s bigger than both the TP-Link Archer C5400X and the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300 Router and will take up a lot of room on your desktop.

I/O ports are plentiful and include one gigabit WAN port, one 10Gb SPF+ LAN port for use with a high-speed 10Gb switch or to connect to a 10Gb network, and six gigabit LAN ports (two of which include can be configured for link aggregation). There are also two USB 3.0 ports on the right side of the case. The Router has four non-movable amplified active antennas and a row of 15 LED indicators for power, internet (WAN), all three radio bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 60GHz), two USB ports, 10Gb ports, six LAN ports, and guest WiFi. To the right of these LEDs are the WPS button and the WiFi On/Off button.

The XR700 is equipped with a 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 512MB of flash memory, and 1GB of RAM. It is considered the AD7200 Router because it can transmit data at 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band, and 4,600Mbps 60GHz band. Like the Nighthawk R9000 and the TP-Link Talon AD7200 Multi-Band WiFi Router, the XR700 supports 802.11ad networks, also known as WiGig, that operate on the 60GHz band. While it’s capable of much faster throughput rates than you’ll get on the 5GHz 802.11ac band, WiGig can’t penetrate walls and is therefore limited to roommate communication. All clients must have a WiFi circuit that supports 802.11ad networks to take advantage of all these speeds.

The XR700 supports Multi-Input Multi-Output (MU-MIMO) streaming, transmitting data to the client simultaneously instead of sequentially. But again, client devices must support MU-MIMO to take advantage of the enhanced throughput. It also supports beamforming, direct signal transmission to clients, and Smart Connect, allowing the Router to select the best radio band based on traffic and signal strength. Like the X10 Router, the XR700 supports 160MHz WiFi, doubles the 80MHz channel width on the 5GHz band for faster throughput, and supports automatic backups to Amazon Drive, a storage service. It’s cloud-based and lets you manage and share photos, videos, and audio files using the Plex Media Server app.

The XR700 uses the same great web-based interaction management system as the NightHawk XR500. Powered by Netduma’s DumaOS, it allows you to monitor network activity, configure network settings, allocate bandwidth, optimize your network for gaming, and more. The dashboard displays CPU and bandwidth usage graphs, guest network status, WiFi and internet status, and installed apps. On the left is a menu containing tabs for accessing Geo-Filter, QoS, Device Manager, Network Monitor, Hybrid VPN, System Information, and Settings.

Geofilter settings can help reduce latency by limiting the distance to the hosts you’re connecting. Just put your home location on the map and a distance to prevent Gamers and servers outside that area from entering and hosting your game. You can customize the geofilter configuration for each system on your network and assign different ranges for different games. QoS settings allow you to limit upload and download bandwidth rates for each connected device by clicking on the device name and using the slider to change the percentage of bandwidth. You can prioritize laggy games and use the Anti-Bufferbloat setting to ensure smaller applications get enough bandwidth even if they are not prioritized.

Device Manager shows a network map showing all connected devices. Click on any device on the map to access its IP and MAC address settings and block or allow access to the network. The Network Monitor tab allows you to see a graphical graph of the upload and download bandwidth usage for all devices on the network, and the System Info tab opens a screen with statistics about the usage. CPU, RAM, and flash memory usage allow you to see what kind of network resources your application uses.

Use the Settings tab to configure Internet, Wireless, LAN, and Guest Network settings. You can also use Content Filtering settings to block access to specific websites, schedule visits, and enable email alerts when someone tries to access a restricted website. However, you don’t get the powerful, age-appropriate parental controls that come with the TP-Link Archer C5400X. Advanced settings allow you to configure Port Forwarding, Port Enabled, VPN Service, Remote Management, and Static Routing options. Missing is the built-in malware and virus protection you get with the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AC5300.

Keeping up with the competition

To install the XR700, I started by unplugging my cable modem to reset it, then connecting the XR700 to the modem and the host computer. I started the Router and typed www.routerlogin.net in the URL bar of my browser to launch the Setup Wizard. I selected my LAN port type (1Gb or 10Gb) and waited a minute or two while the wizard detected my connection and tested my internet speed. I created an Administrator account, answered two security questions, and created names for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. I updated the firmware, and it’s done.

The XR700 achieved respectable scores in our performance tests. It clocked 101Mbps on the 2.4GHz proximity test (in the same room), barely beating the Netgear NightHawk X10 and just behind the TP-Link Archer C5400X. Asus Rapture GT-AC5300 leads the way with a score of 128Mbps. On the 30-foot test, the XR700’s 75Mbps score matched the Rapture GT-AC5300’s results. The Nighthawk X10 scored 73Mbps, and the Archer C5400X hit 76Mbps.

In our 5GHz proximity test, the XR700’s 539Mbps score was slightly slower than the Archer C5400X and NightHawk X10. The Rapture GT-AC5300’s 601Mbps is still the fastest we’ve come across. At 30 feet away, the XR700 delivered speeds of 308Mbps, beating the Archer C5400X, but not the Rapture GT-AC5300. NightHawk X10 took the top honors with a score of 392Mbps.

To test the XR700’s MU-MIMO throughput performance, we used three identical Acer Aspire R laptops equipped with Qualcomm’s QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry. On the MU-MIMO near test, its score of 157Mbps was nearly identical to the NightHawk X10 (156Mbps) but significantly slower than the Archer C5400X (220Mbps) and Rapture GT-AC5300 (225Mbps). On the 30-foot test, the XR700’s 104Mbps score was only a few points behind the Archer C5400X and NightHawk X10. Rapture GT-AC5300 leads the way with 135Mbps.

In our file transfer tests, using a 4.9GB folder containing a mix of office and multimedia files to test speeds, the XR700 produced a written score of 42MBps, beating the Archer C5400X and Rapture GT-AC5300, but not the NightHawk X10, which hit an impressive 77MBps. Results on the reading test were similar: The XR700’s 44MBps score was slightly faster than the Archer C5400x and Rapture GT-AC5300, but not as fast as the NightHawk X10’s 89MBps.

High-End Gaming

With the Netgear NightHawk Pro Gaming XR700, you get a host of gamer-friendly features and the latest wireless technology, including a 60GHz band for 802.11ad WiFi, a dedicated 10Gb SPF+ LAN port, and wireless streaming MU-MIMO data. The Router’s sleek DumaOS-powered management console allows you to monitor network usage and optimize online gaming performance through bandwidth allocation and reduced latency when connecting to game servers. However, it doesn’t offer the rich anti-malware and parental controls you get with other high-end gaming routers.

where can you get a Netgear NightHawk Pro Gaming XR700 online

NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 WiFi Router with 6 Ethernet Ports and Wireless Speeds Up to 7.2 Gbps, AD7200, Optimized For The Lowest Ping: Buy it now