Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000

amazon Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000 reviews

The Netgear Nighthawk X10 AD7200 Smart WiFi Router (R9000) is the second 802.11ad Router we’ve tested. Designed for large homes, this giant Router has full networking features, including multi-user data transfer, multiple outputs (MU-MIMO), circuitry for 802.11ad 60GHz networks, and WiFi technology. -Fi 160MHz. It’s the only device we’ve reviewed so far that has all three, as well as a 10G SPF+ LAN port, commonly found on enterprise-class routers. While its MU-MIMO performance was average in testing, it managed to get the fastest 5GHz range performance scores we’ve seen to date and achieve the 1Gbps in the speed tests our 802.11ad 60GHz transmission rate. It also offers plenty of LAN and USB ports, but for $499.99, it’s not small spending.

Design and Features

At 2.9 x 8.8 x 6.6 inches (HWD), the R9000 is huge but not as epic as the TP-Link Talon AD7200 Multi-Band WiFi Router (1.7 x 9 x 9 inches). It has four adjustable antennas, contains a blue LED that lights up when the WiFi radio is active. A long array of LED indicators placed along the front edge of the Router for power, internet, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz radio bands, guest network, six Gigabit LAN ports, one 10G SPF+ LAN port, two USB ports. Here you will also find a WPS button and a WiFi On/Off button.

There are many I/O ports. There are two USB 3.0 ports located on the left side of the Router, and around are six Gigabit LAN ports, one WAN (Internet) port, one SPF + LAN port, and the Power, Reset, and LED On/Off buttons. The R9000 supports Ethernet Port Combination, allowing you to combine two LAN ports (port 1 and port 2) with improving file transfer speeds to compatible aggregation devices, such as network switches and network-attached storage (NAS). The 10G SPF+ LAN port, a feature commonly found in business routers, is used to connect the R9000 to 10 gigabit Ethernet devices, such as business servers and switches.

Powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, the R9000 is a dual-band, quad-thread 802.11ac Router that can reach speeds of 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band. The TP-Link Talon supports 802.11ad networks, operates on the 60GHz band, and has a (theoretical) transfer rate of up to 4,600Mbps. However, to take advantage of 802.11ad speeds, all clients must have WiFi circuits that support 802.11ad networks, and according to this article, they are few and far between. The technology is ideal for transferring large volumes of data and streaming 4K video, but it cannot penetrate walls and is limited to communication within the same room.

The R9000 supports MU-MIMO data transmission, sending data to MU-MIMO-compatible clients concurrently, rather than sequentially, and beamforming, directing the WiFi signal to specific clients, rather than to specific clients over a broad spectrum. Additionally, this Router supports 160MHz WiFi, also available on the Linksys WRT3200ACM MU-MIMO Gigabit WiFi Router. That essentially doubles the 80MHz channel width on the 5GHz band to achieve faster transfer rates, but there’s no way to test this feature, as 160MHz clients aren’t available yet. Other key features of the R9000 include automatic backups to the Amazon Drive cloud-based storage service and support for Plex Media Server, allowing you to manage and share photos, videos, and audio files stored on the R9000 USB hard drive is connected.

You can use the Netgear Genie web-based control panel or the Genie mobile app to manage the R9000. The home page contains basic Internet and Wireless settings. Here you can also view attached devices (IP and MAC addresses), set up Guest Networks, configure Plex Media Servers, view Amazon Drive backup settings, and enable preferences. ReadySHARE printers and shared memory. You can also enable Parental Controls to limit internet time and block specific websites, but you’ll have first to download the web or mobile app.

The Advanced Settings page shows detailed information about the Router, Wireless, and Guest Network. The Settings menu lets you configure advanced Internet, Wireless, and Guest Network settings and lets you enable basic WiFi MultiMedia (WMM) Quality of Service (QoS), but it lacks QoS settings. Allows you to prioritize client and application-specific network traffic. Advanced Security Settings allows you to block specific websites and schedule access. The Advanced Settings page is where you go to enable Ethernet Port Aggregation, adjust Port Forwarding settings, and enable gateways, configure VPN Services, and view network traffic statistics.

Settings and Performance

Like the Netgear Nighthawk X4S Smart WiFi Router (R780), the R9000 is easy to set up. Once it’s connected to your PC and internet service, you open your browser and type www.routerlogin.net to access the Setup Wizard, which guides you through basic internet and wireless network settings.

The R9000 scored very impressively in our transfer rate performance tests. Its score of 558Mbps on our 5GHz proximity test (in the same room) beat the D-Link AC5300 Ultra WiFi Router (DIR-895L/R) (515Mbps) and TP-Link Talon (440Mbps), both top and are only slightly slower than the Linksys WRT3200ACM (569Mbps). At 30 feet away, the R9000’s 392Mbps score is the highest we’ve seen from any router, beating the D-Link DIR-895L/R (324Mbps), TP-Link Talon (237Mbps), and Linksys WRT3200ACM ( 238Mbps).

Performance on the 2.4GHz band is also good. The R9000 managed 99.1Mbps in the close test, topping the D-Link DIR-895L/R’s score of 98.4Mbps and the TP-Link Talon’s transfer rate 98.9Mbps. The Linksys WRT3200ACM scored 76Mbps in this test. On the 30-foot test, the R9000’s 73.3Mbps score beats the D-Link DIR-895L/R (71Mbps) and Linksys WRT3200ACM (58.5Mbps) but falls behind the TP-Link Talon (79.8Mbps).

To test the 802.11ad WiFi strength of the R9000, I used an Acer TravelMate P648 Series laptop equipped with the Qualcomm Atheros Sparrow 11ad Wireless Network Adapter. In the close test, it clocked at 951Mbps, which is almost double the 5GHz transfer rate. The TP-Link Talon also did well on this test, reaching speeds of 945Mbps. Like the TP-Link Talon, the R9000 can’t hold a signal up to 30 feet away, which is not surprising, given the limited 802.11ad WiFi range.

To get around the MU-MIMO capabilities of the R9000, I used three identical Acer Aspire E15 laptops equipped with the Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 wireless 802.11ac network adapter as my customers. In the proximity test, the R9000’s 156.3Mbps score fell behind the Linksys WRT3200ACM (174Mbps), D-Link DIR-895L/R (264.6Mbps), and TP-Link Talon (226Mbps) but was slightly faster than the Linksys WRT3200ACM (174Mbps) with the Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 MU-MIMO Dual Band Gigabit Router (NBG6817) (150Mbps) and the Asus RT-AC88U Dual Band Router (138Mbps). At 30 feet, the R9000 hit 112Mbps, again behind the Linksys WRT3200ACM (138Mbps), D-Link DIR-895L/R (134.5Mbps), and TP-Link Talon (113Mbps), but ahead of the Zyxel Z2 (72Mbps) and Asus RT-AC88U (80Mbps).

Great file transfer speeds. The R9000 scored 89.1MBps in our hard drive read test and 77.1MBps in the written test, beating our previous leader, the Linksys WRT3200ACM (88MBps read and 74MBps write). The D-Link DIR-895L/R recorded 44.1MBps (read) and 33.2MBps (write), and the TP-Link Talon scored 56.8MBps and 27.9MBps, respectively.

Conclude

You’ll pay a lot for the Netgear Nighthawk R9000 Smart WiFi Router, but you’ll get a premium, feature-packed Router that delivers some of the fastest transfer-speed performance we’ve ever seen. While there are other routers with MU-MIMO, 160MHz, or 802.11ad WiFi capabilities, the R9000 is the only Router we’ve seen so far that has all three. It comes equipped with six Gigabit LAN ports, one SPF+ LAN port for 10-gigabit connectivity over fiber (a feature we haven’t seen in a consumer-grade router to date), and the ability to backup Amazon Drive automatically and Plex Media Server. Indeed, there aren’t many customers around to take advantage of 802.11.ad and 160MHz WiFi features, but if you want to stay ahead of the curve with a future-ready Router, the Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000 is your choice. Our newest editor for premium routers.

where can you get a Netgear Nighthawk X10 R9000 online

NETGEAR Nighthawk X10 AD7200 802.11ac/ad Quad-Stream WiFi Router, 1.7GHz Quad-core Processor, Plex Media Server, Compatible with Amazon Alexa (R9000): Buy it now