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amazon Netgear Nighthawk X4S Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7800) reviews
Unless living in a house filled with many wireless clients fighting for bandwidth, a Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) Router may be something to beconsidered. One such router is the Netgear Nighthawk X4S (R7800) Smart WiFi, being offered for $269.99. The router is basically an 802.11ac unit that supports MU-MIMO data transmission, meaning it allows each client to send and receive data at the same time without bandwidth being sacrificed while most are servicing one device at a time. However, an MU-MIMO-compatible network adapter has to be on the client’s side to make the technology work. The USB file transfer performance was average while we ran tests on the R7800, but that was the best MU-MIMO throughput we have recorded, with a strong 2.4GHz and 5GHz performance as advertised. That said, it can’t.’
Design & Features
In a way, the R7800 shares a design philosophy with the Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Smart WiFi Router (R7500). The black angular chassis measures 1.97 x 11.22 x 7.26 inches (HWD) and comes with four detachable external antennas. Besides MU-MIMO, the R7800 also supports 4X4 data transmission, which means it can provide four data streams per band for highest possible throughput rates. It runs on a 1.7-GHz dual-core processor and has the capability to reach theoretical maximum throughput rates of 2.53Gbps (800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and a whopping 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band).
On the front panel, the R7800 features ten tiny LED indicators that indicate the status of the four LAN ports and WAN port, 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz radio band activity, and USB and eSATA activity. The WPS button and another button that disables either one or both 2.4 and 5-GHz radio bands also find their place on this panel. There’s a WAN port on the rear side alongside four LAN ports, and there’s also an LED on/off button, a Power button, and a reset button. On the left side, two USB 3.0 ports can be found, while the right side features an eSATA port for the connectivity of an eSATA drive.
The Netgear Genie Web interface is quite straightforward to use to configure basic and advanced settings for the network. The homepage gives you an overview of Internet and Wireless, Guest Network, and Parental Controls status. It also tells you the number of peripherals attached and ReadySHARE status-a USB-drive-user sharing-and backup mechanism. Settings under Basic include Wireless, Internet, ReadySHARE, QoS, Parental Controls, and Guest Network; under Advanced, you can enable site blocking, create a schedule for network access, view access status and logs, set up port forwarding, or allow remote management. Other options here include setting up the Router to act as a wireless bridge or wireless access point and viewing Internet traffic statistics.
Settings and Performance
It is one of those routers that make easy setup and configuration possible for any consumer. Just plug the R7800 into your Internet cable and your PC device, and your browser opens an instance of the Netgear Genie console of options for you. If Genie does not, type www.routerlogin.net in the URL bar. Genie will walk you through steps to create an Internet connection: You can choose to use either a DHCP or static IP; it has the DNS address set to Automatic or Manual. Now it is time to go to the wireless settings page to assign SSID names and security settings per band.
To test MU-MIMO performance, I used three identical Acer Aspire E15 laptops equipped with the Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 wireless 802.11ac network adapter as my clients; the desktop is equipped server with Intel Core i7 and JPerf throughput utility. In our proximity tests, in which customers were housed in the same room, the R7800’s average throughput of 210Mbps was our top score for an MU-MIMO Router, just ahead of it. Linksys EA8500 Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Smart Wi- Router Fi (209 Mbps) and beat the Asus RT-AC88U (138 Mbps) and TP-Link AC2600 Archer C2600 Wireless Dual Band Router (132 Mbps). The R7800 also took top honors in our 30-foot MU-MIMO throughput tests, reaching 94.3Mbps. The Linksys EA8500 scored 90Mbps, while the TP-Link Archer C2600 scored 60.9Mbps.
While the R7800 boasts a satisfactory level of throughput for 5GHz on paper, in our proximity testing, 491Mbps falls short in comparison to the Asus RT-AC88U (537Mbps) and the D-Link AC3200 Super WiFi Router (DIR-890L/R) (558 Mbps). The R7800, however, does outscore the Linksys EA8500 Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Smart WiFi Router (443Mbps). At 30 feet, the 247Mbps garnered by the R7800 must still be considered good but, alas, not good enough to best the 302Mbps that the RT-AC88U took, or the 310Mbps from the D-Link DIR-890L/R and the 255Mbps from the Linksys EA9200.
In our very close-range throughput, it shows consistent performance. The R7800 scored 105 Mbps, which is faster than the Asus RT-AC88U (97.9 Mbps), the D-Link 890L/R (92.7 Mbps), and the Linksys EA9200 (90 Mbps). The R7800 scored 52.3Mbps on the 30-foot test, which places it behind the Asus RT-AC88U (74.3Mbps) and the D-Link DIR-890L/R (82Mbps) but roughly equal with the Linksys EA9200 (53.2Mbps).
I measured file transfer speeds by connecting a USB hard drive to the Router and timing the reading and writing of a 1.5GB folder containing a mixture of photo, video, music, and document files. Writing tests gave the R7800 23.3MBps, which beat that of the Amped Athena AC2600 (15.5) yet lagged behind those of the Tenda AC1900 AC15 Wireless Dual Band Router (42.3MBps) and the Linksys EA8500 (66MBps). The King in the realm is given by the Linksys WRT 1200AC at 73.1MBps. Reading tests saw the R7800 posting 30.3MBps, Amped Athena AC2600 with 29.2MBps, and Tenda AC1900 AC15 marking 40.4MBps. The Linksys WRT1200AC ranks top with 76.8MBps scores.
Conclude
The Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800 Smart WiFi Router is a viable option for users willing to utilize MU-MIMO data transfer technology and requires a comprehensive set of management settings with a user-friendly interface. Use. It delivers the fastest MU-MIMO performance we’ve seen in our testing, if only by a narrow margin, and its 2.4GHz and 5GHz range performance are also impressive. However, its file transfer speed is just barely enough. If you require more than four wired Ethernet ports, the Asus RT-AC88U, our Editors Tool for High-end Routers, has eight of them and offers better all-round performance.
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