Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 Review: Speed, Stability, and Subscriptions

If you’re craving a style of the most recent high 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 home in zippy Wi-Fi. It has the velocity, vary, and capability to fulfill a mean household residence of avid players. And there’s a slick app, an online interface for deeper dives, and non-compulsory subscriptions for complete on-line safety and parental controls.

For the previous couple of weeks, the Nighthawk RAXE300 has saved my household of 4 on-line, providing steady 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 high.

Flying Under the Radar

Netgear’s Nighthawk vary is aimed squarely at players. The distinctive collapsible wings are a trademark of the collection, and other than evoking an Imperial Shuttle, they host an antenna array that ensures a robust Wi-Fi sign all through your property. 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 enticing machine than a lot of its arachnid-looking rivals. Routers that bristle with antennas might not look as neat, however the potential to angle them manually can show useful when you might want to direct the sign.

The RAXE300 is a tri-band router with the latest Wi-Fi 6E support, which suggests it may possibly hook up with gadgets 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 be a USB-C port marked USB 3.0. Some people might have extra or larger capability ports, and the shortage of USB-A may very well be a problem.

The high 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 programs as a result of they’re too expensive for most people. In shut proximity, the RAXE300 blew away the Deco XE75 (an reasonably priced 6E mesh system I examined just lately) on each the 6-GHz and 5-GHz bands. I received 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 power in my 1,600 square-foot residence produced a warmth map that exposed the Nighthawk RAXE300 delivered sturdy Wi-Fi to each nook and cranny. Netgear says it may possibly cowl as much as 2,500 sq. ft. We regularly had 4 simultaneous on-line video games or video streams operating 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 principle benefit is the leap from eight streams to 12, which is able to solely profit you you probably have an especially busy family. 

Software and Subscriptions

The cell Nighthawk app is slick and accessible. I used to be up and operating rapidly, and the app lists related gadgets, gives entry to fundamental settings, and reveals the web velocity coming into your property. I like that it charts web speeds over time, so I can control 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 power, and interference all through your property.