NETGEAR R8000 Nighthawk X6 Review

[thiggins]

Hi,
I see many times with different routers higher channel gives better signal
at device end. My idea was antenna is tuned better at higher channel freq.(better SWR, giving better erp) Even some op. manuals mention this.
Encourages to use higher channel.

There is one max power spec for all 2.4 GHz channels. Power tends to be a bit higher in the center band channels, i.e. around 6, vs. the end channels, because designers don't have a bit more wiggle room on spurious frequencies.

 

[azazel1024]

Hi,
I see many times with different routers higher channel gives better signal
at device end. My idea was antenna is tuned better at higher channel freq.(better SWR, giving better erp) Even some op. manuals mention this.
Encourages to use higher channel.

Some of it is antenna design. The higher the frequency, the higher the signal gain of the antenna, within reason (dual band antennas have 2-3dBi more gain in 5GHz than in 2.4GHz bands. So a 5dBi dual band antenna is actually, if they are advertising it/doing it right, a 5dBi antenna in 2.4GHz, but a 7/8dBi antenna in 5GHz).

Now, the differences are minor, but you are talking a bit of a difference between channels in terms of frequency, so a higher 2.4GHz channel might well net a tenth or two dBi better gain, more so in 5GHz bands where the low are ~5.2GHz and the high are ~5.9GHz...as well as the UNI-III/5.9GHz range being (until recently) higher broadcast power than the UNI-I 5.2GHz range.

In my testing, I see no difference between channels in 2.4GHz (other than the occasion borked client/AP which HATES a specific channel, which I have seen. I have effectively no 2.4GHz interference). In 5Ghz, I have found that setting to channel 147 is slightly better than channel 161/165, at least in 11n 40MHz mode. I haven't done much 11ac testing. The 147-165 range is also slightly better than the low UNI-I 5GHz range (again, N600 router that certainly doesn't have the new FCC broadcast power limits), but performance is pretty similar except right up on max range.

In very, very limited testing I see no difference between the low and high 5GHz channels with my AC1750 router, but it may have the newer FCC broadcast power limits for UNI-I. Dunno. It is new enough it is possible, or it could be low enough in Tx power already not to matter much, or explicit beamforming or I just haven't done enough testing or I don't know.

 

[TonyH]

As the review stated, one 5 GHz radio covers only channels 36-48. The other only channels 149-161.

Since antennas seem to be tuned to higher frequencies. Radio #1 gives little lower signal strength compared to radio #2. The difference is upto 5dbm at test distance. In my case from top floor loft to main floor family room.

 

[TonyH]

This tri band is a sales gimmick and can't believe so many people falling for it. Some don't even own any 5GHz devices and they are buying this router. LOL!

Hi,
I played with it one whole night, kept reminding me, it is R7000 with spare
5GHz radio. f/w was x.102. Another thing whole family complained was when going to one URL to another on browser, the lag is quite noticeable.
After clicking new address, it takes a while to get the new page displayed.
Every one in the family said it is slow. But speed test shows good 50/3 speed all the time. R7000 or WRT1900AC does not show this symptom.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I went to best buy and saw this router and said loudly WOW $300.00 ,the geek guy came over and said it's an amazing router and we'll worth the money. LMAO. I said you're an idiot and know nothing about routers. Haha Haha!

 

[NightOwl326]

I went to best buy and saw this router and said loudly WOW $300.00 ,the geek guy came over and said it's an amazing router and we'll worth the money. LMAO. I said you're an idiot and know nothing about routers. Haha Haha!

You actually called some low paid BestBuy employee who is just trying to make ends meet in a tough economy "an idiot". Wow, no wonder retail has such high turnover, as personal insults are not a part of any employees job description. But if you feel that this is acceptable behavior when dealing with customer service people, I have one word: idiot! Haha Haha....

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
It is not tri band. It is three radios, IMO.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van #2]

V1.0.1.16_1.0.74 Firmware Update

I just updated my R8000 with this firmware yesterday, and the wireless speed and range are dramatically improved.

 

[wsarahan]

Guys

This router have dual wan like the Asus 87u?

Is this one better than the 87u one?
Thanks

 

[RogerSC]

The Netgear R8000 is not equivalent to the Asus RT-AC87U. The R8000 does have 2 5GHz. radios, but the RT-AC87U is four-stream, not two radios on 5GHz. If you want something comparable to the Asus RT-AC87U, that would be the Netgear R7500.

And if you're looking for something to compare the Netgear R8000 to, that would be the Asus RT-AC3200, that also has 2 5GHz. radios. At least, that's what they were calling it last time I heard *smile*.

It is hard to keep track of the players without a scorecard *smile*.