Verdict
The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is n’t the dissolute router , nor does it have the good overall tech ; what it does do is balance feature well against price . This mid - range router brings 6GHz Wi - Fi 6E to a more reasonable price , and it ’s generally tight across the circuit board . maternal ascendance and security features are strong , although they are quite expensive .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
WhenWi - Fi 6Edevices first launched , they were all super expensive . Now , with the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 , we ’re bulge out to see router at more reasonable , if not still high-pitched - end prices .
Built to fork up fast Wi - Fi across the board , this router is wanton to prepare up and cope , extras , including maternal controls and protection , are quite expensive .
Design and Features
There ’s no traverse that Netgear cook the coolest - look router . I ’ve seen the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 ’s design before , on theNetgear Nighthawk RAX200 , but it ’s still as impressive now .
Looking somewhere between an Imperial Shuttle from Star Wars or a manta ray , the RAXE300 looks cool thanks to its fold - up ‘ wing ’s that defend the antennas . As most competitors ’ routers just have monolithic arrays of antennas , Netgear ’s router bet a lot neater .
The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 supports the latest Wi - Fi 6E standard . That means 40MHz 2.4GHz ladder at up to 600Mbit / s ( two streams ) , and 160MHz 5GHz run at up to 4.8Gbit / s ( four channels ) . The Wi - Fi 6E interface is only two duct running on 160MHz - panoptic channels at fastness of up to 2.4Gbit / s.
That sounds like the 6GHz canal is slower than the 5GHz one ; however , there are only two 160MHz 5GHz channels , so routers tend to have to switch to 80MHz channels , halving the usable bandwidth . In my casing , this is dead on target , and I could only ever link at 80MHz .
The 6GHz band is unlike . There are more 160MHz distribution channel and less interference , so full speed is likely . Fewer streams are n’t likely to be a problem here , either : there are still comparatively few Wi - Fi 6E machine available .
I found the collection of ports on the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 a little disappointing . There are four Gigabit Ethernet ports for pumped devices , but there ’s only a individual 2.5 Gb Ethernet porthole , which can be used as a LAN or WAN port ( a lowly Gigabit WAN embrasure exists ) .
render the speeds of 6GHz Wi - Fi , I ’d have liked at least two 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports , or even faster , such as on theAsus ROG Rapture GT - AXE1600 . Two porthole can be aggregate into a 2Gbit / mho link , although this needs a equipment that supports aggregation to run .
form of the router is via the Netgear Nighthawk app . Stylistically , this is now very like to the Netgear Orbi app , only with a glum backdrop . The app took me through get in touch to the internet , do up Wi - Fi names and passwords ( the Wi - Fi networks are disconnected ) , and set a parole .
As with other Netgear mathematical product , there are duplicate include Parental Controls . With this selection , I could create profiles for all substance abuser on my internet , assign devices to each one . With the free version , there ’s limited control : just the option to manually intermit . Pay for the Premium version , and it unlocks the option to set time limits and entanglement filtering . If you ’ve get kid it ’s worth give the £ 4.99 a calendar month .
There ’s also Netgear Armor , a premium security suite that cost £ 84.99 a year that will block malicious sites , and stop infect devices from link up to the internet . Again , it ’s a pay - for Robert William Service , but you also get the option to download desktop and mobile protection software package .
Overall , Netgear ’s subscription are generally more expensive than the rival ’s , such as Eero Plus on theEero Pro 6E , but the timbre of the services is gamy .
From the app , the Wi - Fi names can be deepen , as can the countersign . However , there ’s no control over Wi - Fi channels . For this , and for more sophisticated characteristic , such as porthole promotion , the World Wide Web port has to be used .
Performance
Overall , the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is a decent router for the money . Starting off on the 5GHz band , I found that this router present throughput of 571.87Mbit / s at secretive chain of mountains , 461.89Mbit / s at 5 m on my 2d floor , and 351.13Mbit / s at 10 MB on my 2d trading floor . These results are solid , and while theAsus ROG Rapture GT - AXE1600was quicker across the board , that router is also a lot more expensive .
Switching to the 6GHz band , I tested with a personal computer connected to the 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port . Here , I meet throughputs of 831.63Mbit / s. This is the obtuse 6GHz test that I ’ve seen , although this is still very fast and demonstrate that this router can be used where you do n’t desire to wire a gadget in blank space .
Switching to 2.4GHz , the results were what I ’d expect . At 2 m , I got throughputs of 115.5Mbit / s , which is quick . Moving 5 m aside , speeds started to send away , and I see throughputs of 46.8Mbit / s. At 10 m , speed of 32.95Mbit / s are good for basic browsing but not a lot else . This is distinctive for this isthmus , which is highly back up .
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Should you buy it?
With 6GHz networking and becoming 5GHz speeds , this is a peachy economic value router for most pauperization .
Parental controls and security features here are good , but they ’re both quite expensive and other router have standardised features for less ( or free ) .
Final Thoughts
A undecomposed combining of price , features and performance , the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is a solid mid - range router with enough speeds . If you want something faster or favour a router with cheaper attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - ons , then check out our guide to thebest wireless routers .
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FAQs
Yes , the innocent version is quite introductory and you need to kick upstairs to get more feature .
It has one 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port which can be used for the LAN or WAN .
