Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 Wi-Fi 6E Router Assessment Ranking
Abstract
The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 is a superb router at a way more engaging worth than its massive brother, the RAXE500. Most customers are unlikely to see a distinction in efficiency and due to this fact this makes it a greater purchase.
benefit
- Wonderful price-performance ratio
- Wonderful efficiency and vary with 5Ghz @ 160Mhz
- 6Ghz ought to assure 160Mhz channel width and multigigabit throughput
Cons
- Some preliminary points with setup
- 6Ghz lacks the vary in comparison with 5Ghz
Earlier within the yr, I reviewed Netgear’s new WiFi 6E flagship gaming router, the RAXE500. This new expertise is being applied in additional reasonably priced fashions, and I used to be not too long ago reviewing the brand new RAXE300.
Netgear RAXE300 vs. RAXE500 Specification
To avoid wasting you from having to evaluate the desk beneath, the RAXE300 is only a stripped down model of the RAXE500. Nevertheless, until you are utilizing this in a crowded person setting, I doubt you will ever discover the distinction.
The variety of obtainable bands for each 2.5 Ghz and 6 Ghz has been decreased to 2×2. This could solely have an effect on you if in case you have many units transferring a considerable amount of knowledge on every band at any given time. 6GHz WiFi remains to be very uncommon and has excessive throughput, so it might take a reasonably demanding and weird situation for this to have an issue.
It is unlikely that we’ll see the discharge of 4×4 consumer chips, but when they did, this could make a giant distinction from the earlier assertion.
If something, I might say that WAN hyperlink aggregation could have a higher real-world impact than lack of bands.
Netgear has additionally barely modified the multigigabit port and WAN ports. You now have two ports that may act as LAN or WAN, one 1G and the opposite 2.5G. Within the UK you will in all probability need to stick to 1G as your WAN port after which 2.5G for LAN.
Different minor variations embrace dropping a USB port and altering it to USB-C. I discovered this fairly inconvenient as most USB drives and exterior exhausting drives nonetheless use USB-A, so you will want an adapter or hub. So the RAXE300 is now fanless, though I by no means heard the fan on the RAXE500.
| netgear | RAXE300 | RAXE500 |
|---|---|---|
| wifi expertise | Triband AXE7800 | Triband AXE11000 |
| first band | 2.4GHz 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 As much as 574Mbps (20/40MHz) |
2.4GHz 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 As much as 1148Mbps (20/40MHz) |
| Second Band | 5GHz 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 As much as 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
5GHz 4×4 Wi-Fi 6 As much as 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| Third Band | 6GHz 2×2 Wi-Fi 6E As much as 2402Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
6GHz 4×4 Wi-Fi 6E As much as 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| AP-mode | Sure | Sure |
| Gigabit community port | 4x LAN, 1x WAN/WAN | 4x LAN, 1x WAN/LAN |
| multi-gigabit community port | 1 LAN/WAN 2.5Gbps | 1 LAN/WAN 2.5Gbps |
| LAN Hyperlink Aggregation | Sure (LAN3 and LAN4) |
Sure (LAN3 and LAN4) |
| WAN Hyperlink Aggregation | Nope | Sure (WAN + LAN1) |
| dual-WAN | Nope | Sure (WAN+LAN1/2.5Gbps) |
| USB | 1x USB 3.0 (USB-C) | 2x USB 3.0 (USB-A) |
| processing energy | 1.7GHz quad-core CPU, 256MB Flash, 512MB RAM |
1.8GHz 64-bit processor 512MB Flash, 1GB RAM |
| Dimensions | 11.86 x 8.16 x 3.23 inches (30.13 x 20.79 x 8.2cm) |
11.7 x 8.3 x 3.07 inches (29.8 x 21.1 x 7.8cm) |
| Weight | 2.23lbs (1.01kg) | 3.2lbs (1.45kg) |
Arrange
You may configure it by means of the Nighthawk app or the online interface. In case you attempt to do it by way of the online, Netgear is fairly forceful in making an attempt to get you to make use of the app, however there is a hyperlink on the backside of the web page that takes you to the online settings.
I had some minor setup points with this router, I am guessing it was a mixture of person error and my tousled community setup.
For many testing, I combine the router inside my regular community and the Netgear routers will then change to 10.0.0.1 to keep away from IP conflicts.
After I check efficiency with my server, I change to entry level mode.
Issues appeared to work at first however when switching to entry level mode the 6Ghz community failed. I additionally had intermittent points with the WiFi slicing out intermittently. This led me down a path the place every little thing breaks. After I rebooted the router, I could not even get it to hook up with the web.
Ultimately, after my 3dr reboot, every little thing simply labored. I am fairly positive there’s one thing else on my community that prompted this challenge, however I felt it was necessary to spotlight it in case anybody else experiences related points.
Wi-Fi 6E 6Ghz Efficiency
I examined the speeds in three locations:
- Workplace utilizing my workplace PC with WiFi 6E PCIe card
- Floor flooring lounge with Huawei Matebook 14 and Pixel 6
- Entrance room, two rooms past the lounge, utilizing Huawei Matepad 14 and Pixel 6
With iPerf3 on the laptop computer, I managed to:
- Workplace: 1.47 Gbits/sec.
- Front room: 798 Mbit/s
- Entrance room: 212 Mbit/s
Utilizing the Community SpeedTest app on an UnRAID server, my Pixel 6 achieved:
- Workplace: 1.39 Gbits/sec.
- Front room: 1001 Mbit/s
- Entrance room: 351 Mbit/s
With the default settings, I did not get superb efficiency with 6Ghz. Home windows would present a connection pace of round 1.4 Gbps. Experimenting with completely different channels yielded significantly better outcomes and I ended up selecting channel 85.
Ultimately I used to be capable of join at 2.4Gbps and iPerf speeds had been 1.47Gbits/sec which was a fraction of lower than 5Ghz at 160Mhz.
File transfers had been among the greatest I’ve seen over WiFi. When transferring a big ZIP file, I used to be capable of persistently get 192 MB/s which is equal to 1536 Mbps.
As anticipated for 6Ghz, the sign high quality drops quicker than 5Ghz. After I tried this in my storage/health club driveway, I could not see 6Ghz, whereas each 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz had been seen and practical. Efficiency was additionally decrease than the RAXE500 after I examined the vary on that.
WiFi 6 5Ghz efficiency
iPerf
- Workplace: 1.50 Gbits/sec.
- Front room: 901 Mbit/s
- Entrance room: 433 Mbit/s
pixel 6
- Workplace: 1.41 Gbits/sec.
- Front room: 956 Mbit/s
- Entrance room: 618 Mbit/s
- Storage: 73 Mbit/s
Previously, I’ve had some problem getting Netgear routers to ascertain a secure 160 MHz huge connection. However, in all my latest evaluations, they’ve labored proper out of the field with no points.
5Ghz efficiency was flawless throughout my exams, and speeds keep excessive because the vary will increase. This reduces the enchantment of WiFi 6E and 6Ghz a bit, however I dwell in a semi-detached home in a seaside city. In case you dwell in a flat in a metropolis or close to an airport/radar, you’ll have extra issues with 160Mhz.
The vary was distinctive, with the router positioned in my workplace, which is the hub of my residence, I used to be capable of get wonderful speeds always. As a lot as you may get enthusiastic about mesh methods, having an honest router like this, optimally positioned throughout the residence, might in all probability present superior efficiency for a lower cost.
2.4GHz efficiency
Pixel 6 and iPerf outcomes on the laptop computer had been almost an identical
- Workplace: 214 Mbits/sec
- Front room: 72Mbit/s
- Entrance room: 31 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 5 5Ghz
Many units will proceed to make use of the previous Wi-Fi customary and efficiency remains to be good right here. Home windows connects on the most pace of 1.7 Gbps
- Workplace: 1.2 Gbits/sec.
- Lounge: 829 Mbits/sec.
- Entrance room: 301 Mbits/sec.
As soon as once more, the outcomes had been excellent. On this case, among the highest I’ve seen on WiFi 5. Nevertheless, trying again at my earlier evaluations, that is seemingly as a result of they had been working at 80Mhz, not 160Mhz.
Router Options
To my data, Netgear retains the firmware options an identical on all of those Nighthawk routers, and the overall options are the identical because the RAXE500.
It has all of the important options, however if in case you have granular management over every little thing and loads of options, you could discover this disappointing.
Like all different Netgear routers and mesh methods, this contains Netgear Armor, and also you get a free month with it. It’s a paid service that appears fairly costly to me, however it’s a helpful service if in case you have a big household of people that is probably not very adept at figuring out and avoiding potential cyber safety dangers.
Worth and different choices
The Netgear RAXE300 is on the market from Amazon US for $399.99 and Amazon UK for £376.86, though it is not presently obtainable.
The Netgear RAXE300 is just not but obtainable from the Netgear retailer, however the RAXE500 is £550.
Then you will have the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 for £478.99.
Common
Most residence customers can ignore the RAXE500, it is a tremendous router, however it’s unlikely that it is going to be capable of push it to the restrict.
The Netgear RAXE300 will present a virtually an identical expertise however for almost £200 much less. It needs to be greater than satisfactory for any demanding residence situation and even any small enterprise that desires to make the most of the speeds that WiFi 6E brings.
Because the vary of this router is superb, it’s fairly engaging over mesh methods. So long as you possibly can centrally place it, it has the potential to outperform a mesh system, and for much less cash.
With this router, I skilled some teething issues. I feel that is person error and my complicated community, although probably the router itself as it’s new to the market.
Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 Wi-Fi 6E Router Review vs RAXE500
