The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router is the next wave in WiFi. Tri-Band WiFi and Quad Stream performance boosts X8's combined wireless speeds to up to 5.3Gbps. Four external Active Antennas plus four internal antennas amplify WiFi range. Six gigabit Ethernet ports means even more wired devices can connect and with port aggregation 2 ports can combine to double maximum wired speeds. Nighthawk X8 is the next wave in WiFi.
The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router is the next wave in WiFi. Tri-Band WiFi and Quad Stream performance boosts X8's combined wireless speeds to up to 5.3Gbps. Four external Active Antennas plus four internal antennas amplify WiFi range. Six gigabit Ethernet ports means even more wired devices can connect and with port aggregation 2 ports can combine to double maximum wired speeds. Nighthawk X8 is the next wave in WiFi.
The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router is the next wave in WiFi. Tri-Band WiFi and Quad Stream performance boosts X8's combined wireless speeds to up to 5.3Gbps. Four external Active Antennas plus four internal antennas amplify WiFi range. Six gigabit Ethernet ports means even more wired devices can connect and with port aggregation 2 ports can combine to double maximum wired speeds. Nighthawk X8 is the next wave in WiFi.
The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router is the next wave in WiFi. Tri-Band WiFi and Quad Stream performance boosts X8's combined wireless speeds to up to 5.3Gbps. Four external Active Antennas plus four internal antennas amplify WiFi range. Six gigabit Ethernet ports means even more wired devices can connect and with port aggregation 2 ports can combine to double maximum wired speeds. Nighthawk X8 is the next wave in WiFi.
Last updated at 08/26/2026 06:22:18
Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 R8500 Smart Wifi Router Tri-band
Delivery $195.38
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Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 Tri-band Gigabit Wi-fi Router R8500 Read
Delivery $66.95
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Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 Tri-band Smart Wifi Router Model R8500
Delivery $73.84
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Netgear R8500 1000 Mbps 6 Port 2166 Mbps Wireless Router
Delivery $72.38
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Netgear R8500 Nighthawk X8 Tri-band Ac5300 Wireless Router
Delivery $18.25
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Netgear D8500-100AUS Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Tri-Band WiFi Modem Router (Faulty)
Free delivery
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originally posted on bestbuy.com
After reading all the great reviews I bought this router and wanted to share my experience. First off, this router is very easy to install out of the box. I was up and running in about 5 to 10 minutes. This router is huge so you had better make some room for it when purchasing. The unit also seems to run hot compared to some others I have used lately but I always keep my routers in a cool, vented place with nothing on or around them. My opinion of this so called flag ship router is that if you're looking for one with long range and future proofing ( this router supports MU_MIMO) and is a tri band then this will suit your needs just fine. For me though a router is only as good as its firmware and with that being said this router, like many other netgear routers I ... MoreAfter reading all the great reviews I bought this router and wanted to share my experience. First off, this router is very easy to install out of the box. I was up and running in about 5 to 10 minutes. This router is huge so you had better make some room for it when purchasing. The unit also seems to run hot compared to some others I have used lately but I always keep my routers in a cool, vented place with nothing on or around them. My opinion of this so called flag ship router is that if you're looking for one with long range and future proofing ( this router supports MU_MIMO) and is a tri band then this will suit your needs just fine. For me though a router is only as good as its firmware and with that being said this router, like many other netgear routers I have tried is an epic fail! One of the main reasons I purchased this router was to take advantage and use the ready cloud and netgear genie apps so that I could access my USB flash drive and monitor my network remotely. Those apps have some major problems! First off, the ready cloud app will not work at all on a Macbook Pro and on my Windows 10 laptop it works but it loads sooo slow! The genie app is even worse. It worked fine on some devices and some it doesn't. It worked fine on my iPad but not my iPhone . It worked on my macbook but made it run very hot to where the fan would kick on, etc.....and windows 10 is a big mess.....on their community forums, their engineers have a work around to get it to work on a windows 10 computer but it barely works...for example if you name your devices and specify what type of device they are and get it all set up it will work until you log back into it the next time only to find that it did not retain those settings. On top of the apps not working I also experienced some connectivity problems with my iPhone not wanting to connect to the 5ghz band. I'm fairly tech savvy and have set up and used many routers and I've just come to a conclusion that there is just too much wrong with their firmware and netgear doesn't have a good track record of putting out fixes in a timely manner . Just go to their community forums and read and you will see for yourself. By the way, I had updated the router to the latest firmware and also did the recommended factory reset after upgrading the firmware and this router still did not perform as it should have. So if you're someone that doesn't use or care for the apps such as the ready cloud and genie then you may like this but if you want to use all the bells and whistles advertised you're going to be in for a big disappointment! this router is way overpriced for something that doesn't deliver as promised. When I pay $400 for a router I expect everything to work without much intervention. I am returning this for a refund and sticking with another brand that cost half of what this did and its features actually work.
originally posted on newegg.com
DO NOT PURCHASE!. I am an IT professional and I work from home on a regular basis. My wife runs her business from home. We decided to 'invest' in commercial-grade equipment for longevity and ease of administration, and purchased this Netgear R8500 based on the design parameters, throughput, and manufacturer reputation. I even consulted network professionals for a recommendation, and they stated that this router would be much more than adequate for home use based on the published specifications. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a complete nightmare; even the first one I received would not come up and stabilize out of the box and was immediately returned for replacement! My advice: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ROUTER. If it were not such an expense, I would have already ... MoreDO NOT PURCHASE!. I am an IT professional and I work from home on a regular basis. My wife runs her business from home. We decided to 'invest' in commercial-grade equipment for longevity and ease of administration, and purchased this Netgear R8500 based on the design parameters, throughput, and manufacturer reputation. I even consulted network professionals for a recommendation, and they stated that this router would be much more than adequate for home use based on the published specifications. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a complete nightmare; even the first one I received would not come up and stabilize out of the box and was immediately returned for replacement! My advice: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ROUTER. If it were not such an expense, I would have already tossed it in the trash (cannot return it after 30 days, so they've got you!), and went back to my 5-year-old ASUS RT-N66U router that was much more stable and reliable. I really regret this purchase, and the manufacturer only seems to spew 'troubleshooting' and 'tuning' at it's customers instead of providing a real fix or replacing what they seemingly know is junk equipment. At least I still have my old ASUS router to fall back to once this one fails "reset" to factory (I have had to do this a dozen times based on the troubleshooting guides), and I spend half of my day re-configuring the settings (and losing pay). Even rating this with one Egg is too generous.
originally posted on bestbuy.com
I received this Netgear R8500 router for free in exchange for an honest review.Setup of the router was extremely easy. The router prompted me to upgrade to the newest firmware, and logging in to the router settings has also been simplified compared to previous routers I have owned. I especially liked that connecting a hard drive to the router and using Time Machine to back up my Mac was very easy to set up.This router features beam forming, which means the range is better than typical and the signal will be strong despite walls, which typically degrade the signal. It also supports MIMO, so individual devices should also have a faster connection to the router. It has a USB 3.0 port, so connecting a fast USB hard drive to use as backup or network storage would be ... MoreI received this Netgear R8500 router for free in exchange for an honest review.Setup of the router was extremely easy. The router prompted me to upgrade to the newest firmware, and logging in to the router settings has also been simplified compared to previous routers I have owned. I especially liked that connecting a hard drive to the router and using Time Machine to back up my Mac was very easy to set up.This router features beam forming, which means the range is better than typical and the signal will be strong despite walls, which typically degrade the signal. It also supports MIMO, so individual devices should also have a faster connection to the router. It has a USB 3.0 port, so connecting a fast USB hard drive to use as backup or network storage would be an option.The router is slightly heavier and larger than a typical router. However, it does feature holes on the underside of the router to mount it vertically against a wall, and the router looks sleek. There is also an option to turn off the LEDs, so you can turn the lights off so it won't disturb you.Despite the beam forming features, and using the antenna placement recommended by the Netgear instruction manual, the signal did drop 1 (out of 3) bars in the basement of my house. However, it maintained that signal strength, instead of dropping out like my previous routers have. My signal also increased significantly in terms of horizontal distance - so much so that while in my driveway, I get a full signal. None of my routers had even been able to reach that far before.While I have only been using the router for a week, I have had no issues with it thus far. I have not needed to reboot it, and all of my devices have been able to connect to it flawlessly.There were many features I did not get to try - VPN access, wireless printing, and accessing USB storage remotely - however, I have no doubt based on the ease of setting up and using other features of this router, that these would work well and be easy to set up.I would recommend this product to people who need to cover a huge range, or need their Wi-Fi to work through a number of walls. If you need the most up-to-date technology, this would also be the router for you.
Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 R8500 Smart Wifi Router Tri-band
Delivery $195.38
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Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 Tri-band Gigabit Wi-fi Router R8500 Read
Delivery $66.95
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Netgear Nighthawk X8 Ac5300 Tri-band Smart Wifi Router Model R8500
Delivery $73.84
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Netgear R8500 1000 Mbps 6 Port 2166 Mbps Wireless Router
Delivery $72.38
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Netgear R8500 Nighthawk X8 Tri-band Ac5300 Wireless Router
Delivery $18.25
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After reading all the great reviews I bought this router and wanted to share my experience. First off, this router is very easy to install out of the box. I was up and running in about 5 to 10 minutes. This router is huge so you had better make some room for it when purchasing. The unit also seems to run hot compared to some others I have used lately but I always keep my routers in a cool, vented place with nothing on or around them. My opinion of this so called flag ship router is that if you're looking for one with long range and future proofing ( this router supports MU_MIMO) and is a tri band then this will suit your needs just fine. For me though a router is only as good as its firmware and with that being said this router, like many other netgear routers I ... MoreAfter reading all the great reviews I bought this router and wanted to share my experience. First off, this router is very easy to install out of the box. I was up and running in about 5 to 10 minutes. This router is huge so you had better make some room for it when purchasing. The unit also seems to run hot compared to some others I have used lately but I always keep my routers in a cool, vented place with nothing on or around them. My opinion of this so called flag ship router is that if you're looking for one with long range and future proofing ( this router supports MU_MIMO) and is a tri band then this will suit your needs just fine. For me though a router is only as good as its firmware and with that being said this router, like many other netgear routers I have tried is an epic fail! One of the main reasons I purchased this router was to take advantage and use the ready cloud and netgear genie apps so that I could access my USB flash drive and monitor my network remotely. Those apps have some major problems! First off, the ready cloud app will not work at all on a Macbook Pro and on my Windows 10 laptop it works but it loads sooo slow! The genie app is even worse. It worked fine on some devices and some it doesn't. It worked fine on my iPad but not my iPhone . It worked on my macbook but made it run very hot to where the fan would kick on, etc.....and windows 10 is a big mess.....on their community forums, their engineers have a work around to get it to work on a windows 10 computer but it barely works...for example if you name your devices and specify what type of device they are and get it all set up it will work until you log back into it the next time only to find that it did not retain those settings. On top of the apps not working I also experienced some connectivity problems with my iPhone not wanting to connect to the 5ghz band. I'm fairly tech savvy and have set up and used many routers and I've just come to a conclusion that there is just too much wrong with their firmware and netgear doesn't have a good track record of putting out fixes in a timely manner . Just go to their community forums and read and you will see for yourself. By the way, I had updated the router to the latest firmware and also did the recommended factory reset after upgrading the firmware and this router still did not perform as it should have. So if you're someone that doesn't use or care for the apps such as the ready cloud and genie then you may like this but if you want to use all the bells and whistles advertised you're going to be in for a big disappointment! this router is way overpriced for something that doesn't deliver as promised. When I pay $400 for a router I expect everything to work without much intervention. I am returning this for a refund and sticking with another brand that cost half of what this did and its features actually work.
DO NOT PURCHASE!. I am an IT professional and I work from home on a regular basis. My wife runs her business from home. We decided to 'invest' in commercial-grade equipment for longevity and ease of administration, and purchased this Netgear R8500 based on the design parameters, throughput, and manufacturer reputation. I even consulted network professionals for a recommendation, and they stated that this router would be much more than adequate for home use based on the published specifications. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a complete nightmare; even the first one I received would not come up and stabilize out of the box and was immediately returned for replacement! My advice: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ROUTER. If it were not such an expense, I would have already ... MoreDO NOT PURCHASE!. I am an IT professional and I work from home on a regular basis. My wife runs her business from home. We decided to 'invest' in commercial-grade equipment for longevity and ease of administration, and purchased this Netgear R8500 based on the design parameters, throughput, and manufacturer reputation. I even consulted network professionals for a recommendation, and they stated that this router would be much more than adequate for home use based on the published specifications. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a complete nightmare; even the first one I received would not come up and stabilize out of the box and was immediately returned for replacement! My advice: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ROUTER. If it were not such an expense, I would have already tossed it in the trash (cannot return it after 30 days, so they've got you!), and went back to my 5-year-old ASUS RT-N66U router that was much more stable and reliable. I really regret this purchase, and the manufacturer only seems to spew 'troubleshooting' and 'tuning' at it's customers instead of providing a real fix or replacing what they seemingly know is junk equipment. At least I still have my old ASUS router to fall back to once this one fails "reset" to factory (I have had to do this a dozen times based on the troubleshooting guides), and I spend half of my day re-configuring the settings (and losing pay). Even rating this with one Egg is too generous.
I received this Netgear R8500 router for free in exchange for an honest review.Setup of the router was extremely easy. The router prompted me to upgrade to the newest firmware, and logging in to the router settings has also been simplified compared to previous routers I have owned. I especially liked that connecting a hard drive to the router and using Time Machine to back up my Mac was very easy to set up.This router features beam forming, which means the range is better than typical and the signal will be strong despite walls, which typically degrade the signal. It also supports MIMO, so individual devices should also have a faster connection to the router. It has a USB 3.0 port, so connecting a fast USB hard drive to use as backup or network storage would be ... MoreI received this Netgear R8500 router for free in exchange for an honest review.Setup of the router was extremely easy. The router prompted me to upgrade to the newest firmware, and logging in to the router settings has also been simplified compared to previous routers I have owned. I especially liked that connecting a hard drive to the router and using Time Machine to back up my Mac was very easy to set up.This router features beam forming, which means the range is better than typical and the signal will be strong despite walls, which typically degrade the signal. It also supports MIMO, so individual devices should also have a faster connection to the router. It has a USB 3.0 port, so connecting a fast USB hard drive to use as backup or network storage would be an option.The router is slightly heavier and larger than a typical router. However, it does feature holes on the underside of the router to mount it vertically against a wall, and the router looks sleek. There is also an option to turn off the LEDs, so you can turn the lights off so it won't disturb you.Despite the beam forming features, and using the antenna placement recommended by the Netgear instruction manual, the signal did drop 1 (out of 3) bars in the basement of my house. However, it maintained that signal strength, instead of dropping out like my previous routers have. My signal also increased significantly in terms of horizontal distance - so much so that while in my driveway, I get a full signal. None of my routers had even been able to reach that far before.While I have only been using the router for a week, I have had no issues with it thus far. I have not needed to reboot it, and all of my devices have been able to connect to it flawlessly.There were many features I did not get to try - VPN access, wireless printing, and accessing USB storage remotely - however, I have no doubt based on the ease of setting up and using other features of this router, that these would work well and be easy to set up.I would recommend this product to people who need to cover a huge range, or need their Wi-Fi to work through a number of walls. If you need the most up-to-date technology, this would also be the router for you.
I have worked in IT for over twenty years, and I'd been a Linksys user for many years. When Linksys was purchased by Belkin, I knew I would need to find another wireless vendor. Belkin makes fantastic cables, but their hardware leaves MUCH to be desired. Anyway, I knew I wanted an AC5300 router, and after reading countless reviews, I narrowed my choices to Netgear and Asus. I've used Asus motherboards and cases for years, but had never used their wireless products. I have used small Netgear switches, but also never used their wireless products, but I have several friends who swear by Netgear wireless equipment. Since I value my friends' opinions, I decided on the Netgear. Plus, I like the look of the Netgear better. When I received the package, the first thing I ... MoreI have worked in IT for over twenty years, and I'd been a Linksys user for many years. When Linksys was purchased by Belkin, I knew I would need to find another wireless vendor. Belkin makes fantastic cables, but their hardware leaves MUCH to be desired. Anyway, I knew I wanted an AC5300 router, and after reading countless reviews, I narrowed my choices to Netgear and Asus. I've used Asus motherboards and cases for years, but had never used their wireless products. I have used small Netgear switches, but also never used their wireless products, but I have several friends who swear by Netgear wireless equipment. Since I value my friends' opinions, I decided on the Netgear. Plus, I like the look of the Netgear better. When I received the package, the first thing I noticed was the heft of it. This thing is HEAVY! When I opened the box, its size matches its weight: it's HUGE! My network consists of a PC, a Mac Mini, a NAS, two printers, an iPad, an iPhone, three AppleTVs, a Roku, two Blu-Ray players, three TiVos, three televisions, an Amazon Echo, a Nest thermostat, and an IP security camera. Thankfully, only five of these devices are wireless. My wireless network security includes WPA2, MAC address filtering, and hide my SSID. The hardest part was entering all my MAC addresses intothe new router. Once that was complete, my network was up and running, although the Nest thermostat is finicky when it comes to hidden SSIDs, so it required special consideration. The bottom line is, this product works exactly as advertised, and looks great doing it. My favorite feature is extra network ports, and the ability to aggregate two of the network ports to double the speed of my NAS network throughput. My only quibble is software-related. I wish the configuration interface was more flexible, and that the standalone applications (both on the PC and iOS devices) were more capable, and provided all the advanced configuration options.
I had a different brand for several years and lately all my family was complaining about loosing connection to the internet for their phones and laptops, the speed was not comparable to the one with this router, wifi is just great with 2.4 and 5 gigahertz and the speed with gigabit with ethernet, 6 connectors on the back of the router not 4 like other routers. all these speed are great but you need this service from your internet service provider and your modem must be capable of these service, my wifi speed for my phone is just great around 150 to 200 mbps and with ethernet cable for my computers around 150 to 250 mbps the longest you have a gigabit ethernet card installed in your pc or a gigabit usb adatpter.You can set up several networks for wifi for guest 2.4 ... MoreI had a different brand for several years and lately all my family was complaining about loosing connection to the internet for their phones and laptops, the speed was not comparable to the one with this router, wifi is just great with 2.4 and 5 gigahertz and the speed with gigabit with ethernet, 6 connectors on the back of the router not 4 like other routers. all these speed are great but you need this service from your internet service provider and your modem must be capable of these service, my wifi speed for my phone is just great around 150 to 200 mbps and with ethernet cable for my computers around 150 to 250 mbps the longest you have a gigabit ethernet card installed in your pc or a gigabit usb adatpter.You can set up several networks for wifi for guest 2.4 and 5 ghz and two more of each one for the house use 2.4 and 5 ghz, a total of 6 wifi networks for family and guest, the 2.4 ghz for the older devices and for the newer and faster devices the range is great, if you need more coverage like in my case i have several access points and we have coverage in almost 1 acre property, my kids go to a park across the street and we have wifi from our AP, just remember in order to keep your wifi speed your AP needs to be gigabit and wifi 2.4 and 5 ghz.The best part is we don't loose our internet connection due to router issues, just great router.I purchased this router during Thanksgiving specials with $100.00 discount, xmas was the supreme test for this router with around 100 people using our networks, my wife has a big family!!! :)I have two pc gamers in the house and they play day and night and sometimes they invite other gamers to the house, my wife with social media, my daughter with videos and movies, two grand kids with tablets and smartphones, two phone lines and around ten plus computers connected all the time, two smart tv, tablets and several smart phones android and apple devices.The purchased of this router was one of the best investments for our network we are able to do what the family and guest need to do online videos, games, social media, movies and work related task.According to our experience one of the best routers in the market now days, all these is not just out the box you have to set up this router to your needs and according to your internet service speed.I hope to keep this router for a long time at this point I don't know what is the life expectancy of this router.
I am a big fan of netgear and decided to stick with them even though there are other tempting options from asus and d-link at the moment. And I went with the x8 instead of the hot new x10 for a few reasons. One is bank for my buck, the new x10 and d-link have a 60GHz band but most devices can't use this band yet. There will be plenty soon but in my near future I don't plan to invest in devices that can operate this frequency. Not to mention the 60GHz needs to be very close to the devices connecting to it, 10 feet away and a wall are enough to drop the connection. The x8 has one 2.4GHz and two 5GHz bands so there is plenty of devices that are able to connect at higher speeds and the 2.4GHz gives great range. I have had no issue connecting anywhere in my home on the ... MoreI am a big fan of netgear and decided to stick with them even though there are other tempting options from asus and d-link at the moment. And I went with the x8 instead of the hot new x10 for a few reasons. One is bank for my buck, the new x10 and d-link have a 60GHz band but most devices can't use this band yet. There will be plenty soon but in my near future I don't plan to invest in devices that can operate this frequency. Not to mention the 60GHz needs to be very close to the devices connecting to it, 10 feet away and a wall are enough to drop the connection. The x8 has one 2.4GHz and two 5GHz bands so there is plenty of devices that are able to connect at higher speeds and the 2.4GHz gives great range. I have had no issue connecting anywhere in my home on the 5GHz (single story 1900sq/ft) I have really enjoyed the router so far, I have it paired with a surfboard 6190 modem with 150 connection from xfinity. There are plenty of Ethernet ports for most applications as well as usb 3.0. I have two laptops, one desktop and 4 tv connected as well as several home automation devices ( video doorbell, cameras, sprinkler system, lights, blinds and vacuum) plus standard phone usage on wifi. This router has other features I have yet to dive into but I will mention 2 Ethernet portsthat are given priority when bandwidth is needed for high demand gaming. This router is more than enough if you have mediocre to above average needs and arguably enough for any single home application for the near future. If you want to be ready for the next wave of technology you may want to consider picking up a router with the 60GHz frequency. But keep in mind the extreme limitation on range before diving in and spending $450 on a router that needs to be very close to devices.
The Netgear Nighthawk X8 should be called the Netgear Spirit X8, because it is BIG, so big in fact it looks like a B2 Spirit Bomber, rather than a slimmer Nighthawk. Prepare to have your world bombarded with precision guided high speed packets. All jokes aside, I've had the X8 for a little over a week now for evaluation and testing and hands down, it has been the best home Wireless Router I've owned. Setup is easy. Plug and play like any other wireless router and the broadcast SSID and password are already available on a pre-printed sticker. Setup guide also includes directions to login to the included Netgear interface to run basic and advanced configurations. Speed. Plenty of it. Household devices with A/C cards had consistent 180 Mb dl speeds. Going into the ... MoreThe Netgear Nighthawk X8 should be called the Netgear Spirit X8, because it is BIG, so big in fact it looks like a B2 Spirit Bomber, rather than a slimmer Nighthawk. Prepare to have your world bombarded with precision guided high speed packets. All jokes aside, I've had the X8 for a little over a week now for evaluation and testing and hands down, it has been the best home Wireless Router I've owned. Setup is easy. Plug and play like any other wireless router and the broadcast SSID and password are already available on a pre-printed sticker. Setup guide also includes directions to login to the included Netgear interface to run basic and advanced configurations. Speed. Plenty of it. Household devices with A/C cards had consistent 180 Mb dl speeds. Going into the basement and the far other side of the house (about two floors, brick, drywall, wood, etc that can really eat up wireless strength) dropped it to about 100-120 Mb, very impressive considering I would drop to about 10-20 under my old router. Additionally, I quit having issues with multiple devices bogging down the wireless network; I'd bet dollars to donuts Smart Connect is playing a role since my issues went away after I enabled it (Dual 5 Ghz bands to help isolate slower devices). Commander in Chief of the house (Wife) is happy as a pig in poop as she can stream her videos in HD quality from anywhere in the house For those using older legacy connections, PCs running G cards were running at 108 Mb dl speeds, still an improvement from before. Port forwarding setup was a breeze along with enabling QoS. Lots of jam packed features under advanced setup for those that want to really maximize their experience. I also connected an external drive formatted with FAT into the included USB 2.0 (theres also a 3.0) port, and was able to see it from a number of my PCs wirelessly. Extremely handy for simple data transfers. I may also get a NAS to take advantage of Port 1 and 2 that provide Port Aggregation in the future (total of 6 Ethernet Ports). I also setup a guest network for the occasional visitor to my house. Best part was the ability to throttle their bandwidth and limit the number of connections. For a small business office setting I believe the X8 would be quite the enabler utilizing this feature. Overall, product met and exceeded my expectations. I would not hesitate to purchase one considering the improvement to my wireless bandwidth and the ability to really penetrate walls and floors. Only feature that I could think of to make this even more of a professional device would be to include the ability to mirror/span ports for purposes of Network security monitoring. Be advised, I did receiver the X8 as a free product from Netgear to test and evaluate as previously mentioned. Can't beat Free 99. Thank you Netgear!
This router is an amazing wifi router due to the following reasons: a. It has the strongest signal of any wifi router I have ever used or owned. It reached all of my home security cameras, doorbell camera and all my printers without any issues. b. It has the highest bandwidth of any wifi router that I have ever used or owned. No more jitter or "still loading" warnings during streaming or gaming. c. It more than quadrupled my network speed by changing just my old wifi router to this R8500 router and keeping my old 350Mbps cable modem ... from the old throughput of 50Mbps to 250Mbps consistently. And my contracted internet speed is 200Mbps.
I received this router from Netgear for free as part of their friends and family program to test new products. This router replaced a Netgear AC750 router and I did a comparison between the two as part of this review. The AC750 is a great router but it can’t hold a candle to the AC5300 in terms of performance.From a performance standpoint (speed at distances), the AC5300 beat the AC750 at every distance measured, as expected. For reference, I have a 100mb down/ 10mb up plan. Right next to the router, the AC5300 received 7% faster speeds (117mb down / 12mb up). At 45 feet away, it received 41% faster speeds on the 2.4GHz band and 70% (117mb down / 12mb up) faster speeds on the 5GHz band. At 70 feet away, it received 91% faster speeds on the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz ... MoreI received this router from Netgear for free as part of their friends and family program to test new products. This router replaced a Netgear AC750 router and I did a comparison between the two as part of this review. The AC750 is a great router but it can’t hold a candle to the AC5300 in terms of performance.From a performance standpoint (speed at distances), the AC5300 beat the AC750 at every distance measured, as expected. For reference, I have a 100mb down/ 10mb up plan. Right next to the router, the AC5300 received 7% faster speeds (117mb down / 12mb up). At 45 feet away, it received 41% faster speeds on the 2.4GHz band and 70% (117mb down / 12mb up) faster speeds on the 5GHz band. At 70 feet away, it received 91% faster speeds on the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz picked up (59mb down / 12mb up) when the AC750 couldn’t produce a consistent/reliable signal. At 100 feet away, the AC5300 router was still picking up great speeds (93mb down / 12mb up). The router comes with something called “Smart Connect” which is a feature that separates slower and faster devices to specific bands to ensure they are getting the best wireless speeds. I must say the distance on this router is truly impressive as I can pick up a signal in both my back and front yard.In terms of features, this router comes fully loaded with just about everything you would need. The tri-band Wi-Fi and quad stream have you covered on the speed and the Netgear genie application allows you to manage your network appropriately. When you login to your router via the Netgear genie manager, you can see your network status, a network map (including the number of devices currently connected), your parental control settings, your USB drive status and the status of your guest network – if you choose to use one. You have the ability to set a schedule for your router to access the internet, if you would like to cut it off at night or during dinner. You can even block certain sites from being accessed from your network.The form factor of this router is pretty large but with the wavy body and the lights, it looks cool. Each of the four external antennas has a blue light at the top, which gives it a really neat look. You can turn off all of the LEDs with the touch of a button if you would rather have them off and not emitting a blue glow. The router also has a button to enable and disable the Wi-Fi. The router comes with 6 gigabit Ethernet LAN ports (and 1 WAN port) so you can plug in your wired devices. It has the ability to hook up a USB hard drive to it and not only access it from the network, but also schedule automatic backups of all the machines connected to the router. The router has 2 USB ports (one is a 3.0 port and the other is a 2.0 port). I hooked up our printer to the USB port and was able to remote print from multiple devices on the network, throughout the house.The last thing that I tested was the router’s ability to be a wireless bridge. I plugged the router into an electrical outlet downstairs and enabled the feature through my computer that was connected to it. The router was able to pick up the wireless signal from the other router that was connected to my modem and repeat the signal from its location, giving me extended coverage. However, I was able to eliminate the other router all together with this router’s impressive coverage.Setting up the router was extremely easy. The router comes with a predefined set of credentials where you can login, immediately change your password and configure the settings you wish. I was able to get the router online and configured in a matter of minutes.Aside from the Wi-Fi, WPS and LED light buttons on the front of the router feeling a little flimsy, I really can’t say anything negative about this router. I can truly say that this router is the best I have ever used or tested. If you are looking for a highly customizable router that can transmit a reliable signal at impressive distances while providing you the ability to micro-manage your network, look no further. This thing has it all!
I needed to replace a 6-year old NETGEAR router that could not handle many devices, but I wanted to keep my high-security features.This device is amazing. It's installed in a meterkast in one corner of a 192m² building, and the signal strength two floors higher on the opposite corner is 82%. My old router could only reach 16%.I did a load test with wired and wireless devices:Four streaming tablets (Netflix, FilmOn, YouTube and Ziggo), two business laptops synchronising mailboxes, 3 phones on Instagram and an online games console, plus, a wired NAS and PC uploading 2GB to WeTransfer. Great results... No frozen movies or dropped frames and the WeTransfer uploaded in about 32 minutes.Security is perfect. My main WiFi is invisible (no SSID broadcast) and ... MoreI needed to replace a 6-year old NETGEAR router that could not handle many devices, but I wanted to keep my high-security features.This device is amazing. It's installed in a meterkast in one corner of a 192m² building, and the signal strength two floors higher on the opposite corner is 82%. My old router could only reach 16%.I did a load test with wired and wireless devices:Four streaming tablets (Netflix, FilmOn, YouTube and Ziggo), two business laptops synchronising mailboxes, 3 phones on Instagram and an online games console, plus, a wired NAS and PC uploading 2GB to WeTransfer. Great results... No frozen movies or dropped frames and the WeTransfer uploaded in about 32 minutes.Security is perfect. My main WiFi is invisible (no SSID broadcast) and encrypted. My guest WiFi is 'access controlled'; only pre-approved devices can connect, and they can't see each other, or access my wired network (NAS and PC), but they can all print to the USB printer connected to the router.I was going to make my old router into an access point but this new router is SO powerful, there is no need to do that...!The only downside is no access control automation; I had to manually retype 28 MAC addresses and IDs into the access control list.
