Netgear Nighthawk Wi-Fi 7 Router review – expectational speeds and coverage that’s future proof

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• VERDICT

The Netgear Nighthawk RS200S Wi-Fi 7 router can offer you expectational wi-fi speeds and coverage in your home now and well into the future.

The need for wi-fi speed has never been more apparent in today’s households as we stream content, playing online games and connect numerous smart devices.

The good news is Netgear’s Nighthawk RS700S Wi-Fi 7 tri-band router can provide the speed you need and more.

Wi-Fi 7 is the very latest wireless standard and one that will be used by more and more products so it doesn’t hurt jumping in early to future proof your home at a time when we take streaming 4K and gaming with low latency for granted.

Wi-Fi 7 is onboard the upcoming Samsung S24 Ultra, the Google Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro but you can be certain new smartphones and laptops will be supporting Wi-Fi 7 as sure as nose on your face.

So what’s new with Wi-Fi 7?

For a start it has three bands – 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz – and can achieve speeds up to 19Gbs.

The new ultra-wide bandwidth offers 2.4x the speed to your connected devices and Wi-Fi 7-compatible devices like smartphones and laptops enjoying up to 5Gbps.

The device uses multiple wi-fi bands at once to the reliability of the network, reduce latency and deliver data with maximum speed.

The Netgear Nighthawk RS700S is powered by Broadcom’s BCM6726/3 Wi-Fi 7 System on a Chip (SoC) and has a 10Gb internet port to support the faster internet speeds when they are available along with four 1Gb LAN ports for faster wired connections.

There is also a 10Gb LAN port to connect a Ethernet switch or a separate mesh wifi satellite.

There are few things different about the RS700S.

Firstly, it is more like a tower rather than the traditional Nighthawk shape with wings. This slick design means a much smaller footprint

There are also no antennas poking out.
All the technology is contained in the narrow chassis while still offering 360-degree coverage over 325 square metres.

It’s all thanks to the new internal 3D antenna design – that’s more than enough to cover your entire home – even multi-storey homes.
Set up is remarkably simple thanks to the Netgear Nighthawk app which steps you through the whole process and also allows you to change the name and password to the new wireless network.

Once we were connected out tests over wi-fi were seeing speeds well over 900Mbps – some as high as 975Mbps.

We have a 1Gigabit per second plan through Aussie Broadband so the Netgear Nighthawk RS700S was giving the speeds we’re already paying for.

And as more Wi-Fi 7 products become available those speeds will improve even further and maintain that new consistency.

The RS700S can handle up to 200 connected devices on your network – and that’s a lot. We have more than 70 at our place and that still leaves plenty of room to add plenty more.

The Netgear Nighthawk RS700S Router is priced at $1,499 and can provide the sort of coverage you’d expect from a mesh wi-fi system so that can justify this price

Technical specifications:

– 320MHz high-capacity channels & 4K QAM – New, ultra-wide bandwidth means 2.4x the speed to your connected devices. WiFi 7 smartphones and laptops can get speeds up to 5Gbps.

– Multi-Link Operation – Uses multiple wi-fi bands at once to improve network reliability, reduce latency, and ensure data is delivered with maximum speed.

– Lower latency – Dramatically upgrades gaming and interactive online experiences and opens the door for immersive next-gen AR and VR.

– More Capacity for Data-Intense Activities – Connect up to 200 devices, such as security cameras, smart home devices, and speakers, while enjoying 4K/8K video streaming, online gaming and HD video conferencing.

– Multi-Gig Speeds with 10GbE Internet Port – Use the 10 Gig internet port for cable and fibre plans up to 10Gbps. Compatible with any internet service provider.

– More wired ports on every device – Plug in wired devices to improve performance via a 10Gbps and four 1Gbps LAN ports.

VERDICT

The Netgear Nighthawk RS200S Wi-Fi 7 router can offer you expectational wi-fi speeds and coverage in your home now and well into the future.