Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR500 is better than R9000?

[Phoenix]

Just saw this on Netgear's site, is this better than my current R9000?

Does it also support PLEX in addition to its so called better gaming features or is this just marketing fluff?

 

[Killhippie]

Just saw this on Netgear's site, is this better than my current R9000?

Does it also support PLEX in addition to its so called better gaming features or is this just marketing fluff?

Have a look at this the XR700 https://www.netgear.com/npg/xr700/ (R9000 in gaming stripes with DumaOS)

For myself I found DumaOS is great for my needs and is made my Netduma, the base firmware is Netgears, having used the XR500 for quite a while I'm impressed and its not just fluff, but it is very gaming orientated and takes a bit of fine tuning. Google DumaOS and you will see loads of youtube videos explaining it. Is it better than your R9000? Well it depends how much of a gamer you are and what your needs are, only you can answer that. I don't need a plex server etc so the XR500 is fine, saying that the R7800 is also fine. As to the the new XR700 its going to be expensive $500. I'm not sure any router is worth that and you can never keep up with the latest and greatest Also big numbers do not always mean big performance..

 

[avtella]

The XR500 is an R7800 with DumaOS overlay/extensions on top of the core Netgear firmware. Duma part has their own QoS, traffic monitoring, and some other software extras. Hardware is identical to the R7800.

The XR700 is a rebadge of your R9000 with Duma overlay and extensions on top of Netgear core firmware. The outer covering is modified a little but otherwise internally it’s a R9000.

Some people like the Duma QoS functions and extras. I personally never had any issues gaming with the stock version of the R7800/R9000, plus if I recall Phoenix from Notebook review you said your internet speed is pretty fast even in the upload so I’m not sure it will help you much unless you are constantly saturating your network, in which case QoS would help with device prioritization for better latency/bandwidth management. Remember gaming takes very little bandwidth like 100-300 kbps in general, it’s the latency that’s more important.

I personally think the XR500/700 are overpriced vs the R7800/R9000, as I quite liked the Qualcomm Streamboost on the R7800 though I don’t even use QoS anymore as my new ISP has better bufferbloat and faster upload speeds, but some people genuinely find the Duma additions very useful. I guess it’s up to you to decide.

 

[pege63]

Yes i agree the XR700 platform was last seen in the Nighthawk X10 launched in 2016 Q4, just new names and some more ports, new GUI thats it.

 

[Phoenix]

oh well, that answers my question then guys. Not worth it to change my current X10 then

 

[Phoenix]

By the way, so these Netgear Gaming Routers don't have PLEX Media server support? I use that a lot and I can't do without it

 

[psychopomp1]

By the way, so these Netgear Gaming Routers don't have PLEX Media server support? I use that a lot and I can't do without it

Correct, in that case stick with the R9000.

 

[thiggins]

By the way, so these Netgear Gaming Routers don't have PLEX Media server support? I use that a lot and I can't do without it

XR700 (and R9000) supports Plex. XR500 (and R7800) does not.

 

[psychopomp1]

XR700 (and R9000) supports Plex. XR500 (and R7800) does not.

Are you sure the XR700 has a Plex server built-in? The product blurb doesn't mention it....

https://www.netgear.com/npg/xr700/

 

[thiggins]

Download the data sheet. https://www.netgear.com/support/product/XR700#docs

 

[Killhippie]

Are you sure the XR700 has a Plex server built-in? The product blurb doesn't mention it....

https://www.netgear.com/npg/xr700/

I know a beta tester for the XR700, it has the Plex server for sure.

 

[Mon2345]

If I could ask the experts on here about the XR700 and receive some feedback, that would be appreciated.

1) If I go with the XR700 (since it has the 10 Gigabit LAN SFP+ Port), can that be connected to a Netgear 10G switch to have whole house 10G (if the PC has a 10G of course)? Or is this SFP smoke and mirrors and cannot be truly used for 10G LAN with the use of a 10G supported switch? Marketing seems to be focused on NAS use, but incorporating a switch would allow all ports to be compatible up to 10G speeds, correct?

2) If this in fact would work, is there any downside to this (other than cost), you can still connect non 10G equipment to the switch and have up to 1G speeds (depending on device speeds), correct? Plug and Play, basically?

3) I am planning to run Cat6a or Cat7 ethernet to whole house (media room, 2 offices, and couple other rooms while I am at it). Therefore, I was thinking the XR700 plus a 10g switch (24-port) could work where I am not limited to one PC with 10G. I have a NAS that I have link aggregation currently. What am I missing? I understand that this is only LAN at 10G. So mainly for moving data to and from PCs at higher than 1G, and to the NAS at up to 2G (link aggregation). Again, anything that I am missing?

4) My other possible option is XR700 and the NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming 10 Port Gigabit Switch. This seemingly limits me to one device with up to 10G, my NAS at up to 2G, and the other equipment at up to 1G speeds with 12 (1G) ports remaining to run throughout house (too few I think for my needs...I understand I could do local switches in the room though (double switch I heard is the limit, so I could have a switch in each room if needed). This seems like a waste to only have one 10G. What am I missing. Is there a benefit to these two devices (other than the gaming focus aspects and the new software)? It is a little smaller (Size) than the 24 port, but also limiting on the number of ports, thus limiting my # of Ethernet runs to my rooms. UPDATE: Just realized that you have use of two 10G devices, since there is no reason to connect the router to the switch at 10g since I don't a multi-gig service coming into the house anyway nor could I since you are limited to one 10G plug on router. LOL

5) If a router has QoS, and a managed switch has QoS, this seems like a disaster. Would you enable QoS on both? The router still gives the the IP addresses to equipment on a network (DHCP I think it is called) why would you have double QOS? As stated this sound like a nightmare. Long story short, a unmanaged switch with using my router as the QoS hierarchy sounds like the best bet for home use, even if there are a lot of equipment.? Any thoughts on this?

Novice here, just trying to get my head around networking.

Thanks for any help with this interesting router, and how it relates to my situation!!! Also, I am not hell bent on Netgear, that just has one of the few 10G options as best I am aware. There seems to be routers geared to businesses with 10G for obvious reasons, but Netgear has the XR700 and the older version r9000, and maybe ASUS has one coming out as well.

 

[thiggins]

I'll preface my comments with the general caveat that installing cabling capable of full 10GbE requires proper installation and verification. Otherwise you could just be wating money.

Few homes have use for 10GbE capable networks. 802.3bz Multi-Gig is more cost effective and can be used with CAT 5e cabling. It's a newer standard, so equipment is not as widely available. But I expect it to be more commonly supported in next generation consumer networking gear then 10GbE.

1) If I go with the XR700 (since it has the 10 Gigabit LAN SFP+ Port), can that be connected to a Netgear 10G switch to have whole house 10G (if the PC has a 10G of course)? Or is this SFP smoke and mirrors and cannot be truly used for 10G LAN with the use of a 10G supported switch? Marketing seems to be focused on NAS use, but incorporating a switch would allow all ports to be compatible up to 10G speeds, correct?

The SFP+ port on the router is a real port. It connects directly to the Annapurna Labs processor, so is not limited by the Gigabit switch.

Any 10Gbps capable devices connected to a 10Gbps switch would have 10Gbps bandwidth up to the processor. Of course, devices need to have powerful CPUs and SSD storage to take advantage of this bandwidth.

2) If this in fact would work, is there any downside to this (other than cost), you can still connect non 10G equipment to the switch and have up to 1G speeds (depending on device speeds), correct? Plug and Play, basically?

Gigabit devices would work at Gigabit speeds whether connected to the router Gigabit ports or the 10GbE switch ports.

3) I am planning to run Cat6a or Cat7 ethernet to whole house (media room, 2 offices, and couple other rooms while I am at it). Therefore, I was thinking the XR700 plus a 10g switch (24-port) could work where I am not limited to one PC with 10G. I have a NAS that I have link aggregation currently. What am I missing? I understand that this is only LAN at 10G. So mainly for moving data to and from PCs at higher than 1G, and to the NAS at up to 2G (link aggregation). Again, anything that I am missing?

Link aggregation does not provide higher bandwidth for individual devices. It aggregates (adds) throughput from multiple devices. So if you had multiple computers simultantously transferring large sequential files (video for example) at full Gigabit throughput, aggregated ports would allow both to effectively transfer at full Gigabit.

4) My other possible option is XR700 and the NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming 10 Port Gigabit Switch. This seemingly limits me to one device with up to 10G, my NAS at up to 2G, and the other equipment at up to 1G speeds with 12 (1G) ports remaining to run throughout house (too few I think for my needs...I understand I could do local switches in the room though (double switch I heard is the limit, so I could have a switch in each room if needed). This seems like a waste to only have one 10G. What am I missing. Is there a benefit to these two devices (other than the gaming focus aspects and the new software)? It is a little smaller (Size) than the 24 port, but also limiting on the number of ports, thus limiting my # of Ethernet runs to my rooms. UPDATE: Just realized that you have use of two 10G devices, since there is no reason to connect the router to the switch at 10g since I don't a multi-gig service coming into the house anyway nor could I since you are limited to one 10G plug on router. LOL

Using one of the switch's 10GbE ports to connect to the router increases bandwidth to all devices connected to the router's ports. If most/all devices are going to be connected to your house switch, then there is no value in using 10GbE for uplink

5) If a router has QoS, and a managed switch has QoS, this seems like a disaster. Would you enable QoS on both? The router still gives the the IP addresses to equipment on a network (DHCP I think it is called) why would you have double QOS? As stated this sound like a nightmare. Long story short, a unmanaged switch with using my router as the QoS hierarchy sounds like the best bet for home use, even if there are a lot of equipment.? Any thoughts on this?

This is not necessarily a "disaster". The QoS on the switch is simple bandwidth limiting. The QoS on the switch prioritizes packets based on traffic type. Both can be used together.

 

[e38BimmerFN]

https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/networking/wifirouter/XR700.pdf

https://kb.netgear.com/000059681/Ho...hthawk-XR700-and-Nighthawk-SX10-Gaming-Switch

 

[Mon2345]

Thank you Thiggins! I believe I followed all of that except for the proper verification of the 10Gbe, so I need to do more research on that. I figured if the switch and cabling was sufficient I would be good to go.

However the one question I had to make sure I understand is:

You indicated: “Using one of the switch's 10GbE ports to connect to the router increases bandwidth to all devices connected to the router's ports. If most/all devices are going to be connected to your house switch, then there is no value in using 10GbE for uplink.”

This seems like a good thing for my scenario. Most everything will be attached to the switch is my plan other than maybe the NAS which I may use via link aggregation from router. However, my question is related to your comment:“then there is no value in using 10GBe for uplink”. That means there is no reason to plug my modem into my 10Gbe router port, correct? Which I agree with since I am limited to 1GBe. Just making sure I am not misinterpreting. Plugging the 10Gbe router port into one of the 10Gbe switch ports will give me more bandwidth maximum across the switch for all my LAN network usage even if all device or capped individually at up to 1GBe, and then I have a free 10Gbe port on switch if I ever get a Compatible NAS or 10Gbe networked PC? Long story short, “10Gbe for uplink” is basically if I tried to use the routers 10Gbe as a WAN (out to the web) which has no benefit for me? Sorry if my wording is not correct!”. Thanks again, this has been a big help.

Thanks e38BimmerFN for the link on connecting the router to switch for 10Gbe network! Makes sense.

***Also saw elsewhere where the idea of having the 10Gbe network from the switch for all hardwired connections, and not using the router LAN ports for connections, thus allowing the router to focus on the Wifi traffic is a good suggestion. All hardwired on the switch only @ 10Gbe and all wifi on the router's 1Gbe bandwidth. My bandwidth is going to be focused on hardwired, so this 10Gbe bandwidth is good! Conceptually this makes sense to me if in fact I am interpreting this correctly.

And the unfortunate thing is the 10 + 2 ports on the Netgear is just too limiting. I likely will have to decide on choosing a Netgear 24-port, since I want multiple Ethernet runs to jacks, instead of one Ethernet connection per room/location. Maybe not unfortunate, you can get a 10Gbe switch seemingly for less than that netgear switch. You are paying for the marketing and the DumaOS software I guess and the fact they are catering to gaming mainly. Gaming is important, but just solid switch that handles 10Gbe is what I need, and that should work identical with the 10Gbe and SFP+ port discussed early connected to another switch.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA: Just saw that the module is $200-300+ range. Good times! Funny when it costs as much as the switch. All good, just hilarious.