Netgear R7500v2 (100% QCA MU-MIMO) First Impressions & Formal Review

[gigadigit]

Just got the R7500v2 from Best Buy.
I wanted to use it as an extender/repeater. Looks like the stock firmware doesn't support the repeater mode yet, only AP and Bridge. On the R7000, the latest firmware has the Repeating mode.

 

[thiggins]

Review posted.

 

[Dave Fey]

Trying to decide if this is a worth update to the 6300v2 I have now. The v2 has been getting gradually more flaky, so I'm starting to consider replacements. Pretty much a Netgear fan (well somewhat) and the 7500v2 is quite interesting.

 

[thiggins]

Pretty much a Netgear fan (well somewhat) and the 7500v2 is quite interesting.

What in particular is interesting vs. say the R7000?

 

[Dave Fey]

From what I was seeing the 7500 has better range. But the 7000 did get examined, don't take me the wrong way Even the 8xxx series got looked at but seemed to be too much for what I would get out of them and I'm more in need of range than dual radios for segregating clients. Taking guests out of the equation all my wifi clients are AC capable short of the venerable Ipad 2 (old I know...).

 

[thiggins]

Plot the three of them to get a clear picture.

Both R7000 and R7500 are better than R6300v2. But R7000 is slightly better or same as the R7500v2.

 

[avtella]

That is odd, I had slightly better signal (2-4 dBm difference) with the R7500v2 vs the R7000 at all ranges according to inSSIDer and speeds on the 5Ghz band also favored the R7500v2, the 2.4 however was somewhat closer if I remember correctly, as it was a little while ago. I used my laptop with an Intel 7260ac and my Sony Xperia Z3 which is single band ac, for most of my testing.

 

[thiggins]

That is odd, I had slightly better signal (2-4 dBm difference) with the R7500v2 vs the R7000 at all ranges according to inSSIDer and speeds on the 5Ghz band also favored the R7500v2, the 2.4 however was somewhat closer if I remember correctly, as it was a little while ago. I used my laptop with an Intel 7260ac and my Sony Xperia Z3 which is single band ac, for most of my testing.

I have found RSSI very unreliable as a performance indicator. It varies too much at lower signal levels.

How well did RSSI correlate to actual throughput?

 

[avtella]

You have a valid argument there, actual throughput was better, don't recall how much exactly but it wasn't night and day. This was when I was beta testing though, I will try to find my comparison table I made a few months back, though it was not as extensive or detailed as your tests, as I am comparatively a novice .

EDIT: I seem to have lost all my data tables, unfortunately, I can't retest as I gave it to friend and I only have an R7000 at the moment.

My testing usually involves transfers to and from my ReadyNas104 connected to the router:
Programs: LAN Speed Test w/Server, Tamsoft Throughput Test, and SMB file transfers.
Places: Wired, Near Router (3ft Line of sight), 2 Rooms away on same floor, 1 Floor Below, 2 Floors Below.

 

[connorm]

im actually slightly interested in this router its practical not sure how im feeling about QCA lately....

although i also think nitroqam is even more of a gimmick then turboqam lol

atleast turboqam is being implemented clients like my iphone 6s

 

[Dareksa]

New firmware version (1.0.2.2) for R7500v2 has been relased.

Bug Fixes:

- Fixed the issue where the DLNA media server may not work when there are thousands of media files in the USB drive.

- Fixed the issue where NETGEAR DDNS always displays time in the time zone of GMT+0.

- Fixed the issue where WiFi performance may degrade with Mac Book Air and Mac Book Pro when they lose connection with R7500v2 and connect again.

 

[ngerasimatos]

I picked up a r7500v2 yesterday from my local walmart of all places for 149.95 and it is working great so far. I have been through a few before this one with comparability issues related to using both OSX and Windows in the house. El Capitan not compatible with most brands out there; having tried TP-Link and Linksys. I retired my old Airport Extreme and wanted to get away from an apple router for increase speed and functionality. So far everything is working as it should and very fast with my slower internet connection; 20 down and 2-3 up.

Is it the V1 or V2?

 

[ngerasimatos]

Is it the V1 or V2?

I got the V2 from Amazon and have been very impressed with it vs Asus 68U, 87U and multiple TP-Link and TRENDnet routers. Some of these routers were of the AC3200 variety which I think is actually a negative and not a positive. IMO tri-band decreases range and throughput.

 

[ScorchPA]

I just picked up this router from Walmart. My WIFI speed from my FIOS router was 30 Mbs to 55 Mbps. Pretty outstanding improvement.

The only thing I can't figure out is if there is a way to connect my router directly to my vpn service (PrivateInternetAccess). Seems like there is no custom firmware available yet. hopefully that comes soon.

 

[SNBCruiser]

My R7500V2 running on V1.0.2.2.

When running as a router mode, R7500V2 seems to behave as per design.

But when R7500V2 runs as an AP, it has issues.

1. Devices connected to it via wireless work OK (i.e. PC --wireless--> R7500V2 --WAN port--> gateway router), although wifi guest can NO longer be restricted from accessing resources attached to R7500V2 as clearly the case under router mode.

2. Any device connected to R7500V2 via its LAN ports started working but then traffic is dropped out after a while.

R7500v2 is a capable hardware router. Unfortunately, its confusing GUI and mediocre firmware undermine its hardware strengths. When OpenWRT firmware available, I will flash it over R7500V2.

 

[husky55]

I experienced another problem with the R7500V2 firmware 1.0.2.2, I thought I did share:
WMM is on by default. When I disabled it for both bands 2.4 and 5G, my wifi speed went way down. Something like 150 Mbps to 15 Mbps. Can some of you guys verified this? I also have wifi drops and reconnects randomly. My second R7500V2 is configured as a bridge. Hope that repeater function be added to it like the R7000.

 

[thiggins]

I experienced another problem with the R7500V2 firmware 1.0.2.2, I thought I did share:
WMM is on by default. When I disabled it for both bands 2.4 and 5G, my wifi speed went way down. Something like 150 Mbps to 15 Mbps. Can some of you guys verified this? I also have wifi drops and reconnects randomly. My second R7500V2 is configured as a bridge. Hope that repeater function be added to it like the R7000.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/30938-dont-mess-with-wmm

 

[husky55]

Thank you Tim for the link. I thought wrongly I read everything, missed that. So it's normal behavior to lose wifi speed when disabled WMM because of some murky specs tying WMM to the high N and AC speeds!!! I read your review of the R7500V2. Thank you for that. I noticed that you did not experienced wifi drops. Could it be that firmware 1.0.2.2 was released after your review? That fixing Apple devices wifi drops, caused wifi drops in other devices? I would hate to revert to older firmware because in my case it's pain since I used different IP addresses for my network.

 

[thiggins]

I read your review of the R7500V2. Thank you for that. I noticed that you did not experienced wifi drops. Could it be that firmware 1.0.2.2 was released after your review?

I don't use the products I test long enough to comment on stability. I did not experience connectivity problems during the review.

 

[tamalero]

SO, is the 512Mb confirmed? because I notice some people mention 256 and others 512.