NETGEAR R8000 Nighthawk X6 Review

[pete y testing]

hi

so the conclusions are the interesting thing to me , if this really is just a R7000 with an extra 5 gig bolted on and very few of the real advances in the technology are being used this is one big waste of technology time space , its just a side step with the current technology , the price here in aust is also $350 plus , and as what is just a wireless router after all ppl are going to get sucked into buying this

the advertising blurb on the box comes close to being both misleading and untrue

this whole 3200AC is in my opinion a waste of money and time and should just be ignored and forgotten

2350AC now there is the next step in technology that will be worth looking at

btw thanks for the review , i hope it opens up at least some readers eyes to what it doesnt do and what its not capable of

 

[thiggins]

I disagree that AC3200 is a waste of time and money. Pricey yes. But the two 5 GHz radios can provide higher total bandwidth for the majority of 5 GHz devices around. The ASUS RT-AC87 part 2 review shows that clearly.

 

[pete y testing]

I disagree that AC3200 is a waste of time and money. Pricey yes. But the two 5 GHz radios can provide higher total bandwidth for the majority of 5 GHz devices around. The ASUS RT-AC87 part 2 review shows that clearly.

hi , yes i see your point , but would not the same happen if you attached a 5 gig 1300M ac wireless AP to lets say the r7000 ? so isnt the R8000 just an R7000 with another 5 gig bolted on ?

what i mean is its not a jump in technology , 3200AC is not the next step , its just a variation on the same theme , and with the technology it should be displaying that is almost disabled or "simplistic" and no real promise if it will be fully functional in the future , are we not just marking time here till the 2350M takes hold when adapters are ready

 

[thiggins]

hi , yes i see your point , but would not the same happen if you attached a 5 gig 1300M ac wireless AP to lets say the r7000 ? so isnt the R8000 just an R7000 with another 5 gig bolted on ?

No, it's not. The subtleties of the XStream architecture were explained in http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...s-xstream-the-coming-battle-for-wi-fi-airtime.

Filtering is required to keep the two radios from overloading each other and two separate APs won't move clients from one to the other. Granted, NETGEAR's implementation of the latter feature is very dumbed down. But XStream is capable of much more.

The problem most people have with their wireless networks is not going to be solved by higher link rates. I have shown in multiple articles that the lowest class device in a mixed network limits the total available bandwidth. Same will be true for AC2350.

The open question at this point is how well MU-MIMO will work. That can help increase bandwidth utilitization. But you will need new devices that support MU-MIMO to make use of it.

 

[htismaqe]

The problem most people have with their wireless networks is not going to be solved by higher link rates.

QFT.

There might be a lot of people (aka enthusiasts) on this forum that have a minimum of devices and are concerned with ever-increasing speed.

However, the #1 issue in home wireless networking for most of us is available bandwidth.

I have not one but 2 external APs, not because I need them for coverage but because I need them to divide up bandwidth between clients.

 

[azazel1024]

QFT.

There might be a lot of people (aka enthusiasts) on this forum that have a minimum of devices and are concerned with ever-increasing speed.

However, the #1 issue in home wireless networking for most of us is available bandwidth.

I have not one but 2 external APs, not because I need them for coverage but because I need them to divide up bandwidth between clients.

QFT. I could maybe/possibly cover my entire house with one AP if I centrally located it, but coverage wouldn't be all that great no matter what because of my house's construction, but with two, then I get bandwidth divied up between clients a little better under more of the use cases common in my house/family.

The outdoor AP was a necessity for coverage though. I've been toying with figuring out how to do one for the front of my house too. Thought coverage out front is a lot less of a priority except right in front of my house and I do have coverage over much of my front yard from my indoor APs...just...not great (only 5-8Mbps nearer the further reaches of my front yard at best). Which is better than what my backyard had been, pre-outdoor AP.

I would actually argue for most users the issue is less available bandwidth, though this causes it, but actually wireless range/interference.

Either they have a residence too large for a single AP to effectively cover, but they are trying to get away with it anyway, or else they have too much interference from nearby networks, which makes a single AP worse in some ways, especially near the periphery of their coverage area.

 

[pete y testing]

No, it's not. The subtleties of the XStream architecture were explained in ( snip )

( sniop ) Granted, NETGEAR's implementation of the latter feature is very dumbed down. But XStream is capable of much more.

The open question at this point is how well MU-MIMO will work. That can help increase bandwidth utilitization. But you will need new devices that support MU-MIMO to make use of it.

but thats my point the 2350 when the clients become available and MU-MIMO is working will give you both the extra speed and better utilization , the 3200 at this point delivers very little in the way of speed increase to individual clients and most of the so called benefits of XStream are ether non existent or disabled and we are hoping they will get them working

 

[azazel1024]

Right now they are both a case of "wait and see". The AC2350 product really only has an advantage with another AC2350 product right now in bridge mode. It might have a slight advantage in beamforming over an AC1750/1900 product due to the extra spatial stream...maybe possibly, depends a lot on Quantenna's design.

The Xstream is hobbled right now due to Netgears current choices, but it still has more practical value than the AC2350 design as of today.

Also with the Xstream, it seems (SEEMS) as simple as enabling the more advanced features and then it'll have significantly more advantages over the AC2350 MU:MIMO routers for, likely, a year or two until the vast majority of 11ac clients are MU:MIMO capable as well AND older 11ac, 11n, etc, etc clients fall out of use.

I am much more excited about MU:MIMO than I am about Xstream, but Xstream certainly has more near term advantages...especially if Netgear or other Xstream (supposing there will be more) router manufacturers unlock/make available some of the more advanced features of Xstream.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Long term real life field test? Heck, by the time review result is ready, there'll be another new one on the horizon. Value of review depends on who did it and how.
Good review, bad review whatever, ultimate decision is up to the one spending money.

 

[htismaqe]

Hi,
Long term real life field test? Heck, by the time review result is ready, there'll be another new one on the horizon.

Truth.

Long term testing just isn't practical.

 

[RMerlin]

Is Tigerdirect Canada out of their mind?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9098898&CatId=7412

According to them, regular retail price would be 395$ CAD, and it's currently "discounted" at 320$ CAD.

 

[thiggins]

Discussion moved

I moved the EA-AC87 discussion here
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=19068

 

[TonyH]

Is Tigerdirect Canada out of their mind?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9098898&CatId=7412

According to them, regular retail price would be 395$ CAD, and it's currently "discounted" at 320$ CAD.

Hi,
How about Staples? Think Tigerdirect lowered price to match Newegg's?

 

[TonyH]

hi , yes i see your point , but would not the same happen if you attached a 5 gig 1300M ac wireless AP to lets say the r7000 ? so isnt the R8000 just an R7000 with another 5 gig bolted on ?

what i mean is its not a jump in technology , 3200AC is not the next step , its just a variation on the same theme , and with the technology it should be displaying that is almost disabled or "simplistic" and no real promise if it will be fully functional in the future , are we not just marking time here till the 2350M takes hold when adapters are ready

Hi,
I see 6 cyl. engine vs. 8 cy. one vs. 6 cyl. with turbo charged/super charged?, LOL!

 

[RMerlin]

Hi,
How about Staples? Think Tigerdirect lowered price to match Newegg's?

$299 CAD at Staples. As I said, TigerDirect are out of their mind

I see NCIX also lists it "discounted" at 329$ over the regular price of 399$. Knowing NCIX, I'm pretty sure it will drop to 299$ once it becomes available (it's currently on pre-order). I mostly shop with NCIX these past few years as they are always cheaper than TD, in addition to lower shipping costs, and they also ship much faster.

But I wonder where they got the idea that 399$ was the "regular" price.

 

[sfx2000]

Fry's has them for $299USD at the store or online...

http://www.frys.com/product/8129655

sfx

 

[azazel1024]

$299 CAD at Staples. As I said, TigerDirect are out of their mind

I see NCIX also lists it "discounted" at 329$ over the regular price of 399$. Knowing NCIX, I'm pretty sure it will drop to 299$ once it becomes available (it's currently on pre-order). I mostly shop with NCIX these past few years as they are always cheaper than TD, in addition to lower shipping costs, and they also ship much faster.

But I wonder where they got the idea that 399$ was the "regular" price.

MSRP? Manufacturer Suggested Rake-you-over-the-coals Pricing?

 

[sfx2000]

Is Tigerdirect Canada out of their mind?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9098898&CatId=7412

According to them, regular retail price would be 395$ CAD, and it's currently "discounted" at 320$ CAD.

Yikes... that the Canadian side of TigerDirect - see the US Side (TigerDirect.com) - screen shot included here - scraped from their WWW site on Aug 25, 2014...

 

[TonyH]

Does this mean the lower 5ghz channels are transmitting at the same power as the higher channels, and if so did your testing confirm that on the R8000?

Hi,
I see many times with different routers higher channel gives better signal
at device end. My idea was antenna is tuned better at higher channel freq.(better SWR, giving better erp) Even some op. manuals mention this.
Encourages to use higher channel.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Is this the same on the 2.4GHz band that CH 11 is faster than CH 1?