Which Netgear Router XR500 or XR700 with Netduma

[maximillion82]

Hi all,

I live in an apartment with just over 1200 sq.ft. There is a lot of interference (26 wireless networks, about 50/50 2.4 to 5GHz).
I had a Netgear X4S R7800 before.
In total, I connect about 16 devices, 2 computers, 1 NAS (Ethernet), 4 smartphones, 4 streaming devices (Chromecast and Apple TV 4K), 2 Tablets and some smartphone devices.
The reason for the router change is the Hybrid VPN feature with Netduma (I tried Voxel with add-ons, but my skills were not good enough to get it running, I prefer a simpler GUI, so I sold the R7800).
My NAS is a WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra running a Plex Server.
The R7800 was okay for performance, except the 5 GHz wireless network signal cuts out in the bedroom and on the terrace at times (not always, I think it's not distance but caused by interference, but I am not sure, as the walls are very massive).
I saw that currently, both routers are on sale XR500 for $190 and XR700 for $300. I don't care about the 60GHz network as none of my devices support it, I don't need the Plex Media Server as the MyCloud takes care of this. I also can't take advantage of the 10Gbit ethernet port.
But I was mostly wondering if the active antennas or some other new tech in the XR700 are worth the extra $110. I also don't worry too much about future proofing, because AX routers will be mainstream in 2 years.
I have a 1-gigabit bi-directional fiber ISP, does the XR700 also have faster performance? Especially in the far regions?

 

[Internet Man]

The XR500 is a repackaged R7800 running slightly modified firmware. The XR700 is internally identical to the R9000.

If your R7800 worked fine before and you are only switching to get a certain feature of DumaOS then the XR500 seems like the best choice. It sounds like the differentiating features (802.11ad, 10GbE SFP+) of the XR700 would provide you no benefit for paying nearly twice as much. A quick glance at the SNB charts appears to show the R7800 keeping up with the R9000 well enough in 5GHz uplink and downlink.

 

[maximillion82]

Thank you for your reply. In this case, I will order the XR500. Admittedly it's not worth paying the extra. Especially not considering that the AX standard will be here and probably mainstream in the next 24-36 months.

The XR500 is a repackaged R7800 running slightly modified firmware. The XR700 is internally identical to the R9000.

If your R7800 worked fine before and you are only switching to get a certain feature of DumaOS then the XR500 seems like the best choice. It sounds like the differentiating features (802.11ad, 10GbE SFP+) of the XR700 would provide you no benefit for paying nearly twice as much. A quick glance at the SNB charts appears to show the R7800 keeping up with the R9000 well enough in 5GHz uplink and downlink.

 

[System Error Message]

The XR500 is a repackaged R7800 running slightly modified firmware. The XR700 is internally identical to the R9000.

If your R7800 worked fine before and you are only switching to get a certain feature of DumaOS then the XR500 seems like the best choice. It sounds like the differentiating features (802.11ad, 10GbE SFP+) of the XR700 would provide you no benefit for paying nearly twice as much. A quick glance at the SNB charts appears to show the R7800 keeping up with the R9000 well enough in 5GHz uplink and downlink.

if you dont need the 10GbE or SFP+ (its either 10GbE or SFP+, not both but you can get SFP+ with 10GbE module, depending on package contents and device), i'd say to just stick with the cheaper one as more likely their CPU speeds are similar. Also to fully utilise a single 10Gb/s port you'd need quite a few 1Gb/s port loading it at the same time.

 

[maximillion82]

I ordered the XR500 last night and already set it up, Hybrid VPN works well with PrivateVPN service.

If anyone is having trouble configuring a none-pre-configured VPN client: What you need to do is to download the OpenVPN-TUN config files from your VPN provider. In PrivateVPN's case in there are two folders, one TCP and one UDP. Use UDP it's faster, in the UDP folder you will find the config files for all locations, right click -> open with -> text editor (any text editor) copy all of it and paste it in the advanced tab under the Hybrid VPN configuration in DumaOS.

if you dont need the 10GbE or SFP+ (its either 10GbE or SFP+, not both but you can get SFP+ with 10GbE module, depending on package contents and device), i'd say to just stick with the cheaper one as more likely their CPU speeds are similar. Also to fully utilise a single 10Gb/s port you'd need quite a few 1Gb/s port loading it at the same time.

 

[Keus]

I ordered the XR500 last night and already set it up, Hybrid VPN works well with PrivateVPN service.

If anyone is having trouble configuring a none-pre-configured VPN client: What you need to do is to download the OpenVPN-TUN config files from your VPN provider. In PrivateVPN's case in there are two folders, one TCP and one UDP. Use UDP it's faster, in the UDP folder you will find the config files for all locations, right click -> open with -> text editor (any text editor) copy all of it and paste it in the advanced tab under the Hybrid VPN configuration in DumaOS.

Max what is the OpenVPN needed for usually?

 

[maximillion82]

Max what is the OpenVPN needed for usually?

OpenVPN is a secure VPN protocol. A VPN is used to deidentify you, basically making it very difficult,to track you online, it allows you to change your location by directly connecting to another computer and using this computer as the machine that call up websites or other web traffic. I am not the best to explain it, if anyone can do it better please correct me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVPN

 

[RMerlin]

A VPN is for connecting two secure networks together over a non-secure network. The primary use is to remotely access your office network, encrypting the data transiting over the non-secure portion of the network (the Internet).

The fact that it changes your public IP when accessing the Internet over a VPN is just a by-product of the technology.

 

[Keus]

OpenVPN is a secure VPN protocol. A VPN is used to deidentify you, basically making it very difficult,to track you online, it allows you to change your location by directly connecting to another computer and using this computer as the machine that call up websites or other web traffic. I am not the best to explain it, if anyone can do it better please correct me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVPN

Gotcha, thanks! The reason I ask is because I use PIA VPN and not sure if they offer OpenVPN -TUN, since I plan to use the Hybrid VPN feature.

That being said, I am still torn between getting the XR500 and the XR700.

The main reason other than HYBRID VPN is the the wifi range with speed, since my current router is struggling to serve internet when being in other rooms of the house. My friend suggested Asus ROG GT AC5300. He told me it has its own radio frequency that does not interfere with other traditional wifi channels, and that by its own is a clear path to get fast and bigger coverage. Does any of the Nighthawk XR routers offer this feature and also same range of coverage compared to Asus ROG AC6300?

The reason I do not like Asus ROG is their OS, bad CS support and inconsistent reviews.

 

[RMerlin]

My friend suggested Asus ROG GT AC5300. He told me it has its own radio frequency that does not interfere with other traditional wifi channels

That is incorrect. All routers use the same frequencies, as these are the only frequencies allowed for use by regulatory bodies.

 

[Keus]

That is incorrect. All routers use the same frequencies, as these are the only frequencies allowed for use by regulatory bodies.

I had asked him to share an image where he says that it supports less interference. Apparently it’s a band(s) under 5ghz channel that seems few routers support. Attaching an image.

Back to my question, is this band (165) or others that are unique, are supported on XR500 or XR700?

Moreover based on my previous question, what would be your recommendation guys between XR500 and xr700?

 

[RMerlin]

I had asked him to share an image where he says that it supports less interference. Apparently it’s a band(s) under 5ghz channel that seems few routers support. Attaching an image.

That doesn't show different bands, just different channels.

 

[maximillion82]

A VPN is for connecting two secure networks together over a non-secure network. The primary use is to remotely access your office network, encrypting the data transiting over the non-secure portion of the network (the Internet).

The fact that it changes your public IP when accessing the Internet over a VPN is just a by-product of the technology.

Great description thank you

 

[Keus]

That doesn't show different bands, just different channels.

Ok