We examined and benchmarked the total Netgear Orbi RBKE963 setup, together with RBRE960 host router and two RBSE960 satellites working in unison Up to date: Jun 25, 2024 12:21 pm WePC is reader-supported. If you purchase via hyperlinks on our website, we might earn an affiliate fee. Costs topic to vary. Be taught extra Desk of Contents Desk of Contents The Netgear Nighthawk RS700 is a standalone router with WiFi 7 help and highly effective wired choices besides, although it’s definitely not low-cost. Nonetheless, shopping for this router ought to, in idea, preserve your community setup future-proofed for a very long time to come back. Let’s see under the way it measured up in our testing. Specs Wi-fi normal: WiFi 7 Band Frequencies: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz Max Pace: 19Gbps LAN Ports: 1x 10Gbps, 4x 1Gbps WAN: 1x 10Gbps (Router) CPU: Quad-core 2.6GHz Reminiscence: 512MB NAND Flash and 2GB RAM USB: 1x USB 3.0 Sort-A Dimensions: 281.7 x 124.0 x 142mm (11.1 x 4.9 x 5.6in) Weight: 1.635kg (3.61lb) Present extra What We Suppose The Nighthawk RS700 from Netgear is definitely not a router for everybody, given its exorbitant pricing for a single router unit, nonetheless this isn’t precisely atypical for WiFi 7 routers: if you’d like the most recent normal, you’re going to should pay a big mark-up for it. On your cash although you get a robust performing router that may future-proof your setup for a while, with the 10Gbps WAN and LAN ports guaranteeing you received’t get bottlenecked with any future ultrafast fibre enhancements. It’s good to see the inclusion of a USB-A 3.0 port, although we might have favored to have seen USB-C for this worth. The general design of the router itself is kind of good and unobtrusive, and the devoted app provides you loads of management over how it’s arrange and what you are able to do along with your community, though we may do with out the fixed subscription service adverts. All-in-all although, this can be a highly effective router in the event you’re keen to pay for it. Execs Easy and fast setup that guides via the app App management gives loads of customization and adjustments however can also be included on the internet web page Glorious efficiency throughout the board, together with USB Good measurement that matches in lots of locations together with in design, plus can flip off blinking lights Future proof requirements for WiFi, and 10Gbps WAN and LAN ports Cons Costly for the US market, ridiculously so within the UK Annoying subscription adverts A USB-C port would have been good Pricing Within the US the Netgear Nighthawk RS700 has an MSRP of $699.99, which comes with a 1-year subscription to Netgear Armor cyber safety. That is clearly not low-cost, though it’s fairly typical of WiFi 7 routers with these types of specs on the time of writing.UK clients should pay considerably extra although: a ridiculous £799.99 (the equal of round $1,000 on the time of writing) which frankly simply isn’t value it, irrespective of how effectively it performs: you might purchase a renewed MacBook Air for a similar worth. General Design Earlier Subsequent The Nighthawk RS700 is kind of a nice-looking machine, in the event you’re into vaguely sci-fi wanting tech. It resembles a tall (28.17cm/11.09”), all-black obelisk of an irregular hexagonal form, with fairly a comparatively slender (although secure) base of approx 4.9” throughout, that means it fortunately takes up a minimal of desk house. The entrance has all of the standing lights and buttons working down it in a single vertical strip, with the ports and sockets doing the identical on the rear aspect. Warmth vents are situated on the highest and backside. General it’s fairly unobtrusive wanting, and preferrred for any workplace or house setup. The quad-core 2.6Ghz processor, plus 2GB of RAM and 512MB of NAND Flash provides loads of energy and reminiscence to handle a number of connections and allocate bandwidth. The RS700 has incorporates 8 inside antennas, and is rated for a WiFi protection of three,500ft2, with the ability to hook up with 200 completely different units. Frequency bands embody one 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz, which will be related to individually or merged collectively and related to concurrently via Multi-Hyperlink Operation, a function distinctive to WiFi 7 routers, permitting the router to select the quickest pace to your machine from the mixed collection of channels. Wired connections embody a 10Gpbs WAN (Wider Space Community) enter to your ISP connection (effectively above the online bundle most individuals can get now, but it surely provides some good futureproofing). Extra uncommonly you additionally get one 10Gbps LAN (Native Space Community), which suggests you possibly can match the bandwidth coming into any of your units related to this through ethernet, which may be very good. As well as you get 4 extra 1Gbps LAN ports (although two of those will be aggregated collectively to type a 2Gbps connection) and one USB 3.0 Sort-A for a quick storage connection. Different options Extra options embody the power to arrange a visitor community with completely different permissions, which supplies you that further little bit of community safety: fairly typical for routers at this worth level. The RS700 additionally comes with the power so as to add a VPN to your total community, which updates routinely for the most recent safety patches. For added safety, you should utilize Netgear Armor with its good parental controls, further VPN and basic safety in opposition to hackers, although this requires a paid-for subscription which is a bit irksome contemplating the asking worth of the router within the first place. The inbuilt utility to regulate the router is fairly feature-rich on the entire, providing in depth controls and an easy interface. The requirement to sign up and register the router, which routinely begins your subscription trial and guarantee, is a bit lengthy winded (this is applicable to different Netgear routers we’ve examined). Lastly, the app does include frequent pop-ups promoting further subscriptions and options, which is a bit irritating, however realistically you received’t want to make use of the app fairly often after the preliminary setup, so that they’re manageable. Efficiency In our testing, we evaluated a router’s effectiveness throughout quite a lot of standardised situations. It’s essential to notice nonetheless that our testing setting has sure limitations: we solely have WiFi 6 units obtainable, particularly the Samsung S21 FE smartphone, so our WiFi testing was confined to the two.4 and 5GHz frequency bands. Moreover, the online connection is restricted and throttles at across the 300Mbps mark. We examined the wi-fi connection between the router and the cellphone at our normal distances: 10ft/3m (uninterrupted), 30ft/9m (uninterrupted), 60ft/18m (with one wall in between), and 90ft/27m (with two partitions in between). Lastly, we conduct a file switch check by connecting an SSD to the USB port on the router, then transferring a file to and from it with a PC related to the router’s ethernet port. Sign energy principally measures the reliability of the connection, and is measured in dBm (decibel milliwatts). The dimensions of outcomes usually measures between -30dBm and -90dBm, with the previous being thought-about the ‘preferrred’ outcome, and disconnection usually occurring at round -90dBm. The principle issue governing sign energy (apart from exterior interference) is usually the standard/energy of the antenna on the router. On this check the RS700 scored strongly, notably throughout the 5GHz band, the place it bested each different router we’ve bested to this point. At 2.4GHz outcomes ranged from -41dBm to -62dBm as much as 60ft (with lack of sign at 90ft), with the 5GHz outcomes starting from -31dBM to -76dBm (together with these readings taken at 90ft). The RS700 advertises a protection of three,500 sq. ft., which might be roughly the 60ft check, although it does attain past this on the 5Ghz frequency as we are able to see. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent Latency is measured in milliseconds (ms), and represents how lengthy it takes for information to journey between the router and the machine, with the decrease values clearly being faster. Latency ranged between 13-20ms within the 2.4GHz band throughout the primary three distances (with lack of connection at 90ft). Within the 5GHz band, latency ranged between 11-23ms on the first three distances, leaping to 36ms on the 90ft vary. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent Relating to the pace check, we carried out a number of assessments to judge web pace, together with the bodily connection pace between the cellphone and router, and a WiFi pace check to evaluate how sign energy impacts efficiency. Community obtain pace was measured by the Oopla pace check app in Mbps (Megabits per second). Measured on the 10/30/60/90ft distances, the two.4GHz averaged at 103/78.4/5.6/0Mbps respectively, with add speeds of 62/50/22/0Mbps. 5Ghz attained common downloads of 273/269/117/25.5Mbps and uploads of 239/227/131/8Mbps. On LAN, the RS700 achieved a obtain pace of 262Mbps and an add pace of 254Mbps, which doesn’t sound loads given the utmost 10Gbps LAN restrict, nonetheless contemplating the restrictions of our web this was nonetheless a stable outcome. Earlier Subsequent Bodily obtain/add pace is measured through the WiFiman app, additionally in Mbps. Measured on the 10/30/60/90ft distances, the two.4GHz band had a 206/206/137/0Mbps obtain energy, with an add of 286/258/149/0Mbps respectively. The 5GHz channel achieved 1200/864/288/8Mbps obtain and 1080/1080/576/17Mbps add speeds respectively. Earlier Subsequent File switch check For our remaining check, we benchmarked the learn and write speeds when transferring information between a PC related to the router through a LAN port, and an SSD (in a USB adapter sled) related to the router through the USB port. Utilizing the CrystalDiskMark software, we noticed the router obtain a 260MB/s learn and 159MB/s write pace within the first sequential check (with 8 queues and 1 thread) – that is when the information are organized linearly and so is at all times the quickest check of the bunch. Within the first random check this dropped to 75MB/s for the learn and 66MB/s for the write within the 32 queue and 1 thread check, with the 1 queue 1 thread being even slower. As you possibly can see within the bar graph picture, out of all of the routers we’ve examined to this point, the RS700 was the quickest choice, notably in terms of write pace. Earlier Subsequent Earlier Subsequent
