Welcome to the Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 R7500v2. This is the baby brother of the Nighthawk X6, which was released earlier this year. The Nighthawk X4 is a direct competitor to the also recently released Asus RT-AC87U.
If you are looking for a high performance router, you will likely be reading this review and other routers in the AC1750 and above category, making comparisons. Here we are going to go through the key features, and explain exactly what those features do, as well as seeing how they can benefit you…
Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 R7500v2 Features
There are a lot of features to go through, so let’s get going!
7 Features of the Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350
Up To 2.33Gbps Wi-Fi
If you want to be among the best that wi-fi can offer, look no further than the Netgear Nighthawk X4. With a huge 1.73Gbps using the latest and greatest 802.11ac standard, and a further 600Mbps with 802..11n, the X4 offers wireless data rates of up to 2.33Gbps. This puts the Nighthawk X4 right up there with the highly regarded Asus RT-AC87U in terms of wi-fi performance. The X4 uses Quad Stream technology to maximize performance giving superior performance when gaming, HD streaming and downloading.
MU-MIMO / Quad-Stream Architecture
The X4 is powered by the Quantenna 802.11ac Wave 2 chipset. With four streams this helps offer the blisteringly fast Wi-Fi speeds on offer.
MU-MIMO technology means that multiple users can benefit from these fast speeds concurrently. Even if you live in a home that has lots of furniture and walls that reflect, scatter or absorb wireless signal, the Nighthawk X4 can use the affected wireless signals to it’s advantage – for everyone!
Fast, Efficient Processing
No matter if you are streaming, downloading or moving files around the home, you want to make sure your router has the grunt to cope with the heavy loads, whether it be on wireless or wired transfers. The Nighthawk X4 AC2350 has a 1.4GHz dual core CPU, which is more than sufficient in dealing whatever you or your network can throw at it.
Confidently play online games or stream videos, with no lag introduced from a processor that isn’t up to the job! Gaming is particularly sensitive to latency. Having an awesome processor removes any risk that your router is the cause or contributor of high latency.
Dynamic QoS
Netgear’s Dynamic QoS application helps you get the most out of your network and Internet connection. Dynamic QoS preserves and prioritizes traffic so that the sensitive traffic is not congested or drowned out by less important traffic. This lowers latency and jitter for the applications that depend on it.
The Best Storage Ports!
Two USB 3.0 Ports and an eSATA port…yes, you read that right! No old skool USB 2.0 ports here! You now have all the hardware capability you need to enjoy fast and lag-free network storage. This is perfect if you have HD videos on a USB or eSATA drive that you want to stream around your home.
You can optionally use Netgear’s ReadyShare Vault software to transfer and backup files from your PC to any drive attached to the X4.
Extend Your Reach – Beamforming+
Beamforming+ is a method of Transmit Beamforming, which extends signal and coverage further by adjusting signal phase. In basic terms, Beamforming+ intelligently discovers exactly where your Wi-Fi devices are located and focuses the wireless beamwidth in the direction of those devices. This extends coverage as the router isn’t sending signal in all directions all of the time. It also means that reliability and data rates are increased over longer distances as the signal is relatively stronger.
4 External High Power Antennas
With four adjustable external antennas, you can adjust the polarization of your Wi-Fi coverage to suit the aesthetics of your home. This is particularly useful if you have a multi-level home.
Netgear Nighthawk X4 – Other Features
Parental Control
It’s good to have control over your network. You may not want everyone on the Internet 24/7 using it as they please. This could be because you have kids and you want to limit the time they spend on the Internet. It could be because you don’t want someone on your network continuously downloading from the Internet, potentially hitting your ISP data cap and costing you money!
With the Netgear Genie app, Parental Control gives you the option to lock down your network to the way it suits you.
Netgear Genie
Netgear Genie is a free app that lets you monitor and take full control over your home network. It makes any printer AirPrint compatible, can find and media files across your home network and then play them, and also give you in-depth monitoring of the X4.
WPS – Push ‘n Connect
Pair new devices to the network with ease, using Netgear’s WPS Push ‘N Connect. This saves you having to log into the Web GUI each time you want to add a new client – if you have forgotten the pre-shared key!
Simultaneous Dual Band
Run both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands concurrently. This helps you get the maximum throughput across all clients around the home.
Guest Network
Do you have guests visiting? Don’t want them to see your local network, but give them access to the Internet? The Nighthawk X4 has a Guest Network option for your guests to connect to, keeping them securely away from your own network.
On/Off Buttons
The wireless, LED lights and power can be turned on and off with a button, helping to save energy and blank out flashing lights if desired.
Easy Install
The Netgear X4 R7500 can be set up in just a few minutes.
Support For Open Source
Add your own software if you wish, the Nighthawk R7500 is open source compatible. Go to www.myopenrouter.com for more
Netgear Nighthawk X4 R7500 Technical Specs
- 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- MU-MIMO
- 4x 1Gbps LAN / 1x 1Gbps WAN Port
- 2x USB 3.0 / 1eSATA Port
- 1.4GHz Dual Core CPU
- 4x Adjustable Antennas
- Dynamic QoS
- Guest Network
- 256MB RAM
Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 R7500v2 Conclusion
Good
- Very Powerful Hardware
- Excellent Storage Ports
- Good QoS Features
Not so Good
- Not Cheap (At Time Of Writing)
Alternatives To The Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Router
 |
 |
 |
 |
Do you agree/disagree? Why not comment below and let us know what you think…