Keeping up with advances in technology can be challenging, so when an opportunity comes along to get onto some serious futureproofing, it’s well worth checking out. Like Netgear’s super-powerful Nighthawk RAXE500 tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router.
Designed to provide the sort of raw performance that’s required for top connection speeds in all internet uses – ranging from streaming the highest resolution video content backwards and forwards, to running your small business (including those ever-present Zoom meetings) to, of course, gaming – the key to the latest Nighthawk’s technology leap is the introduction of Wi-Fi 6E, using the previously mainly emergency broadcasts-only 6GHz band.
This is an advancement upon the fairly recently introduced Wi-Fi 6 protocol, providing faster speeds (depending upon your internet connection, of course) and band-exclusive congestion-free signal, with 200 per cent more spectrum than the well-established dual- band.
If you imagine the 2.4GHz band as a laneway, and 5Ghz as an average two-way street, then 6GHz is essentially the equivalent of a multi-lane freeway, allowing smoother streaming, and lower latency when using high-bandwidth applications.
Plus, it can handle up to 60 Wi-Fi devices, so those days of various pieces of equipment in the home fighting for bandwidth are relegated to history.
While the range of devices supporting Wi-Fi 6E isn’t massive currently, being the big new thing in connectivity means manufacturers are jostling to introduce support. Being prepared for the future is half the battle and, in the meantime, you’re getting full backwards compatibility from a device with an incredible specification sheet that’s an ode to power. This Nighthawk is equipped with a 64-bit, 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, which can provide enough juice to cater for all wired and wireless demands at blistering connection speeds.
If you’ve invested in gigabit NBN then this latest Netgear wonder has the grunt to handle whatever’s thrown at it, with the ability to operate up to a blistering 10.8Gbps Wi-Fi speed.
This Wi-Fi oomph can also be spread wider from where you install your new Nighthawk router, with eight powerful built-in beamforming antennae able to cover up to just over 30 square meters. Rather than going for the porcupine look that you get with many routers, the antennae are sealed inside two folding wings, in a device that while larger than some – there’s a lot of power to house – looks sleek, and not unlike something that you might find in the modern-day Batcave. Obviously where you place the router will affect that wireless range – unobstructed on a flat surface or mounted to a clear wall space is best, so that the antennae have room to do their stuff. That being said, we tested ours with it out of sight behind our entertainment center and Wi-Fi was still solid at all extremes of our flat. Yes, power!
If it’s finally time to upgrade from that functional but feature-lacking ISP router that you’ve been getting by with and experience the blazingly fast future of Wi-Fi, it’s worth doing it properly. The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router is amongst the most futureproof options available, offering best network performance that your gaming will thank you for – as will any other connected functionalities that you may throw at this superpowered device.
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