NETGEAR

There are a few older reviews that say the router is rubbish and always drops out. I am not a gamer, so cannot say if I experienced the same. I bought the router to replace my Plus Net Hub Two. People are correct when saying the Nighthawk App is crap. I can only agree with them on that, and was absolutely no use with installation of FTTP with the router plugged directly in the ONT. It would never find the connection. Nevermind, I used Firefox to browse to it on 192.168.1.1 with admin and no password. After getting me to add a password, it saved and continues through the wizard to connect. It asked me for a username which was [your username]@plusdsl.net and I was connected. (Plus Net not BT) I backed up the settings quickly the went into advanced LAN to setup a 10 range IP (I will never use 192.*.*.*), saved the settings and rebooted the rooter. Back in the web interface (Firefox to the 10.*.*.*) IP I gave the router, turned on Access Control and began reserving MAC addresses on the Advanced | LAN tab for the computer, TV, sat box, Nintendo etc. but when it came to a IP security camera, I needed to unstall the cam app first, connect to the wifi before allowing the MAC access as Access Settings are on and Block isnt the default setting, but I had already set it to block. Anyway, I wanted to connect to the 5GHz wifi but found out the camera only allows 2.4GHz but also WPA2 rather than WPA3. So, before purchasing the router check if IP cameras support the router security features. The standard password I was given for 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz was a lowercase one and 16 characters in length. Make sure, you change that. Guest networks show the SSID as default but are disabled. I've hidden my SSID's on all networks for added security, have different complex passwords for each of them for added protection. Saved config and rebooted. Connected again in the web interface to the 10.*.*.* range to setup port forwarding for my own hosted website, email server and backup device. I dont use HTTP (port 80) or insecure ports lile POP3. Checked access to 443 (HTTPS), email using 465/587 and once happy and that my IP cameras were FTPS to the backup device, and all was ok. I saved my config and all was done for me, at that point. -- After getting Internet access, I installed the latest firmware. I could have done at anytime. This is where reading the netgear forums were great. By default the router logs you out every 5 mins and to fix this, install the latest firmware, do a factory reset, use the backup file you should have created once happy with your setup to restore your configuration, reboot and do a few final things like clear the logs (I have removed the option to show connecting to a site etc, but if you have kids, you may want this kept on. Do not respond to ping (hackers try to ping your router to see if they can hack it), no response tells them nothing. Dont disable port scans etc (BT/Plus Net Hub Two allows them through) so dont help the hacker. -- This router comes with a 30-day version of Netgear Armor (American English) which needs to be activated by the Nighthawk app. This is where I had more issues. Using the app still tried to install the router, wifi etc but eventually you get to a screen on squares with security, parental controls etc. Clicking the Security box took about 2 mins and errors it cannot begin the 30-day protection. You will need to uninstall the app, restart the phone, re-install the Nighthawk app on your phone, connect to the router and click the security square once again and if all goes well, you will have your trial. At this stage, you can get a link to install Bitdefender for your phone. Login and the link you clicked to install it will connect you up to the 30-days on the router. I went one further and paid for a years subscription. Those 30 days then get added onto the year and because it was an opening charge, it was 70% off so I paid £25 for the year. Is that a lot? No, now send your hubby/wife, significant other, kids the link to install on their devices too. Nothing more to pay to protect the families devices. You can also download the VPN app but that only allows 200mb of free data per day on each account. Good enough if you go to the shops for a pint if milk. DO NOT purchase a VPN Premium subscription as the app doesnt integrate into the Nighthawk system and Cloudflare have blocked many of the IPs, so paying for nothing. I am very happy with my Netgear RAXE500 with wifi strength and speed. I am more secure than with the Plus Net router too. You can connect more devices, have more than the 4 flooded channels the Hub Two uses (slow/poor wifi). One thing I never got in the box are screws to put it on the wall but I can use the ones from the previous netgear device. If you have a Samsung device, you can connect to Wifi 6E but if you use an iPhone forget that and use 5GHz. Default Wifi Names: NETGEAR50 is 2.4GHz NETGEAR50-50 is the 5GHz NETGEAR50-60 is the 6E

I bought this router to replace my ageing NETGEAR R7000 router. It was extremely easy and straight forward to setup straight out of the box. It's now providing a rock solid secure connection for all my devices along with an excellent range of coverage such that I no longer have to rely on a range extender to get a good strong signal in the mancave down at the bottom of my garden.

Do NOT buy from Netgear. RAXE300 Router was faulty from start. 2.4Ghz wifi was poor from the off, but got worse within a few weeks, before eventually failing completely. As this was 2 days after the month of purchase couldn't return item for a refund and buy from a different manufacture (Netgear is US based, so won't buy from them again). Still jumping through hoops to get RAXE300 router replaced under warranty (you have to pay to send it back to Netgear!). Several days now passed and Royal Mail shows item returned to them, but they still have not processed it.

Really Strong Signal, it's not cheap though. Took a bit of time to setup as had issues when I switched out for the old router (turns out need to turn off virgin box for a good 15mins and connect this up). Apart from that it has been easy to use and rocket fast speeds across the house.

Excellent router, purchased when we had Gigabit broadband installed. I always get maximum speeds over the wifi and I have a lot of devices in the house. One thing I have noticed is the 6ghz band seems somewhat slower than the 5ghz band. This is on a 6E supported device, in the same room as the router. I only have a gaming laptop and Samsung phone equipped with 6ghz wifi and I have noticed they both seem sluggish on the Internet when using 6ghz compared to the 5ghz when in the same room. Hence the 4 star review. I think once I come to replace this maybe in a year or so 6ghz won't be in its infancy which I think this is why it seems to be slower on this router. Even using 5ghz on most of my devices speedests are always great!!

I am no expert when it comes to routers but this device was easy to set up and easy to manage. Very strong WiFi signal and good radius. Part of a hardwired multi access point system means I can monitor and manage all connected devices from the nighthawk app. Good solid piece of equipment from netgear

deliverd promptly by Amazon the next morning, I wanted to replace my reliable , but very slow sky router. I had expected some issues connecting to the internet as there arelots of people saying you need a userid and password for sky. Connected to my sky fibre internet via on ONT , and within seconds i was up and running with fantastic wifi speed.I did have an issue , whereby the wifi connection would keep dropping intermittently . A call to NETGEAR support solved this when I did eventually speak to the support agent for this product. This was my biggest issue. The first time I called,the call was answered promptly and then passed to the support agent for this product. I was then left hanging for an hour without reply from the support agent. The second time I called I requested a call back due to the previous issue.They said it would take 2 hours. BUT they never called.The third time I explained what had happened and they said they would wait until I was put through, But that still took 30 minutes. However , once through the support agent understood the issue and resolved it within 10 minutes. He told me to disable wireless smart connect and then assign different wireless channels for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. Channel 11 and 48 respectively. Wow! Instant fix , and no issues since. I'm not sure why they dont send out routers this way as it must be a common issue. Very very happy with both speed and coverage within the house, and I would reccomend, BUT Netgear should improve their response time for support , as I was getting close to returning! 5 star for the router performance , which is what matters ultimately. I would recommend without hesitation.

Purchased for our new home, but due to temporary living arrangements, it was required to be used early. The virgin media hub was not able to send a strong enough signal to where I work from. I set the RS6000 Nighthawk up to increase the range. It has worked brilliantly. Before, I was dropping out of teams calls, losing connection and not able to buffer simple instagram videos and now this all works lightning fast. Updating my Xbox series X games over WiFi and I was getting around 150Mbps which isn’t bad, considering before I couldn’t watch an instagram reel. Setup was easy (Nighthawk doesn’t support coax) so to utilise this with Virgin Media, you first need to switch the hub into modem mode and then link via Ethernet from port 1 on the Virgin Media hub to the internet port in the Nighthawk. You can the setup the router via the app which takes about 20-30 mins with firmware updates. The router is expensive but when you rely on connectivity to work, it pretty much pays for itself. All in all, a fantastic router which has plenty to offer in configuration and allows you to get the best out of the fibre you purchase from your ISP. It also looks like a beast!