NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 Wireless Gaming Router Review

1. Introduction2. NETGEAR Nighthawk XR5003. NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 Administration Interface4. NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 would be a fairly run-of-the-mill router according to its basic specification and performance, mean and moody physical appearance aside. However, it is the Netduma software which puts it in a league of its own.

Netduma's own R1 router is about £90 cheaper, but doesn't even offer 802.11ac WiFi. That means, if you want the DumaOS capabilities but in a more complete hardware form, the XR500 is currently unique, although NETGEAR is planning further models in the range.

As a first foray, the XR500 is a sensible choice. It's not so expensive that only the wealthiest gamers will consider it, and it has a full set of regular router features too. You're not really paying a significant premium over a regular router with these mainstream features, such as the Synology RT2600ac.

That means that if you want to use this as your everyday family router that also offers kick-ass gaming capabilities, it fits the bill nicely. For gamers looking to optimise their online experience, the NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 comes highly recommended.

You can buy from Amazon for £239.99 HERE.

Pros:

• DumaOS is packed with features to smooth your online gaming performance.
• Combats gaming lag by prioritising traffic.
• Decent 802.11ac performance at close range.
• Good 802.11ac performance at long range.
• Great 802.11n performance and range.
• Regular router features including Ethernet switch and USB 3.0 ports.
• Full set of routing software options on top of DumaOS.
• Reasonably priced.

Cons:

• No exceptional hardware features.
• Mid-range routing specification.

KitGuru says: The NETGEAR Nighthawk XR500 brings the excellent DumaOS router software to a wider audience, with some great abilities to prevent online lag.

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