NETGEAR - Nighthawk X4S Wireless-AC Dual-Band Wi-Fi Router - Black

This router's performance is exemplary in all aspects. It's speed and range are both incredible. Granted, I only have a 75 mbps downstream connection through Comcast, and 10 mbps upstream, but after doing a speedtest, I do get about 90 downstream and 12 upstream via wired ethernet connection. This router still maintains this speed wirelessly on the 5 GHz AC band with AC devices. The router's performance with "N" devices is incredible, too. For instance, I have previously owned Linksys E1000, E2000, and EA3500 routers, and a Netgear WNDR-3400 v.3 before owning this router, and all I can say is WOW. Utilizing the 2.4 GHz band on legacy N devices is great. Regarding range on 2.4 GHz, I am pulling 350-400 feet outdoors, possibly longer in the winter months without leaves on the trees. The throughput on 2.4 GHz is still in the 75 mbps range, even at 50-60 feet and through 4 walls, and is still easily at 50 mbps at 100 feet based on an average of 90 mbps with a wired ethernet connection. The attentuation rate is remarkable as the throughput rate dimishes very slowly while the signal strength decreases, which smokes all of the aforementioned router models. The 5 GHz signal on wireless AC devices is like a lossless wired connection up to about 30-40 feet, so if I'm pulling 90 mbps via ethernet, that's what my AC devices are getting. The 5 GHz band also has a great range of 250-300 feet for me, but obviously deteriorates more quickly over distance than the 2.4 GHz band. With 5 GHz "N" devices I am pulling 75 mbps at 50 feet. I will say this though, in all honesty, this is the first router I've ever had that I found the 5 GHz actually "useful'. I know some people might argue with that, I've found dual-band 5 GHz signals in the past to be lightweights unless you are in the same room as the router, and have always had to rely on the 2.4 band once I was out of the room. Not so here with the R7800. I'm impressed. Also, the router can divvy up the signal across multiple devices better than any I've seen. The old Netgear WNDR 3400 v.3 did a pretty good job, but the Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800 does an incredible job where there's plenty of bandwidth allocated to each device. The router has a QoS setting that can be modified if you need to, but so far, I've never had to make changes thus far, and that's even with two Netflix HD streams going at the same time, pictures being uploaded to Facebook or elsewhere. No hiccups. I would highly recommend this router. It's performance is incredible on legacy devices on the 2.4 GHz band (using beamforming technology even on that band), and yes, old devices benefit and get more bandwidth because of it, but obviously won't register download speeds like newer AC wireless devices, but "N" 5 GHz and AC 5 GHz devices is where it shines. I generally have 12-15 devices at once. I experienced one drop of signal, but that was remedied after a firmware update. Quality product!

I bought this router to replace a "parental controls" router that I bought from Amazon called "pcwrt" about 18 months ago. My internet speed is rated for 60mbps, but with this old router I was only getting about 32 down. So for a test I bypassed the router and hard-wired my PC directly to the modem, and I was getting 60 or higher, so it was easy to determine that my “fairly new” router was the bottleneck. I have a home that has 2 levels (plus a basement) and about 1,700 square feet in size. Even though my home is medium sized, I went with the Nighthawk X4S just to make sure my home was covered, and then some. Let me tell you, I now consistently get 65+mbps down on all my devices, and I have a lot of devices. My device lists includes ipad’s, android and ios Phones, several roku boxes, ps3, ps4, smart tv, laptops, etc. In total I have roughly 20 devices that connect to my wifi. The range is incredible, my neighbor can connect to my wifi no problem. Also this router simultaneously broadcasts one signal at 2.4ghz and another signal a 5ghz, each with its own wifi name. The 2.4 has the capability to reach further, and the 5 ghz signal has higher speed but doesn’t reach as far, but even so the 5ghz still covers my house completely and I am getting over 60mbps down on either signal. I set up the devices that don’t move, such as roku boxes and PS4 on the 5ghz signal, and the portable devices (tablets, phones) on the 2.4 ghz signal. Anyway, this router is simply awesome, and well worth the price! Parental controls - These seem very intuitive and effective. You can set individual levels of “blocking” on each device if you wish. This was a big concern of mine, and I am happy with the customizability in this area. Genie app – I’ve read some complaints about this app, but I see no issues with it. All in all, a great router and I recommend it!

This router maximized my home networks speed. Here are a few important points of interest: 1) All these years of DSL service, I had a random Modem/Router combo which hasn't serviced me that well. So, I decided it was time to upgrade! Typically I was getting only 50% of my bandwidth speeds through my Wi-Fi. After getting this Nighthawk Router, I now get 100% DSL bandwidth on the same DSL service. All of my devices are much faster now... Xbox One/PS4, iPhones (3), Tablets (4), Brother Printer, Blink Home Security, Amazon Fire TV's (2), Sony 4K UHDTV (3), and computers/laptops (2). 2) Cables! I upgrade my network data cables to new CAT6 cables, which has helped the router to connect perfectly with the DSL modem. Since adding this wonderful Nighthawk router, I now have NO MORE wired connected devices in my home network. In all conditions, either with CAT6 data cables and/or Wi-Fi, this Nighthawk router has delivered the service speeds I was missing for years. 3) Interface.... Also, I like the interface for setting up and using the router. I like that you get two options of 2.4ghz or 5ghz connection. One thing to keep in mind is that some older devices can only use 2.4ghz so it is that old device itself that limits the connection speed. Newer devices are 5ghz capable and can maximize the speed capability. 4) Security... I also like the "Access Control" feature so that you have to permit a device to connect to your Wi-Fi. For example, when I got a new Sony 4K UHDTV, I logged into my Wi-Fi network and put in the proper password, but it wouldn't connect to the internet. Then I went to the Netgear interface on my PC and it displayed that it had been blocked (because Access Control is turned on). So then I simply hit a check box to "allow" the UHDTV onto my home network, and then it connected. Finally, I hope my review helps encourage you to purchase your very own Nighthawk router! Thanx!

I was coming from a motorola Arris all-in-one Surfboard AC unit that I had purchased a few years ago and while it worked great compared to what I had at the time, it has since been extremely lacking in throughput, range, and stability. You know, basically all the most important things you need a router to do. I also happened to have a standard surfboard docsis 3.0 modem without the wireless laying around, so I decided to hook that up and get a dedicated wireless router. I used to use an Apple Time Machine as well for a dedicated router, but that thing has also lacked power/range for my house and it's on it's last leg anyhow. After much deliberation and some chit-chat with the sales reps at the store, I pulled the trigger on the X4S. I had my sights on the X6 or the X8, but they convinced me on the X4S as it saved me a bit of money and it seems to have 95% of the capability for 75% of the price. Setup was ridiculously easy. Follow the quick startup guide to get things moving and do the firmware updates. You can set it up like you would for everyday use then navigate to it in the web browser to tackle the firmware and other setup features. I have left mine in basically stock trim for the moment and I don't see anything in the house skipping a beat. Usage: Wow. This thing is a beast. I actually have it in my basement due to the coax locations and proximity to high usage devices and it can still blast 5G to the whole house (3000 sq ft) and stream netflix to the far opposite corner without missing a beat. It's really that good. I have it set up in just about the worst location and it's just cruising along. We have 4 people in the house, so lots of phones, tablets, laptops, TV's, etc. This is the kind of router I love: one that you turn on, set up, and forget that it's even there. I'll try to remember to update this later on, but so far this thing is definitely worth the price of admission, especially if you have a heavy usage household and need some serious range.

I needed a new router. This is the one that the Best Buy associate recommended. I was on board until I saw the price....The associate must have seen the look on my face. She re-assured me that it would be worth it, and my router frustrations would be left in the dust. So with a brick in my stomach, I looked to the checkout, paid, and home I went to experience my new "toy". I took it out of the box and started setting up what looks like a prop out of Star Wars. Once I had the antennas arranged and set up properly, I started to test the speed loss vs. hard wire.(I have Cox HSI and pay for the "up to150 Mbps") This is where I noticed the difference! My previous router (R.I.P ol' Buddy) would loose 35-60% speed depending on the day, room, location.... etc. I showed an average of 1% total loss on 4 different tests with Nighthawk X4s Wireless-ac Dual-band Wi-fi Router. I was getting 148 MBPS through Wi-Fi!!! My life was good again! I felt relieved that I could lay to rest my old, tired, less expensive and much inferior router. If you get this, I hope you experience the same joy this brings me on a daily basis. I mean, who doesn't want to be able to go 200 ft from the router location into the middle of the street and still get full reception pull up a chair and watch Netflix?

Not the most expensive but the one I have been most satisfied with so far. It last a feature I love which is auto management of the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks but even though this takes a little more assigning I find that it works better. My previous router had that feature and I found unreliable signals every so often as it had devices on 2.4 ghz when it felt it was better but it actually wasnt, it did the same with the 5ghz. After testing I know what devices perform best in which rooms on each networks so I have more control using the older method. Otherwise my only other annoyance is the old interface in the settings. Everything else is top notch, it looks cool, is very reliable, has great signal strength (large antennas), and performs like a champ. I have zero issues with ping on my PC in online games and stream all the 4K video my heart desires. I highly recommend this if you do not want to break the bank and want something that will work as advertised.

When I bought this router at the end of June, it worked amazingly well. Was getting an increase in speed and performance. About two weeks ago, around Christmas, my LAN objects started losing their connection daily. I'd have to either move them one more port down, or rebooting the router, once I ran out of ports, had to reboot the router anyway. I went online and installed the newest firmware version 1.0.2.40 and hoped for a fix. Next day, connection had been lost again on all LAN connected equipment. Went on, verified the DHCP release was still 24 hours, and hadn't somehow switched to less, it had the correct settings. I tried DHCP Reserving IP addresses, still didn't work. I then bundled it up and went to Best Buy to get a swap. When I went to Geek Squad rep to ask about it, he said he also encountered the issue and it wouldn't be solved by getting a new one, but that I'd have to contact Netgear to get the issue fixed. Well, I go to Netgear's site and find out that 90 days after purchase you have to pay for phone support. I'm not going to pay for support when my router is still in the manufacturer's warranty date. Once I find a router that I find acceptable, I'll be taking this one back. I loved the X4S, but having to pay for support for them on a router that isn't even a year old is ridiculous.

My isp is ATT uverse and recently upgrade to 45 download and 5 uplaod (Waiting for the gigapower to be in my area) Time warner offers higher speeds but they tend to go down alot. The router/modem they gave me was brand new and dual band. ATT uvers' top of the line gateway (modem/rotuer) it worked great downstairs but upstairs would get 5-10 downlaod speed over wifi. I got the Nighthawk x4s specifically for better 5ghz speed and range. My house is 4000 sq ft on a half acre lot, has about 30 wifi devices plus guests. usually around 5-10 active at a time. I went from 5-10 mpbs upstairs to 40-55mpbs over wifi! Went from 5-15mps outside to 40-55mps. all the reviews raved on the 5ghz channel and it delivered. Range and Speed are better than i could have asked for. Only draw back is if you are a novice with routers the interface can be confusing if you want to do more advanced setup. If you are somewhat knowledgeable it should be fine for you. They do have a great user manual that can make you into a very knowledgeable person on the subject. Other than that the setup is quick and easy. It is a great router for large homes and I would suggest this router to every one. If you are looking to get the most out of your service and have a large home this is the router for you. Gaming and streaming multiple devices with no buffering or lag.