As more and more consumer electronics gets announced, advertised, and sold; this will lead to more wireless devices in the household. You standard connection will no longer suffice and it is or becoming mandatory for households to have router(s) setup to reduce the dilution of internet speeds.
Netgear recently announced their latest member of the Nighthawk routers w/ the X4S so we decided to take it for a spin. Previously, I have been utilizing Verizon's modem/router they provided and looking to make several changes in services this year and Internet being one of them.
I've been using the router for a few weeks now as I am ready to report back all of my findings. Lets get into it.
Setup
Inside of the box is the not-small Black base and its 4 antennas. The setup for the Nighthawk is pretty simple as I'm sure some consumers who haven't set up their own router yet. You have the option for a wired via Ethernet cable or a wireless via Wi-Fi connection.
Since my computer is nowhere near my modem setup, I went for the wireless approach to connect the router. Its already arrives w/ Wi-Fi network ready for you to join. Just use the sticker that shows off the Network ID & password to join in. You'll know when you have it up and running as it has an abundance of LED lights on the top.
Performance/Experience
Inside of this router is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core CPU, 160MHz radio to beef up the bandwidth, simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi, a 4-stream Wi-Fi Architecture for smoother game & 4K video streaming, and multi-user MIMO tech that allows you to stream Wi-FI to multiple devices at the same time instead of one device at a time like previously. All of this to pump out speeds up to 2.53Gbps and better handle multiple devices.
While I'm not utilizing the fastest speeds at home, I have a measly 15/5 from FiOS. I have tons of Wi-Fi connected devices at home. My main computer is my iMac desktop w/ occasional use of my Surface Pro, all of my home entertainment (streaming & gaming) comes from my Xbox One, my current mobile devices are the Moto X & Nexus 6P as my OnePlus One is my media device, Pixel-C as a tablet, and a Note 5 for when all other devices are dead. Yeah, it's a lot but there's plenty of other devices at my disposal. All of these things easily bog down my in-home internet speeds. To the point where I have to take a device or 2 off of Wi-Fi at times.
I made sure to put my iMac & Xbox One on the 5GHz network as they handle about 80% of the internet traffic at home and relay the other mobile devices to the 2.3GHz one. By doing so, I was finally able to enjoy 4K streaming w/o long buffering. I was able to reach speeds of up to 15.30 Mbps down & 6.04 up w/ 10ms to ping compared to the 9.57Mbps down & 6.37Mbps up w/ 186ms to ping.
Loving the 2 USB 3.0 ports on the side which are great for those who want to stream content directly from the router to whichever device on your network. You can do the reverse of that by streaming local content to your network using their Genie app. You can also turn any printer into an AirPrint printer, connect devices via QR code, and access parental control via the app as well.
Using 2 Nighthawk X4s routers in Bridge mode ups the ante. For the uninitiated, you can setup 2 routers to get even faster Wi-Fi speeds, more range, and the option for more wired connections in bridge mode. Which would be ideal if you have several devices at home and do a lot of streaming. While my speeds didn't noticeably get faster, someone w/ a plethora of devices in a larger home would truly benefit from it.
The Nighthawk X4S is the ideal solution for gaming & 4K streaming in your home.
TG 2 Cents
Netgear definitely has a winner here w/ the Nighthawk X4S. Adding the option of a 5GHz network in my home has been a big plus as I don't have too much ground cover in regards to area space. With the plethora of the aforementioned devices, having the feature to prioritize apps has been super helpful.
So what exactly does a $270 router actually get you? Everything you need to better handle 4K content and improved streaming. Job well done Netgear team. Though some of you might think of this as a pricey router but it aligns w/ what you would spend on D-Link's latest Ultra Wi-Fi routers. In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for faster Internet speeds at home that won't break my wallets.
