20 Best Router For 400 Mbps Spectrum (2023 Updated)

Solid for the most part. Pulling about 800 mbps down with 1. 2 gbps plan through xfinity. Three items of note: 1. This router/firmware does NOT have smart parental controls. Was willing to pay for subscription, but it doesn’t have it.

2. Smart Connect should be offered for guest network. Not ideal that you have to have 3 guest networks if you want all 3 bands available. 3. All of my iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) stay connected to the wifi, but lose internet about once a day.

After extensive trouble shooting, realized it’s the bitdefender for armor app. Overall it’s a solid product and will keep armor subscription, but slightly annoying I have to disconnect/reconnect wifi or restart web protection within bitdefender for armor app to get internet to work again.

Same problem as the following link, hopefully they get it fix soon: https://community. netgear. com/t5/NETGEAR-Armor/Losing-internet-on-iPhones-with-Armor-App-installed/td-p/2107111.

I bought the ASUS AX3000 to replace the single-band, WiFi 4 router that is built into my AT&T modem. There are simply too many 2. 4GHz networks bleeding over into our house from the neighbors, and the AT&T router is too weak to get the full circuit bandwidth anywhere beyond about 10 feet from it.

The AX3000 is incredibly easy to set up. Before starting, I Googled how to shut off the built-in wifi radio and put the AT&T modem/router into pass-through mode. The ASUS router app is really nice, but I preferred using the on-board interface to set things up by wiring in our desktop PC.

I set up both 2. 4GHz and 5GHz networks using different SSID’s so that I could tell them apart. (I am not a fan of the “Smart Connect” feature that uses a single SSID and can move devices between 2. 4GHz and 5GHz to try to optimize range and speed.

) Two devices in the house only support 2. 4GHz, but the rest are all on the 5GHz network, including iPhones running WiFi 6 and a variety of devices including Apple TVs and Roku sticks using WiFi 5. Using a speedtest app on my iPhone 12, I then methodically checked every room in the house before connecting all the other devices.

We have a 3000 sq foot, two-story home with another 1000 sq ft in the unfinished basement. The AX3000 sits in the loft near the center of the second floor (great central location). The results? I got the full bandwidth of our internet circuit in every room of the house and in the basement, despite the signal strength sometimes being as low as 35%! This router has great features, a good user interface and a nice companion app.

But it’s the combination of WiFi 6 and other advanced tech that makes its performance shine. I have even noticed my Chromebook getting better battery life now that it can operate on 802. 11ac (WiFi 5) along with a stronger signal.

The AX3000 is not the cheapest home router, but if you need range, throughput, and the ability to support a fleet of modern devices, it is a great investment.

So, decided to cut the cable BUT use some of the money to subscribe to a VPN. The VPN company stated the ISP router would not be adaptable unless I did a bunch of tech stuff like flash it. I can build PCs, I can do very basic things and when shown or told I can pretty much make anything work.

Chose Asus because I like their product, just built a PC with an Asus mobo (Z490 ROG Strix E) and an Asus monitor (PA278) This router is supposed to work well with the VPN company I chose. First upon the simple (and it is simple) set-up, I received no signal from the modem to the router.

Called Asus and they helped me get a signal. I was willing to put that down as perhaps I made a mistake. Tried to install the VPN and when VPN was activated a loss of internet on the PC but not the 2 Rokus.

Contacted the VPN company who worked on it from their end and couldn’t find an issue. Contacted Asus again and again, they helped but when the VPN was on the PC was offline EVEN hardwired into the router.

Had a professional come in to set up the network. He did but VPN drops download from 200+MBPS – >50. He told me to contact the VPN company again. they had me run some configs and nothing. I would call again, but and I know it is something that companies do to keep prices down, but when I can’t understand a single word the phone help is saying (because I can’t be online if working on the internet with possible outages, due to the working on it.

) So, I won’t call them, asking them to repeat and talk slower makes me feel embarrassed. I rarely complain about the telephone outsources because it is what it is, but Asus’ by far the worst. So, while it FINALLY, gets me signals to everything I need the fact that a hardwired PC’s download speed drops 75% is frustrating and I would return it but with the market the way it is with stock on shelves down (bought the last one) and the need for one that handles wifi6 AND VPN there may not be anything else available.

It breaks my heart to have to write this review because as I stated I truly like Asus products.

You should have bought a router for YOUR TI purposes only!! this is a router that’s meant for maybe an apartment or a 2 possibly 3 bedroom home not for an office building! it’s no wonder it didn’t give results like you wanted and it failed.

this is a entry level Wi-Fi router you should have kept with the Netgear nighthawk or something similar. IT ALSO SOUNDS LIKE YOUR PLACEMENT OF THE ROUTER WAS ALSO A BIG REASON TOO. These are 101 facts and you claim to say your I.

T if I was in your position there would have been no way in hell would have bought this router I would have went with something higher in for my “clients”. this router performs exceptionally well with a range of probably 150 to 200 ft with obstructing walls I haven’t had any issues and I’ve had this router for almost a year now the AI protection software works perfectly and blocks what needs to be blocked.

The ASUS router app it’s perfect, easy setup, only took me about 15 minutes it also supports AI Wi-Fi mesh systems so any other Asus Wi-Fi mesh routers you can connect to this and it’s Wi-Fi 6!!! unfortunately as far as the price is concerned I bought it when it was $70 now it’s 159 on Amazon highly recommend this router and remember, if you have a long house an older home that’s brick or anything with thick sheetrock look somewhere else.

Possibly look in to an AI mesh system.

Fast service from CCL Computers got it before the estimated delivery date. Will use them again. Great router the wireless speed is excellent I had 1. 2 gig, need to remember most of the ethernet ports on PC’s are 1gig so the higher ethernet speeds on the router won’t count.

I also bought some Cat 8 ethernet cables for the faster speed. The WiFi 6 is also improved as there is less interference from other WiFi 5 routers around you. Make sure you want only a router as this model is not a modem/ router.

Could be cheaper as at £229 it is quite expensive. Overall a good buy to improve your network.

We purchased the 2 pack Nest Wifi Mesh router as a replacement for our older Apple AirPort Extreme. We could never get it to function properly, eventually returning it to the store. I’m digitally native, fairly technically competent and work in a technical field (engineer).

These routers could not consistently maintain an internet signal. We have Xfinity internet. I imagine this is a very common setup in many homes using Nest routers. We tried the router with two customer owned modems, an older Arris DOCSIS 3.

0 unit that has worked perfectly with the AirPort for about 6 years (can’t remember the last time it even needed a restart) and a brand new Arris DOCSIS 3. 1 modem. We contacted Xfinity each time before switching to be sure they were activated in their system and receiving an internet signal.

The router had the same issue of not being able to obtain/maintain an internet connection with both modems. I had to call technical support 3 separate times over the short time we had this unit. In the end, they blamed Xfinity, who in turn blamed Arris.

But given that we had the same router issue with two separate Arris modems, and that each time when we reconnected our old AirPort, everything worked fine again, the variable here clearly is the Google Nest router.

The Google Home app, which controls the device, is cumbersome. It’s designed for ease of use, but this also means it’s a “black box” with minimal user control should adjustments be needed. I’m still not sure if the issue we had was hardware or software related, but in the end it doesn’t really matter as Very glad I was able to get a refund and try a router from another manufacturer.

If you do plan to purchase one of these, in addition to price shopping, be sure to pay attention to the return window the retailer you’re purchasing it from allows. We found national retailers vary from 15 days to 90 days.

If a defect doesn’t immediately present itself, in my experience, Google’s warranty isn’t where you want to be stuck, so those extra days may end up being valuable.

Homes differ. I don’t want to suggest that competing products are intrinsically inferior to this product, but I did try out 4 different makes of mesh systems in my home and found the Google Nest AC 2200 three pack somewhat better than the competition in my home.

The mesh systems I tried were the Netgear Orbi AC 3000 two pack, the Amazon eero 6 four pack, the TP Link Deco S 4 four pack and the Google Nest. All systems were comparable in price, around $ 250, during the Cyber Monday sale window, except for the TP Link system which cost about $ 180.

I would consider these systems mid range mesh systems, not entry level ones. My yardstick was that the mesh had to deliver better speed and signal strength that my existing router and extender combination and had to be stable and consistent in speed.

What I found is that none of the four named systems, all of which claimed 5000 to 6000 square ft of coverage, actually covered my 3000 square ft L shaped home with uniform speeds across the home. I got about 160-200 MBps in one half of my home and only 50-70 MBps in the far end of the other half of the house with these mesh networks.

My subscription is 350 MBps and I get 120-160 MBps in one half and 30-50 MBps in the other half with just my router and extender. The three unit Google Nest based on the older AC 2200 standard gave me better speeds than even the four unit eero 6 mesh which is based on the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard, though the difference was not big: about 15 % better.

Speed apart, the clincher for me was that the two Google extenders in the Nest pack came with built in speakers which could be used as network connected speakers to play streaming audio. Overall, the Google Nest was better in my layout but I wish I could get a true 5000 sq ft mesh with equal speeds across my whole home.

I bought this to upgrade my main node as I already had the 2017 version of the 1st gen pucks that worked fairly well. I appreciate that it’s backwards compatible with the older gen and able to use them as mesh nodes without any hassle.

My new home has several walls in between the main node and the locations that it makes to most sense to place the mesh points, so the upgraded antenna on this unit has given my older mesh points a boost.

I’m now getting close to double the speed at the ends of my house. It’s supposedly rated for 2200 sqft which would cover my whole house on its own, but I haven’t tested it out. When replacing the main node I did have to set up everything from scratch and reset the mesh points since there’s no way to transfer an existing network to the new unit.

Other than that, setup is a breeze guided by the Google Home app. My main complaints are the new plug shape and removal of USB C that the previous gen had, the lack of VLAN tagging, limited upload speeds on PPPoE mode, and limited download speeds in general (I get max ~600 Mbps from my 1 Gbps fiber, the ISP provided router got around ~850 Mbps).

If the nest WiFi points had wired backhaul and PoE to use as WAPs I might have considered purchasing them as well. If you want advanced networking features and settings this is not the system for you.

I was running an older DOCSIS 3. 0 router combo and needed an upgrade badly. I got a deal on the Nighthawk and instantly saw speeds increase. I was getting 100mb download speed at best on my PC Wi-Fi.

Now it’s 250mb consistently. That means way better range as my PC is in my furthest bedroom from the router. The Coax cable was a bit snug and took some maneuvering to get on. At least it’s on tight lol.

Most importantly, the Nighthawk app was a bit finicky when I set it up. After calling my internet provider to activate the modem/router, I still couldn’t get on the network. Make sure to download the app and make every attempt to login to the router and change your network name and password.

You can also do this from a web browser, but it has to be on the network first. Overall, I’m very happy with the upgrade. I didn’t find out it’s DOCSIS 3. 0 until after I set it up. I guess I don’t really need DOCSIS 3.

1 as long as this continues to work. Bonus: props to Netgear support for getting back to me quickly about registering an already registered product(bought it on OfferUp). They were effective at communicating and making things easy.

I’d buy another Netgear product because of that experience.

Bought this router at the beginning of 2022 after reviewing 25 other routers. I’ve been in the IT business for 30+ years and needed an ultra-reliable solution for my business network without having to migrate over to NOC level aspect.

The cost for this router was comparable to other high end routers. I also purchased the CM2000 Modem and discarded my ISP’s equipment due to their unreliable functionality. Unpacking and setup was very simple and all equipment appeared to be brand new with easy instructions to get started.

Changing the default login info was effortless and I was able to configure the entire process with no problems. Updating the firmware was also unproblematic and the phone app installation when well too.

Several months after the initial installation, I had some issues with the phone app. The app would not sort the list of devices connected and the reset function would not work on the app. Shortly thereafter, the phone app was updated and everything worked fine again.

A couple more months later, I ran into a few new issues with the router. First, I cannot change the QOS function. If I try to define my internet bandwidth – the router interface does not save the setting and reverts back to the “SpeedTest” setting.

Second, the “Security” says it is not enabled on the Home page of the router after logging in. Even though there is security setup on the routher and the phone app, it still says that it is “Not Enabled.

” Lasty, I am unable to turn OFF the “WPS” function and button on the router. The “LED Control Settings” just turn off the lights on the actual router device. This is not what I need. The WPS button can still be pushed and a device can be connected.

The “WPS Wizard” get to a point when it asks to input a “PIN Number” if chosen not to use the recommended “Push Button” option. If a 4-8 digit PIN is not entered, there is an error requesting that a PIN be entered.

And at this stage, nothing more can be done to disable the WPS feature on the router. So, minus the listed issues; it is a good router but I think I am going to go with the NOC network option and hopefully there will be no feature holes or discrepancies.

I bought this to replace an equivalent Linksys WiFi router that I purchased about 12 years ago (where has the time gone?!?!). It turned out that the old unit wasn’t compatible with the new remote log in set up we have at work, so I order this unit and had my wife go pick it up.

In a word – WOW! This was a brand recommended by our IT people, so I found this on sale (thanks Best Buy). Once I got it, I assembled it (you need to put the antennae on), followed the setup instructions in the box and I was in business.

A word of caution here: Netgear supplies you with a temporary router password so you can log into the router to make adjustments and get connection info. You MUST replace this with your own new password.

I discovered this during my review of available WiFi routers. It’s a minor annoyance but that’s part of living in the “digital age” people and it ensures your home network security. Once set up, the connection is astonishingly fast.

Much faster than the previous one. I downloaded a Netgear Nighthawk app on my smartphone and went from room to room checking signal strength. Nothing less than 500 Mbps anywhere. What you get yourself will depend heavily on how fast your service is and the size of your home; you may need local repeaters to ensure top speeds.

Reconnected all of our devices and smart TV (now THERE’S an oxymoron), and we were back in business again. This far exceeded my expectations and I am well pleased. I highly recommend this unit for someone looking for a quality WiFi router.

I bought this device to replace the one I was renting from xfinity to cut back on my monthly costs. It was very easy and quick to set up and activate with xfinity, and I am not educated at all when it comes to this technical stuff.

I did it all through the Netgear Nighthawk app. If you set up the network with the same name and password you used with your previous setup all of your devices will reconnect as though nothing had changed.

My only issue (which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) was after the initial setup, while watching streaming video, I received a message on my TV that I had lost internet connection. But it resolved itself on its own in less than 2 minutes.

It happened one more time a few hours later but hasn’t happened again since, and I have had it set up for about a week now. If I don’t receive the internet connection error again I will change my rating to 5 stars if I am able to.

I would recommend anyone who is renting equipment from their provider to buy their own equipment, specifically this device, since it is so easy to set up and is working well. You can set up a monthly plan and own it in less than a year while paying less than you currently are to rent it.

After you own it you start saving about $15/month. It’s worth the investment. I wish I had done it sooner.

I’ve used Netgear Routers, Modems and Extenders for as long as NETGEARS been makin em! Tried Lynksys, and a few others, but ALWAYS came back to NETGEAR! My point is…. inKNOW ROUTERS!. And I KNOW NetGear Routers, and Networking! Been doing it a VERY long time! Well, I bought this AX11000 WiFi 6 Router, ….

WHY WiFi 6? I have NO F’n idea LOL…. Thought “Bigger, more Expensive is better, I guess…. anywayyyy I get router #1…. go thru installation, no problem, I like using a Computer for set up, the NightHawk app is ok if your not really “Networking or Tech Savvy” but using a Computer gives you access to MANY MANY More settings! Well, got it all up and running….

saw my 2. 4 & 5ghz Channels…. used same SSID & pswd so all devices hooked right up, but HERE is where the Trouble started…. I have over 1000mbps coming INTO the router, so I ran the 1st (of MANY) SPeed Tests, and low & Behold with around 1100mbps coming into the router, my 2.

4ghz band was only readin around 25-30 mbps D/L side, and 1. 5-3mbps Upstream???…. scratch head…. run speed test on 5ghz channel, now I oughta be HAULIN BUTT on this channel right?……. 90-120mbps Downstream, and 12-17mbps upstream! Double, Triple, checked all my settings, used a dozen or more different speed tests with different servers, CHANGED A BUNCH of settings, one at a time….

speed test, repeat…. never got more than 100-120mbps downstream on 5ghz channel, so obviously this Router is faulty ! No biggie, it’s happened before, returned it for a new one, same model got it home and set up….

SAME ISSUES! Went on every BLOG I could find on the subject no come to find out this is a VERY COMMON issue with this router! Was on the phone with Nether for over an HOUR performing EXACTLY the same Troubleshooting procedures I had already performed humpteen times! LOL….

TOOK OVER AN HOUR for the Netgear Tech to emit to me they have had issues with this router! Grrrrrrrr ya THINK ya could have BEGAN the conversation with that lil TidBit? Grrrrrrr Soooooo I sent the 2nd one Back and got one of my Old Trusty Ax12 /AX6000 Routers, and HOLY CRAP……Guess what? ……2.

4ghz channel, 220mbps downstream, 12-18mbps upstream, and on the 5ghz Channel, ya ready?………back to my good ol 880-900mbps downstream, and 25-40mbps Upstream! I’ve found that using the following settings Maximized my Speeds by a pretty good margin from the Recommended NetGear settings: FIRST: UPDTE TO NEWEST FIRMWARE!! 1) AX ENABLED 2) Smart Connect DISABLED! (Smart Connect allows the Router to judge how much signal goes to each device.

And your 5ghz channel becomes “Hidden” and you will only see the One SSID……. I like to decide which one of my devices gets how much Power! So I highly recommend leaving this box Unchecked! 3) Set Security level to WPA3 Personal or WPA2/WPA3, if you have some older devices still using WPA2, UNDER NO Circumstances should you use WEP, WPA, WPA/WPA2, 4) Hidden Network: A router can be configured to hide its network name (SSID) you’re router might incorrectly use “closed” to mean “Hidden” and “Broadcast” to men Open! Hiding the network name doesn’t conceal the Netwerk from detection or security against unauthorized access.

And because of the way that Devices search for and connect to Wi-Fi networks, using a Hidden network might expose information that can be used to identify you and the hidden networks you use, such as your home Network! 5) Channel: Set to “AUTO” 6) Channel Width: set to 20 MHz for the 2.

4 GHz band and set to auto for all widths (20mhz, 40mhz, & 80mhz) for the 5ghz Band. 7) DHCP: set to “Enabled” if your Router is the only DHCP Server on the Network! 8) MAC Address filtering, authentication, access control: SET TO DISABLED! when this feature is enabled, your router can be set up to allow only devices that have specified MAC addresses to join the Network! Sorry for the “Novel”, but I sure wish someone had told ME all of this stuff, ….

Could’ve saved me DAYS! But, I have found that using the settings I have described above are the PERFECT Set up for ME! Every Set-up is gonna differ, but under normal conditions, these are Optimal Settings for a Netgear Router AND Extender! Hope it helps SOMEONE! LOL.

The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300 router featuring WiFi 6E looks like a Star Wars spaceship. The fins are 6 preoptimized antennas for the 2. 4, 5 and 6 GHz bands. At this point the 6GHz band has less traffic but like all of the higher bands – the higher the band the shorter the wavelength so shorter range and the possibility of it being blocked by household objects.

The unit comes with multi-Gig wired connections with a1Gps and a 2. 5G Ethernet port or 2Gps link aggregation plus 2 additional Gigabit Ethernet ports. So in total, you have five LAN ports available, or four if you want to aggregate, which is about on par for the current Wi-Fi 6E router market.

Unfortunately, I only have 1Gps internet at this point but next year I should have 2. 5 with Google fiber coming to town. It also has a USB 3. 0 connector to hook up a shared storage device. With speed up to 7.

6Gps and up to 40 devices for its WiFi this is the middle of the road for Netgear’s new RAX RoutersYou get a limited free subscription to Netgear Armor a security shield from Netgear and if you have kids Netgear’s Smart Parental controls which helps in their management for time and accessibility.

The box also has screw hold on the bottom to allow for wall mount but you will have to put it high up to get the antennas out of the way. Setup is easy and one can accomplish this with Netgear’s App or the traditional web browser access.

Network access is available through the direct wire, traditional WiFi setup or WPS. I have one WiFi 6E device and I was pleasantly surprised at the speed available on the 6GHz band with this device. It is fast enough for HD movie streaming and some non competitive gaming with speeds up to 7.

8 Gbps. The USB 3. 0 storage was simple to set up. Netgear claims the RAXE300 can cover up to a 2,500 square feet home, I didn’t have any coverage problems and it was unphased by local network interference my neighbors generated.

The App is straight forward to use. You will still need the router page for more advanced controls like QoS and port forwarding, the App can do other things the router page can’t. In particular, I found it handy for testing signal strength while optimizing the RAXE300’s placement.

My slight arachnophobia had always kept me away from some of the higher-end routers out there, looking like biomechanical spiders from some twisted future. Fortunately, the Nighthawk AXE7800 eschews traditional antennae in favor of two large fins on either side.

As I unboxed the device and showed it to my wife, she said it looked like a robot stingray. I told her that I thought it looked like a cool space ship that maybe Darth Vader or the Emperor would shuttle around in.

She said “that’s fine, it can go live with the Star Wars toys at the top of the cabinet. ” It’s a good thing that it does fit right in with my large statuette of Boba Fett escaping the Sarlacc pit and the Darth Vader coin bank, because otherwise I don’t know where else I would put this thing.

Due to the size, it can only really be in one orientation, laying down with the fins folded up and out, which makes it take up a space of about 13 inches wide by just under 6 inches tall. Quite the footprint for something that’s basically supposed to stay out of the way.

At least it looks cool up there with the giant C-3PO. The phone app is pretty bare bones when it comes to any actual administration. I can’t set up static IP addresses for my various devices through it.

Setting up port forwarding similarly requires you to do it through a web browser. It does have a built in speed test. I just wish it had more features besides being able to reset the password to the various hotspots.

There is some kind of subscription to a set of security features called Netgear Armor that you also get a 30 day free trial for. I’m not sure what will happen after that. The subscription’s regular price is $99.

99 per year. I do like that the router is smart enough to recognize my various smart devices, and show me what they are instead of just the MAC address. My smart lights, thermostats, phones, video game consoles, computers, tablets, and printers all showed up as their brand names, which made it super simple to reconfigure the various services and automations that I have set up that have IP address hard-coded in.

With as many devices as there are on my network, and the proliferation of streaming not only movies and music, but now entire video games that are played over the cloud, the Netgear Nighthawk has been performing well, making sure that all the devices in every corner of the house have the necessary bandwidth.