XR500 Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router

I’m a network engineer and I wanted to replace my enterprise gear at home with something simple to manage, yet powerful. I’m getting old and I’d rather not troubleshoot network problems at home. Not that it happens often, but it’s been a nightmare when the wife calls saying that the Internet isn’t working. Time to downgrade. Enter the Netgear XR500. The XR500 ticks off the boxes I was looking for: -It does not need to be rebooted for silly wireless issues. It’s rock-solid stable. -Never needs a reboot to change a setting. -The WiFi range goes well into my yard, past my neighbors home and into the street. How?? It blows away a multiple AP setup it replaced. -My iPhone X is speed testing at 91/5.5 on a 100/5 Internet connection. My computers test at 110+/5.5. -AirPlay runs flawessly to my Apple TV 4K. -Initial setup is simple. My dog could have done it. -VPN is simple to configure and has detailed instructions accompanying the menu options. -Dynamic DNS is insanely easy to turn on. It even configured an account for me. While there are very few drawbacks: -Remote admin can only be secured to one IP or a range. I can’t input a list of IP’s I’d like to have access from. -There’s no mobile app for DumaOS. The web view works pretty well on mobile though, so I’d say that 75% makes up for it. (UPDATE 10/27/18: The Nigthawk app works great with this router; I highly recommend it.) -I could not get the Internet to work in “manual setup” mode. The router would proxy any DNS address to itself: 192.168.1.1. There might be a bug that caused the proxy not to turn off, or maybe there’s a setting I simply couldn’t locate. When I used the automatic setup, Internet started working in one click. Overall I’m very happy with my XR500 and I’m excited to have my home network all under one box again. My “issues” with the router are all “fussy network engineer-problems” that most users would *never ever* encounter. Since my number one concern was stability, I would go as far to say that there is no other home-class router on the market that could satisfy me. I’m a demanding user and the XR500 delivers in spades. In the network world, this thing is the equivalent to an indestructible tank. Congratulations to the Netgear and DumaOS teams who developed this product. You absolutely outdid yourselves. UPDATE 10/27/18: I'm still absolutely loving this router, and I can't recommend it enough. I recently updated my XR500 to the latest firmware, and believe it or not, it didn't require a reboot! This thing NEVER needs to reboot. You may be able to tell that I'm the kind of techie that gets excited about servers with up-times measured in decades. The XR500 definitely gives off that feel! I hadn't thought about it until today, but we never have network problems at home anymore. Not even one- The last time the Internet stopped working, it was because the power was out during a storm. This device is amazing, and I have ZERO regrets in my purchase decision.

have had this router for 4 years and 2 months (from June 11, 2021, to August 7, 2025). I play video games a lot and stream movies on my TV and phone. This router was amazing, but eventually it just died on me. Even so, it deserves 5 stars. You do have to learn the Netgear app and Netgear login with the GeoTech stuff, and the antennas went bad after so many years, leading to Wi-Fi lag and connection issues after 4 years, but it still deserves its flowers. Now I have switched to the TP-Link Tri-Band BE9300 WiFi 7 Router (Archer BE550). I will review this after I use it for a while.

I've been a long time fan and customer of Netduma ever since they brought out their first router. To give you an idea of who Netduma are and what they represent, it's very simple: They are gamers developing for gamers. If you want a team that's passionate and dedicated to bringing you the best technology to help enhance your gaming experience then look no further. The proof that they deliver on their promises of helping reduce lag and improve network performance is supported by their recent partnership with Netgear. When I heard of their partnership and the fact the Netduma's new and improved DumaOS would be powering the already powerful and renown Nighthawk, it was an instant purchase for me. For gamers wanting a router that has both sheer power combined with ease of use, look no further. This is the router for you. The sheer size and design of this router instantly caught my eye, this thing is a beast! The product came with everything needed to get started quickly and setting up the router prior to installation was a breeze. Setting up the router and connecting all my devices was honestly the easiest thing I have ever done. Simply follow the instructions (there's maybe 3 steps!) and you're good to go. The router re-directed me instantly to the setup page, updated itself to the latest firmware and walked me through every step. To point it bluntly, the setup is idiot proof. Now the Nighthawk has always been an incredible product for any gamer but with it now being powered by DumaOS, this router is a step above anything I've seen. To say the router's user interface is user-friendly would be an understatement. It is a huge step up from Netduma's previous design and allows even the most novice computer users to tailor the router to their own needs. The router provides a quick and informative tour of all the features you can use, navigating you every step of the way. The new dashboard can be entirely customised, allowing users to place their most important features only a click away. I run a fairly heavy system which includes multiple consoles, multiple desktops/laptops and a whole host of wireless devices. So far everything has been working flawlessly and with the inclusion of 5GHz wireless connectivity I've noticed improved speeds for those connected devices. I've tested my connect speeds (wired and wireless) multiple times and since purchasing the XR500 Nighthawk I've noticed improved speeds and reduced ping. This is on top of an already consistent and high quality connection that I had previously. Even for non-gamers, this router can be an excellent choice for anyone wanting to keep tabs on their network. The Device Manager allows you to effortlessly see what products are connected, how they're connected and whether they're currently online. See something you don't like? You can easily block the device and remove it altogether. This can be great for families wanting to restrict Internet usage at late night hours and with the parental control settings, connections for devices can be tailored specifically so that they are unable to get online during certain hours. You really get the sense that this router is designed to work for you and handle any task you throw at it. If there's one thing that I can say, it's that the best part of this router is knowing I have the Netduma support watching my back. Going back to my previous comment, these are gamers first who know exactly what we want from a gaming router. For any technical problem or concern they have always been there to listen and provide assistance wherever possible. There's nothing more frustrating than having technology breakdown and not work. Netduma have an incredible support system, an active forum and from first hand experience, will always be there to help you resolve any issues you have. No more sending emails in a vague hope of getting a reply and dealing with strangers. The team is friendly, passionate and actively prepared in getting any issues resolved asap. The community is supportive and will always help users encountering issues. When you have a Netduma product, you're part of the Netduma family where only the best connections and experiences are found. I can't recommend this product enough!

Firstly, I have great cable internet from Cox. BUT, I was inexplicably having lag and connectivity issues when playing games like Rainbow Six Siege on our PS4's. I opened support tickets with Ubisoft (the game developer), who found no issues. I contacted Cox; they sent techs to my house...ran speed tests, and speeds were great; they found no issues. It was incredibly frustrating, but then I finally discovered the cause of my issue....something called "buffer bloat", and poor traffic management. The cheap Cox router didn't have any QoS settings or anything that would help me prioritize traffic, so other devices in my house (like my daughter's phone, iPad, etc.) were cutting in line, basically. Despite having great speeds and bandwidth, the Cox router does a poor job of handling the traffic. I've been using the XR500 router now for a little over a week or so as of this writing, and my lag/connectivity issues have been completely resolved...100%. It is far superior to what I was provided by my ISP. Okay, now for a gripe. I probably could have gotten a cheaper router to handle these issues, BUT I invested more money into getting this one, because of the heavily-vaunted "Geo Filter" feature. When playing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft's matchmaking takes me, a player relatively close to the Eastern US datacenter, with really low-ping (good), against players in Guatemala and way down deep in South America with pings over 10-times my own (bad). Granted, that's an issue with Ubisoft. That said though, this feature was advertised to keep me away from these issues, and "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege" is in the router profiles for Geo-Filter. Well, sadly, this feature doesn't work for me. I followed the procedure for allowing teammates, etc. via the Geo-Filter settings, and at first the game chat worked fine, but in the middle of the match, it just randomly stopped working, and I couldn't communicate over the mic with teammates, so I had to turn this feature off. First off, I don't see why I need to "allow" players who are INSIDE the range and ping values I set (one of which is in my house...LOL), via the Geo Filter settings...but even when I do, the game chat is buggy. I should only have to explicitly allow people OUTSIDE my geo-filter range and ping settings, if needed. More work needs to be done to shore-up this feature if it's going to be so heavily advertised. Granted, I'm not even sure they can really control who ends up in my game, based on the game-developer's server setups (so my expectations may not be realistic)...but the way this feature is advertised, it promises to do that...and I'm a bit disappointed in just this one area. Overall, the router is quite powerful and resolved a lot of issues for me, and I'm glad I got it. Now if they come out with a firmware update to strengthen the "geo filter" feature, I'll be ecstatic....like off-the-wall ecstatic.

After over a decade of loyalty to Cisco based routing products, I made the switch to Netgear when purchasing this router in February of 2018. I don't write reviews. Ever. For this router, I felt the need to write a review because if you are looking for a router with consistent updates, and a community that fervently communicates needs and upgrades to Netgear, with Netgear actually listening, look no longer, this is the product for you. I know how much time I took researching routers myself, so hopefully this will help you too. 1. Setup—a breeze for those who know the ins and outs of networking. An app is available to those who are less network savvy. If you don’t know what you are doing, there’s always help and forums where you can find out how to get to where you need to be. 2. Features—I found many of the same tools that I had from my Linksys E3000 available with this router. And then there’s what my last router did not have. DumaOS takes what is already a killer router and just puts it way over the top. Everything is customizable. If I want to shut down a ton of IPs so I can game with a consistent ping of 12-15, I can do it with a mouse click. With testing, I’ve seen a ping as low as 8. Part of this magic is the DumaOS multi-node connections module that is based on geographic proximity. The pic I’ve provided with this review shows a ping of 18, and that is with about 35 IPs running, including 2 Nest cams and a DCAU setup for mesh backhaul with 2 additional APs. The internal processor of this router makes this possible. I could go deeper into everything I have connected but you would be easily bored and stop reading this review. Again, DumaOS is the heart and soul of this router. I almost wish there was an option for purchasing an ultra version of DumaOS. It’s not a perfect world, but it’s really the best out there for maintaining a rock solid connection. 3. Reliability—I haven’t once needed to restart the router for any reason related to the router, only from activities by my ISP (Xfinity). And I’ve only done that three times over 9 months. The connection to all my devices is rock solid, does not drop out—at all. I’ve been able to run my other two Linksys routers with the same mesh config I was using with my E3000 with no issues. 4. Range—I can’t really review this aspect as I have a mesh set up. 5. Ports—has all the ports I need. It’s worth noting that I do not have an NAS attached to the router. I’m not really a believer of NAS due to the I/O load it puts on a LAN. I would barely even use the NAS if I had one, so it doesn’t make much sense in my application to use one. I would caution against using one if you are looking to use this for gaming. 6. Price—the old adage “you get what you pay for” applies here. This isn’t a router for those looking for a “best bang for the buck” type of application. If you buy this router, you know why you are buying it. It delivers for every penny spent on it. 7. Looks—every router looks like a UFO these days. Can’t say much here, it just looks cool, period. 8. Remember—a router is only as good as its ISP. So keep that in mind. If you have problems currently and think this router may fix them, rethink your approach. If you really want to step up your game, this is the router for you. Netgear and DumaOS have made me believers. Maybe they will make you one too.

So this is my first review of a product and I am glad it's on this bad boy. I bought this router not because I game as much as I used to, but more so due to word of mouth in regards to excellent name brand routers and this one in particular catching my eye. So my scenario is I currently have Verizon Fios for all of their services (Phone, TV and Internet). The TV and Internet service is great as far as I am concerned; especially considering the ONT box and router are in my room/office. That means for my phone (via Wi-Fi), PS4, TV and computer (via Ethernet), I simply did have internet speed issues. That being said, this is all because I am sitting right by the router and ONT which is on the third floor at an end of our house. As lbasement with her desktop. So after constant complaints from her (and even my 4yr old daugher), it was up to techie dad to fix the problem. So I came up with the plan to get a Wi-Fi/network extender from Actiontec (Actiontec 802.11ac Wireless Network Extender with Gigabit Ethernet (WEB6000Q02) and place it in the main room where we all spend time and need good Wi-Fi coverage. For that setup to work I bought the Actiontec extender as I mentioned, an additional coax cable (just in case) and a splitter (BAMF 2-Way Coax Cable Splitter Bi-Directional MoCA 5-2300MHz). As a side project, I bought the XR500 to eventually just do away with the Verizon router all together, so for that I bought an Actiontec coax to Ethernet converter (Actiontec Bonded MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter (ECB6200S02). Now, the Actiontec network extender wasn't on prime so it has yet to arrive, but everything else (Actiontec coax to Ethernet converter, splitter and nighthawk) came yesterday in the mail. So I said ok, let's go ahead and try my side project first. I called Verizon and gave them the details and long story short they said what I already knew but this time I got to hear it from Verizon themselves which is the TV service would ultimately suffer. Hearing this from the horses’ mouth kind of changed my entire perception of the project and I sort got discouraged. Nevertheless, I was not to NOT use this beast in my house so I said ok, let’s take this thing to the main room and see what I can accomplish. I took the coax going into the STB in the main room and added in the splitter and reconnected it with an additional coax cable I had to ensure that the cable hadn’t been affected with me adding the splitter (so far so good). Quickly after that, I used the other end of the splitter for the Ethernet to coax adapter and connected my nighthawk via Ethernet to the adapter. Now, this of course caused a conflict with my existing Fios router, but I pressed through and connected to the nighthawk via its Wi-Fi and configured it to solely become an access point for the existing internet throughout the house. When I did a speed test of the existing Verizon router Wi-Fi, the fastest speed I achieved was 47.1Mbs per sec and this was done conducted in my room right by the router. The slowest speed was surprisingly not in the basement, but in the living room at about 5Mbs per sec. Thus far, with the nighthawk’s Wi-Fi, I have not pulled anything LESS THAN 150Mbs per sec in ANY area of the household. I am 100&% satisfied with the product thus far and I hope my story helps others in making a decision. If I essentially purchased a $300 access point then so be it lol because this router has been a blessing in disguise. At this point, I don’t even need the extender plan to either have the order canceled or just return it once I get it. BTW, the interior of my house is about 1500-2000 sq feet.

I’m a technical dude, working in video games and needed a fast reliable router that could cope with a demanding household during COVID. I’m streaming meetings all day, working with cloud services, have two teenage gamers in the house, plus wife is also working. I upgraded the whole network at the same time. I did a lot of research and ended up settling on Netgear Nighthawk equipment throughout. Big mistake, less than 6 months later I’m replacing all of it. At the same time I bought: Netgear CM1100 modem Netgear XR500 router Netgear EX7000 extender Netgear S8000 switch First issue was the modem. I have a gigabit line and initially we where able to get ~650mbps down. But after a few weeks the modem started requiring constant restarts. Eventually download speeds dropped to 0-30mbps. Resets didn’t help. I replaced the unit with a Motorola MB8600, has been rock solid ever since. The EX7000 has been useless as an extender since the day I first set it up. It constantly loses backhaul connection to the router, leaving all connected clients offline. I’ve tried it in several parts of the house, even in the same room with line of sight of the XR500. A restart would and it’d work for 24 hours, at best. In the end I wired the backhaul and ran it as an access point. The performance was poor, so eventually I just unplugged it. The XR500 hasn’t ever been a great performer, wireless speeds top about a 300mbps down and 30mbps up. At best. Even wire clients would rarely get over 500. It also needs to be restarted weekly. There are large parts of the house the signal can’t penetrate. And, as we’re getting ready of school to start, in need some parental controls. The Nighthawks don’t have any. Like at all. So I just about two weeks ago installed a Gryphon router. Immediate improvement. It’s faster, more reliable and has a way better admin setup. Wired I’m now getting 930mbps down, latency around 10ms and a health 40mbps up. Wireless clients around 650mbps. So far it’s been rock solid and has a way, way, way better admin interface. It’s also caught and blocked several bits of malware entering my network. The S8000 switch is fine, but expensive. I’ll keep it, but a cheaper box would have been just as good. So I’m done with Netgear. Hundreds of dollars wasted. Work was hard. I’m sending all of this junk to the charity shop. Never buying from Netgear again.

First important note for ps4 users: The geo filter WILL try to filter your connection on ps4 black ops 4. It is important to note that if you are playing blackout in a premade party and one member is out of the geo range “you” set in the router, you will get a lobby error! Note this is not an issue, the router is simply acting upon “your” settings in the geo filter and refusing the connection, so alter the setting or just disable geo when on ps4. Again though, its not an issue its just doing what you tell it. We live in a townhouse that has more wireless interference then an entire military base and this thing just PLOWS right through all of it. We also have about 30+ devices connecting at any given time of day and have always had issues with lag spikes in games too. Not anymore. The range over 5ghz is also beastly. I usually use high end asus routers but this thing even if it didnt have dumaos just mopped ASUS in the rear. Never thought Id buy a netgear again but glad we did. Never had a better router. This is high end by far!! We did heavy research and considered both the asus and the tp link competition to this, overall the other 2 seem to have alot of issues if you dig enough into the bad reviews. Dropped connections are not something Im going to deal with again and the only rare complaints about it on this one, the xr500 HAVE been fixed by a simple firmware update. And I confirm thats true, I have had ZERO wifi drops with this even when my wife and two dauhters , and their bfs are over and everything in the house is on and going haywire. Not to mention the throughput speed to all of the devices is top notch, i can even go outside to the mailbox and still get the max isp speed if i disable qos on 5ghz ( I wouldnt disable QoS except for anything but testing functionality though) . Being able to select which devices get priority for games, and even which game to optimize for network play is just bonus. The real time graphs in duma os are insanely .... idk.. addictive to look at as well! You can totally freak your family out with it with the data it shows too. “Hey! I see you on amazon!” “Wtf how?” Router secret graphs .... bwahha Final note. This is for any router really but you should “not” I repeat, not, use the feature that combines 5 and 2.4 ghz signals into one name. I think they adde this just to be on par with features but it can slow your wifi down if something happens and the router puts something on the 2.4. Better to work through the problem and fix it then let the router move you to the crappy slower band.