Netgear has announced their new Nighthawk Tri-band AX12 Router (model RAX200), which will be launching in a few months (available for pre-order today), and if you are looking for a super router that looks like it climbed right out of an episode of Star Wars, look no further.
We thought we really liked their Nighthawk X10 router when we tested it out. However, 802.11AD isn’t the future as it just doesn’t have enough reach. It sure has the bandwidth, but it is pointless past the distance of a room. That and of course the fact that just about nothing in the market (for the most part) supports AD. It is still one of our favorites of course because it can still reach quite a distance with its 2.4 and 5 GHz range, but the 60 GHz super feature renders it the next Beta player. Especially when you put it next to the AX12.
Not only that, but this new 12-Stream Wi-Fi 6 (802.11AX) router has a combined total throughput of up to 10.8Gbps, making it much faster than the X10 (7.2Gbps). Inside this new router is a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, eight built-in antennas fixed into the wings, support for Multi-Gig 2.5G Ethernet and other technologies you have already grown to love in recent years, including MU-MIMO. It can cover a huge space with higher speeds and lower latency. It can also freely handle up to 24 simultaneous WiFi connections at once, making it great for the smart home.
Clearly this is something we will want to put to the test ourselves to see how it holds up to the X10. This may very well by our new favorite. However, for now we are all going to have to wait until it launches in May (2019). For now, you can pre-order it via Amazon here, so that at least you will be one of the first to get your hands on one.
Specifications:
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Tri-Band WiFi (AX11000)
- 2.4GHz AX: 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM
20/40MHz, up to 1.2Gbps - 5GHz AX: 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM
20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4.8Gbps - 5GHz AX: 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM
20/40/80/160MHz, up to 4.8Gbps - Backwards compatible with
802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi
- 2.4GHz AX: 4×4 (Tx/Rx) 1024 QAM
- 24-client OFDMA over 3 Bands—
Improved capacity and efficiency - 1024-QAM—25% data efficiency and
faster speeds than a 256-QAM router - Powerful 64-bit Quad-Core 1.8GHz
Processor - Longer range with 8 high-performance
antennas - Five (5) 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit
Ethernet ports + one (1) 2.5G/1Gbps
Multi-Gig port (configurable)- – LAN: 4xGbE (2x port aggregation
LAN) + 2.5G/1Gbps Multi-Gig port
(configurable) - WAN: 1 GbE or 2.5G/1Gbps Multi-Gig
port (configurable) - Multi-Gig: Ability to aggregate two
Gigabit LAN ports and two Gigabit
WAN ports (configurable) concurrently
- – LAN: 4xGbE (2x port aggregation
- 2.5G/1G Multi-Gig Ethernet LAN/WAN
port - Memory: 512MB NAND Flash and 1GB
DDR3 SDRAM - Additional DFS channels for interference
free experience - IPv6 Support (Internet Protocol Version 6)
- On/Off LED light switch
