Netgear Nighthawk X4 AC2350 WiFi Router Review – Quad-Stream X4 Architecture

Netgear R7500 Speed Tests

We connected the Netgear R7500 to our desktop PC running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit and configured the router using Automatic settings for our 5Ghz band and called it LEGIT. We then took our Alienware M17XR4 laptop to use as a client and connected it to a Netgear R7000 Router. We configured the router in Bridge Mode and paired it with each of our 802.11ac routers, including the Netgear X4 R7500. The R7000 is one of the latest wireless-AC routers on the market and works as an excellent bridge.

We took our Alienware M17XR4/R7000 Bridge and didnt tell the client anything more than the SSID name for each router tested and let it automatically choose the cleanest channel to connect to. For the fastest possible data throughput, the routers were set to Unsecure Mode and with WMM turned ON. After connecting, we ran the application LAN Speed Test (LST) to measure file transfer and network speeds. LST builds a file in memory and then transfers the packet without the effects of windows file caching. It then reports the time and calculates the network speed.

We repeated the test 2 more times rotating the router 90 degrees after each test to make sure that the routers speed was affected adversely by its orientation. We took speed measurements at three different locations of the Legit Bunker: In the Same Room at exactly 5.5 feet away from the test router; in a 2nd Room about 20 feet away from the router through a wooden door; and in a Far Room, one level below (wood framed floor) where the client router/bridge sat. Doing this should really give us a nice taste of how our routers perform in the real-world.

Benchmark Results: The 1MB test started out kind of rough for our Netgear R7500. We measured Average Read and Write speeds at 420 and 509 mbps respectively placing it solidly in the middle of our router standings. We did notice peak speeds for the Netgear X4 R7500 above 800 mbps and that the variation of speeds really depended on the placement of router relative to the client it was communicating with. As we moved the router around, the speed differences were pretty extreme.

Benchmark Results: Because we like to evaluate data packets that are similar to multimedia-size data, our 100MB tests are always quite interesting. Again we see the Netgear X4 R7500 in the middle of the pack with its average read speeds. The Average Write speeds look to be one of the fastest from our suite of routers. Again, the R7500 was very sensitive to the placement and orientation of the client.