Netgear AC1750 Review: Is The R6400 A Good Gaming Router?

A high speed internet connection and a good wireless router is what an MMO would want. There still exists older models that use old protocols to connect to the internet. But encountering compatibility issues with a newer wireless enabled devices or slowdown in performance is inevitable. Or it could be the simple fact that many people are now connected to the router and the bandwidth demand is higher. In todays post we will introduce the Netgear AC1750 gaming router which is a great price to performance device. You are not spending much for a router that’s delivering the fastest possible performance in that particular range of routers. Stick with us on this Netgear AC1750 review as we introduce the wireless router delivering speeds up until 1.75 Mbps.

Netgear AC1750 Specs

• Dual-Band Frequency
• Dual-core 1.0GHz processor
• 1 USB 3.0 Port
• 1750 Megabits Per Second data transfer rates
• 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11ac wireless communication standards
• 4 ethernet ports
• 3 External Wi-Fi Antennas
• IOS and Android controller type
• IPv6 enabled
• DLNA-certified
• Cloud enabled
• Quality of Service to prioritize network traffic

Netgear AC1750 Specs Review

What exactly is AC1750? Well routers have a range of speeds starting from 8Mbps to 1900Mbps. But the AC here refers to the wireless communication standard we have listed in the specs above. Dual frequency band in here means the 2,4GHz and the 5GHz. The 2.4 frequency is for regular internet browsing while the 5 is used for streaming and MMO. Therefore with the AC1750 you get a maximum link rate of 450Mbps on the 2.4 frequency channel while a 1,300Mbps on the 5 frequency channel. But the important thing to note is that the speeds on paper are theoretical. The real time speeds depend on a number of other factors such as the internet service provider connection, the construction and location of the place where you use the router etc. Now lets get into a broader review of the Netgear AC1750.

Router Design

The Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 is one of the four models available and it is the cheapest and lowest in the line of performance and price. It weighs i.58lbs and dimensionally measures 11.22 x 7.2 x 2.44 inches. The design and the color profile is identical to the original model. And even if your gaming desk is packed with peripherals and accessories, you don’t have to worry about mounting the Netgear router because of its rubber feet and strong base. There is only one USB port here as opposed to the Netgear R7000 which has two. Another notable feature is the broad signal coverage or the extended WiFi range because of the thicker and the longer antennas that uses beamforming. On paper the Netgear AC1750 range is listed as 1750 square feet .

There is a slight downside with the antennas. They are adjustable but not removable, so if an antenna breaks it might be expensive to replace. There is also a WAN port and 12 LED indicators in the front panel to convey the routers operation state to the user. Although you might feel like its an overkill to have 12 LED lights flashing at you, they can be switched off. The 4 Gigabit ports, Reset, Power On/Off, USB 2.0 and the WAN port are built at the back while the USB 3.0 is at the front. The router uses 128 MB flash and 256 MB RAM sticking to its predecessors hardware configs. In this router the CPU is the 1.0GHz Dual-core as mentioned, While the AD7200 has a Quad-core 1.7GHz processor.

Router Performance

We already know that the Netgear AC1750 offers two frequency bands for different requirements. Between 10 to 25 feet of the router and a PC with the relevant adapter(2×2 802.11ac) the AC1750(R6700) performed exceptionally well for the 5GHz frequency band. According to the benchmark tests of digitweek and relaxedtech the R6700 was ahead of the competition when compared to the R6400 and the famous TP-Link Archer C8. When tested for the 5GHz throughput speeds at 10 feet the TP-Link achieves speeds above 479MB per second while the R6400 achieved about 463MB per second. The R6700 outranks both and clocks out at impressive 524MB per second. And it stays the same at 25 feet away as well.

Also the AC1750 won’t disappoint you in terms of storage performance. Delivers excellent read/ write speeds for both NTFS and FAT32 file formats. When it comes to NTFS read and write speeds the R6400 was ahead of the TP-Link by almost 1MB for read speed and by whooping 7MB for write speed. However in FAT32 the tables are turned and the TP-Link outranks the R6400 in both read and write speeds. But the R6700 is in a whole new level and beats both the R6400 and the TP-Link with less effort for storage performance. It shows 59+MB per second for NTFS and FAT32 read speeds while it was 36+MB per second for write speeds. The USB 3.0 port was used in all these tests.

Security

The Netgear AC1750(R6400) has optimized security to protect your network from all sorts of possible attacks. To begin with, it has MAC address filtering which is when a user is granted access based on their hardware address. An integrated Network firewall is present to prevent unauthorized access. Stateful Packet Inspection to filter unwanted network traffic, Port filtering, URL filters to optimize data usage. Most importantly it also has built in DDOS protection. Denial Of Service is a critical aspect of cybersecurity. It slows network traffic and floods it with unwanted traffic.

Also has Wi-Fi Protected Access 2(WPA2) and Pre-Shared Key (PSK) password,  Network Services Filter to block LAN-WAN(internetwork) packet exchange. IPsec Passthrough to enable authenticated legitimate data to pass through the router,  L2TP Passthrough to act as a VPN, Network Address Translation (NAT) to make changes inside an internal network easier and Point-to-point tunneling protocol Passthrough. Furthermore it utilizes Automatic IP, Static IP addresses and Parental control. Therefore with all these features you can be rest assured that your company data or your home network remains safe and secure and that your kids won’t run into unwanted content in the internet as you can control the network.

Netgear AC1750 Extender Review

What is an Extender? Well according to the name, it extends something. And yes you guessed it right, it extends the coverage of the original signal of the router through amplification and rebroadcast it, so that you are covered throughout the location where your Wi-Fi router is setup. Any signal is attenuated and losses its quality when the distance it has to travel to reach the destination is larger. As we are aware through experience it is the same with any Wi-Fi signal. If you are living in a 3 storied house and the router is at the 1st floor, chances are the signal strength is lower at the top floor. Especially if the walls are thick and there is furniture spread out. So what is the solution here? An overlong Ethernet cable? Nope, this is where the Extender comes to the rescue with its technology to broaden the coverage.

With that in mind lets take a look at the Netgear AC1750 Extender that you can use to ensure the maximum coverage of your entire workplace or home.

Specs

• Range extended up to 2300 square feet with 4 Antennas
• Connectivity for up to 40 devices
• Up to 2200 Mbps performance
• Extremely compatible
• Easy set up

The Netgear EX7300 also has a wired Ethernet port and seamless smart roaming plus parental controls. It also has the embedded Mesh technology. This means it uses your existing network SSID name(Wi-Fi Name) so you never get disconnected as you move around in different locations at your home or workplace. Mesh smart system are made up of several components as opposed to a traditional router. It has a main router and a few other networking components all which collectively works for enhanced coverage throughout your spread out location.

The difference between the Extenders and a Wi-Fi Mesh system is quite easy to comprehend. The mechanism here is elementary. We mentioned that the Mesh system has additional components(nodes) that can be spread out through the workplace or home. These communicate with each other instead of communicating individually with the router lying further away from them. Because the nodes acts as a hop(meaning as a separate router) to other nodes the signal strength remains intact. The Netgear Mesh Extender also Supports WEP and WPA/WPA2 wireless security protocols and easy to setup with the NETGEAR Wi-Fi Analyzer app.

Another important feature to emphasize is the deployment of dual-band and patented FastLane(TM) technology. This is extremely important as this is the feature that facilitates HD streaming or gaming(MMO). To help minimize the network traffic as much as possible this technology allows you to dedicate a band for router to extender communication. A majority of extenders use both the bands for data transceiving from the router and the devices that connect are soon going to face limited bandwidth issues.

Summary

The Netgear AC1750 Router and Extender deliver immense performance for any organization regardless of the demand for network optimization. Especially the router with the excellent USB3.0 performance, 1750Mbps support, 4 antennas, the 4 ethernet ports and the dual band connectivity. The IPv6 connectivity and the maximum security protocols are pros of this router. However the price tag is a bit high because you can find other routers of identical caliber for lesser value.

TP-Link is the straightforward example here. No doubt that the The R6400 is a decent mid range router with good 802.11ac connectivity although not the fastest. And the storage performance plus the 5GHz speeds are very impressive. Therefore overall it won’t be a bad choice for a well equipped router. We hope this Netgear AC1750 Review plus the Netgear AC1750 Extender Review proved resourceful for anyone looking for a decent router. If you have already have any experience with either of these please let us know.