There’s a review summary for you… because why not. A very consistent theme with the Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 WiFi Router is simply doing things because why not… why not have have an incredibly long name and insane looking design for your WiFi router! I mean look at this thing;
Here at EFTM we’ve reviewed a fair bit of Nighthawk gear over the years and would like to think we’re well versed enough to give you the low down on the pros and cons of these excessive devices.
For the less geeky among us, the XR700 is a WiFi Router, but NOT a modem. So if you don’t already have a modem, you’ll need one of those first prior to picking up this device. Your Telco should provide you with a modem as part of your service, however if you were looking to replace that for any reason, you’ll need a modem alongside this or any other router.
As the name would suggest, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 is a router designed with the nerd in mind. What does that require you might be wondering? Firstly and most importantly, it’s the prioritization software – the piece of code inside the router that says “This device is a gaming device and it is king”.
The Nighthawk XR700 achieves this prioritization with the DumaOS based interface that is so unbelievably geeked out that it’s more reminiscent of a scene from Swordfish than it is router software. Nevertheless it does the job brilliantly. This was my first encounter with the software and I have to admit I enjoyed it immensely – the Geo Filtering is a really interesting feature to ensure that you only ever connect to servers that are within your chosen distance, ensuring low ping/latency in any games you play.
As far as technical specifications are concerned, the Nighthawk XR700 has 8 ethernet ports on the back – 7 of which are 1-gigabit ports (6 LAN) with the last being a 10-gigabit port… just because…
I’d like to make it very clear that ‘just because’ is by no means a criticism, it’s almost an admiration of what Netgear are able to do when their engineers are told to go for gold.
The XR700 is also equipped with a 60GHz 802.11ad WiFi band (as well as the standard 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands), 1.7GHz quad-core CPU and two USB 3.0 ports.
When talking cons of a device like this, it really only comes down to one factor – price. The Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 retails for $849, which is quite insane. There’s no doubting it’ll get the job done, that it’s incredibly easy to use and that it looks fantastic… but the average punter can’t justify that kind of coin for a WiFi router and I don’t blame them.
If you’re so inclined, you’re able to pick up the Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR700 for that price tag of $849 at Harvey Norman. Stay tuned for all the latest in tech and gaming news here at EFTM.com
