Netgear launches first WiFi 6E Router in Australia – Nighthawk RAXE500

I know what you’re thinking – “oh great, ANOTHER WiFi technology – what now?” but honestly, WiFi 6E is a big leap forward for the latest devices and speed.

We’ve been banging on about WiFi 6 for a while and the advantages it gives for range and bandwidth.

But, here’s the truth, there are limitations when all your devices are sharing bandwidth.

It’s the old freeway analogy. You’ve got cars capable of 80km an hour, travelling on a four lane highway with cars doing 120km/h.

With dual-band routers we had the 2.4GHz spectrum and 5GHz spectrum which was kinda like adding a second set of four lanes for devices to use.

But, we’ve now got devices capable of land speed records, but they are sharing those lanes with cars doing 120km/h so while there’s a lot more space, there is still levels of congestion at times.

Let’s add a nice little two or four lane elevated roadway alongside them both, but let’s paint the road surface red and make it exclusive to the land-speed record cars.

That’s what WiFi 6E does, but in the case of WiFi it’s only WiFi 6E devices allowed to use the new 6GHz spectrum.

Netgear tested this in quite a unique way. Using their new RAXE500 Nighthawk router, they tested the speed of devices on the 5GHz network and the 6GHz network in a special room with no interference. On both networks, speeds were great, and almost the same.

However, out in open air, a real-world scenario where there’s traffic on the 5GHz network, speeds halved or worse. Whereas on the 6GHz it stayed at peak speeds or close to it.

This is a long way of telling you that for any WiFi 6E capable device you have (Samsung’s latest high-end phones, TV’s and some new laptops already support 6E) will absolutely fly on a WiFi 6E network.

The Nighthawk RAXE500 is a tri-band router using WiFi 6E for the very best and latest tech in your home.

David Henry from Netgear says “Our mission at NETGEAR is to provide products with cutting edge technologies to enable people to work, learn, stream and game more effectively in a connected world,”

“The Nighthawk RAXE500 Tri-band router is a game changing example of this and the first of many innovations for NETGEAR in the WiFI 6E space. We’re excited to see how it’s received in the Australian market and look forward to sharing our strong pipeline of WiFi 6E innovations in the future.” 

The device isn’t cheap – $1,099 – but for people who value their connectivity, who want their devices to perform at their best and understand that your WiFi network is like a utility and an infrastructure for your home – it’s vital stuff.

Large amounts of streaming, or particularly Gamers will get the most advantage here.

It’s a fantastic looking device which offers technology we haven’t seen before.

The NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE500 Tri-band WiFi router is exclusively available for pre order on NETGEAR Australia online store