Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6 AC3200

Overview

The Nighthawk X6 AC3200 is a tri-band Wi-Fi router from Netgear. It is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and sports six high performance antennas. The 2.4GHz band is capable of 600Mbps via 256QAM modulation, and the 5GHz band can do 1300Mbps.

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 10 expert reviews

Excellent:

4
Good:

4
Average:

2
Bad:

0

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Last revision on October 4, 2021

Reviewers Liked

Tri-band operation
Good performance
Genie software makes setup easy
USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports
Six fold-out antennas
Excellent range

Reviewers Didn't Like

Lacks e-SATA port
High price
Not as fast as other tri-band routers

Direct Competitors and Related Products

Our editors hand-pick these products using a variety of criteria: they can be direct competitors targeting the same market segment or can be similar devices in terms of size, performance, or features.

Expert reviews and ratings

By TechGaming on January 05, 2016 83

If the Netgear’s top of the line router is out of your budget, the Nighthawk X6 R8000 is a respectable alternative, offering capabilities within the scope of most home networks, at a lower price.

By ThePCEnthusiast on January 21, 2015 90

The Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 generally didn’t disappoint me and it’s built with lots of features with great solid performance. A great innovative product like this deserves not only my recommendation, but also The PC Enthusiast’s Editor’s Choice award.

By PCPowerPlay on December 16, 2014 80

Designed for users with lots of different devices on different Wi-Fi bands, the X6 does a very capable job over decent ranges.

By Tom's Guide on October 15, 2014 70

A versatile tri-band design, easy setup and long range make Netgear's R8000 a strong router for a house filled with data hogs.

By PC Authority on September 19, 2014 90

While there is no doubt that the Nighthawk X6 is an excellent solution for keeping our increasing numbers of devices connected to the net efficiently, those who already have a good router may be dissuaded by the price, however for those who are suffering the pain of device dropouts and ‘too much data in too few pipes’ could do a great deal worse than Netgear’s latest offering.

By TweakTown on September 18, 2014 86

The Nighthawk X6 is what I call a transition router, with legacy 2.4GHz devices having their very own band, and then having two separate 5GHz bands, allowing you to use 5GHz 802.11n, at the same time with 802.11ac, without bottlenecking the AC devices.

By PCMag on August 26, 2014 80

The Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router (R8000) makes an impressive debut, proving the concept of tri-band router by deftly handling multiple wireless devices on a single network, despite a few minor rough spots.

By LegitReviews on August 20, 2014 95

The Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 Tri-Band router really does set a new standard in high-performing wireless routers not only giving you an extra radio to play with, but an upgraded firmware that does load balancing to keep your devices running at peak speeds. If you can afford the price tag, this is the router to buy.

By PCWorld on July 28, 2014 80

The Nighthawk X6 isn't for everyone, but if you need to support lots of 802.11ac clients, this is the best choice—for now.

By cnet on July 23, 2014 67

Even when it's working well, the Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band Gigabit Wireless Router has nothing to justify its expensive price tag.

By GadgetReview on January 01, 2018

The Nighthawk X6 AC3200 may look a little scary on the surface, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still give it a second look. With serious power under the hood and enough features like USB media servers and automated Windows backup tools, the X6 offers a solid combination of hardware and software that should be enough to handle the networking needs of any home.

By AsiaOne on September 22, 2014

Bristling with six antennas and an industrial design big on angles and LEDs, Netgear's latest router looks fierce. It is touted as the first tri-band 802.11ac router in the market with an aggregate speed of 3,200Mbps. Put simply, it means that this...

By SmallNetBuilder on August 14, 2014

The R8000's real promise is in improving total wireless throughput with mixes of client types. And here, the R8000 is a work in progress. NETGEAR chose to let the R8000 perform only a few tricks out of Broadcom's entire XStream technology catalog. So you might be better off manually assigning clients to its two 5 GHz radios, instead of using the very simple (and static) client assignment algorithms currently implemented.

By APC Magazine on July 09, 2014

Physically it's designed with that same brooding matte-black finish as last year's model — which basically means it'll still look great sitting in the Batcave next to the Tumbler batmobile from Batman Begins . So how has Netgear leaped from 1.9Gbps...

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Netgear R8000 Nighthawk X6 AC3200

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Price: $285

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Direct Competitors and Related Products

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D-Link DSL-5300 AC5300

Expert reviews and ratings