should i upgrade to ac3200 nighthawk?

farhanorakzai · July 23, 2014

i have the ac 1900 nighthawk and can return it and add $100 dollars for the ac3200. should i? is it worth it?

skywake · July 23, 2014

I just posted a bit about this in another thread. So here's the copy/paste response

Thing is here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32474-netgear-r8000-nighthawk-x6-first-look

There's a lot of detail in that article so go read it. But the important thing is the average speed over four devices when the thing was hammered.

First with just 1 radio, basically reverting to AC1900:

- AC1900 Router: 13Mbps

- MotoX: 4Mbps

- iPod Touch: 25Mbps

- iPad 2: 22Mbps

- Total: 63Mbps

Then with the second radio enabled with "SmartConnect":

- AC1900 Router: 197Mbps

- MotoX: 20Mbps

- iPod Touch: 17Mbps

- iPad 2: 25Mbps

- Total: 258Mbps

/copy-paste

Basically it's all about improving the total throughput on busy networks that have a mix of clients and it does that fairly well. You won't get better single-device throughput on a "quiet" network however and the way they've set this one up you won't get better throughput unless you have a mix of client types. It's not that smart, it just puts N clients on one band and AC clients on the other. Whether or not it's "worth it" depends on how you use your network. Personally I'd lean towards no but I only have a few portable devices on the 5Ghz band. However if you're constantly hammering your network from multiple wireless devices it might be worth it.

farhanorakzai · July 23, 2014

I just posted a bit about this in another thread. So here's the copy/paste response

Thing is here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32474-netgear-r8000-nighthawk-x6-first-look

There's a lot of detail in that article so go read it. But the important thing is the average speed over four devices when the thing was hammered.

First with just 1 radio, basically reverting to AC1900:

- AC1900 Router: 13Mbps

- MotoX: 4Mbps

- iPod Touch: 25Mbps

- iPad 2: 22Mbps

- Total: 63Mbps

Then with the second radio enabled with "SmartConnect":

- AC1900 Router: 197Mbps

- MotoX: 20Mbps

- iPod Touch: 17Mbps

- iPad 2: 25Mbps

- Total: 258Mbps

/copy-paste

Basically it's all about improving the total throughput on busy networks that have a mix of clients and it does that fairly well. You won't get better single-device throughput on a "quiet" network however and the way they've set this one up you won't get better throughput unless you have a mix of client types. It's not that smart, it just puts N clients on one band and AC clients on the other. Whether or not it's "worth it" depends on how you use your network. Personally I'd lean towards no but I only have a few portable devices on the 5Ghz band. However if you're constantly hammering your network from multiple wireless devices it might be worth it.

i already have that one, im asking if i should return it and get the new ac3200 tri band model

skywake · July 23, 2014

i already have that one, im asking if i should return it and get the new ac3200 tri band model

RTFA, first page:

Product: NETGEAR R8000 Nighthawk X6 Tri-Band WiFi Router [Website]

Summary: First AC3200 router based on Broadcom XStream technology with two 5 GHz radios

Pros

- The second 5 GHz radio can improve total throughput

- OpenVPN server

Cons

- Expensive

- 5GHz radio assignment is simplistic

.........

the "AC1900" gear I mentioned twice was:

1. My description of how the AC3200 router behaves when you disable the second 5Ghz radio

2. an AC1900 router that they connected to the AC3200 router during their test

I mean, you thought that I was talking about your router in my response. Even when I was comparing the dual 5Ghz radio mode and the single 5Ghz radio mode. That's kinda the defining difference between AC1900 and AC3200. So the answer to your question is definitely no. If you don't know what it does differently then you shouldn't be spending money on it.