Wireless networking has advanced rapidly in the last few years with the opening of the 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi. Silicon vendors have updated their Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) solutions to support the new bands, and router/access point vendors have followed suit. Wi-Fi 7 silicon based on 802.11be was introduced last year by all major silicon vendors such as Broadcom, Qualcomm and Mediatek. Intel also gave a hint about his upcoming Wi-Fi 7 client platform in an interoperability demo with Broadcom’s AP design. Following this, companies such as TP-Link and ASUS (RT-BE96U and ROG Rapture GT-BE98) began revealing details of their first-generation Wi-Fi 7 products. TP-Link’s products have been up for pre-order since January, and he was originally scheduled to ship in Q1 2023. Today Netgear unveils his first Wi-Fi 7 product, the Nighthawk RS700 wireless router.
As a refresher, Wi-Fi 7 offers faster speeds (true multi-gigabit, your router must be equipped with a wired 10G port), lower latency, and better channel utilization (especially with multiple clients in the picture). The standard also allows multi-link operation where clients can simultaneously connect to APs on different bands. All Wi-Fi 7 routers should be tri-band (supporting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) to take full advantage of the new standard. Compared to Wi-Fi 6E flagship Nighthawk, RS700 boasts nearly double the wireless throughput and comes with 10G WAN and LAN ports. It is based on Broadcom’s Wi-Fi 7 platform (BCM4916 network SoC + BCM67263 / BCM6726 radio).
While ASUS continues to use spider-style antenna designs for its Wi-Fi 7 products, TP-Link has completely revamped the industrial design of its high-end products to support the new standard. Netgear has also moved to a new design style for the Nighthawk RS700 with a tower form factor. In addition to complementing the fanless design by promoting convection (using strategically placed vents), Netgear’s new design also allows for optimal antenna placement to reduce interference. claims to be
Netgear supports link aggregation on both LAN and WAN sides. The latter feature is positioned for use with Gen 1 1200 Mbps cable modems (such as the Netgear CM1200) with dual 1 Gbps ports instead of a single 2.5 Gbps NBASE. T port. There is also a mix of USB 3.0 ports for connecting storage drives or printers.
The Nighthawk mobile app will continue to offer a family of products for easy management via Android/iOS devices, and a local web UI will also be available. Netgear also includes his one-year subscription to ARMOR cybersecurity products to protect against online threats and VPN functionality.
The Nighthawk RS700 is available for pre-order today, with an expected launch date of Q2 2023. According to the company, this router he claims can support over 200 client devices simultaneously and fully cover a 3,500-square-foot home. Majority of consumer households. However, customers accustomed to standard his Nighthawk features like out-of-the-box mesh network support, multiple wireless networks (in addition to the standard main and guest networks), and parental controls will see a firmware update later this year. have to wait. The RS700 is priced at $700, which is the same as the TP-Link Archer BE900’s announced price. However, TP-Link could include more wireless streams (and correspondingly higher wireless throughput), multiple USB ports, and 4x 2.5 Gbps and SFP+/RJ-45 10G combos at the same price point. increase. Either way, both vendors have promised most of the features in future firmware updates, with no concrete ship dates yet. A more informed value proposition comparison can only be made after the product is in the hands of the final customer.
