1. Introduction2. NETGEAR Nighthawk RS3003. NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300 Administration Interface4. NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300 Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

WiFi 7 has been around for over a year, but the routers have been more readily available than the client systems. Now those are starting to arrive, we thought it was high time to put WiFi 7 through its paces, starting with the NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300. Theoretically, WiFi 7 can achieve over 40Gbits/sec – over ten times as much as WiFi 6 and nearly 15 times that of WiFi 5. We rigorously tested the new standard to see if it lives up to expectations.

The NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300 is a standalone WiFi router, and is a more affordable member of NETGEAR's range. While the flagship RS700S offers an aggregate 19Gbits/sec, the RS300 “only” provides 9.3Gbits/sec. This is split between 5.8Gbits/sec at 6GHz, 2.9Gbits/sec at 5GHz, and 700Mbits/sec at 2.4GHz.

One key development of WiFi 7 is that it uses 12-bit symbols rather than WiFi 6's 10-bit, thanks to support for 4096-QAM rather than 1024-QAM. It can also aggregate 160GHz and 80GHz channels, to make 320MHz or 240MHz bands. Data can be sent across multiple frequencies at 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz. This Multi-Link Operation means that WiFi 7 has as little as 1% the latency of WiFi 6.

All of this potentially adds up to much faster performance – so long as you have a client that supports WiFi 7.

The RS300 is compact, with 2x internal antennas for each waveband (six in total). But it's not lacking in physical features. The WAN port operates at 2.5Gbits/sec, ready to support the latest high-speed cable or fibre broadband. There are two more 2.5Gbits/sec LAN ports and two 1Gbit/sec LAN ports. So you can connect plenty of wired devices. There's even USB 3.0 for attaching network-accessible storage, but not printers or modems.

This may not be NETGEAR's fastest WiFi 7 router, but it's still a physically well specified piece of kit. At under £300, it's neither a bargain nor hideously expensive either. Read on to find out whether its WiFi 7 capabilities live up to the hype.

The NETGEAR Nighthawk RS300 is available from Amazon UK for £289.99 inc VAT.

Specification:

• Wireless protocols: MU-MIMO with 802.11b/g/n/be 2.4GHz, 802.11a/n/ac/ax/be 5GHz/6GHz
• Performance: BE9300 (5800 + 2,900 + 700 Mbits/sec)
• Antenna Configuration: 2x2x2 internal antennas
• Ports: 2 x Gigabit Ethernet, 2 x 2.5Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 1 x 2.5Gigabit Ethernet WAN, 1 x USB 3.0
• Modem Support: VDSL/ADSL 2+ or cable

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