Netgear Nighthawk R6700 Review

Having a router that works for gaming and isn’t complete garbage can be pretty difficult sometimes, especially if you’re running your gaming wirelessly. A large amount of throughput and low lag required can be quite challenging for a lot of home routers, mostly because they aren’t really made for it.

Of course, there are some wireless routers tailored specifically to gaming, but they’re usually several hundred dollars and you might not even need it.

Netgear Nighthawk R6700 Performance

Netgear is well known for its high-quality gaming routers, and the NIghthawk R6700 is no exception. With a maximum throughput of 450Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band and a whopping 1300Mbps on the 5Ghz band, you aren’t going to be left needing whatsoever. Of course, how much you actually get from that depends a lot on how far away you are from your router.

When it comes to the 2.5Ghz band at around 10 feet (3 meters) you’ll start seeing performance degrade to around 47-48Mbps and at 35 feet (10.5 meters) you’ll be looking at 43Mbps or so. Of course, that’s assuming a clear line of sight, and with some kind of obstruction like a wall, you’ll see approximately 35Mbps at 35 feet (10.5 meters). At around 70 feet (22 meters) that goes down to 25Mbps, which is still quite impressive honestly, and more than enough for gaming.

But of course, you could have interference on the 2.5Ghz band, so switching to the 5Ghz might be a better option. For that, you’ll see 210Mbps at the 35 feet (10.5 meters) range, while the 70 feet (22 meters) plummets to a terrible 10Mbps or so, but that’s to be expected with 5Ghz band. So really, you don’t want to go beyond 35 feet (10.5meters) to get the best speeds.

Aside from pure performance though, the Nighthawk R6700 has a ton of extra features that make it a peach to use.

For example, it supports VPN usage, which isn’t very standard for routers at this range, plus you get IPv6, another thing that isn’t that common. As for the web interface, it’s a breeze to use and affords you a ton of control, especially if you’re going to take advantage of the MU-MIMO technology.

You can also set a static IP, although for some reason the DNS redirection is a little bit hidden, but that’s certainly not the end of the world.

Netgear Nighthawk R6700 Design

One thing that I certainly appreciate about the Nighthawk R6700 is that it doesn’t look like your traditional bulky router. With a nice and sleek design, it blends in with any setup, and it’s also wall-mountable, so you can tuck it away out of sight if you’d rather go that route. On top of that, the three antennas are all removable, so if you want to replace them with more high-gain antennas, you can absolutely do that too.

Aside from that, the LEDs in the front give you all the information you could ever need, and pretty good for a mid-range router. It also has a feature I absolutely LOVE which is that you can turn off the indicator LEDs. So if you have the router in your room or next to a TV, you don’t have to be constantly bothered by the light.

On the back of the router, you’ll find a ton of connectivity, with 4 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet ports and a WAN port. You’ll also find the power button there for easy switching on and off. On the front, there’s a USB 3.0 port which is pretty great, although it can be a bit awkward if you want to permanently connect an external hard drive.

Netgear Nighthawk R6700 Pricing & Alternative

Honestly, probably the best part of this router is the value and it’s pricing, costing only $69.57 on Amazon. Considering what you’re getting for that, it’s basically a steal at that price point, so certainly worth a consideration.

Going up a step you have the TP-Link AC1900 which goes for $89.97 on amazon. It’s slightly faster and has a bit better performance. It even works with Alexa, so that’s an option if you want to go that route.

Going up even one more step above the TP-Link AC1900, there’s the Linksys Mesh WiFi Router. It’s a little bit pricier at $139.95 (ok, A LOT pricier), but it’s an exceptional router. It has 450Mbps higher max throughput compared to the Nighthawk R6700, as well as a much longer range. So, if you have a bigger home this is a great option.

Oh, and it’s a mesh router, so you can stick one or two of these together in the same home and have seamless internet as you walk around!

NETGEAR Nighthawk R6700 FAQs

What Is the Difference Between Netgear R6400 and R6700?

The difference is minimal, with the R6400 having an 800MHz dual-core processor and the R6700 has a 1GHz dual-core processor. The R6400 also has an extra USB 2.0 port, although that’s not really useful with USB 3.0 being so common these days.

Is Netgear AC1750 a Good Router?

Yes, absolutely. I would even argue it’s one of the best routers in its price bracket, and there aren’t many routers that can compete with it at this price.

What Is the Difference Between AC1750 and AC1900?

The main difference is how much Mbps throughput between the two. AC 17500 means a maximum throughput of 1750Mbps over both 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz, whereas 1900 means 1900Mbps over both 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz. So the main difference is an extra 150Mbps throughput to the maximum.

Netgear Nighthawk R6700: Final Verdict

As you can see, the Nighthawk R6700 is a great router for the price, especially if you have a medium to a large home. Speeds are pretty good, especially once you go on the 5Ghz band, although the range does tend to suffer if you go too far. That being said, you aren’t likely to put the router on the other end of your home, so the maximum range and performance graph over distance shouldn’t be an issue.

It’s also a pretty sweet looking router, with most routers looking like a chunky rectangle, the sleek straight lines mean you’re not constantly looking at an eyesore. I also very much appreciate the removable antenna, and the MU-MIMO support, as well as the ability to add a VPN. It’s a great router all around.

Performance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clearly the performance is not the same as what you might get with a more expensive router, but it’s good enough for the purpose. While I wouldn’t necessarily suggest you play online with this router, if you do it within 35 feet you should do well enough in a non-competitive mode.

Design: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s a pretty swanky looking design, and the removable antenna is great. The biggest bump on this is the fact that you can switch off the indicator LEDs. It might seem like a minor thing, but LEDs are bright in a dark room.

Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gotta say the price is pretty unbeatable. That being said, you probably could find a router or two that might possibly beat it, but it would be a tall order. Overall for what you’re getting, it’s good value.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, this is a great mid-tier router and one of the best in its price bracket. It has good performance and a range that puts it in the competition for the best long-range gaming router title. Additional features are pretty good too, from the VPN support to the MU-MIMO. If you want to spend less than $100 for a router, this is a top contender.