NETGEARNighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 Wi-Fi Router with 4 Ethernet Ports and Wireless Speeds Up to 2.6 Gbps, AC2600, Optimized for Low Ping

I’m a network engineer and I wanted to replace my enterprise gear at home with something simple to manage, yet powerful. I’m getting old and I’d rather not troubleshoot network problems at home. Not that it happens often, but it’s been a nightmare when the wife calls saying that the Internet isn’t working. Time to downgrade. Enter the Netgear XR500.The XR500 ticks off the boxes I was looking for:-It does not need to be rebooted for silly wireless issues. It’s rock-solid stable.-Never needs a reboot to change a setting.-The WiFi range goes well into my yard, past my neighbors home and into the street. How?? It blows away a multiple AP setup it replaced.-My iPhone X is speed testing at 91/5.5 on a 100/5 Internet connection. My computers test at 110+/5.5.-AirPlay runs flawessly to my Apple TV 4K.-Initial setup is simple. My dog could have done it.-VPN is simple to configure and has detailed instructions accompanying the menu options.-Dynamic DNS is insanely easy to turn on. It even configured an account for me.While there are very few drawbacks:-Remote admin can only be secured to one IP or a range. I can’t input a list of IP’s I’d like to have access from.-There’s no mobile app for DumaOS. The web view works pretty well on mobile though, so I’d say that 75% makes up for it. (UPDATE 10/27/18: The Nigthawk app works great with this router; I highly recommend it.)-I could not get the Internet to work in “manual setup” mode. The router would proxy any DNS address to itself: 192.168.1.1. There might be a bug that caused the proxy not to turn off, or maybe there’s a setting I simply couldn’t locate. When I used the automatic setup, Internet started working in one click.Overall I’m very happy with my XR500 and I’m excited to have my home network all under one box again. My “issues” with the router are all “fussy network engineer-problems” that most users would *never ever* encounter. Since my number one concern was stability, I would go as far to say that there is no other home-class router on the market that could satisfy me. I’m a demanding user and the XR500 delivers in spades. In the network world, this thing is the equivalent to an indestructible tank. Congratulations to the Netgear and DumaOS teams who developed this product. You absolutely outdid yourselves.UPDATE 10/27/18: I'm still absolutely loving this router, and I can't recommend it enough. I recently updated my XR500 to the latest firmware, and believe it or not, it didn't require a reboot! This thing NEVER needs to reboot. You may be able to tell that I'm the kind of techie that gets excited about servers with up-times measured in decades. The XR500 definitely gives off that feel! I hadn't thought about it until today, but we never have network problems at home anymore. Not even one- The last time the Internet stopped working, it was because the power was out during a storm. This device is amazing, and I have ZERO regrets in my purchase decision.

After over a decade of loyalty to Cisco based routing products, I made the switch to Netgear when purchasing this router in February of 2018. I don't write reviews. Ever. For this router, I felt the need to write a review because if you are looking for a router with consistent updates, and a community that fervently communicates needs and upgrades to Netgear, with Netgear actually listening, look no longer, this is the product for you. I know how much time I took researching routers myself, so hopefully this will help you too.1. Setup—a breeze for those who know the ins and outs of networking. An app is available to those who are less network savvy. If you don’t know what you are doing, there’s always help and forums where you can find out how to get to where you need to be.2. Features—I found many of the same tools that I had from my Linksys E3000 available with this router. And then there’s what my last router did not have. DumaOS takes what is already a killer router and just puts it way over the top. Everything is customizable. If I want to shut down a ton of IPs so I can game with a consistent ping of 12-15, I can do it with a mouse click. With testing, I’ve seen a ping as low as 8. Part of this magic is the DumaOS multi-node connections module that is based on geographic proximity. The pic I’ve provided with this review shows a ping of 18, and that is with about 35 IPs running, including 2 Nest cams and a DCAU setup for mesh backhaul with 2 additional APs. The internal processor of this router makes this possible. I could go deeper into everything I have connected but you would be easily bored and stop reading this review. Again, DumaOS is the heart and soul of this router. I almost wish there was an option for purchasing an ultra version of DumaOS. It’s not a perfect world, but it’s really the best out there for maintaining a rock solid connection.3. Reliability—I haven’t once needed to restart the router for any reason related to the router, only from activities by my ISP (Xfinity). And I’ve only done that three times over 9 months. The connection to all my devices is rock solid, does not drop out—at all. I’ve been able to run my other two Linksys routers with the same mesh config I was using with my E3000 with no issues.4. Range—I can’t really review this aspect as I have a mesh set up.5. Ports—has all the ports I need. It’s worth noting that I do not have an NAS attached to the router. I’m not really a believer of NAS due to the I/O load it puts on a LAN. I would barely even use the NAS if I had one, so it doesn’t make much sense in my application to use one. I would caution against using one if you are looking to use this for gaming.6. Price—the old adage “you get what you pay for” applies here. This isn’t a router for those looking for a “best bang for the buck” type of application. If you buy this router, you know why you are buying it. It delivers for every penny spent on it.7. Looks—every router looks like a UFO these days. Can’t say much here, it just looks cool, period.8. Remember—a router is only as good as its ISP. So keep that in mind. If you have problems currently and think this router may fix them, rethink your approach.If you really want to step up your game, this is the router for you. Netgear and DumaOS have made me believers. Maybe they will make you one too.