Netgear unleashes first Wi-Fi 7 router but do you really need it?

Date:
Fri, 17 Mar 2023 17:30:37 +0000

Description:
Netgear's RS700 has all the latest whistles and bells, for sure, but is there any point in going for Wi-Fi 7 just yet?

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Netgear has revealed its first Wi-Fi 7 router, and while weve seen other such models from rival manufacturers, this is different in that its actually
priced and up for pre-order.

The Netgear Nighthawk RS700 is available to pre-order direct from the company priced at $699.99 (around 575, AU$1,050) you didnt think it would be cheap, now, did you? with routers shipping in Q2 in the US (possibly as early as April).

The Nighthawk RS700 router packs Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) support, meaning youll be able to benefit from this next-gen wireless standard at least in the future (well come back to the ins and outs of that shortly).

Wi-Fi 7 makes some important advancements over Wi-Fi 6 (and 6E) , ushering in big leaps in Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and improved range. In short, its all-around better for performance and reliability (and a lot faster than
Wi-Fi 6). (Image credit: Netgear)

On the technical side, the Nighthawk RS700 is a tri-band router boasting speeds of up to 19Gbps and coverage of 3,500 square feet, supporting up to
200 devices. On top of Wi-Fi 7 for wireless across 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands Netgear provides four 1Gbps LAN ports, and one 10Gbps LAN port, for wired connections.

The RS700 comes in a tower design that looks pretty smart, we think, and you can also hook up multiple units together if you want to go the mesh network route to cover a really big house with Wi-Fi signal.

Netgear is also implementing a system whereby there isnt just the option to add a guest network for visitors alongside the main network. Youll also be able to have a priority network to get the most responsive, fastest connections for gaming devices or streaming. Furthermore, an IoT (Internet of Things) network will be there to silo away your smart home gadgets, keeping them separate in case youre worried about the security issues bound up with that sort of hardware .

Also worth mentioning on the security front is that included in the price tag is a year of Netgear Armor, the Bitdefender-powered security solution. (Image credit: Netgear) Analysis: To future-proof, or, erm, to not

When new technology comes out, its inevitably expensive, and that can lead to tricky buying decisions. Do you want to fork out all that cash to get on any particular bandwagon with a new device? With Wi-Fi routers, though, these early adopter decisions are even more complex, because hardware comes out before standards are actually fully in place.

What does that mean? Well, officially Wi-Fi 7 is still just a draft standard, and it wont be officially set in stone until 2024 (most likely). And thats precisely why other router makers may have revealed models, but they arent available or even priced yet. TP-Link has a fair few Wi-Fi 7 models already unveiled, but theyre all marked as coming soon (Asus has a couple, too).

Netgear is the first manufacturer to actually price up and put a Wi-Fi 7 router on sale so you can buy it today although it wont ship for at least a month yet, possibly not until June. So, do you really need to pull the
trigger and buy right now?

The short answer is: no, probably not. Read on for a more in-depth explanation. Where's the support?

First off, we should make it clear that theres nothing wrong with bringing
out a Wi-Fi 7 router relatively early, in so much as even though 802.11be remains a draft wireless standard, Wi-Fi 7 is pretty much done and dusted,
and wont be meaningfully changed at this point.

The key point to realize here, though, is an obvious one: you can have a
Wi-Fi 7 router, but if your devices dont support Wi-Fi 7 your phones, tablets, laptops, and whatever else then they cant use this cutting-edge wireless standard. And yep, you guessed it its still so early days for Wi-Fi 7 that barely any devices support it. (The only one were aware of so far is the Xiaomi 13 Pro smartphone, although there may be other Chinese handsets that do).

So, a Wi-Fi 7 router is pointless for the vast majority of folks, then? Well, not quite, because it is backward compatible with all your existing devices, and could still run them like a dream (just not at Wi-Fi 7 speeds). What
youre getting with a Wi-Fi 7 router is future-proofing use it with all your devices now, and eventually, as you buy Wi-Fi 7 hardware, youll get the full benefit.

The thinking is that if you need a new router anyway, perhaps because your current model has taken that final trip to silicon heaven, youre spending money, so why not look to the future?

The problem with the Netgear Nighthawk RS700 is that youre obviously
splashing a lot of cash $700 is no small expenditure. Thats enough to buy
you a PC (a modest desktop, anyway). Is it wise to pay quite such a premium?

Not at this relatively early stage, wed argue. Even if you need to replace your router, wed advise at least considering getting a stopgap Wi-Fi 6 model for a relatively affordable outlay. Then sell that second-hand when Wi-Fi 7 fully arrives (and we start to see a meaningful number of devices supporting it), before upgrading to a Wi-Fi 7 router, which by that time will be more reasonably priced.

Still, all that said, if moneys no object, theres no harm in getting future-proofed at this point in time, and this Netgear router does look
pretty tasty.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/netgear-unleashes-first-wi-fi-7-router-but-do-y ou-really-need-it


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