Netgear Nighthawk RS300 review

While many other manufacturers like their Wi-Fi routers to look like mechanical spiders or spaceships, without considering the practicalities of storing them on narrow shelves or keeping them dust-free, Netgear’s design department is more restrained. The RS300 – a Wi-Fi 7 router that’s affordable because you won’t fall over when you see how much they want for it – is very much the little cousin of the Nighthawk RS700S.

The upright stance, rounded rhomboid cross-section and lack of antennas, as well as a very similar layout with flashing status lights on the front that can be turned off with a press of a button, give a forceful resemblance to the family. However, the RS300 comes from a different part of the gene pool and has slower speeds for both wired and wireless connections.

However, slower is still quick. It’s a Wi-Fi 7 router and everything is measured in Gbps, which is faster than almost all internet connections and more than you need for streaming or even gaming (though downloading from Steam will always involve faster speeds). However, more and more gaming laptops and desktops (as well as phones and tablets) are equipped with Wi-Fi 7 cards, so it’s nice to see the latest version of a mature technology becoming popular enough for budget models to appear.

However, if you have an internet connection faster than 2.5 Gbps (in which case, can we come to your home?), you should consider something else. You won’t find a 10Gbps input or output port on the RS300, so if you want to run a quick home network, you’ll be restricted to 2.5Gbps.

For most people, this won’t make any difference, and the ability to connect contemporary devices to a 6 GHz Wi-Fi network and enjoy speeds up to the claimed 5.8 Gbps means that the router is unlikely to be a bottleneck.

When testing with two Wi-Fi 7 devices connected wirelessly and acting as a server and client in iPerf3 to see how quick data was transferred between them at different distances (in the same room and further against the wall and floor in between) on different bands, The RS300 delivers decent, though not blazing, speeds.

This performance puts it behind more high-priced routers like the TP-Link GE800, but not by much. Think of it as the RTX 4070 versus the RTX 4090. The twice-priced model is certainly faster, but probably not worth it for everyday exploit.

The RS300 comes in a compact and restrained package, a slim box within a box containing an included power supply and Ethernet cable, stacked on top of the router itself. A ribbon has been carefully placed under the plastic cover as it lies in its cardboard embrace, so it can be easily removed. Apart from that and some plastic packaging, it’s a lightweight offering that fits into the router itself, being less than half the weight of the TP-Link Archer GE800 and straightforward enough to grip with one hand. This, combined with an ergonomic shape reminiscent of a flattened gridiron or rugby ball, makes this perhaps the first Wi-Fi 7 router that can be thrown with any accuracy, something that should definitely be taken into account in all future purchasing decisions.

Out of the box, you’ll want to set it up, and Netgear has years of experience in making this as straightforward and plain as possible. The QR code is glued directly to the top of the device (and repeated on the base) along with the default SSID and password. It can be used to connect the Netgear Nighthawk smartphone app, which will allow you to enter your administrator password and set a few security questions. Then, if necessary, try to remember your broadband service username and password, and you can also adjust your Wi-Fi broadcast settings if you want to deviate from the default settings. It’s incredibly plain, and Netgear gets a substantial gold star for it, but it can take a long time, especially if a firmware update is required. Fortunately, this is something that most people will only need to do once.

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From there you can build your network. With a claimed range of 2,000 square feet and the ability to communicate with 100 simultaneous devices, it is the perfect hub around which everything else can center. If you prefer a wired network, there are four Ethernet ports on the back, two of which provide a full speed of 2.5Gbps, while the other two are restricted to “just” 1Gbps. That’s still quick enough for most uses, and the benefits of a more stable connection when connecting to streaming devices like clever TVs may outweigh the inconvenience of plugging in yet another cable.

Wireless performance is much less stable because our homes are simply not designed for optimal data transfer. One day, perhaps soon, all apartments, bungalows and tenement houses will be completely empty and open, without walls, doors or partitions of any kind; the router will be hung exactly in the middle, and circles will be written on the (single) floor – painted white, of course – so you’ll know exactly how far you are. Today is not that day, so we must come to terms with our imperfect homes and the problems they pose for wireless data transmission.

To do this, you can separate the bands so that all three have different names and passwords, rather than allowing the router to manage them all as one SSID (which Netgear calls Smart Connect and is enabled by default).

Something we’re starting to see more of with Wi-Fi 7 routers is the proliferation of subscription services, and the RS300 is no exception. Wi-Fi encryption is standard, of course, but after the free trial period, you’ll have to shell out some extra cash to continue using Armor’s security services and Smart Parental Controls. This is an annoying add-on offer, and some companies include these things in the asking price.

Netgear has created a Wi-Fi 7 router here that performs very well and comes at a very good price… for a Wi-Fi 7 router. It may not have the absolute fastest hardware imaginable, but it easily outperforms average internet connections, and even with IoT devices, 100 simultaneous devices is a lot, so why do you need more?