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Netgear’s new gaming router comes with a pre-paired range extender
In our experience, Netgear makes some of the best gaming routers, but you may still find yourself dealing with dead zones if you live in a large home. Netgear aims to eliminate that with its new Nighthawk Pro Gaming Mesh Wi-Fi System (XRM570).
Despite the fancy nomenclature and new model designation, it's not actually a new product. Instead, it's a bundle of two existing products: Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 router and Nighthawk Mesh EX7700 tri-band Wi-Fi extender.
Unlike buying them separately, however, the mesh extender comes pre-paired with the router. This makes for an easier setup.
"With Nighthawk Mesh Extender rapid set up, simply plug it in and experience whole home seamless Wi-Fi coverage, with one network name," Netgear says. "The tri-band mesh extender enables faster Wi-Fi speeds than traditional extenders by providing a dedicated back channel for high-speed data flow and a Smart Roaming feature which intelligently connects your mobile devices to fast Wi-Fi as you roam around the home with seamless 4K video streaming, web surfing and more."
The dedicated Wi-Fi link is what separates a mesh network from a typical range extender. This allows for an extension of the wireless connectivity without cutting bandwidth in half.
As for the actual router, it's a dual-band AC2600 model that offers speeds of up to 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band and 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It also has four built-in LAN ports for wired connectivity. Our friends at Toms Guide put one through its paces and found it be a "screamer that should endear... to gamers everywhere."
The MSRP on the XRM570 is $399.99, and you can preorder one on Amazon (it releases on June 30). That's around a combined $60 savings over the MSRP of both the router and mesh extender, though both are on sale so the actual savings is closer to around $10. That's not much, but if the combo interest you, it's still a better deal, and it comes pre-paired to boot.
