Netgear R6700 AC1750 Router Review: Excellent Router For Large Homes
Introduction
Netgear's R6700 is a large router that packs a 1Ghz dual-core processor that's designed for large homes. It is a mid-range router that supports up to 450Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency band and up to 1300Mbps on the 5Ghz frequency band. It measures 11.22 x 7.26 x 1.97 in (HWD) and weighs a little over 1.6 pounds. The R6700 is part of the Nighthawk series and uses the same housing design as its bigger brother, R7000. The R6700 is very sturdy and it has it has a wide base with rubber feet so it won't slip and slide all over a surface. Netgear's nighthawk routers can be wall-mounted if space is limited.
Netgear is using the same exterior design as the popular R7000 AC1900 Nighthawk in the R6700. The internal hardware components of the R6700 are identical to the R7000. The only difference is that the R6700 only comes with one USB 3.0 port whereas the R7000 has one front USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port on the back. I will be comparing the R6700 to the R6400 in this review and you can read my review of the Netgear R6400. The R6400 is not part of the Nighthawk series and simply replaces the R6300v2 at the same price but with better performance.
Here I have the R6700 (right) and R6400 (left) side by side so you can see the difference between the two. The first thing you will notice is how glossy the R6400 is. Not only that but the R6400 is a dust magnet as you can see. Another thing that you will notice is that the R6700's antennas are longer and thicker. Netgear's R6700/R6400 use three external antennas and Beamforming+ to improve range, extend coverage and reduce dead spots for large homes. The antennas on the R6400 are adjustable but non-removable and the reason for that is to keep the cost down. The R6700's antennas are adjustable and also removable.
The R6700 only has one front USB 3.0 port whereas the R6400 has a second USB 2.0 on the back. On the front of the router, there's the Wi-Fi and WPS buttons which can be turned on and off and right below the light indicators, you have the USB 3.0 port.
You can use Netgear's genie App which is an easy way to manage and monitor your router. It allows you to access all the features of your router without having to boot up your computer. You can share and stream music or videos and set up parental controls and more. The genie app doesn't work when connected to the guest network and doesn't work with wireless extender or repeater. It's a useful app if you want to monitor and perform maintenance and troubleshooting the router.
Specifications
| Netgear R6700 AC1750 Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi Technology: | 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit | Wi-Fi Performance: | AC1750 (450+1300 Mbps) | Wi-Fi Range: | Very Large Homes | Wi-Fi Band: | Simultaneous dual band 2.4 & 5GHz |
| Beamforming: | Beamforming+ — Boosts speed, reliability and range of WiFi Connections for 2.4 and 5GHz | Number of Ethernet Ports: | Five (5) 10/100/1000 Mbps—(1 WAN & 4 LAN) Gigabit Ethernet ports |
| Number of USB Ports: | One (1) USB 3.0 port |
| Key Features: | - AC1750 WiFi—450+1300 Mbps† speeds - 1GHz Dual Core Processor - Advanced features for lag-free gaming - Prioritized bandwidth for streaming videos or music - 100% faster for mobile devices - Beamforming+ improves range and performance for both 2.4 and 5GHz devices - High powered amplifiers & antennas to extend your WiFi coverage - Upstream & downstream QoS for best gaming & video streaming experience - Airtime fairness prevents network lag when slower devices connect - Free automatic backup software for Windows® PC & Time Machine® compatible for Macs - Customized free URL to set up personal FTP server |
| Security: | - Customized free URL to set up personal FTP server - VPN support—secure remote access - Guest network access—separate & secure - WiFi Protected Access® (WPA/WPA2—PSK) - Double firewall protection (SPI and NAT) - Denial-of-service (DoS) attack prevention |
| Physical Specifications: | - Dimensions: 11.22 x 7.26 x 1.97 in (285 x 184.5 x 50 mm) - Net weight: 1.65 lb (750 g) |
| Package Contents: | - AC1750 Smart WiFi Router (R6700) - Ethernet cable - Quick install guide - Power adapter, localized to country of sale |
| Standards: | - One USB 3.0 port - IEEE® 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz - IEEE® 802.11 a/n/ac 5.0GHz - Five (5) 10/100/1000 Mbps—(1 WAN & 4 LAN) Gigabit Ethernet ports |
The comparison below shows the internal hardware differences between the R6700, R6400 and R6300v2. As you can see, Netgear has added a Low Noise Amplifier to both bands in the R6400 and they've replaced the 2.4Ghz power amplifier compared to the R6300v2.
| Netgear Wireless Routers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | R6700 AC1750 | R6400 AC1750 | R6300v2 AC1750 | Release Date: | 5 August 2014 | 5 May 2015 | 26 March 2013 | Price: | $150 | $130 | $125 | CPU: | Broadcom BCM4709A0 | Broadcom BCM4708A0 | Broadcom BCM4708A0 | Frequency: | 1Ghz, 2 cores | 800 MHz, 2 cores | 800 MHz, 2 cores |
| RAM: | 256 MB | 256 MB | 256 MB | Flash: | 128 MB (Samsung K9F1G08U0D) | 128 MB (Samsung K9F1G08U0D) | 128 MB (Samsung K9F1G08U0D) |
| 2.4 Ghz: | - Broadcom BCM4360 - Skyworks SE2623L 2.4 GHz Power Amp (x3) | - Broadcom BCM4331 - SiGE SE2604L 2.4 GHz Power Amplifier (x3) - Skyworks SKY13377 6 GHz SPDT switch (x3) - Skyworks SKY65405-21 2.4 GHz LNA (x3) | - Broadcom BCM4331 - SiGE SE2528L 2.4 GHz Power Amplifier with Power Detector (x3) |
| 5 Ghz: | - Broadcom BCM4360 - Skyworks SE5003L1 5 GHz, 23dBm Power Amplifier with Power Detector (x3) | - Broadcom BCM4360 - Skyworks SE5003L1 5 GHz, 23dBm Power Amplifier with Power Detector (x3) - Skyworks SKY13370 6 GHz SPDT switch (x3) - Skyworks Unidentified 5 GHz LNA (x3) | - Broadcom BCM4360 - Skyworks SE5003L1 5 GHz, +19dBm Power Amp w/ Power Detector (x3) |
| Wi-Fi: | abgn+ac | abgn+ac | abgn+ac |
| Antennas: | Three External | Three External | Six Internal |
Let's talk a little bit about the specs inside the R6700 and R6400. The R6400 comes with the same Broadcom BCM4708 dual core 800Mhz processor that was used on the R6300v2 whereas the R6700 packs the BCM4709 which is a 1Ghz dual-core processor. These routers are still using 256MB RAM and 128MB flash. The R6700 stays relatively cool thanks to the ventilation holes on the back and the sides. The BCM4708 SoC in the R6400 is plenty fast and I have never had any issues with it so the bump to the BCM4709 in the R6700 should offer a nice little boost in performance.
Other than that, both these routers use three external antennas and have the same amount of RAM and flash. We are going to benchmark the R6700 against the R6400, R6300v2 and TP-Link Archer C8 in NAS performance, Wi-Fi performance and storage performance.
Performance
Storage performance is excellent with R6700. The R6700 was tested using the lastest firmware version which at the time of writing this review is the 1.0.0.26 version. I've benchmarked the storage performance of the R6700 using the USB 3.0 connection for FAT32 and NTFS formats. Most of the routers performed similarly the same with the TP-Link Archer C8 coming in at second place after the R6700. The R6300v2 and R6400 are basically the same router and the performance I recorded was also very similar. The R6700 beat all the routers with little effort.
Next, I’m using a dedicated NAS to benchmark a single 5GB file to the R6700. Some people attach an external HDD to the USB 3.0 port but that can be a lot of stress for the CPU in the router and can limit performance. The R6700 once again beat all the other routers with the R6400 coming in second.
I'm using a laptop equipped with Intel AC-7265 (2x2 802.11ac) Wi-Fi adapter to measure the 5Ghz throughput speed. Netgear's R6700 Nighthawk router performed better than the other routers at 10 and 25 feet away. At 10 feet away from the router, the R6700 provided the highest 5Ghz throughput with the TP-Link Archer C8 coming in second. Overall, the R6700 managed to outperform all routers at both distances.
Conclusion
Overall, I have been using the R6700 for a few days now and I have to say that I love having total monitoring and control over my network. It's pretty easy to setup so even if you are someone with no prior experience in setting up routers, the R6700 makes it easy to set everything up. The range is great and I even get full 5Ghz coverage in my garage which is a couple of feet away from my house. So if you're in the market for a new router or maybe you just need more than your current router can provide, the R6700 might be what you need.
The R6700 has very good storage and NAS performance and the 5Ghz throughput is good for a $150 router. The R6700 is a decent mid-range 802.11ac router but at $150, it is on the expensive side since you can get an TP-Link Archer C9 for around $110 that outperforms the R6700. With all that being said, the R6700 isn't the fastest 802.11ac router out there but it provides great 5Ghz speeds and NAS/storage performance.
Pros:
+ Fast NAS/Storage Performance
+ Attractive Design
+ Good Range
+ Easy To Setup
+ Great 802.11ac Speeds
Cons:
- Expensive
Final Score 9.0
