Netgear is a highly reliable manufacturer that offers top quality routers and the AC1750 is one of them. This router is capable of delivering great performance for a reasonable price. The AC1750 is very similar to the Nighthawk and while it is slightly more expensive, it is a good choice for large homes and offices. It provides great range coverage and it is an upgrade worth considering. Without a doubt, the best thing about this router is its good range coverage. Compared to other devices that offer similar features, the AC1750 stands out thanks to the fact that it offers great value for money. The Netgear R6400V2 AC1750 comes with 4 LAN ports and it is an easy to use solution. Here we will find out more about this 802.11ac router.
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Design
The R6400 AC1750 has a classic and light design, and its three external antennas allow it to offer better performance at long range. The R6400 is the follow up to the R6300 and it looks pretty much the same as the original 802.11ac router. The antennas are not removable, meaning that it is not possible to upgrade them. Overall, the R6400 can be easily set up. While a firmware update is required before the initial network configuration is completed, there is an installation wizard that will guide you through every step needed to finish the configuration process. You will be able to set up the admin password and get started with the router.
Let’s talk now about the user interface. Although it is simple and in general, it can be used without major hassle, the truth is that it looks outdated. Plus, you may experience some issues while using Google Chrome to access the web interface. The QoS or Quality of Service on this router doesn’t allow you to prioritize bandwidth by specific devices, you can only do it by topics. That being said, the parental controls are good and they give you a high level of control. The downside is that you will need to spend more time than usual on the initial setup.
Features
One of the most important aspects that you need to pay attention to with any router is the set of features that they support. In order to enjoy the best possible experience, a router needs to support certain features. While the Netgear R6400 AC1750 is not as feature-rich as other routers, it does provide a good selection of options and convenient functionality. This router supports beamforming capacity, which means that it can determine the approximate location of a device and it focuses the WiFi signal in that direction. Unfortunately, MU-MIMO is not supported so it is not capable of establishing communication with multiple devices at the same time, which reduces load times when there are several users on the same network.
A convenient feature is the fact that the router can be remotely reset, which allows you to solve connectivity issues. If you find that the LED lights are bothering you, it is possible to dim them, but only via the web interface. IPv6 is supported by the dual-band router and there is a guest WiFi network. You can mount the router on a wall, if you don’t have much space for it. The 4 LAN router supported by this Netgear router, put it at pair to other products of the same category. There are also two USB ports available: one 2.0 port located at the back of the router and a USB 3.0 port in the front, thanks to these ports, you can share a printer and a USB storage device over the network.
Performance
Unfortunately, the 2.4 GHz throughput is not exactly the best. We carried out a test at short distance, using our laptop about 3 meters away from the router, without any obstacles between them. We also tested the performance by placing the router and the computer away from each other, at the same distance (3 meters approximately) but with a wall in the middle. We obtained average results for performance in both cases. Without any obstructions, the router delivered a throughput of47 Mbit/s and with a wall in the middle, the speed was 37 Mbit/s. When testing at an increased distance, the router delivered also results that place it in the mid-range category. That being said, for the price, the results are not bad.
When it comes to the 5 GHz band, the R6400 router by Netgear also delivers decent results. The results when testing with the router separated from the laptop by a wall were slightly lower than the speeds obtained when testing without obstructions. In average it reached 181 Mbits/s in the obstructed test. The line in sight test showed better results in the mid-range distance with about 185 Mbit/s as the average speed. The long distance tests were disappointing, with 17 Mbits/s as the average results.
While the speeds are only decent, the range is where the router delivers outstanding performance. You will be able to use it without major disruptions in different areas around your house. We tested different distance to confirm that it was possible to continue streaming a video, even after moving around a large home. We only started noticing disruptions in the streaming when moving about 65 meters away from the router. This is an impressive result that confirms that the Netgear R6400 AC1750 is ideal for large homes.
Conclusion
Although the R6400 AC1750 is not the fastest or cheapest router available in the market, it is an option worth considering if you need large range coverage at home. The fact that the antennas can’t be upgraded may putt off many shoppers, but this router offers an appealing, lightweight design and it does well when it comes to NAS/storage performance. The speeds may not be impressive, but they are decent enough. It doesn’t offer MU-MIMO technology but it supports VLAN, WAN bridging and OpenVPN. It offers great results when it comes to range so it is mainly recommended for large homes. The R6400 may not be an exceptional router, but it comes supported by Netgear’s quality and it is available for a reasonable enough price.
