Netgear Nighthawk R7000P AC2300 Review

This is where things got a bit weird because I was redirected to the Netgear Genie app, where I continued the initial set up process: I was asked if I wanted to enable automatic firmware updates and if I wanted to send ‘router analytics data’ to the manufacturer’s servers; next, the router checked the Internet Connection and I had to manually insert the username and password from the ISP, and lastly, I created the admin password – apparently some users were able to continue the initial set up process through the Nighthawk app, but, regardless, the router was successfully configured and I could afterwards access the Nighthawk UI (when I accessed it, it gave me the Product Registered window).

The mobile interface is very clean with the router icon on the top (tap it to view the router and the Internet connection details, as well as Reboot the device or check for any software updates) and eight icons underneath it: WiFi Settings, Device List, Guest WiFi, Parental Controls, Internet Speed, Security, Traffic Meter and Support.
Under the WiFi Settings, you can enable the Smart Connect feature (balances the clients between the two bands) or change the SSID, password and the security type of the two networks, while under Devices, you can see a list of all the connected clients, each displaying (on demand) some status info and, next to each device, there’s a switch to pause the connection towards it.

Under the Guest WiFi, you can enable the Guest Networks for each available bands and, under Parental Controls, if you decide to enable it, you’ll be taken to the Circle with Disney app, where you’ll have to create an Account, choose between Basic or Premium package (the former is free), add Profiles, select the Filter level (set by age), choose the allowed or blocked platforms and assign the profile to one or all connected devices (Circle with Disney requires your phone number). Under the Security, you can activate the Netgear Armor feature, which has the role of protecting your network against outside threats, while the Traffic Matter shows the total and the average transferred data over certain periods of time.

As with many other routers, the mobile application is more limited than the web-based UI, so, let’s have a closer look at what does the Netgear genie offer. The interface is designed in the same manner as it has been for more than four years, so the settings are still divided into two, Basic and Advanced, with the main menu on the left and the respective window (for each option) on the right. The Basic section consists of the Home tab (general device and network status spread in seven small windows), the Internet tab (offer a comprehensive way to configure your network connection), the Wireless tab (you can set the SSID, Channel, Mode, Transmit Power Control and the Security for each of the two bands – includes the possibility to enable the Smart Connect feature), the Attached Devices, Dynamic QoS (it automatically prioritises the traffic and bandwidth allocation for your clients), Parental Controls (similarly to the app, it offers the Circle with Disney, but it also features OpenDNS parental controls), ReadySHARE (useful for connecting external storage devices), Guest Network, NETGEAR Downloader (useful if you want to download files directly from the Internet to a connected USB drive) and Netgear Armor.

The Advanced section consists of the ADVANCED Home (as expected, it has more info than the Basic Home, from which one of the more interesting is the Internet port which shows statistics for each port), the Setup and WPS Wizard and the Setup options: besides having most of the options from the Basic section, it does come with the WAN Setup, where you can configure the NAT Filtering, the MTU Size, the default DMZ Server and more.

You can also find the USB Functions, the NETGEAR Downloader (again), Security (includes Access Control for your clients, the ability to filter websites using the Block Sites, configure the Schedule, the Parental Controls, Netgear Armor and the Email Notifications), Administration and Advanced Setup: includes a more comprehensive way to configure the wireless network, the ability to run the router in AP Mode or Bridge Mode, configure the Port Forwarding / Port Triggering, Dynamic DNS, VPN Service, UPnP, IPv6, LED control, VLAN / Bridge Setup and more.
While navigating and configuring the router, I noticed that both the mobile app and the web-based interface take a long time activating or displaying various options (longer than the R7000P’ competitors), so the software is still one of Netgear’s weaknesses, but I was pleasantly surprised by how quick some settings were applied.

Conclusion
The Nighthawk R7000 was a fantastic router for its time and the R7000P does improve some key aspects, but doesn’t feel like a completely new device and it has position itself in a weird class (AC2300, just the TP-Link C2300), probably to not compete to with what I consider the de facto successor, the Nighthawk R7800 X4S. Even so, the router’s design has withstood the test of time (although it starts to feel outdated in 2019, it didn’t feel so when it was released a couple of years ago), the user interface does offer a full set of features and the mobile app is a nice addition (the web UI does desperately need an upgrade). But it’s the wireless performance that makes a difference and, if you have a powerful WiFi adapter (the PCE-AC88), you’ll see close-to-Gigabit speeds near the router and, since most devices do not, the R7000P will still mostly behave as an AC1900-class router (and that’s pretty much enough by today’s exigences, you just need to keep an eye when there’s a good deal available).

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