Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 5 GHz router review, is it worth it?

The Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 (R6850) router released in 2017. It is powered by MediaTek MT7621AT @ 880 MHz chipset, 128 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash. The AC2000 router is compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards, and the maximum speed that you can get with AC200 Smart WiFi 5 is 300 + 1733 Mbps. The router has 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN and 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN ports.

The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 is a good choice for users seeking a reliable and feature-rich router that supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology. You can connect supported USB devices to the AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router. The external storage devices such as USB flash drives or external hard drives add file-server functionality to this router. Netgear has established a solid reputation as a reliable and reputable networking brand.

Table of contents:

• Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 specifications
• Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 pictures

Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 (R6850) specifications

Body

The dimensions and design of a router can impact its cooling capabilities. Routers with larger dimensions may have more space for internal cooling mechanisms, such as larger fans or heat sinks, which can help dissipate heat more effectively. The weight of a router can be a consideration in certain situations, but it is generally not as crucial as other factors such as performance, features, and compatibility.

System

The Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router is equipped with MediaTek MT7621AT @ 880 MHz processor. The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 comes with 128 MB of RAM. The amount of RAM in a router can impact its performance and capacity to handle concurrent operations and traffic. Higher RAM capacity allows for better multitasking, larger routing tables, and improved overall performance. The 128 MB flash memory in the router serves as the storage medium for the router's firmware. It is a non-volatile memory that retains its data even when power is removed from the device.

The Netgear often releases firmware updates to enhance the router's functionality, improve security, fix bugs, and add new features. Firmware updates can provide performance improvements, compatibility with new devices or protocols, and address vulnerabilities. The Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router comes with 12 V / 1.5 A PSU. This unit is responsible for providing electrical power to the router, and if it becomes faulty, it can be replaced with a new, compatible one.

Network

Like many modern routers, the AC200 Smart WiFi 5 supports many network standards too. The IPv4 is the fourth iteration of the Internet Protocol (IP) and is the most widely used version of IP on the internet today. The latest firmware supports IPv6 protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. The Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 has 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN and 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN ports. LAN or Ethernet ports (RJ-45) are used to connect devices to the local area network (LAN).

This router has Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, which provides data transfer speeds of up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) over Ethernet connections. The WAN port on a router stands for "Wide Area Network" port. It is used to connect the router to the external network, typically provided by an internet service provider (ISP). The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router supports Gigabit speed on its WAN port, that can support speeds up to 1000 Mbps. This router ensures that you can fully utilize high-speed internet connections provided by your ISP. The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 comes with OpenVPN support. OpenVPN is a full-featured SSL VPN solution which implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the industry standard SSL/TLS protocol.

Wireless

This router has 3 x 3.3 dBi, fixed antennas. Antennas play a significant role in Wi-Fi performance and coverage. They are essential components of wireless routers that transmit and receive radio signals to establish wireless connections with devices. This router is 2.4 GHz capable. The 2.4GHz band refers to the portion of the radio spectrum between 2.400 and 2.4835 gigahertz. This frequency range is unlicensed and globally available for various wireless applications, including Wi-Fi.

The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 supports the 5 GHz band too. The 5 GHz band offers better noise immunity, less interference, and more available channels. The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 belongs to the Wi-Fi 5 class. Wi-Fi 5 operates on the 5 GHz frequency band and utilizes wider channel widths and advanced modulation techniques to deliver higher data transfer rates. The AC2000 refers to the maximum combined data transfer rate supported by the router across all Wi-Fi bands.

The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 is capable of a maximum throughput speed of 300 + 1733 Mbps. The real-world speed of a AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router is typically lower than its theoretical maximum speed. The TX power (27 dBm) of a router refers to the transmission power or signal strength at which the router broadcasts its Wi-Fi signal. It determines the range and coverage area of the wireless network. The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPS.

The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the first security protocol for Wi-Fi networks but is now considered weak and easily compromised. It uses a static encryption key and has known vulnerabilities, so it is no longer recommended for securing Wi-Fi networks. The WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) was introduced as an improvement over WEP and provides stronger security. If WPA3 is not available, WPA2-Personal with AES encryption is still considered secure.

The AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router offers WPS. The WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) provides a simplified and convenient method for connecting devices to a Wi-Fi network. Instead of manually entering the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and password, users can use the WPS feature to establish a connection with the push of a button or by entering a PIN. A guest network on the AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router is a separate network that provides internet access to guests or visitors without giving them access to your main or primary network. It allows you to create a dedicated network segment for guests, keeping their devices isolated from your private network, thereby enhancing security and privacy.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 2 port has a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), which is equivalent to 60 megabytes per second (MB/s). You can attach a compatible USB printer to the Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 device. USB print servers allow you to connect a USB printer to your network, making it accessible to multiple devices. This eliminates the need for each device to have a direct USB connection to the printer. It has built-in NAS functionality. You can connect external storage devices such as USB flash drives or USB hard drives to your router. This allows you to share files, documents, photos, and media across devices on your network. It can be convenient for accessing and sharing files without the need for separate file servers or cloud storage.

Administration

The default IP addresses of the Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 device is 192.168.1.1. These address allows you to access the router's console login page. If you are unable to log in to the setup panel of your Netgear router, performing a reset can be a helpful troubleshooting step. It is highly recommended to change the default password of your AC200 Smart WiFi 5 router after the initial setup. If you forget the new password in the future, you may need to perform a factory reset on the router to revert to the default settings.

The specifications above are based on the official data published by the manufacturer, but we also take user reviews into consideration. If you found an error or something lacking in the specifications above for the Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

Netgear AC200 Smart WiFi 5 (R6850) pictures

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