Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 5 GHz router review, is it worth it?

The Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 (RAX40) router released in 2019. It is powered by Intel Lantiq GRX350A3 @ 800 MHz chipset, 512 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash. The AX3000 router is compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax standards, and the maximum speed that you can get with Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 is 600 + 2400 Mbps. The router has 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps WAN and 4 x 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN ports.

The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 is a powerful and feature-packed router that caters to advanced networking requirements. This router features USB connectors that provide additional functionality and expand the capabilities of your network. Netgear is often recognized for offering products that provide good value for the price.

Table of contents:

• Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 specifications
• Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 pictures

Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 (RAX40) specifications

Body

If you plan to move or travel frequently and need to take your router with you, the dimensions become important for portability. Smaller and more compact routers are generally easier to transport, while larger routers with external antennas or multiple ports may be bulkier and less convenient to carry. If you plan to mount your router on a wall or ceiling, the weight can influence the mounting process and the type of mounting hardware required. Heavier routers might require more robust mounting solutions to ensure stability and prevent damage or accidents.

System

The Intel Lantiq GRX350A3 @ 800 MHz CPU provides processing power to handle various tasks and services within the Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router. The 512 MB of RAM enables the router to handle multiple tasks and processes concurrently. It allows for the efficient switching and allocation of resources among different processes running on the router, facilitating multitasking and ensuring smooth operation.

The flash memory in a Netgear router is different from the volatile memory (RAM) that is used for temporary storage of data while the router is powered on. Flash memory of the Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 retains its data even when the router is powered off, allowing the router to maintain its firmware and configuration settings across reboots. To upgrade the firmware of the Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router, you typically need to visit the manufacturer's website, locate the specific model of your router, and download the latest firmware version provided. The firmware upgrade process may vary depending on the router model, but it often involves accessing the router's web-based administration interface and uploading the downloaded firmware file. The Netgear packages the Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router with 12 V / 2.5 A PSU. A good PSU is an essential component of a computer or electronic device that converts electrical power from an outlet into the appropriate voltage and current required to power the internal components of the device.

Network

Like many modern routers, the Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 supports a variety of features and technologies to enhance your network connectivity and security. The IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, represented as four sets of numbers separated by periods (e.g. 192.168.0.1). The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router also supports IPv6 protocol, allowing you to utilize the latest version of the Internet Protocol.

The LAN ports are physical connectors on a Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router that allow you to connect devices to your local network using Ethernet cables. Gigabit Ethernet ports support data transfer rates of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), which is significantly faster than the maximum speed of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) supported by standard Ethernet ports. WAN ports are used to connect the router to your internet service provider (ISP). They typically use Ethernet cables or fiber optic connections to establish a high-speed link between your local network and the wider internet.

The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router supports Gigabit WAN. Having a Gigabit WAN port is beneficial when your internet service plan supports high-speed connectivity, as it ensures that your router's WAN connection can handle the maximum speed provided by your ISP. The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 comes with built-in OpenVPN client. OpenVPN is available for various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It can be deployed on a wide range of devices, making it accessible and compatible with different platforms.

Wireless

The 2 x 3 dBi, RP-SMA antennas of Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 influence the quality and stability of the Wi-Fi signal. A properly positioned and well-designed antenna can minimize interference and signal degradation, leading to a more reliable and stable connection. The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 is compatible with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. Many IoT (Internet of Things) devices, smart home devices, and older Wi-Fi-enabled devices primarily operate on the 2.4 GHz band.

This router is 5 GHz capable. The 5GHz band provides faster data transfer speeds compared to the 2.4GHz band. This is primarily because the 5GHz band has more available channels and less interference from other devices like microwaves or cordless phones. This AX Wi-Fi router provides significantly faster data transfer rates compared to older Wi-Fi standards. They can support higher speeds and increased capacity, allowing for smoother streaming, faster downloads, and improved overall network performance.

The AX3000 is a performance indicator that represents the router's theoretical maximum speed. The theoretical maximum speed (600 + 2400 Mbps) represents the highest data transfer rate that the router is capable of achieving under ideal conditions. The TX power of Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 can be adjusted by the user or set automatically by the router firmware. Higher TX power values indicate stronger signal transmission, which can result in a larger coverage area.

The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router offers several security protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3, 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 WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) is the latest Wi-Fi security protocol designed to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security for wireless networks. It improves encryption, introduces stronger authentication protocols, and protects against brute-force attacks. The Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 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. The Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router is capable of creating a guest network. Guests connected to the guest network usually have limited access to network settings and configurations. They are typically restricted from accessing devices connected to the primary network, such as printers, network-attached storage (NAS), or other shared resources.

Connectivity

USB ports can offer additional functionality depending on the router's capabilities. The USB 3 ports provide a fast interface for external storage with data transfer rates of up to 4.8 Gbps. By connecting a USB printer to the Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 router, you can make it accessible to all devices on your network. This eliminates the need for individual printer connections and allows multiple devices to use the printer simultaneously. The USB file server functionality of this router allows you to connect external storage devices, such as USB flash drives or hard drives to your network. This enables easy file sharing and access among devices connected to the network.

Administration

The default IP address of this router is 192.168.1.1. Explore the router's configuration interface to access more advanced settings such as port forwarding, DHCP settings, parental controls, firewall settings, and QoS (Quality of Service) settings. Regularly changing the password is a good security practice to protect your network and devices from unauthorized access. It is also recommended to use strong, unique passwords for other devices and online accounts connected to your network for enhanced security. By changing the default password, you improve the security of your router and reduce the risk of unauthorized individuals gaining control over your network. It helps prevent unauthorized access to your router's settings, network configurations, and sensitive information.

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 Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6, then don’t hesite and signal the problem to us.

Netgear Nighthawk AX4 Dual-Band WiFi 6 (RAX40) pictures

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