D link ac3200 vs. Netgear nighthawk – What are your network needs?
Over the years, wireless routers have undergone a great transformation from the 802.11g/n to the 802.11ac routers. If you’re not familiar with this router standards, the d link ac3200 vs Netgear nighthawk comparison will give you more information.
I have a router that can’t handle the number of devices in my home, so I think it’s time to upgrade to a better router that can handle the network demands of my network.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between d link ac3200 and Netgear nighthawk?
Model |
D link ac3200 (Winner) |
Nighthawk ac1900 |
Wifi bands |
Tri-band |
Dual-band |
Security features |
WPA/WPA2 encryption |
WAP2 |
Speeds |
2.4 GHz – 600 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps 5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
2.4 GHz – 600 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
D link ac3200 vs. Netgear nighthawk. How do they differ?
Design
The D link ac3200 router has a very sleek look that looks more like a spaceship because of its angular shape and 6 external antennas on the sides. It has a very distinct red glossy finish that makes it one of a kind. On the other hand, the nighthawk ac1900 equally has a weird looking design with its trapezoid shape and 3 external antennas at the back which makes it look like a fighter jet.
Wifi bands
The ac3200 d link is a tri-band wifi router that has two 5 GHz bands and one 2.4 GHz band to provide the maximum possible speeds for each connected device on your network. It’s a powerful router that has a 1 GHz dual-core processor for faster wired and wireless speeds. The nighthawk ac1900 is dual-band with a 2.4 GHz band and a 5 GHz band with a wireless coverage of up to 1800 sq. feet. It can connect with up to 30 devices to provide reliable wifi connection for video streaming, surfing, playing games, and connecting to smart home devices.
Web interface
It’s very easy to use the d link ac3200 router and it comes already configured with a wifi network and a password. It has a more polished and intuitive interface than other D link routers with only 4 category buttons that include the home, settings, features, and management buttons. However, the nighthawk ac1900 has an interface that is similar to most routers plus other added features like 2 guest networks for each band, time machine backup, ReadyShare vault, and an OpenVPN server.
D link ac3200 vs. Netgear nighthawk – A comparison review
D link ac3200
- Ultimate Wi-Fi performance with AC3200 Tri Band speeds (1 x 600 Mbps in 2.4GHz + 2 x 1300 Mbps in 5GHz)...
- Enjoy 4K/HD video and online gaming simultaneously with 3 x 3 data streams and 6 high performance...
The D link ac3200 (DIR-890L/R) is an ultra wifi router that has a sleek looking design and can deliver incredible throughput speeds. This triband router has an angular shape and a glossy red finish and 6 external antennas that look more like a spaceship. At the top are 6 LED indicators that show activity for the USB ports, internet connection, the 2 bandwidth connections, and the power status. At the back of the router are 4 gigabit Ethernet ports, 2 USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, internet port, and reset power, and WPS buttons. This router operates on a 1 GHz dual-core processor and supports 802.11b/n/g/ac wireless networking and delivers theoretical speeds of 3200 Mbps which is 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps for the two 5 GHz bands. It uses beamforming to direct stronger wifi signals to specific devices and smart connect that reduces traffic congestion by steering devices to the band frequency with the most bandwidth.
You can easily set up, configure, and manage the D link ac3200 router with the help of a web-based management console or the mydlink lite mobile app on your smartphone. After logging into the web user interface you will find a home page display of connected devices, router’s IP address, internet status, default gateway information, and subnet mask. The settings page has a setup wizard that will walk you through the installation and configuration process and creating a password. On the wireless page you can enable, disable and give the 3 bands names, choose 802.11 modes to use and security modes (WEP, WAP/ WAP2), set wifi password, and create a guest network but limit access to your network devices and data. You can use the QoS drag and drop feature to assign bandwidth to connected devices. Other features you will find include the IPv4 and IPv6 firewall rules and anti-spoof checking, PPTP security settings, website filtering, and port forwarding.
With so many antennas sticking at the side of the ac3200, it’s clear that this router was built for speed and it doesn’t disappoint. It can deliver the fastest throughput speeds on both the 2.4 GHz band and 5 GHz band. On the 2.4 GHz band at close proximity, it scored speeds of 92.7 Mbps and 82 Mbps at 30 feet. When you switch to the 5 GHz band using the 802.11ac mode, it delivers 558 Mbps and 310 Mbps at 30 feet which were quite impressive. On the 802.11n mode and at 5 feet, this router scored high speeds of 207 Mbps and 195 Mbps at 30 feet. For the read and write file transfer test, the ac3200 router has still impressive scores of 52.2 Mbps on the 1.5 GB read test and a write score of 26.5 Mbps.
Pros
- Very impressive throughput speeds
- Easy to set up and install
- Lighting fast speeds and performance
- Useful smart connect feature
Cons
- It’s expensive
- It’s a huge router that takes up space
Netgear nighthawk ac1900
- Fast wifi performance: Get up to 1800 square feet wireless coverage with AC1900 speed (Dual band up to...
- Recommended for up to 30 devices: Reliably stream videos, play games, surf the internet, and connect...
The nighthawk ac1900 is a smart wifi router with excellent throughput and range on the 5 GHz band and lots of features. It’s powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor with excellent speeds on the 5 GHz band, a built-in VPN server, and support for a Broadcom TurboQAM for faster wifi speeds that can go up to 600 Mbps and support for a third-party firmware like DD-WRT. This router has a trapezoid design with a matt black finish and 3 thick external antennas that makes it look like a fighter jet. The nighthawk ac1900 is a large router that weighs about 1.6 pounds that has a wide sturdy base and rubber feet that prevents it from slipping so you can either place horizontally with or mount on your wall. It can support 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and has 256 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash storage. At the front of the router is one USB 3.0 port that has been placed away from the USB 2.0 port at the back to reduce wifi interference from the 2.4 GHz frequency, but you can use both ports for external devices. At the back, you will find 4 gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, power, and reset buttons. The LED lights at the top of the router indicate the status of the internet, wireless, USB device connection, and other activities.
Setting up the nighthawk ac1900 is easy. It comes with an installation guide with clear, concise, and easy instructions to follow. The last step is launching the web browser to finish the configuration on a connected device that will take you to the Genie web interface or you can type www.routerlogin.net on your browser or use the Genie mobile app for further customization. The QoS feature will help to optimize video streaming and turn on the wifi multimedia (WMM) for one or both bandwidth signals. You can also optimize the upstream internet traffic for gaming or upstream traffic for video streaming. This router has 2 guest networks one for each frequency band and OpenDNS parental controls that you can customize. You can take advantage of the USB 3.0 port that is 10x fasters than the 2.0 port, but you can use both for your printer and external drives. The router can support hard drives of top capacities so once you plug in a drive, the contents will be shared with everyone in the network, but you can customize the shared folder for security purposes. The ReadyShare vault is a great backup software for Windows PC.
Although nighthawk ac1900 isn’t the fastest 802.11ac router, it has top throughput speeds on the 5 GHz band. It’s also able to sustain good throughput at further distances thanks to the beamforming + technology that directs wireless signals from the router to wireless devices to improve the signal strength and throughput. At a distance of 10m and 15m, this router scored 802.11ac speeds of 523.2 Mbps and 273.6 Mbps respectively which are very fast. On the 802.11n 5 GHz mode, things were reversed. The router scored 307.2 Mbps at 10m and 208 Mbps at 15m. It remained strong on the 802.11n 2.4 GHz mode to score 118.4 Mbps at 10m and 56.16 Mbps at 115m.
Pros
- Easy to setup
- Excellent signal strength and wireless range
- Impressive throughput speeds on all bands
- Very useful QoS feature
Cons
- Hard to install third-party firmware
- 4 GHz throughput is less than expected
Conclusion
D link ac3200 router is an incredible machine with outstanding performance and futuristic design. The nighthawk ac1900 router has a retro stealth design with excellent speeds on the 5 GHz band and an enhanced QoS feature.
So, which one is better, D link ac3200 or Netgear nighthawk?
The D link ac3200is better than Netgear nighthawk ac1900 because it has all the features you would expect from a high-end tri-band router like beamforming, smart connect band steering, website filtering, firewall settings, parental controls, and drag-drop QoS.
FAQ
How many devices can the nighthawk ac1900 handle?
You can connect up to 64 devices on the nighthawk ac1900 router, 32 devices on each band frequency.
Is D link a wireless router?
A D link wireless router is a very easy and convenient router that carries out various functions of a wireless access point. It’s used to provide access to the internet or your personal network.
