Netgear ac1900 vs ac3000 – Which one is better for your home network?
One time you’ve ever been frustrated at home because your devices are slow or your internet doesn’t work. The Netgear ac1900 and ac3000 are routers that will deliver more wifi to more devices.
When I moved in with my boyfriend we both had routers but this was better, so we kept his. After a while, our house was full of smart devices in almost every room and the network started lagging in some rooms in the house. So we decided it’s time to upgrade but we weren’t sure which router between Netgear ac1900 and ac3000 was better, but this table was a big help.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between Netgear ac1900 and ac3000?
Netgear router model |
Ac1900 |
Ac3000 (Winner) |
Bandwidth |
Dual-band |
Tri-band |
Speeds |
2.4 GHz – 600 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
2.4 GHz – 600 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps 5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
Antennas |
3 external |
6 external |
Processor |
1 GHz processor |
1 GHz processor with 3 off-load processors |
Netgear ac1900 vs ac3000. How do they differ?
Design
The Netgear ac1900 has sleek angular lines with a black matte finish that gives it the shape of a fighter jet with 3 external antennas. It weighs 1.6 pounds and is designed to operate horizontally or you can mount it on your wall. It has a wide sturdy base with rubber feet to keep it stable. It has 2 USB ports, the USB 3.0 at the front, and 2.0 at the back that supports your printers and storage. The distance is for helping to reduce wifi interference. At the back are 4 gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, power button and reset button. There are LED indicators at the top for network activity status. The ac3000 is a large weird-looking router that looks like a UFO with 6 antennas and 11 LED lights that you can switch off. At the back are 4 gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, LED on/off switch, power button, and power input.
Netgear ac1900 is a better looking router with a more subtle look although it’s not that pleasing to the eyes.
Hardware and speed
The ac1900 is a dual-band router that operates on a 1 GHz dual-core processor with 128 MB of flash storage and 256 MB of RAM. It supports 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. It uses a 3×3 dual-band approach with two radio transmitters that can deliver a theoretical bandwidth of 1.9 Gbps. On the other hand, the ac3000 is a tri-band router that runs a 1 GHz dual-core processor with 3 off-load processors with wifi speeds of up to 3.0 Gbps and 128 MB of flash memory and 256 MB of RAM. It supports 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on each 5 GHz band. It uses MU-MIMO technology to ensure that all the devices in your home get reliable internet throughout.
Netgear ac3000 is a better performer with a more powerful processor and faster and reliable wifi speeds.
Parental controls
Some of the common features you will find in the ac1900 is the parental controls that you can customize once you open a free OpenDNS account. Once you’ve created the account, you can download and install the live parental control management utility on your Mac and windows from where you can choose the web filtering level you want. As for the ac3000, you have to download the Circle app on the Apple store or Goggle play store for you to use the smart parental controls. The basic account is free and it allows you to filter content category and age, stop internet signal to a device and check the sites visited. It also uses Alexa’s online assistance.
Ac3000 has a more efficient and advanced parental control that has inline assistance.
Netgear ac1900 vs ac3000 – A comparison review
Netgear 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 ac1900 r7000 is a dual-band router that is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and has a built-in OpenVPN server. It supports up to 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band of wifi speeds and third-party firmware like DD-WRT. It’s a bulky router that will need a lot of space. It has 2 USB ports, the 3.0 port at the front and 2.0 port at the back to avoid interfering with the wifi signal. The 4 gigabit LAN port, a WAN port, power and reset buttons are at the back with LED indicator lights at the top. The ac1900 has a very easy setup process where you can either use the genie desktop app or the mobile app to customize and manage your router.
The QoS feature will help to optimize the upstream internet traffic for gaming and the downstream traffic for video streaming. The two guest networks for each frequency band and the OpenDNS-based parental controls are some of the common features. Although ac1900 isn’t the fastest 802.11ac router, its throughput and decent range coverage on its 5 GHz band are impressive. If you’re on the 2.4 GHz band 802.11n at close proximity, the router can deliver speeds of about 117 Mbps and 64 Mbps at a long-range. On the 5 GHz band at close range, the router scored speeds of about 188 Mbps and 181 Mbps at log range.
Pros
- Excellent performance speeds on the 5 GHz band
- Great range coverage
- Easy and quick setup
- The USB 3.0 has fast file transfer speeds
Cons
- It’s bulky
- The 2.4 GHz band is a bit slow
Netgear ac3000
- 3.0Gbps—Fast combined WiFi speed for uninterrupted streaming
- Tri-Band MU-MIMO—Simultaneous streaming to more devices
The ac3000 x6 is a tri-band router that will deliver more wifi to more devices and it can handle 3x more connection that a single router can. It will allow more devices in your home to access high internet speeds while the smart connect assigns the fastest wifi speed band to your fast devices. The 3 available bands, the 2.4 GHz and the two 5 GHz bands and features like beamforming + and smart connect ensure that you don’t experience buffering or lagging. It’s a bulky router with the shape of a UFO with 6 retractable antennas that you can mount on your wall. It has 4-gigabit ports, a WAN port, power input, and a switch button at the back. It will serve large homes with backyards with a 3.0 Gbps wifi speed range. It supports DNLA and uses MU-MIMO technology so all your devices get good internet. You can keep the guest network separate from your main network and to secure your network, the router uses SPA and NAT as double firewall protection. The Netgear genie app will allow you to set up and customize the settings from your phone making it easy to monitor and control your network.
The smart connect, dynamic QoS feature, and network map are advanced features in this router. It’s compatible with Amazon Echo and Alexa. The ac3000 has super-fast throughput speeds of 450 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on each of the two 5 GHz bands. While performing on the same 802.11ac mode, the router delivered a throughput speed of 171 Mbps with 153.6 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, 165. Mbps on the 5 GHz on 802.11n mode and 86.8 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz 802.11ac mode.
Pros
- Great signal strength
- Excellent range coverage and signal penetration
- Great and compact design and build
- Easy setup and solid interface
Cons
- It’s expensive
Conclusion
The Netgear ac1900 is a dual-band router with excellent range and performance on the 5 GHz band while ac3000 has super-fast speeds on all bands with useful features to enhance wifi connectivity.
So, which one is better Netgear ac1900 or ac3000?
The Netgear ac3000 is better because it’s a tri-band router with super-fast wifi speeds and large range coverage on more devices and uses MU-MIMO technology to optimize performance.
FAQ
How many devices can netgear ac1900 handle?
Netgear ac1900 can connect with up to 64 devices. Each of the band can handle 32 devices each.
What is the range of netgear ac1900?
Netgear ac1900 is exceptionally good when it comes to long-range connectivity with an effective range of about 200 feet.
