R7900p vs. R8000p: Which router is better in wifi connectivity?

If you’re looking for the best of everything in a router, the Netgear X6 series will deliver fast wifi speeds and a slew of features. They come with features and technical specs that make nighthawk products the best for your home and office network. The r7900p vs r8000p will help you understand why these Netgear routers are the best.

I have been putting off upgrading my router for a while now because I don’t want to buy the wrong router and get disappointed if it doesn’t work for my 4000sq. feet home. Having such a big house means I need a router that has very fast speeds and long coverage range to reach even in the basement putting into account all the thick walls and many floors. A friend advised me to get a nighthawk router but the problem is there are so many models, it’s confusing which one is best. Then I came across this comparison review that has made it easier to decide.

What are the differences between r7900p and r8000p?

R7900p vs. r8000p – How do they differ?

Processor performance

The r7900p router and the r8000p router both use the tri-band system to ensure fast wifi speeds to all the connected devices throughout your home. However, the r8000p router is a faster processor with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor that has 512 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash memory. The r7900p router, on the other hand, operates on a 64-bit dual-core processor and 3 offload processors with 256 MB of RAM and 128 MB flash memory.

Variety of settings

Apart from utilizing the MU-MIMO technology to support multiple connected devices on your network simultaneously, the r8000p router uses beamforming + protocol technology to boost its speed and range while remaining compatible with 802.11ac devices. This router can aggregate 2 wired connections to a single device and this will significantly increase the throughput speeds of your devices, especially for online gaming with multiple players. The QoS settings allow you to set the upload and download bandwidth thresholds for each device and automatically online gaming and video streaming, but still, balance the wifi speeds for each device. This router also has a ReadShare app that allows you to share files and also create a backup for all your important data. You can configure this app to make it more convenient within your shared networks like turning on notification if a device in your network tries to access restricted apps or websites.

USB ports

Both the r7900p and the r800pare AC routers and most AC routers have 2 USB ports. The r7900p router has one USB 3.0 port, but no USB 2.0 port. However, this port will provide you with high speeds and storage-ready access. On the other hand, the r8000p router has a USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port that you can use to share your printer and external drive with other connected devices in your network and even create your personal cloud storage that you can access from anywhere.

R7900p vs. R8000p – A comparison review

R7900p

NETGEAR Nighthawk X6S AC3000 - R7900P Tri-Band Smart WiFi Router Compatible with Amazon Alexa (Renewed)

• NETGEAR Certified refurbished product is manufacturer refurbished to work and look as new with 90 day...
• Wi-fi speed up to 3.0Gbps

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The Netgear Nighthawk X6S ac3000 r7900-100Nar is a tri-band router that can give you strong signals in long-range. Its ultra-performance can cover your large home and supply fast internet to all your connected devices. This router isn’t a modem, but you can use one with it to allow you to have more internet users in your network. This router will provide you with lag-free gaming, stress-free video streaming thanks to the tri-band wifi system, smart connections, and beamforming with many more features. This router resembles a UFO with 6 retractable high-performing antennas that have a total of 11 LED lights, but you can’t rotate them. If you’re not a fan of blinking lights, you can turn them off using a switch behind the router. At the back of this router, you will find 4 gigabit Ethernet ports, a WAN port, power input, an on/off switch, and a USB 3.0 port that you can use to connect your printer and other devices. This is a bulky router that you should not mount on your wall.

This AC3000 router is designed to cater to large homes with backyards, that’s why it has a wifi speed range of 3.0 Gbps and an 802.1ac tri-band gigabit wifi technology. To achieve great performance, this router uses a 64-bit dual-core processor and 3 offload processors, 256 MB RAM, and 128 MB flash memory. The DNLA standard allows you to quickly play and share music and videos with your family and friends and even connect to the iTunes server. It features MU-MIMO technology that separates the bandwidths into 3×3 streams which ensures that all the connected devices in your house get consistent internet throughout. You can also configure each stream for different purposes like you can customize the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz stream to serve you and your spouse, the second serve your kids, and the third your guests. This kind of separation gives you a certain level of security.

To install the router, the nighthawk app ill makes things easy to set and customize using your mobile phone, but first, you need to download the app. This will allow you to test and customize the internet speeds for your family. This router has smart parental controlsfrom the Circle app, but for you to use it you have to first download it from Google play store on your mobile phone. With this app, you can easily manage the content and time that each family member spends online, set daily time limits for apps and websites, set a bedtime for each device, and pause the internet. You can also access and share the files you’ve stored on a USB drive with the help of ReadyCloud by just plugging your USB drive to the router to create personal cloud storage. Here you can access Goggle and Dropbox without any storage limitations, fees, or privacy concerns.

Pros

• Has 6 powerful antennas and amplifiers that help to maximize range
• You can use the circle smart parental controls to manage internet usage on different devices
• Uses MU-MIMO technology
• It’s a tri-band router that can deliver wifi to many devices

Cons

• It’s expensive
• You can’t rotate the antennas

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R8000p

NETGEAR Nighthawk X6S Smart Wi-Fi Router (R8000P) - AC4000 Tri-band Wireless Speed (Up to 4000 Mbps) | Up to 3500 Sq Ft Coverage & 55 Devices | 4 x 1G Ethernet and 2 USB Ports

• Maximum Range : 3500 Sq Ft
• Fast Wi-Fi performance: Get up to 3500 square feet wireless coverage with AC4000 speed (Tri-band up to...

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The Netgear Nighthawk X6S R8000p is a tri-band router with MU-MIMO to ensure that you enjoy the fastest wifi speeds throughout your entire house without experiencing much lag and buffering as you stream, game, or surf the internet. It’s designed for large homes and can connect to more than 15 devices at the same time. This is one of the largest routers in the market that is all black and you can either set on a shelf or use the cutouts at the bottom to mount it on your wall in case you have a problem with space. It has 6 retractable antennas that can’t be replaced or swiveled to find a router signal, and they can be a bit ugly protruding on your wall if you decide to hang the router. There are LED lights at the top of the router that show the power, wifi, LAN, internet, and USB activities. There is also a WPS button and a switch to turn wifi on and off. At the back of the router, there are 4 gigabit LAN ports, a USB 2.0 port, a WAN port, a USB 3.0 port, and a power button. The combination of the USB 2.0 port and USB 3.0 port means the router can turn your printer and a hard drive into networked devices.

This r8000p router has management settings you will find in its web-based console or using the app on your phone or desktop. On the home screen, you will find tabs for internet, guest networking, ReadyShare for your USB drive, wireless, connected devices, and menu settings. There are also basic settings where you can name your 3 SSIDs, configure your internet settings, set security options, create gest networks, and set channel width. The ReadyShare settings will allow you to share files and turn your USB drive into your personal cloud drive. This router doesn’t come with parental controls which means you have to download the software and get a free OpenDNS account you can create. This R8000p router also supports Amazon Alexa and Goggle Assistant voice command that allows you to either check your wifi settings or enable and disable guest networks by just asking. This X6S router comes with the Dynamic Quality of Service settings that allow you to designate and allocate bandwidth usage to each device in your network. It also automatically prioritizes online gaming and video streaming and tries to balance the bandwidth usage on each device. This 3×3 router supports beamforming that allows your router to send data directly to a certain device.

With this router, you get two 5 GHz bands that are capable of delivering speeds of up to 1625 Mbps and 750 Mbps on its 2.4 GHz band. However, to achieve these kinds of speeds you’ll need to run three wireless adapters at once and they should all support 1024 QAM.This router uses the latest 802.11ac standards to provide wifi to the three radio frequencies. It can deliver a combined speed of 4000 Mbps and very fast MU-MIMO throughput speeds. After setting up your router, you can test your router to check its speeds. Thanks to MU-MIMO, this router can support multiple devices, but its SU-MIMO capabilities are a bit lacking in speed compared to other routers. However, you can still get respectable throughput test scores of 95 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band at close-proximity and 75 Mbps at 30 feet. On the 5 GHz band at close-proximity, it scored a throughput speed of 462 Mbps and 270 Mbps at 30 feet. On its file transfer performance, it can deliver middling speeds of 36 Mbps (write) and 33 Mbps (read) of a 1.5 GB folder that contains a mix of document files, music, videos, and photos transferred from your USB drive to your PC using your router’s USB port.

Pros

• Maintain stable wifi connection even with multiple devices
• Has excellent customized settings
• Easy to install and set up
• Excellent throughput speeds on all bands and channels
• Excellent wireless range and signal strength

Cons

• It’s expensive
• The file transfer speeds are lacking

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Conclusion

Before you decide on which Netgear nighthawk router you’re going to settle on, you should evaluate the router’s reliability, data transfer speeds, and security. Both the r7900p and r8000p have quite impressive speeds and performance with a great coverage range for large homes. Both routers use beamforming + technology that allows the router and the connected devices to communicate with each other so that the router can increase the wifi signal to a specific device which boosts its speed, range, and reliability. However, their wifi speeds are different and this makes a huge difference when it comes to the wireless connectivity in your home or office.

So, which one is better, r7900p or r8000p?

The winner is r8000pbecause it has a very impressive resume from its tri-band system that can support more than 15 devices, using MU-MIMO with very fast throughput speeds, plenty of configuration settings, and using QoS, parental controls, Amazon Alexa, and Goggle Assistant voice commands to improve your router experience. It

FAQ

Does Nighthawk X6S need a modem?

A nighthawk unit is only a wireless router it has no modem capabilities which means it can’t work on its own. You will need to use a cable modem together with the router to get wifi connectivity in your connected devices.

How long do Netgear routers last?

Generally, it’s recommended that you upgrade your router to a new one every 3-4 years. This is about the same time that most people upgrade their devices like smartphones, 2-3 years and computers, 3-4 years.