NETGEAR announces Nighthawk RAXE500, a tri-band, WiFi 6 router

NETGEAR has announced the Nighthawk RAXE500 Tri-band WiFi router, a WiFi 6 router and CES 2021 Innovations Award Honoree. According to the folks at NETGEAR, it provides speeds up to 10.8Gbps.

Working, learning, and video streaming from home has placed greater demands on home WiFi networks. Devices in these ultra-connected households have been in a constant contest for bandwidth on crowded WiFi networks. WiFi 6E is designed to resolve these congestion issues by adding previously unavailable 6GHz WiFi spectrum that can be used to broadcast WiFi signals and connect to more devices with faster speeds and reliability. 

Up until the introduction of WiFi 6E, WiFi routers have been limited to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The new third 6GHz band will (hopefully) dramatically increase the capacity of networks to support more devices.

The Nighthawk RAXE500 Tri-band WiFi router is designed to provide the fastest WiFi speed possible with higher-capacity, lower latency, and the latest WPA3 security, according to David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home Products for NETGEAR. He says that tech specs include: 

• New 6GHz Band— with up to 200% more available spectrum than dual-band (5GHz and 2.4GHz) WiFi alone.
  • Ultra-Low Latency—Very few devices on new 6GHz band means lower latency for gaming and real-time traffic.
  • More High-Bandwidth WiFi Channels— Blazing-fast speed and less interference with 3X more high-bandwidth 160MHz WiFi channels.
• 12-Streams Tri-Band WiFi— Four streams of 6GHz, four streams of 5GHz, and four streams of 2.4GHz equates to more available bandwidth and less congestion for all devices on WiFi.
• WiFi 6E Optimized Powerful Processor— Ideal for Gigabit Internet speeds, a 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core processor ensures smooth 4K/8K UHD streaming and gaming.
• Multi-Gig Ethernet Port 2.5G— 2.5X the wired speed of a typical Gigabit port, to be used for LAN or Internet connectivity.
• Five (5) Gigabit Ethernet Ports— Connect more wired devices for faster file transfer and uninterrupted connections. Aggregate two Gigabit LAN ports and two Gigabit WAN ports (configurable) concurrently.
• Pre-optimized Antennas— Unfold and set antennas on the router; no further adjustment required. The Nighthawk RAXE500 antennas come pre-optimized for the best WiFi performance.
• NETGEAR Armor Cybersecurity for your Home— Advanced cyberthreat protection for your home network and an unlimited number of connected devices. Learn more at netgear.com/armor.
• Automatic firmware updates— Latest security patches delivered to the router without the need for user intervention.

The router is currently planned to be available within the first quarter of 2021 from NETGEAR.com and other online resellers for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of US$599.99