Netgear Nighthawk R7000

Plus

• Sleek and stealthy design
• Brilliant performance
• Dual USB ports
• Comprehensive parental controls

Minus

• Dated interface
• Pricey

Conclusion
Although the R7000 is fast, it costs around the same amount as the Linksys EA6900 and the Asus RT-AC68U. These routers don't look as good, but have much better software. But the R7000 is still a fine router, and a worthy investment if you shop around for a deal."

Not cheap, but this exciting-looking router is the stuff of dreams

Plus

• Sharp design
• Great throughput at 5GHz
• Excellent range
• Wonderful QoS
• Full VPN capability

Minus

• Less-than-expected throughput at 2
• 4GHz band
• Painful Bridge mode configuration
• Slow to apply settings changes

Conclusion
Excellent throughput and range at the 5GHz band, lots of features (including full VPN)?plus a cool name?all make the Nighthawk one of the best routers we've seen from Netgear in a while, despite a few annoyances.

Conclusion Netgear was one of the first companies to launch a draft 802.11ac wireless router in 2012, with the well-regarded R6300. Almost two years later, the fledgling Wi-Fi technology has only inched along but Netgear's statement in noir seems to make good use of available components from its Broadcom supplier. Faster routers are available for 802.11n, but from every 802.11ac wireless router we've tested to date, the Netgear sets the benchmark of what is currently possible with the draft technology.