Netgear Nighthawk AX8 AX6000 WiFi 6 RAX80

Power supplied melted and failed within 3 hours of being plugged in--Fire Hazard – I researched this router extensively and purchased from Netgear's Amazon Australia shop front new. It appeared to be a suitable router for our family's needs. However, after about three hours of being plugged in after setup, the power supply made a popping noise and a small hole appeared in it with a brown liquid around it, and the router no… Read more

longer worked. There was a burning smell around the power supply, and I'm guessing a quality issue causing it to fail. Warning: Fire hazard.

I have raised with Netgear support online (Case Number 44681557), and after a week or so of responding to questions they asked, they advised they would 'pass it on to the relevant department', and I've heard nothing for a week. So here I am with a $300 router that failed within 3 hours of install and doesn't work, and no response from Netgear Technical Support. Not great. I will update this post if they get back to me.

The Netgear AX8 (or RAX80) is a high-end WiFi 6 router, with speedy performance, but not without issues – I'm an IT professional who's "ongoing day to day" efforts included working from home long before Covid forced everyone to work remotely. I’ve used enterprise grade routers and switches from Cisco, Billion, Juniper, HP, and Enterasys in both my home and various workplaces. I’ve also used many consumer brands like Netcomm, Netgear, Linksys, D-Link,… Read more

TP Link, and Asus. I've also used intermediate, small business gear.. so having covered most of the spectrum, I hope to bring some additional insight into this review.

Let's get the superficial stuff out of the way...

Rorschach (ink blot) test or router?

This series of router has an iconic look that is hard to miss. I first thought of a Manta Ray... especially with a wrapped bundle of cords sticking out of the back, but most online reviews seem to describe it as some sort of Star Wars space ship. Whatever you see this thing as, you'll agree that it's not your normal box with separate antennae around the periphery.

Instead, this router has two "fins/wings" that fold up. All the antennae are within the fins/wings. However, it also makes the router hard to put in spaces where the wings might not fit. Please note: You NEED to unfurl the wings entirely to make the most of this router. If you don't have the spare height to mount it horizontally, you can mount it on a wall if you wish.

Connectivity options and switches:

The AX8 has one gigabit WAN port, five gigabit ports for the LAN, (you can combine two LAN ports, specifically 4 and 5 in link aggregation), and two USB 3.0 (type A)ports, a power socket, power switch, reset switch, and a little switch that enables you to turn off the LEDs (except the power LED, that stays on, regardless of setting). If you have the router on a high-ish shelf, you can't actually see the LEDs because they're located on top, along the back side of the router. It's an odd place to put them, but it's not the worst I've seen.

One router, three variations:

Netgear has released three editions of this router. The AX8, the AX12, and the AX120. This is the “smallest” of the three. Both the AX8, and the AX12 (non triband) are DUAL frequency routers and use the usual 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. This is perfectly fine if they're stand alone network devices, or are connected to other Wi-Fi access points (WAPs) via cable. However, you might want to consider the Tri-Band AX120 (RAX200) that includes a second 5GHz band if you're using wirelessly-linked WiFi repeaters. The third band is used to communicate between your repeaters, and this significantly improves performance and alleviates congestion since the other two bands remain free for your various devices.

Each model has two names (AX8/RAX80) and two versions of the AX12.... don't get confused:

As stated, the AX8 or (RAX80) is the smallest of three variants. However, there is also the AX12 (or RAX120), and the slightly different AX12 "Tri Band" or (RAX200). All variations features the new 802.11ax or (WiFi 6 if you prefer the catchier marketing name), and handle at least 8 simultaneous streams (if you have the AX8) or 12 concurrent streams (both versions of the AX12). However those 8/12 streams are only guaranteed between local devices. Obviously, a faster router will not magically enable you to exceed the bandwidth limits of your Internet connection. Since most home NBN connections are between 12Mb/s and 250Mb/s, the WAN port (1000Mb/s) will be more than enough even for most homes.

Isn't this an old router now?

This router has been around for about two years now, but I'm not exactly sure when it turned up in the Australian market. However, it still holds it’s own against other Wi-Fi 6 devices.

But what on Earth is 802.11ax? (also known as “Wi-Fi 6”)

This is probably the biggest upgrade in Wi-Fi's history. It uses several new technologies to improve the speed, range, and power efficiency of your Wi-Fi network. It also helps your mobile devices to save power (and battery life) by making the devices check in with the router less often to maintain a WiFi connection. This has the greatest effect when Wi-Fi devices are connected to the network, but aren't in use, (think sleep/hibernation) and during these times, the lower power requirement can add hours, if not days to some mobile devices in “standby” mode.

Furthermore, WiFi 6 addresses many issues when it comes to Wi-Fi congestion. It does this by opening up previously unused frequencies, and breaking existing channels into smaller ranges. So there's less interference, more bandwidth, and stronger signals. Of course, you need to have compatible devices that have “Wi-Fi 6” in order to take advantage of the full suite of improvements, but if you bought a phone, tablet or higher end computer in the last year or so, you might already have them.

Yes there are newer router options out there featuring the AX system. Interestingly, for sheer performance, the AX8 is up there with many of the best. However, the environment that it is deployed in will make a substantial difference to the results, so some say this router is the best, while others seem to find that it performs somewhat less well than cheaper, even older routers. I don’t think this is the best in all cases, but it has certainly improved things in my home. I’ll discuss that further down.

Some might say “Wi-Fi 6” doesn’t really improve speed….

Well they’re both right… and wrong. It’s true that improving the speed (or bandwidth) wasn’t the primary objective. However, as many of you know from experience with overloaded access points, that speed does indeed get worse as more devices are added to a network. The AX8 is better at handling multiple devices (even if they aren’t all AX compatible) and while the speed of each individual connection won’t necessarily improve, each device will be less likely to infringe, (or be infringed upon by) other devices. So you could say the improvement is a “lack of degradation” in congested environments.

That said….

However, for anyone with zero AX devices.. you will probably get better performance with an older-yet-higher-end, dual band AC grade router. So it’ll come down to choosing between getting some short-term, cost-effective gains now (get a good AC grade router), versus future proofing your network, in which case getting an AX router might be the way to go.

SETTING IT UP - APP VS. WEB INTERFACE:

The AX8 is much like other routers, although it does seem that it has its own little quirks and differences… even to other Netgear routers. The manual seems to encourage you to use the “Nighthawk app” for the initial configuration, citing that it’ll be “faster” to configure that way. I, like many others, who have used the older “Genie” app that was used with older generation Netgear routers…. don’t actually like the new app much. However, I can see how the wizard style interface would appeal to new users. Personally, I do not necessarily agree with the data collection done by the app, so I’ve used it as a test… then removed it afterwards. It may seem that I’m biased, but since I’ve had data “leaked” by third party companies, I prefer not to share information wherever possible.

Given my disenchantment with the Nighthawk app, and observed “traffic flows” monitored from my phone when using the app…. I used the web interface after resetting the AX8 to factory settings, and I had it up and running within 10 minutes. The web interface is easier to use in some ways. Personally, I prefer a keyboard and mouse, over a touchscreen of a phone/tablet any day of the week, and since I know what I’m doing, I prefer to have all the options laid out so I’m not trawling through various sub menus. The app offers a simplified interface, which is good in many ways, but it doesn’t allow you to change every setting. On the other had, the app has features that the web interface doesn’t. In fact, it’s very good for monitoring router from your phone… so you can keep an eye on your security (and what your family members are doing), setting time limits for children, or remotely adjusting them should they need it for “homework” (which in my household apparently translates to “Netflix”) . I’m not sure I agree with that level of surveillance, even from family members, but maybe your views are different. In fact, I can see the app causing tension between family members, but that’s another story.

AX8 (RAX80) Performance:

WAN:

I’ve had a fibre-to-the-premises connection for about 6 years now. I’ve had this router for about 3 months, and it has been near perfect in the WAN connection stakes. Plug it in, and it has just worked with a single reboot. Ok, so three months isn’t exactly the most amazingly long test period, (still far better than the hours/day/week/month of many online reviews) but many routers don’t seem to last that long in one continuous stint. At present, I’m only on 100Mbit NBN connection, but I’m getting sustained transfers of between 10.7MB/s to 11.2MB/s throughput, so this is getting pretty close to the theoretical maximum of 12.5MB/s. So I’m happy. Upload speeds seem consistent in proportion as well. I run a web server as part of a DMZ, and I can transfer media files and documents from local devices at 90-110MB/s (bytes, not bits).

LAN:

The AX8 has five ports, each capable of one gigabit, which gets us near a theoretical maximum of about 125MB/s per port. Transferring 8K video footage between my laptop and my NAS gets between 107MB/s and 114MB/s over cable. I think that's reasonable by any means. Collections of smaller files, such as web-resized jpegs for my online galleries.. come in quite a bit slower at 73-80MB/s (which is somewhere between 580-640Mb/s) Still over half speed, so I'm not going to complain.

Wi-Fi PERFORMANCE:

So I live with several close neighbours, all broadcasting their various wireless networks, add the insane number of devices around my own home… and this is where my old 802.11ac router, despite being dual channel started to struggle.

Now I have only a couple of AX capable devices, and that average SUSTAINED throughput has improved from 68MB/s to over 90MB/s from one end of the house to another. It gets faster when near the router, as I’ve transferred large video files at 132MB/s.. when in the same room as the router. Non-AX devices seem to be device/bottle neck specific, but can get between 75-82MB/s (from one end of the house to another) or between 85-99MB/s in the same room (on 5GHz).. roughly half those speeds on the typically congested 2.4GHz frequencies.

Interestingly, the results show how the performance drops as the range increases. This might bother you if a huge range is important to you…. but you can easily link Wi-Fi repeaters via cable… or wireless if you have to.

However, the AX8 does have more bandwidth than many older generation routers. Even without AX devices, the increased processing capabilities of the AX8 has given not only higher speeds, but more consistent speeds to ALL connected devices (including 802.11n, and 802.11ac generations).

Sure, there are bottle necks on my Internet connection when several devices are downloading or streaming stuff.. but it seems better managed, and WiFi doesn’t take a hit every time a windows laptop goes for an update over the wireless connection. However, if the laptop is connected via LAN, and you don’t have traffic shaping on… then you can expect it to soak up any and all available bandwidth from your Internet connection :~)

SECURITY ISSUES:

Many of you will use hardware IDs (MAC addresses) to allow or deny access to devices on your router already as a security measure. Typically this will stop unsanctioned devices from connecting to your router/LAN, and that will reduce unwanted intrusions to your network. If you go to the security section of the router’s web interface, you’ll see MAC based security settings there under Advanced > Security > Access Control. Configure it like many other routers…. And you should now feel the warm glow of a slightly more secure network, right? Now here’s the bit I don’t like…

As a test, I added a client’s newly-repaired laptop to my network for testing and updates. My router has a “block anyone who doesn’t have a registered MAC address” policy. What I found was that the laptop (with the right Wi-Fi password) still got an IP address. WHAT?! So if you use a brute-force attack on this router you CAN connect, get an IP address, and then scan the network for devices, and launch an attack from there.

Two words. Not. Good.

Choosing your Wi-Fi password very carefully and changing it often is highly recommended in general, but I’d place greater emphasis on it for this router.

You might be wondering: “What does the MAC-based access control do on this router?”

It stops unregistered devices from accessing your Internet connection. So the only things they can connect to really, are local devices. This might stop your neighbours from downloading tons of illegal movies using your connection, but does nothing to stop your computers and mobile devices from being attacked once the Wi-Fi password has been breached. If you have lots of IOT (Internet of Things) devices like smart home controls, weather stations, irrigation systems, etc…. please note that their security is often quite weak.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

So I thought… “Hey if I update the firmware, maybe that’ll fix it”. Truth is… that is the latest version.. at least at the time of writing. Which leads me to:

OPEN SOURCE FIRMWARE:

Ok, so tech heads have a tendency to install open source firmware to their router. The usual suspects are “Open WRT” and DD-WRT”. I was hoping that there’d be a new firmware to address this security issue, but at the time of writing, neither have support for this router.

NETGEAR HAS SECURITY SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Now I’m aware that Netgear offers a subscription service aimed at improving the security of my network. However, the sad fact is that this will be primarily targeted at my WAN interface and end devices to stop Internet-based attacks. Nowhere on the site does it discuss Wi-Fi… and again it requires the use of the app that I don’t like much. After paying for alternative protection software for my end devices, I feel this service is unnecessary in my case.

NO PROBLEM IS INSURMOUNTABLE:

There are plenty of ways to address this issue. Some people substantially reduce the Wi-Fi transmission power so the area of attack is smaller, (perhaps even limited to the interior of your home) some people use dedicated firewalls to protect their network from the access points, and some people use dedicated virtual networks (VLANs) to split the network into two separate WiFi and wired networks. I’d strongly suggest you isolate your wireless networks from your sensitive devices… but that’s advice I’d give anyone, regardless of the router model you have. It’s also possible to add anti-virus/anti-malware software that includes software firewalls on every device…. Further hardening the overall network from attack.

The bottom line is that this is a consumer-grade router, and while the “Netgear Armour” subscription service may suit a lot of people, this is effectively, a separate product with ongoing, separate charges. I don’t think the extra service should be considered part of the router, and as such, should not be added to this review.

ACCESS CONTROL BUGS:

I know I’m harping on about Access Control, but it’s something that seems to suffer from a couple of issues. So for a test, I created a list of “Approved” network devices for the access control, then tested it with “block all new devices” policy. It’s true that blocked devices get stopped from browsing the “net” by redirecting all traffic to a “You have been blocked at the router” page. Sometimes when modifying the access list via the web interface, the AX8 detects useful names for the devices, such as “Google Pixel”, “MacBook Pro” or “Irrigation controller”. That’s all good, but my PFSense firewall started multiplying on my control list. Now I only have one PFSense firewall box, but other “allowed devices” that were correctly labelled mere hours previously…were suddenly labelled as "PFSense" as well… if you have 14 devices, and 4 of them are suddenly “PFSense”… three are obviously wrong. This can make tracking problems down difficult, and is something I feel should be fixed with a new firmware update… but alas it is still in the latest version at the time of writing.. which is:

Firmware Version V1.0.3.106_1.0.50

IOS UPDATE ISSUES:

My partner has an older iPhone that got updated overnight… using the AX8s Wi-Fi to download the software patches, it was clearly working with the router. The next morning, despite being allowed on the router, and the fact that no router settings had changed, the iPhone could NOT connect to the Internet at all.. even if the access control for all connected devices was turned off. Several other systems were using the router without issues, (access control on or off) but the phone wouldn’t work. It would get an IP address from the router, but nothing else. In the end, I had to reboot the router, despite the interruption to the other devices, and that seemed to work.

So there are some things you still need to reset the AX8 router for…. I guess that makes it just like many others.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

The price can be quite high, at nearly $700 (or as low as $511 when on sale), and I feel that there are definitely better value AX routers out there for the money, especially the Wi-Fi 6 options in the TP-Link range. As a result, I’d give this a “value for money” score of 70%. However, if you can get it on sale, then I’ll add 10% to give it 80%

WAN/LAN Performance: Considering it regularly gets above 80% of theoretical limits, I’m going to give it 95%

WiFi Range: The performance does drop off significantly after 20 metres (albeit through several walls) so the range is not huge. I’m going to give it 70%. If you have a small/medium home (or fewer walls), I’d give it 85%

WiFi Performance: This is going to be situation specific. You mileage may differ considerably, but up close, I’m giving it 95%, however at range, I’m going to give it 80%… as it’s still significantly faster than my older 802.11ac (or AC) generation router. Which I believe is a fair comparison for fellow consumers.

Security: I feel the security of this router is stripped down somewhat so Netgear can sell the Armour subscription. I have my concerns about the app… and access control, I’m going to give it 70%

Ease of Use: The app DOES make initial setup and monitoring very easy, if that’s your priority, then I’d give it 80% because of the minor issues experienced and the lack of controls I’m used to seeing from the Genie app days. The web interface is pretty much “par” for the router course, and is laid out quite intuitively. I’d give that 85%. Losing 15% for frustrating access control glitches that makes troubleshooting harder.

Warranty: 12 Months, with 90 days tech support (to help with initial setup) is nice, but not exactly going to wow me, or those who are IT savvy. It is the legal minimum for a product sold in Australia, so I’m going to give it 60% for the warranty. However, if you’re not tech savvy, that tech support is probably worth a lot.. however, compared to supporting the device itself… it shouldn’t exceed a quarter of the value… so I’m giving 15% for the free support… but I am not convinced a newbie will be buying (or configuring) a router like this… so I can’t give it the full 25%

Adaptability: Open firmware for the AX8 doesn’t seem to be viable at the time of writing, so Open WRT and DD-WRT (two open source, third-party router software suppliers) do not make any firmware for this router at this time. You’re effectively stuck with the manufacturer supplied firmware. So no “added features” or reliability improvements are available at this time. It feels unfair to give zero, as this isn’t the fault of the manufacturer, nor is it something most end users would care about, so I’ll leave it here for your general information. However, a high end consumer router like this should see some hope for third-party firmware.

Reliability: Some quirks noted with access control, and one reboot has been necessary in 3 months. I’m going to give the unit 95% as I can’t be sure the failure is in fact, at the router’s end.

In Summary:

70 /100 +10 if on sale (value for money, extra 10% if substantially discounted) 95/100 (wan/lan peformance) 70/100 +15 range (wi-fi range for big/small house) 95/100 (close wifi performance) 80/100 (ranged wifi performance) 70/100 (security) 80/100 (app ease of use) 85/100 (web ease of use) 60/100 +15 (warranty with 15% extra for tech support if relevant) 95/100 (reliability… so far)

TOTAL SCORE 809-844 out of 1000 (80.9 - 84.4%)

Ignoring warranty/initial tech support concerns: 82.2% - 85% If you’re tech savvy and can overcome the security/warranty concerns: 83.75% - 86.88% If you live in a small home, (or if range is not a concern somehow), are tech savvy, and don’t worry too much about warranty: 88% - 90%

CONCLUSION:

Despite the quirks, and concerns with the app and access control security…. I really like this router. It is clearly designed with speed in mind, and this will suit a number of applications from gamers, streamers, downloaders and places with numerous (preferably newer generation) wireless devices.

The transfer speeds from one AX device to another is quite impressive (I regularly get over 945Mb/s when both devices were in the same room as the router, sending 8K video footage)… so another test shows that speeds are frequently sustained above the 900Mb/s (112MB/s) mark in real-world conditions.

If you add protective software/services like most anti-virus suites, firewalls, and anti-malware apps to your devices, then you probably don’t need the “Netgear Armour”… but you might find that it offers extra “piece of mind” if you’re more security oriented. Without additional protection, it should be noted that the AX8 is obviously not an enterprise-grade solution, and as such I feel my scores demonstrate a fair assessment.. even if my standards for security are a little higher than most. This would be a high-performance access point if you choose to use this with other devices to manage security (like a corportate/PF Sense router, and smart switches running the AX8 on a VLAN for Wi-Fi points).

I was originally put off by the wide range of reviews for the AX8. The other reviews online seem to range from 2.5 stars to 5 stars. I think this comes down to the price paid, the technical skills of the user, as well as the situation it is used in. Obviously, a lower price, smaller house, and greater technical skills will help bring this router to a “close to ideal” situation. However, the app offers a simplified system to ease new users through the setup process, the range can be extended in several ways, and so it really comes down to your situation, budget, and of course needs.

If you like speed, have a lot of new WiFi devices, and get this little router on sale, then I have no problems recommending the AX8. However, there are alternatives out there that are a little better value, offer similar performance, but don’t have the sleek stingray/Star Wars ship “coolness” that will certainly lead people toward this series of router.

WHY NO PHOTOS?

Other reviews have shown similar performance results to mine, so if you like lots of pretty graphs, screen shots, and all that, I’d suggest you look at those. Even if you’re not interested in pretty infographics… I’d still recommend that you source multiple reviews on any product as a general rule. My network is undergoing a major overhaul at the moment… so my server/comms rack is embarrassingly messy, and I literally have cables running across the home while I wait for the cabler to come to install wall sockets. I’d prefer NOT to share that with the world. I hope you understand :-)

NOVEMBER 2021 UPDATE:

I regret to inform you all, that the AX80, even with the latest firmware, has not been performing "to spec". I've been noticing a slow and steady decline in the performance, both via the cabled LAN, and WiFi intranet. Intermittent lapses in connectivity, despite upgrades to the latest firmware, made me think originally, that the problem was somehow environmental. Buffering when streaming, and even when it was running, was not running well, since the quality of the streaming data was substantially reduced.

Oddly, some streaming sites were NOT impacted, while others were effectively crippled.

Things got noticeably worse when my partner started to work from home, with CRMs, VOIP, chat programs, and NetSuite all running simultaneously. I put her work machine in the DMZ since her IT support at work... is... concerning.

The router prioritized her computer above the rest of the household (despite QOS being employed) to the exclusion of all else...and suddenly I couldn't work from home. Nor could the kids even access their study materials.

I started rummaging around in the logs, and found unsanctioned SUCCESSFUL connections from the greater internet. Apparently my partner's work was being attacked... so being a consumer grade router, I didn't expect miracles... The rest of the network was protected behind several devices. Long after the attack stopped, and my partner's work PC was reinstalled from scratch... the breaches stopped, but priority imbalance continued.

Honestly, I got fed up and swapped the router out for another... the old AC router that I replaced... and it has just been rock solid, despite slower throughput.

There are issues with this router:

1. The router's OS has some serious performance issues with the latest firmware update. 2. The longevity of this model is probably not so great, despite it's high price. 3. The security of this router could be easily, and significantly improved. I believe the security was reduced in order to justify the promoting the security subscription. 4. Compared to other brands with better long-term reviews, I feel this product is overpriced. I'm having problems only 7 months in.