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visit
stack.net.auTECH
FEATURE
72
jbhifi.com.auMAY
2016
TECH
T
he Nighthawk X8 refers to itself as
Tri-band, but don’t let that confuse you.
All it means is that the router offers
three separate, dedicated Wi-Fi outlets for your
devices to connect to; theoretically, if you’re
running three different devices with three
different modes of Wi-Fi connectivity, they can
all do their thing without impairing the
connection of the others. The router uses a
feature known as Smart Connect to optimise
and intelligently assign each device to the band
best-suited. You can stream a 4K movie to the
Smart TV in the loungeroom, while your son
starts his road to Challenger on
League of Legends
in his
bedroom, and your daughter
Skypes with her
boyfriend in the
kitchen; it’s good to
see antisocial is the
new social.
The Nighthawk
X8’s dynamic Quality
of Service (QoS) is perfect for
optimising which devices should attain the
best connection to the net. This means that
those streaming or gaming online will maintain
the steadiest connection, however it doesn’t
jeopardise the connection of the other devices.
Clever, innit?
As far as speed goes, how does 5.3gb
of data per second sound? Granted, that’s
the combined speed on offer, but that’s still
ridiculous. The Nighthawk X8 also has 6 Gigabit
Ethernet LAN Ports, as opposed to the usual 4,
but the ability to aggregate two of these ports
to your NAS will allow much faster file transfers
and downloads.
The Nighthawk X8 includes industry-first
Active Antennas, incorporating Wi-Fi amplifiers
in the top of the device's four external
antennas, whilst still retaining the existing
amplifiers in their normal location on the router
motherboard itself. With four internal – as
well as four external – amplified antennas, the
router's wireless range is
boosted to extremes that, until
recently, seemed impossible.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the
X8 R8500 is its inbuilt cloud storage capabilities.
Simply plug your USB (2.0 or 3.0 – it has both)
storage device directly into the router itself,
download the ReadyCLOUD mobile app (or
use the web portal), and you have immediate
access to your files anywhere, anytime – yeah,
it’s really that easy.
With lower drop-out rates and extremely fast
download speeds, the NETGEAR Nighthawk X8
- R8500 Smart Wi-Fi Router is perfect for those
hunting for one of the best you can buy.
lower drop-out rates,
almost non-existent lag,
and ridiculously fast
download speeds
Next-gen
Nighthawk
Are you part of a bustling home and on the prowl for a new router that’ll give you insane
speeds and a longer range?What about one that looks – and runs – like the
Enterprise
?
The
NETGEAR Nighthawk X8 - R8500 AC5300 SmartWi-Fi Router
is a great place to start.