NETGEAR Announces the Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Router

NETGEAR, Inc., a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, is launching the new Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7800) for people who value speed. Nighthawk X4S is an ideal router for fast-paced gaming hobbyists, as Nighthawk X4S not only delivers an extremely fast Wi-Fi connection to any device, but 160MHz-capable mobile devices enjoy up to twice the throughput provided by other routers.

Nighthawk X4S is a CES Innovation Award honoree at this week's 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show for its advanced, industry-leading features supporting the outstanding Internet performance required for whole-home coverage in the connected home of today - and the smart home of tomorrow.

Nighthawk X4S is the newest addition to the premium NETGEAR Nighthawk range of products and represents a giant leap forward from the Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7500) launched in 2014, taking it to the next level in terms of speed. The new Nighthawk X4S supports Wave 2 Wi-Fi features like quad-stream architecture for both 2.4 and 5GHz, Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO), and 160MHz bandwidth. It joins the company's top-end router launched in October, the award-winning Wave 2 Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Tri-Band Quad-Stream Smart Wi-Fi Router (R8500), but with dual band and offered at a more aggressive price point.

"Nighthawk X4S is a great router choice if your family loves gaming and streaming at a breakneck pace," said Sandeep Harpalani, senior director of NETGEAR product marketing for Home Consumer Products. "It combines the fastest network processor used in a retail router with the latest Wi-Fi technology for ensuring your mobile devices support the best possible online experiences today and in the future."

Nighthawk X4S optimizes usage of available bandwidth for supporting lag-free gaming and smoother streaming of HD video. With its powerful dual-core 1.7GHz processor, it provides extreme 802.11ac Wi-Fi speeds up to 2.53Gbps* and supports up to four data streams in each Wi-Fi band, maximizing connection speeds for sending data to multiple mobile devices simultaneously. You can stream your favorite 4K HD video to one device and play an intense multi-user online video game on a different device, with greater clarity and less buffering, throughout your home.

Even though the newest Wi-Fi routers like Nighthawk X4S now support four streams for improved bandwidth, many mobile devices continue to have only single- or dual-stream support due to size and battery life constraints. To solve this problem, NETGEAR has designed Nighthawk X4S to support the highest possible 160MHz bandwidth, effectively doubling the throughput for supported mobile devices and ensuring the fastest possible speeds.

Technical Benefits of Nighthawk X4S

NETGEAR designs Nighthawk routers with best-in-class technology for speed, range, sharing, reliability, ease of use and security for your Wi-Fi-enabled devices - smartphones, notebooks, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and media servers.

Hardware features of Nighthawk X4S

• The powerful 1.7GHz dual-core processor boosts AC2600 Wi-Fi, wired, and WAN-to-LAN network performance to deliver a combined speed of an astonishing 2.53Gbps (up to 1733Mbps on the 5GHz band + 800Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band).
• Quad-stream architecture with new Wave 2 Wi-Fi improves Wi-Fi range for mobile devices.
• MU-MIMO technology designed for simultaneous streaming to multiple devices provides major performance improvements with next-generation mobile devices.
• 80+80/160MHz supports maximum speeds for upcoming mobile devices.
• 4 high performance external antennas with powerful amplifiers combine with Beamforming+ to ensure the best Wi-Fi coverage and reliability throughout large homes and even backyards, by focusing Wi-Fi directly at connected devices.
• 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports (4 LAN and 1 WAN) offer multiple fast wired connections for home entertainment systems and game consoles.
• 2 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and 1 eSATA port offer high-speed, storage-ready access and transfer of your content significantly faster than USB 2.0.

Software features of Nighthawk X4S

• Application-aware and device-aware Dynamic QoS technology optimizes your connection speed for reduced lag and buffering.
• Security features include VPN support for secure remote access to your home network and Internet when away from home, separate guest network access, and a customized free URL to create a personal FTP server.
• ReadySHARE Vault, a free software application, automatically backs up Windows-based PCs on your network to a USB hard drive connected to Nighthawk X4S.
• The unique NETGEAR genie app, with more than 6 million downloads, is a personal dashboard to make it easy to install, monitor, control and repair your home network.
• Enhanced Parental Controls enable web filtering and accessibility by family member or devices.
• NETGEAR MyMedia helps you to find and play your stored media from anywhere on your network to your DLNA-ready TVs and music system.
• ReadySHARE USB storage access and ReadySHARE printing capability enable you to wirelessly access and share a USB hard drive and USB printer via the 2 USB ports.

Pricing and Availability

The NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S AC2600 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7800) is available now from major retailers in stores and online, at an MSRP of $269.99 in the U.S.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:10 pm CDT