Upgraded Router from Nighthawk R8000 to Nighthawk RS700S

[dweber]

I have used a Netgear Nighthawk R8000 Router for my home network since 2015. I currently have 50 devices on my home network including Eufy cameras. Recently Spectrum upgraded my internet speed to 400 Mbps download. I could receive the 400 download speed if I connected my laptop directly to the cable modem. But wired speeds through my old Router were 150-200 Mbps and the 5 GHz and 2.6 GHz WiFi would often drop to under 10 Mbps.
Netgear reduced the price of their triband Nighthawk RS700S to $599.99 and Best Buy offered a 15% coupon for recycling an old router. I recycled one of my old 10/100 routers and bought the Nighthawk RS700S.
I now get speeds of 400-470 on most wired devices. My Hopper 3 shows a download speed of 300 Mbps. Both the 2.5 and 5 GHz WiFi give speeds of 350-400.
The router comes with Armor Security enabled free for the first year.
The router has checked all of my devices and reported 2 vulnerabilities.
1) My Western Digital MyBook network storage has old software. That device is so old that there is no new firmware available.
2) Netgear Armor detected and blocked a suspicious connection from Family Room Hopper 3 Moca. I wonder if that is really an issue.
So far I am pleased with the Nighthawk RS700S. I don’t currently have any devices that utilize the new 6 GHz WiFi but buying this router will guarantee that future additional devices are satisfied.

 

[harshness]

For $510, more than your devices better be satisfied.

 

[arlo]

It is surprising that the R8000 didn't perform well with your upgraded speeds. I use two R7000 routers and if wired directly to my cable modem which I have 200 Mbps service. A speedtest.net over 5G wifi gives consistent 201 Mbps down/50 up. The cable modem is an Arris with 16 down/2 up. I own it.

Too bad you don't still have the R8000 to try DD-WRT or Fresh Tomato firmware. Long after the OEM goes staganat on firmware updates. These fellows tend to provide updates.
Funny thing. Your R8000 had two 5G radios and mine only have one. And it has triple the performance.

My always connected router is a quite dated Asus RT-AC68U. Running Merlin firmware. A duplicate of the Asus GUI in the web interface with more bells and whistles. The most recent Merlin firmware update addressed SSL vulnerabilities and updated the built-in Trend virus protection module.
With a couple of streaming boxes and a nice wireless "mesh" system using the two R7000 routers. I just ran a speed test and got 202 up/55 down. Not bragging. Not a bit. Just wondering how the R8000 would perform with alternate firmware. Seeing as how it was reported the Netgear firmware had some deficiencies. And typical of most devices. Upgrades go stagnant after a time.

All of the ipv6 stuff that was implemented to make you want a new router. And my ISP hasn't and wont use it.
They are very slowly upgrading to fiber and abandoning the very dated hard cable infrastructure.

But harshy is right. I know your pocket isn't very cheerfu even if you are.

 

[dweber]

It is surprising that the R8000 didn't perform well with your upgraded speeds. I use two R7000 routers and if wired directly to my cable modem which I have 200 Mbps service. A speedtest.net over 5G wifi gives consistent 201 Mbps down/50 up. The cable modem is an Arris with 16 down/2 up. I own it.

Too bad you don't still have the R8000 to try DD-WRT or Fresh Tomato firmware. Long after the OEM goes staganat on firmware updates. These fellows tend to provide updates.
Funny thing. Your R8000 had two 5G radios and mine only have one. And it has triple the performance.

My always connected router is a quite dated Asus RT-AC68U. Running Merlin firmware. A duplicate of the Asus GUI in the web interface with more bells and whistles. The most recent Merlin firmware update addressed SSL vulnerabilities and updated the built-in Trend virus protection module.
With a couple of streaming boxes and a nice wireless "mesh" system using the two R7000 routers. I just ran a speed test and got 202 up/55 down. Not bragging. Not a bit. Just wondering how the R8000 would perform with alternate firmware. Seeing as how it was reported the Netgear firmware had some deficiencies. And typical of most devices. Upgrades go stagnant after a time.

All of the ipv6 stuff that was implemented to make you want a new router. And my ISP hasn't and wont use it.
They are very slowly upgrading to fiber and abandoning the very dated hard cable infrastructure.

But harshy is right. I know your pocket isn't very cheerfu even if you are.

I kept my old Nighthawk R8000 router. I traded in my ancient Netgear 10/100 routers.
I suspect that the cameras are what loaded down my R8000 router. I have Netgear Gigabit switches throughout the house and a cat6 cable running to my access point in my barn. When my WiFi speeds would drop to 5-10 Mbps I could reboot my R8000 router and the speeds would recover to 100-150.
I may try to load generic firmware on my R8000 when I get time after the holidays. I have a lot of automation throughout my home controlling lights, curtains, entertainment, temperature, with Alexa,
Google, and Siri. As a retired process chemical engineer it is a hobby so I don’t mind spending money on equipment.
I wish I had your upload speed of 50. Spectrum only allows an upload speed of 10 Mbps which hurts Dish Anywhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[arlo]

*Ding*!!!! Cameras! Are they IP cameras? And perhaps 1080 at that?
You should be able to go in the router management console and monitor bandwidth usage by device/IP.
Or maybe a DVR with multiple cameras plugged in. At any rate I can confirm some systems and IP cameras will use as much bandwidth is available on your LAN. Which will broadcast to your WAN depending on the many factors in the install and system and software. Variables that can be looked at in bandwidth monitoring in the router.

There should be a QOS. Quality of Service section in the router web interface where you can set bandwidth per connected device. Many managed Ethernet switches do the same thing. Assign a VLAN to how many cameras (or other bandwidth eaters) and set parameters accordingly. Geeky stuff, yeah. But very doable without much trouble.
DD-WRT or Fresh Tomato would work nicely for that on the R8000.

Pretty sure you'll get it.

 

[harshness]

Using technologies other than Wi-fi (such as Zwave and Zigbee) is often helpful in relieving LAN stress from automation.

Automation-wise, I use Zwave devices for everything other than my doorbell and it seems to work great without impacting other systems.

I note that my surveillance system is entirely wired and that takes a huge load off Wi-fi (and eliminates the need for batteries or solar panels). I have a standalone PTZ camera that is wired for weather assessment.

Wi-fi is mostly reserved for tablets, phones and IoT devices; none of which require breakneck speeds.

 

[navychop]

I note that my surveillance system is entirely wired and that takes a huge load off Wi-fi (and eliminates the need for batteries or solar panels). I have a standalone PTZ camera that is wired for weather assessment.

I would be interested in your setup, or “improved” versions because I am considering installing cameras around my home. Batteries are not under consideration. PPOE?