Netgear’s latest gamer offering isn’t short on power, features, or cost.
Netgear is adding a third router to the current Nighthawk lineup, rounding out its powerful, but expensive gaming-focused networking trio.
The Nighthawk X4 is a dual-band 802.11ac router, offering speeds of up to 1,733 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band (hence the AC2350 designation). And for the more discerning (Wired or Die) gamer, there’s four Gigabit Ethernet ports, of course.
Expansion is also a focal point, thanks to the two USB 3.0 ports, and one eSATA port on board. You can connect three storage devices to the X4, turning the router into your personal network storage Mecca, or use one of the USB ports to share a printer.
Most interesting, however, is what’s under the hood: A dual-core Snapdragon 400 SoC from Qualcomm. The Snapdragon is dedicated to handling app duties, as well as the feature-laden QoS (Quality of Service) software, which lets your prioritize network traffic. From Netflix to Hulu Plus to Counter-Strike, Netgear promises that the X4 offers complete control over the most specific network traffic.
And what kind of network traffic tends to be a hassle right now? Video streaming. The X4 comes with “Video Type Aware” adaptive streaming, which can differentiate between Netflix, YouTube, etc. Since streaming services all use their own brand of buffering, the adaptive streaming will keep your Let’s Play videos looking their best.
In addition to the Snapdragon chip, a second 500 MHz dual-core chip is on board specifically to handle 802.11ac WiFi duties.
At $279.99, the X4 is not for everyone — personally I’ve never dropped more than $100 or so on a router — but it should appeal to the enthusiast/control freak in all of us, even if your wallet is worse for the wear.
Source: Netgear PR
