Nighthawk RS500 (BE12000)

How big is your house? If it’s under 3000 sq ft you could get away with a strategically placed modern router (netgear rs500-700 for example). You’d most likely have to do some tweaking to the default settings for the most stable connection (I did)

In that case I would reccomend a tp link archer be 6500 for half the price. Its wifi7 with no 6ghz just mlo on 2.4ghz and 5ghz. I used one to replace a nighthawk be12000 that was $400 and absolute dogshit.

I have netgears RS500 and it runs great. Its $298 on amazon. The rs700 is if u want every bell and whistle.

I bought both a TP-Link BE9300 and Netgear RS500. I ended up keeping both. I agree the WiFi7 for this number of devices. I would go to the top level of each vendor for 100+

Just did this - 7 people, 3 floors. Went through a few mesh systems (tplink be4800, be5000, XE75). Hated the way mesh worked, walked to another room device would hang on the further node and online games were choppier (higher ping and latency) than a single nighthawk (even had wired backhaul from main to second of the 3 nodes). Then went through multiple Netgear Nighthawks (rs200, rs300, rs500, axe3000). Ordered a refurbed RS700S for $349, its a beast but better coverage, better speeds, lower pings, less latency than any of the Mesh systems. Dead spots where we got 5-10mb/sec now getting 550mb. Using the nighthawk app I could see with the RS500 60% signal level in some of the dead spot areas, now getting 90+%. I've got a 1GB connection from Spectrum and they overprovision so wirelessly with iphone 17 getting over 1gb a floor above or under the router and up to a room away still. Wired to PCs getting 1.1-1.2 gb too. I tested speeds in every room of my house with each system to record speeds. I found a single, more powerful router to be a much better and consistent solution for 3 floors and 7 people.

You're going to have a problem and its the house. I had some dead spots, tested multiple routers and mesh systems. The best fit for us was the Netgear Nighthawk RS700. Pushed through those dead spots and where we got 5mb/sec, now getting 450mb/sec. Even the mesh systems struggled there. I found a refurb on Amazon for $349. Its not cheap but it worked for me. (house is 3200sq ft, 7 users, 40+ devices w/ 1GB connection from Spectrum). I did try the RS300 and RS500 but neither pushed through like the RS700 did with the extra antennas. Looks like they bumped to $356 but mine was refurbed by netgear and had a 90 day warranty from them: [https://a.co/d/abj8BU7](https://a.co/d/abj8BU7)

You're going to have a problem and its the house. I had some dead spots, tested multiple routers and mesh systems. The best fit for us was the Netgear Nighthawk RS700. Pushed through those dead spots and where we got 5mb/sec, now getting 450mb/sec. Even the mesh systems struggled there. I found a refurb on Amazon for $349. Its not cheap but it worked for me. (house is 3200sq ft, 7 users, 40+ devices w/ 1GB connection from Spectrum). I did try the RS300 and RS500 but neither pushed through like the RS700 did with the extra antennas. Looks like they bumped to $356 but mine was refurbed by netgear and had a 90 day warranty from them: [https://a.co/d/abj8BU7](https://a.co/d/abj8BU7)

The fact that he was getting 1GB connected to the router tells me its not your ISP or your router. Your devices are either too far away, configured improperly or lack decent wifi technology. What wifi cards / generation are in the devices you are using wirelessly? What band are you connecting these devices to (2.4 or 5ghz)?

Which Netgear Nighthawk router do you have? What does he get with the ethernet wired to the netgear, then ethernet connected from router to the modem? I've got the Netgear Nighthawk RS700 and get 1.2gbs on my iphone 17 from 2 rooms over or a floor below. I tested 3 other mesh options and kept coming back to the nighthawk, it was faster and coverage was better than the mesh systems in my house. I did also try the Nighthawk RS300 (it was junk, terrible signal strength some rooms had NO service) and the RS500 (decent). I bought one these refurbs, its been amazing [https://a.co/d/3zliEdp](https://a.co/d/3zliEdp)

Maybe those are issues with that particular model then. I went out and bought a 3 node versions of the TP-link BE4800, BE5000, XE75Pro and Nighthawk RS300, RS500 and RS700... and did all my own testing in my house to see what gave the best speeds and signal strength in each room.

My house is \~3200sq ft, PCs in the basement, main floor and upstairs. We have 5 kids and about 50 wifi devices (ipads, iphones, laptops, TVs, rokus, android tablets, amazon echos, etc), a few dead spots (was getting 5mb at a desk in one room, now getting 450mb) in the house (built 2001). Its overkill but highly recommended if you need coverage and speed! ..so if that tells you anything about what I needed and that the RS700 won....

If money not an go to Netgear and look for the nighthawk 3000sqft or get a mesh wifi

ASUS, got better UI on the app as well. I used to have Netgear