LABS TEST / WIFI 6 ROUTERS
N
etgear’s Nighthawk brand has long
been associated with high-end
routers, but the RAX40 is a relatively
modest affair, with a sub-£150 price and
AX3000 maximum speed rating, although it
still largely impresses. Typically for a Nighthawk
router, it’s clad in all black with aggressive
angles adorning every surface. It’s also wide,
measuring a whopping 340mm thanks to its
twin antennae projecting out from the very tips
of the sides.
You get some obvious front-and-centre
buttons and status LEDs too, rather than the
more hidden features of some more style-
focused routers. There are LEDs for power,
internet connection, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, 5GHz Wi-Fi,
each individual LAN port and the USB port. You’ll
generally know when any of those features is
working or not by other means, but it’s handy to
NETGEAR NIGHTHAWK
RAX40 /£140 inc VAT
SUPPLIER box.co.ukhave the quick reference.
If you decide you don’t like
the light show, there’s a switch
at the back to turn them all off.
Below the lights are buttons
for turning the Wi-Fi on or off and
triggering the WPS connection feature. It
seems an oversight to position the two so
close though. A quick fumble in the dark and,
instead of seamlessly connecting a new
device, you could be waiting for your Wi-Fi
to boot back up again.
Around the back you get the same core
selection of features as the rest of the routers
on test, with four Gigabit LAN ports, one
Gigabit WAN port, a reset button, power switch
and input, plus a single USB 3 port. Rather
surprisingly, the latter can only be used to host
storage devices, with even printer sharing not
supported. You can at least set up dynamic DNS
to access your storage from the Internet.
The Nighthawk router range has long flown
in the face of the modern trend for app-based
setups and overly swish interfaces, and sure
enough, the web interface of this router is easy
to use but plain-looking. It’s also not overly
packed with extra features, although it does
support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
control, and is compatible with Netgear’s
Nighthawk app, so you can control features
from your phone.
When it comes to performance, this router
surpassed its modest credentials, delivering
solid performance across the board. At 5GHz,
its peak close-range speeds weren’t chart-
topping but still adequate, and at mid-range,it was up there with the faster units. Its long-
range impressed too, hitting solid speeds in
our longest-range test, with pings that were
reasonably stable.
In fact, we initially tested at a longer range
and this router coped just fine. It was only when
testing subsequent routers that we found most
couldn’t reach the end of the garden, so we
tested at halfway down it instead.
It was a similar story in terms of overall
performance with the 2.4GHz band, with the
peak speed being slower than that of some of
the other routers on test, but the Nighthawk
maintained a reasonable speed and stability
across the ranges.Conclusion
The Netgear Nighthawk RAX40 isn’t a chart-
topping speed demon, nor is it packed with all
sorts of fancy bells and whistles. However, it
does have several practical extras, such as its
front-mounted status LEDs and WPS button,
and in our tests it delivered a reliable connection
with good speeds. There are better options on
test this month, but this is a decent runner-up if
you can find it at a good price.VERDICT
A simple, practical workhorse of a router
with good Wi-Fi range, if not the best peak
Wi-Fi speed.
FLYING HIGH
+^ Solid Wi-Fi
performance
+^ Useful front LEDs
and buttons
+ Good valueCRASHING DOWN-^ Not the fastest Wi-Fi
-^ Very wide design
DESIGN
16 / 20FEATURES
16 / 20OVERALL SCORE
80 %
PERFORMANCE
22 / 30VALUE
26 / 30SPEC
Weight 630g
Dimensions (mm) 340 x 206 x 57 /
187 (W x D x H) / with antennae
Ethernet 4 x Gigabit LAN, 1 x Gigabit WAN
Wi-Fi Dual band (AX3000) 600 + 2,400Mb/sec
Streams 2.4GHz 2x2, 5GHz 4x4
USB ports 1 x USB 3
Processor Dual-core
Memory 256MB flash, 512MB RAM
Extras Front-mounted WPS and WiFi buttons,
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support