Reviews
Netgear Nighthawk RS200
It doesn’t fully deliver the Wi-Fi 7 dream, but this mid-price router is surprisingly fast and capable
PRICE
£167 (£200 inc VAT)
from
amazon.co.uk
W
hen I first heard about the Nighthawk RS200 router, I was genuinely excited. Wi-Fi 7 has so far tended to be an expensive luxury: Netgear’s flagship Nighthawk RS700S router cost a whopping £800 when introduced (see issue 353, p76), and even the cut-down Nighthawk RS300 still came in at a fairly hefty £300 (see issue 361, p72). But with the RS200 shaving another £100 off that, Wi-Fi 7 is finally getting down to sensible prices.
Unfortunately, my excitement was quickly overtaken by concerns about how the cost saving has been achieved. If there’s one big innovation that defines Wi-Fi 7, it’s MLO – the multi-link operation mode that can increase bandwidth and improve reliability by letting devices connect across the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz radio bands simultaneously.