Netgear R6300 Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router Review

With high speed internet fast becoming the standard across not only the UK but most of the connected world, its great to see a new line of routers that can not only handle the high speed connections on a wired basis but also over wireless as well. The R6300 packs all the features we would expect to see from any modern router and some more on top. All of this is set into a user interface that may be a head scratcher to understand first time round, but is easily picked up and follows through with a number of other models that Netgear have to offer right now.

To pick out a few features that caught my eye, ReadyShare is a great addition turning the router into a central point to share any media from without the need for a NAS or PC sharing files as well as network printer sharing without the need for a computer either. Along side ReadyShare, Netgear’s Genie app for the iPad and iPhone is also a very useful and gives a quick overview on the routers status and access to some basic settings including a map of connected devices. Genie is also available for desktop computers and offers an easy link to the router for monitoring and status checking, but one feature that I find hugely beneficial is the ability to turn any connected printer into an iOS AirPrint compatible device, great for the not-so-new printers that don’t natively support AirPrint.

Over on the networking side of things there are two features that stand out for me. One of these is the Internet traffic monitor. Whilst this is not an entirely new feature, giving the router the ability to cut off internet access when a certain usage has been metered is a great way to save on excess charges that some ISPs impose on their users who have capped packages. The other feature and one that I’ve not seen before on a consumer router is a guest network. This in effect is a quarantined network that blocks the connected device from accessing any other devices on the same network and granting WAN (Internet) access only. This is particularly handy for people who want to allow people to connect to the internet through their router and not have to worry about them accessing things on the network that they shouldn’t be.

We do have to acknowledge that the R6300 is not a cheap piece of kit on relation to the large number of routers that are out on the market, but this is partly down to the extensive feature list that it offers including the wireless AC capability. In a similar fashion, the R6300 is not ADSL compatible and thus requires a third party modem for internet connectivity, however with most high speed internet packages currently available such as BT’s FTTC Infinity service, a separate fibre modem is supplied. For those that do require ADSL connectivity, the D6300 offers everything that you can see here, just with the addition of an ADSL modem as well.

Bottom line, the R6300 is a class leader and one of the top routers on the market right now, yes it does have a striking and bold appearance and may not suite everyone’s appeal, but if you want one of the best performing routers that money can buy then the R6300 is ready for all this and the next generation of wireless devices.