This deal popped up and I figured it's a huge price difference to the original which would be $169. Hope this is a great deal for some.
1,500 sq. ft. of WiFi 6 Coverage
Connect 40+ devices at once
3Gbps WiFi speeds for buffer-free 4K streaming on all your devices
Easily setup and manage your WiFi with the Nighthawk App
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This deal popped up and I figured it's a huge price difference to the original which would be $169. Hope this is a great deal for some.
1,500 sq. ft. of WiFi 6 Coverage
Connect 40+ devices at once
3Gbps WiFi speeds for buffer-free 4K streaming on all your devices
Easily setup and manage your WiFi with the Nighthawk App
Deal History includes data from multiple reputable stores, such as Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. The lowest price among stores for a given day is selected as the "Sale Price".
Sale Price does not include sale prices at Amazon unless a deal was posted by a community member.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank rczrider
I don't have this router, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm just sharing some observations. Source: https://www.relaxedtech.com/revie...ear/rax40/ and Googling reviews.
First, this is probably a re-badged RAX40. The RAX35 was originally a Walmart-exclusive RAX40 minus the USB 3.0 port. Not sure when it changed, but since the product pictures show a USB 3.0 port, this is almost certainly an RAX40.
Second, despite their attempt to make it look like a 4x4 device based on large, bolded numbers in the images, this is a 2x2 device (they're combining the 2x2 from 2.4GHz and 5GHz to make it seem like 4x4). Related: the number of antennas matter...sometimes. In a proper setup, more antennas means the ability to handle more devices at one time (MU-MIMO) and increase the range and throughput to individual devices (beam-forming). All other things being equal, 4 antennas are better than 2. Of course, at the budget end of the spectrum for AX routers, does it make any difference? Maybe not, depending on the router itself, your home's layout, and the devices that are connecting to the router.
Third, this is an Intel-based device (both SoC and radios). It will almost certainly never see third party firmware support. Because of this, you're stuck with Netgear firmware, which seems to be the source of the majority of negative reviews. That said, the overwhelming number of negative reviews seem to be from middle-to-late 2020 and related to whatever firmware was released at that time. Is it better now? I don't know. Maybe.
I think the take-away for this particular unit is that it might be fine. It seems to be available locally for a lot of folks, so it's easy enough to pick up, try out, and return if it sucks. In recent years, Netgear has been known for terrible firmware and lackluster support, especially on their lower-end units. They charge for service after 6 months, I believe. Understand what you're paying for.
Personally, I'm going to pick one up. I had the $90 TP-Link AX21 (AX1800) that recently went on sale and while it was a noticeable improvement for my WiFi 6 devices, I missed the control I have with the Merlin firmware on my ASUS RT-AC68U. I sent the AX21 back to Amazon, but not before giving it a week of solid use and getting some signal/throughput numbers. I'll do the same with this Netgear RAX35 / RAX40 and report back. It'll probably get returned because I don't trust Netgear, though.
Last edited by rczrider March 11, 2021 at 06:54 AM.
What happened to all the people on this site that commented on every router thread saying wait for WiFi 6e routers? It's 2021 and 6e still doesn't seem to be a thing.
Mine was delivered just a little while ago and despite images on Walmart's product page that indicate a USB 3.0 port (making it identical to the RAX40), mine does not have it. Netgear's website indicates there's a RAX35 v2 and I'm guessing that is the one with the USB 3.0 port.
This deal was lukewarm before when I thought mine would have a USB port. Since it doesn't, the deal gets a TD.
Quote
from sjguy01
:
What happened to all the people on this site that commented on every router thread saying wait for WiFi 6e routers? It's 2021 and 6e still doesn't seem to be a thing.
I just roll my eyes whenever anyone suggests waiting for 6E. Yes, if you wait long enough, something better will naturally come around...but if you're always waiting for the next big thing, you'll never get anywhere.
We've got a while before 6E is prevalent and considered affordable by the average consumer. If a person needs a router now - and has a fair number of WiFi 6 devices - get a WiFi 6 router now. The people who will see an actual benefit from 6E before 2022 are few and far between.
Mine was delivered just a little while ago and despite images on Walmart's product page that indicate a USB 3.0 port (making it identical to the RAX40), mine does not have it. Netgear's website indicates there's a RAX35 v2 and I'm guessing that is the one with the USB 3.0 port.
This deal was lukewarm before when I thought mine would have a USB port. Since it doesn't, the deal gets a TD.
Does USB3.0 actually matter though? Looking at reviews for RAX40 and other budget routers with 3.0 NAS ports, the NAS transfer speed maxes out at 30-50MB/s which would not reach the limit of USB2.0 anyways.
Does USB3.0 actually matter though? Looking at reviews for RAX40 and other budget routers with 3.0 NAS ports, the NAS transfer speed maxes out at 30-50MB/s which would not reach the limit of USB2.0 anyways.
I didn't mean to stress the 3.0 part, so much as pointing out the supposed difference in the RAX35 and RAX40 was a USB port.
And you're right, if the USB 3.0 port is artificially limited to USB 2.0 speeds because they did a poor job shielding it and so there's interference on the 2.4GHz band, then it doesn't matter.
I don't know about this router in particular, but even when using the "interference reduction" option in my ASUS, the actual throughput on the is more like 50-60Mbps. Real-world USB 2.0 is 30-40Mbps, so USB 3.0 would still be preferable, especially if you're streaming large media files from the drive. In testing my ASUS with reduction mode disabled, I get around 80-90Mbps (I can't leave it like this, though, because it causes my 2.4GHz band to be flaky).
I assume Netgear's USB 3.0 port is forced to "interference reduction" mode at all times, but that's still faster than USB 2.0.
I didn't mean to stress the 3.0 part, so much as pointing out the supposed difference in the RAX35 and RAX40 was a USB port.
Do you have any indication that RAX35 is worse than RAX40 in any way besides the USB port? I guess my real question is if there's a better option for WiFi 6 features at under $90 and I'd be just fine saving $30-$60 for a small difference on NAS feature. Of course if you pay more there will be better routers.
Do you have any indication that RAX35 is worse than RAX40 in any way besides the USB port? I guess my real question is if there's a better option for WiFi 6 features at under $90 and I'd be just fine saving $30-$60 for a small difference on NAS feature. Of course if you pay more there will be better routers.
From everything I've read, the RAX35 and RAX40 are identical, minus the USB port.
I've had this router (ver 1) for more than 1 yr. I got last yr and paid around $80. The 2nd-to-last firmware had a problem but the latest one fixed the issues. I have about 20 devices on it - it works fine for what it is...
What happened to all the people on this site that commented on every router thread saying wait for WiFi 6e routers? It's 2021 and 6e still doesn't seem to be a thing.
Its a thing, but it costs an arm and a leg and is very limited in use currently. Thats why now is the time to buy a nice wifi 6 system and call it a day for 2-3 years if you really want wifi 6E it will be the norm about 2 years from now, and finally affordable, lol.
Abit off topic but anyone know why my SD browser extention isn't giving me the cash back? I've ordered a Samsung phone and this and both still do not appear.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank rczrider
First, this is probably a re-badged RAX40. The RAX35 was originally a Walmart-exclusive RAX40 minus the USB 3.0 port. Not sure when it changed, but since the product pictures show a USB 3.0 port, this is almost certainly an RAX40.
Second, despite their attempt to make it look like a 4x4 device based on large, bolded numbers in the images, this is a 2x2 device (they're combining the 2x2 from 2.4GHz and 5GHz to make it seem like 4x4). Related: the number of antennas matter...sometimes. In a proper setup, more antennas means the ability to handle more devices at one time (MU-MIMO) and increase the range and throughput to individual devices (beam-forming). All other things being equal, 4 antennas are better than 2. Of course, at the budget end of the spectrum for AX routers, does it make any difference? Maybe not, depending on the router itself, your home's layout, and the devices that are connecting to the router.
Third, this is an Intel-based device (both SoC and radios). It will almost certainly never see third party firmware support. Because of this, you're stuck with Netgear firmware, which seems to be the source of the majority of negative reviews. That said, the overwhelming number of negative reviews seem to be from middle-to-late 2020 and related to whatever firmware was released at that time. Is it better now? I don't know. Maybe.
I think the take-away for this particular unit is that it might be fine. It seems to be available locally for a lot of folks, so it's easy enough to pick up, try out, and return if it sucks. In recent years, Netgear has been known for terrible firmware and lackluster support, especially on their lower-end units. They charge for service after 6 months, I believe. Understand what you're paying for.
Personally, I'm going to pick one up. I had the $90 TP-Link AX21 (AX1800) that recently went on sale and while it was a noticeable improvement for my WiFi 6 devices, I missed the control I have with the Merlin firmware on my ASUS RT-AC68U. I sent the AX21 back to Amazon, but not before giving it a week of solid use and getting some signal/throughput numbers. I'll do the same with this Netgear RAX35 / RAX40 and report back. It'll probably get returned because I don't trust Netgear, though.
This deal was lukewarm before when I thought mine would have a USB port. Since it doesn't, the deal gets a TD.
We've got a while before 6E is prevalent and considered affordable by the average consumer. If a person needs a router now - and has a fair number of WiFi 6 devices - get a WiFi 6 router now. The people who will see an actual benefit from 6E before 2022 are few and far between.
This deal was lukewarm before when I thought mine would have a USB port. Since it doesn't, the deal gets a TD.
And you're right, if the USB 3.0 port is artificially limited to USB 2.0 speeds because they did a poor job shielding it and so there's interference on the 2.4GHz band, then it doesn't matter.
I don't know about this router in particular, but even when using the "interference reduction" option in my ASUS, the actual throughput on the is more like 50-60Mbps. Real-world USB 2.0 is 30-40Mbps, so USB 3.0 would still be preferable, especially if you're streaming large media files from the drive. In testing my ASUS with reduction mode disabled, I get around 80-90Mbps (I can't leave it like this, though, because it causes my 2.4GHz band to be flaky).
I assume Netgear's USB 3.0 port is forced to "interference reduction" mode at all times, but that's still faster than USB 2.0.
That said, Netgear has a terrible reputation for firmware and support, so I'd consider the TP-Link AX21 / AX1800 that is currently $90: https://slickdeals.net/f/14878840-tp-link-wifi-6-router-ax1800-smart-wifi-router-archer-ax21-w-alexa-90
It's probably better in every way.
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