NETGEAR WiFi 7 Devices in 2024

Question

NETGEAR appears to be positioned to launch new WiFi 7 devices in the upcoming year, as noted by the CEO: &nbsp;"The business is relying on a strong pipeline of WiFi 7 introductions in 2024 across all our major product lines to lift sales next year".
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What might those new WiFi 7 devices be? &nbsp;Maybe...

An access point, similar to the WAX625?
"Budget-friendly" version(s) of the RS700 router, with reduced functionality?
An advanced version of&nbsp;the RS700 router, with WAN failover and 2.5GbE LAN ports in place of the 1GbE ports?
Something else...?

ShadowMario3 · Answer

I bought a PR60X myself from Netgear.com directly last month. Overall, it's pretty good for what I need. I upgraded from a TP-Link ER8411. The main features I used were WAN failover (have one backup internet in case the main fiber goes down) and setting up a VLAN for my guest wifi. It has one 10 gig WAN port (seen as WAN2) and a 2.5gig WAN port (WAN1), but you can easily choose which one you want as the primary.&nbsp;The only other thing is if you want to make use of the second 10 gig port, it's SFP+ only, so if you want to hook up a 10 gig device to it, you'll need a compatible RJ45 transceiver or a DAC if you have another device with an SFP+ port.

ShadowMario3 · Answer

"An advanced version of the RS700 router, with WAN failover and 2.5GbE LAN ports in place of the 1GbE ports?"

I just bought a PR60X for this feature, but it would be nice to have everything in one device (have my RS700 set up as a second NAT). This is also probably why I'm holding off on buying a second RS700.

FURRYe38 · Answer

Probably won't see that kind of feature in a home class routers. Most average home users don't have a need for fail over. Just because competitor home routers have this doesn't mean NG has to. I presume from NGs standpoint, there maybe cost reasons for not implementing that in there home routers. May not be a NG market for that and users again, only interested in simple use systems, get it up and running. And again, most single home environments don't have but just one ISP service, not to. In order to really use failover in the home, you need two ISP services. For some, can be costly as well. Something not the average home user may have a need for. So why would NG invest in that?
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Besides, we see that mostly in cell service routers and some pro or business class systems.&nbsp;
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I can only presume that the Pro line will follow up some day for WAX series APs. Business class seems to take more time before migrating to newer tech. I would suspect that we won't see anything 7 for a couple of years, maybe. Only NG knows.&nbsp;
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Debugging tools are mostly external tools and not greatly internal. Debug logs for the router system is mostly all that's needed. There's plenty of external tools to use for debugging and such. Licensing Tracert and ping features would cost NG money and again, externally used on PCs for this in use with other tools. Something not really needed for average home users. Advanced ya I get it but again, NG seems to be in the market for the average home users or the "affluent" user. Get it setup and working quickly is all that the average user wants.&nbsp;
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But why not dream, like this user:&nbsp;🙄
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Wi-Fi-5-AC-Routers/Make-a-New-gaming-cable-modem-router-with-WiFi-7-for-2024/td-p/2350921/jump-to/first-unread-message

schumaku · Answer

What we will certainly see in the WiFi 7 market - for the infrastructure/router/access point as well as on the client side - will be two classes of WiFi 7 devices:
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2x2, 320 MHz, 4K QAM, 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands, max speed 5.8 Gbps (for example the Intel BE200 based systems)
2x2, 160 MHz, 1K QAM, 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands, max speed 2.4 Gbps (for example the Intel BE202 based computers)

Said this, the 320 MHz 4K QAM class does require a 10 GbE infrastructure (or the equivalent wireless backhaul bandwidth, see for example the Netgear Orbi Series 9 models), while the 160 MHz 1K QAM class does need at least a 2.5 GbE infrastructure. Which impact MLO will have - especially in dense WiFi areas where the these single bandwidth isn't available - time and real-world implementations will show. Operating WiFi 7 on GbE does not make much&nbsp;any sense - a waste of everything.

Topology · Answer

I am speculating that NETGEAR will offer an advanced version of&nbsp;the RS700 router with dual-WAN capabilities in 2024 because (a) other manufacturers sell consumer routers with that feature [e.g., Synology RT6600ax&nbsp;], and (b) NETGEAR already has the technology to deliver&nbsp;that feature [e.g., LAX20, LBR20, PR60X].&nbsp; Time will tell....

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NETGEAR WiFi 7 Devices in 2024

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