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Should I buy the XR500?

johnsmith101
Aspirant

Should I buy the XR500?

It’s currently on sale for $250 at bestbuy. I currently have a R7000. My current speeds are 100Mbps down and 10mbps up. I’m planning on upgrading to the 400Mbps down package. I game a lot, so do my siblings. Both my parents watch movies/tv shows throughout the evening. My house is about average size so the R7000 is able to reach most areas with its 2.4GHz network. What really urges me to buy is that it has DumaOS and it’s designed to hard-core gaming. Nothing compares to DumaOS, I’ve tried Merlin, Tomato, DD-WRT. The specs also amazes me. Should I buy this router?

Message 1 of 10
kraulerson
Aspirant

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I can only give you my perspective. Had mine a little over 1.5 years. Hardware failed. 1 year for a $250 router is absurd. Unfortunately that is standard. I decided to go with a dual setup. Ubiquiti edgerouter X and Ubiquiti WAP. More freedom of control and the ability to go a lot deeper into the configs if you choose. Little less in price then the XR500 and if  1 goes, you just replace that. Not everything. Just my preference though. Good luck.

Message 2 of 10
JNewms
Guide

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

No. Avoid the xr500 like the plague. Look through these forums. It’s had tons of issues and under performs. On paper, it should be great, in practice, not so much
Message 3 of 10
Netduma_Alex
NetDuma Partner

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I work for Netduma and I can tell you that in 2020 we're going to be updating DumaOS in a big way. There are going to be many new features released, with even more in the pipeline. No other router operating system is going to provide as many post-purchase updates as ours.

 

The existing features are great too, Geo-Filter is something you won't see anywhere else, and we have a very robust QoS feature.

 

Netduma provides support for any DumaOS product free of charge, both here and on our community forums.

 

Check out the reviews on Amazon or Best Buy. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive. When you come to the support forums you only see a small slice of our userbase, the ones that are having issues. The silent majority are having no issues, and we are actively working to fix all of the problems people bring up on this forum.

Message 4 of 10
annejones101
Aspirant

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I’ll add my XR500 went faulty but I found Netgear pretty good when I required an exchange but it’s Duma that kind of lets it down a little. It’s buggy with known issues and slow updates which is a shame as it has great potential. Hardware wise this is based on an old Netgear router the D7800 with a few added bits. It’s knocking on a bit and some feel the Wi-fi coverage was better on this D7800 than the XR500. I like the simple to use interface on Duma and it’s not hard to work out what it’s all about it’s just let down with the bugs. If and when milestone 3 appears and if they get it right it might be a good little router for gaming but we will have to wait and see.

Message 5 of 10
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

What specific Netduma bugs are you experiencing? I can make a note of any we are not aware of or help you resolve ones we are if possible.
Message 6 of 10
MrReeceNC
Star

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I've also had an issue since I bought the router where the lan ports would disconnect and reconnect and it has been going on for months now.  I literally just fixed it today from a hotfix I found on the netduma forums even after making a lengthy forum post about the issue on here.  Just my two cents but I think the Linksys WRT 3200 is a comparable router, just doesn't have the geo-filter and other neat features that DumaOS has.  I was going to return my XR500 today if the hotfix didn't work so for the money you pay for this thing and the wide variety of problems I've seen on these forums, it's best to stay clear.  Linksys has always been a solid brand for me when it comes to routers and my next one will be a high grade Linksys most likely or the Ubiquiti like the guy above discussed. Good luck.

Model: XR500|Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 7 of 10
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I'd highly recommend you sign up for the 3.0 beta as I think you'll have a much better experience: http://www.netgearinnovation.com/dumaos-beta/index.html
Message 8 of 10
namsayin
Tutor

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

I signed up,  but haven't heard anything / can't figure out how to download the update?

Message 9 of 10
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Should I buy the XR500?

Testers will be sent an email once they've been selected. A small batch has been selected but there will be more batches soon so keep an eye out.
Message 10 of 10
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