Netgear Nighthawk X4S AC6200 Aims to Defeat Lag

The Netgear Nighthawk X4S AC6200 Smart WiFi router promises upgraded speeds to help gamers and streamers play and watch without buffering and pausing while their WiFi connection struggles to keep up with activities.

As part of the new Nighthawk X4S AC6200 router, newer mobile devices can connect better with double the throughput for a better mobile experience at home while connected to WiFi.

The Nighthawk brand of Netgear routers are designed to meet the needs of power users and like the earlier models, the design is aggressively styled to match gaming notebooks.

Netgear announced the Nighthawk X4S AC6200 router at CES 2016 in Las Vegas in addition to other connected home products and a WiFi extender that can help eliminate dead spots in your house.

This is a large upgrade from the previous Nighthawk X4 AC2350 from 2014 and includes a number of smart features to improve your in home WiFi experience.

• 1.7GHz dual core processor boosts AC2600 WiFi, wired, and WAN-to-LAN network performance to deliver a combined speed of an astonishing 2.53Gbps* (up to 1733Mbps on the 5GHz band + 800Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band).
• Quad-stream architecture with new Wave 2 WiFi improves WiFi range for mobile devices.
• MU-MIMO technology designed for simultaneous streaming to multiple devices provides major performance improvements with next-generation mobile devices.
• 80+80/160MHz supports maximum speeds for upcoming mobile devices.
• 4 high performance external antennas with powerful amplifiers combine with Beamforming+ to ensure the best WiFi coverage and reliability throughout large homes and even backyards, by focusing WiFi directly at connected devices.
• 5 Gigabit Ethernet ports (4 LAN and 1 WAN) offer multiple fast wired connections for home entertainment systems and game consoles.
• 2 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and 1 eSATA port offer high-speed, storage-ready access and transfer of your content significantly faster than USB 2.0.

It is important to note that the speeds listed are likely much faster than your home WiFi network, so you will see fast in home network use, but if you are on a slow internet plan.

In addition to the hardware features, Netgear builds in many software features to round out the experience. These include Quality of Service to keep your media and gaming going without lag and buffering, VPN support, USB storage and automatic backups. More details are listed below.

• Application-aware and device-aware Dynamic QoS technology optimizes your connection speed for reduced lag and buffering.
• Security features include VPN support for secure remote access to your home network and Internet when away from home, separate guest network access, and a customized free URL to create a personal FTP server.
• ReadySHARE® Vault, a free software application, automatically backs up Windows®-based PCs on your network to a USB hard drive connected to Nighthawk X4S.
• The unique NETGEAR genie® app, with more than 6 million downloads, is a personal dashboard to make it easy to install, monitor, control and repair your home network.
• Enhanced Parental Controls enable web filtering and accessibility by family member or devices.
• NETGEAR MyMedia® helps you to find and play your stored media from anywhere on your network to your DLNA®-ready TVs and music system.
• ReadySHARE USB storage access and ReadySHARE printing capability enable you to wirelessly access and share a USB hard drive and USB printer via the 2 USB ports.

The Netgear Nighthawk X4S AC6200 Smart WiFi router is available now at retailers in store and online for $269.99.

Check out the rest of our CES 2016 coverage to see the latest gadgets, accessories, smartphones and other cool tech for 2016.