NETGEAR launches Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR300 802.11ac Wi-Fi Router
Gaming products are everywhere these days. Even if you aren't a gamer, these offerings are usually quite premium, making them a solid choice for anyone. For instance, a mechanical gaming keyboard can be excellent for typists, while a gaming mouse might provides accuracy, comfort, and durability. The problem? Many gaming products can be considered ugly, looking like alien spaceships or mutant spiders.
Today, NETGEAR launches its newest gaming router, and its appearance is surprisingly conservative. Called "Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR300," its design is wonderfully boring -- in a good way. In other words, it doesn't outwardly appear to be a gaming router, but make no mistake, the underlying DumaOS operating system (which is based on OpenWRT) is tuned for gamers and has useful features like QoS and geo-filtering. The dual-band 802.11ac router has a 1GHz dual-core processor, three antennas, and beamforming. Strangely, its USB 3.1 gen 1 Type-A port is on the front -- an odd placement for those that prefer to leave something connected to it.
"The XR300 leverages a purpose-built gaming dashboard powered by DumaOS, critical for an enhanced online gaming experience. With the explosion in popularity of online games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends and PubG, the Nighthawk Pro Gaming Dashboard, used across our entire Nighthawk Pro Gaming line, prioritizes internet speeds for faster online gaming and smoother streaming, minimizing lag with ultra-low ping rates, and giving gamers a fully personalized experience on the customizable dashboard," says NETGEAR.
ALSO READ: NETGEAR announces beautiful Nighthawk AX8 and AX12 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers
NETGEAR shares specifications below.
- AC1750 (450Mbps @2.4GHz + 1300Mbps@5GHz 11ac)†
- Simultaneous Dual Band Wi-Fi—Tx/Rx 3x3 (2.4GHz) + 3x3 (5GHz)
- Memory: 128 MB Flash and 512 MB RAM
- Three (3) external antennas
- Explicit Beamforming for 2.4 & 5GHz bands
- Five (5) 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports - 1 WAN & 4 LAN
- IPv6 Support (Internet Protocol Version 6)
- On/Off LED light switch
- Dimensions: 7.20 x 11.22 x 2.44 in (183 x 285 x 62 mm)
- Weight: 1.58lb (719g)
David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home Products, NETGEAR explains, "With more than 2.3 billion active gamers in the world, online gaming is truly becoming the world’s favorite pastime. As multiplayer online games grow in popularity, it’s known that latency kills. Our award-winning line of Pro Gaming routers, including the XR500 and the XR700, emerged very naturally as a response to the needs of the gaming community, who already favored our Nighthawk routers. The XR300 is the latest addition to our NPG router lineup, and it ensures that every gamer is provided with a competitive edge to dominate their game, on their platform of choice."
NETGEAR shares the following features and benefits.
- Optimized Gaming Performance Dramatically reduces lag by prioritizing online gaming. Use Geo Filtering to control your lag by limiting distance to game servers or other players. Use Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize gaming devices and allocate bandwidth by device. Control the maximum upload and download speeds per device on the network to minimize sudden lag spikes while gaming. Powered by DumaOS gaming software.
- Gaming Dashboard Easily tweak every aspect of your connection to stabilize ping, reduce lag, and even ensure quality local connections. Check on bandwidth-hogging devices and identify the applications which could be causing lag.
- Wired and Wireless Connectivity Four (4) Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for maximized wired speeds ideal for fast-paced gaming and high-quality streaming, plus one (1) WAN port. Super-fast 802.11ac wireless speeds.
- Compatible with Gaming Systems Works with PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, mobile devices, and more.
The NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR300 802.11ac Wi-Fi Router can be had on April 14. Pricing is a reasonable $199.99. While it won't be available until next month, you can pre-order it immediately from Amazon [amazon_textlink asin='B07PGZH7Q4' text='here' template='ProductLink' store='betanews02-20' marketplace='US' link_id='a1fa57f9-bdbb-44c4-ba9f-35958b2f9a78'] now.