A QUICK GLANCE

The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router is the next wave in WiFi. Tri-Band WiFi and Quad Stream performance boosts X8's combined wireless speeds to up to 5.3Gbps. Four external Active Antennas plus four internal antennas amplify WiFi range. Six gigabit Ethernet ports means even more wired devices can connect and with port aggregation 2 ports can combine to double maximum wired speeds. Nighthawk X8 is the next wave in WiFi.

Nighthawk X8

Blazing speed, broadened range and best-in-class technology features make the Nighthawk X8 the ultimate in WiFi. Learn more in this product tour.

Legit Reviews Editor's Choice

The R8500 is as close to a complete package as you can get. Its speed, looks, and general capabilities will enhance any home or office network.

-Get fastest speeds available up to 5.3Gbps

-Tri-band WiFi delivers more WiFi to more devices

-Quad Stream delivers up to four data streams per WiFi band

-4 active antennas and 4 internal antennas amplify and maximize range

-6 Gigabit Ethernet ports—aggregate two ports for faster file transfers

-Smart Connect intelligently selects the fastest WiFi band for every device

-MU-MIMO capable for simultaneous streaming of data to multiple devices

-Dynamic QoS prioritizes bandwidth by application and device

-ReadyCLOUD® USB Access — Secure personal access to USB storage from anywhere

Fastest Tri-Band WiFi Router

The Nighthawk X8 AC5300 Smart WiFi Router with breakthrough Tri-Band WiFi technology delivers a massive combined wireless speed of up to 5.3Gbps. X8 uses Smart Connect to optimize WiFi performance by intelligently assigning every device to the fastest WiFi band possible and doing so allows devices to connect at their maximum speed. Load Balancing distributes WiFi devices ensuring usage of both the 5GHz WiFi bands. Even if everyone and everything in the home that’s connected to the Internet is streaming, gaming, working, playing, socializing or updating at the same time, the X8 won’t miss a beat—you’ll enjoy seamless clarity and zero lag.

Dynamic Quality of Service

If you like gaming and streaming videos, then you'll benefit from Dynamic Quality of Service (QoS). Dynamic QoS resolves Internet traffic congestion when you have competing Internet demands at home. Dynamic QoS identifies your online activities by application and device, and then utilizes bandwidth allocation, and traffic prioritization techniques, to automatically allocate more bandwidth to latency sensitive applications like online gaming and video streaming, while ensuring that lower priority applications continue to work.

Industry's First Active Antennas

Each new generation of routers grows more powerful than the last, delivering stronger WiFi signals with greater range. At the same time, the WiFi signals on mobile devices are not getting more powerful. This difference in WiFi performance reduces overall WiFi range and speed. 

To meet this challenge, NETGEAR developed the industry’s first Active Antennas technology. NETGEAR moved the WiFi amplifiers from their usual location, on the router’s motherboard, to the top of the antennas. These Active Antennas help improve WiFi performance by amplifying signal in the antenna itself. This allows the router to receive cleaner and stronger signals from your mobile devices, avoiding signal degradation between the antennas and motherboard.

Connect More

Six Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports allows you to connect even more wired devices. Two of six Gigabit Ethernet ports can be aggregated to double the connection speed to a Network Attached Storage device for 4K HD streaming or fast backups of multiple WiFi devices simultaneously.

Powerful Dual Core 1.4GHz Router Processor

Basic WiFi routers use simple single core processors to connect WiFi devices to the Internet. 

Nighthawk X8 delivers Tri-band WiFi, quad-stream performance on each band, Multi-User MIMO capable, has 6 Gigabit LAN ports with Port Aggregation, and dual USB interfaces to connect external USB storage. Using a single core processor would cause severe performance issues as various processes compete for CPU power. 

That's why the X8 utilizes a powerful 1.4GHz dual-core processor to separate processes and prioritize high performance WiFi connections to get maximum combined WiFi speeds of up to 5.3Gbps.

Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO)

Using Multi-User MIMO technology, NETGEAR routers can stream data to multiple devices simultaneously. With MU-MIMO, your WiFi network can deliver faster throughput to every MU-MIMO connected device. That means faster downloads and smoother streaming for your devices.

Simple and Secure Cloud Storage via USB

Access and share your files stored on a USB Drive through NETGEAR ReadyCLOUD® USB Access. Simply plug your USB hard drive into your NETGEAR® Nighthawk™ X8 Smart WiFi Router to create secure personal cloud storage. Enjoy the convenience and accessibility of Google Drive™ and Dropbox® without the fees, storage limitations, or privacy concerns. Using the ReadyCLOUD mobile app or web portal, you’ll now have anytime, anywhere access to your USB drive at home… it’s that easy!

Speed

Get the fastest combined WiFi currently available and enjoy a blazing-fast, lag-free WiFi experience for gaming, video streaming or surfing - up to 5.3Gbps.

WiFi Range

Got range? Homes come in all shapes and sizes and Nighthawk X8 Smart WiFi Router's 4 external and 4 internal antennas provide WiFi coverage no matter where you connect in your home.

Reliability

There’s nothing more frustrating than lost connections! With NETGEAR’s advanced features and best-in-class technology, you’ll reduce interference and enjoy more reliable WiFi connectivity.

Sharing

Sharing across your network is fun and easy. Anything from accessing stored photos and music to sharing a USB printer and keep everything safe by using the included FREE ReadySHARE Vault software for backing up Windows-based PCs.

Ease of Use

Start enjoying your new device faster than ever. NETGEAR wants to make sure installation and management is simple and easy, so you can connect quickly and make sure you stay that way!

Security

Maintain high security across your network to help ensure your privacy & family is safe while online. Whether it’s preventing phishing or just limiting access for kids & guests, NETGEAR has you covered.