NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi 7 Router (BE17000) – Security Features, 17 Gbps Wireless Speed, 10 Gig Internet Port, Tri-Band Gaming Router, Covers 3,300 sq. ft., 150 Devices, Built-in VPN, USB 3.0

Super easy to setup. Box made with recycling in mind. Performance has been great.

I bought this router through the Amazon used program to save some $$. It came in good packaging with all the original included accessories. There were no blemishes and it was like new. I did have an issue with setting it up where the previous owner had changed the admin password and it wouldn’t let me configure it until I called Netgear support. They were able to reset it after I sent them an email with the serial number and proof of purchase. Once I set it up, it was blazing fast and worked great. It has excellent range and worked for all 30 of my WIFI and ethernet devices. If you are willing to deal with some potential extra steps, this is a good way to save some cash. I am a very tech savvy individual so I don’t have issues with things going a little sideways once in a while. Overall, I’m very happy with the router, Netgear tech support, and product.

Title: Awesome Router Description: The BE17000 Router substantially increased the network/internet speed on my home network. The setup was very easy, and I had the router up and running in less than 15 minutes.

This router is awesome, it has a 17gb internet connection with one 10gb Lan and 3 1gb Lan connections. The configuriation is simple and straight forward. The Wifi range meets expectations and actaully impressed since our home has several walls. For me, this was the perfect upgrade and I no longer have to deal with a a slow mesh network.

TL;DR - Frustrating setup process, contrary to the promised "fast and easy" configuration. Range actually seemed worse than my current Netgear router, which is 7 years old. Very unreliable connectivity. Speed was great, when it worked, but that's the rub. Devices would randomly be kicked off the network and we frequently had to power cycle the modem and router to restore the main carrier signal to get back online. None of this is good for any router, but it's unacceptable at this price point. Extremely disappointed with this product, which resulted in it being returned. Specifically, this review is for the 17Gbps, 10G Port model, which you know, happens to be the top of the line, most expensive offering. Also, for general knowledge, I attempted to use this device with Xfinity high-speed cable service. Disclaimer: I am not an engineer (lot of folks claiming that these days...IYKYK). I am also not a network admin, SYSOP, BBS, modem-dodem, ICQ, wonder-guru tech guy. That said, I'm not a total dunce with computers. I've built my own rigs for over a decade and have configured home WiFi networks for myself, friends and family, so I at least know the basics of what I'm doing. Also, I am normally a fan of Netgear products. I am currently using an older Nighthawk router, one which I went back to using after returning this POS, one which is still running more reliably then this newer, supposed marvel of technology. Okay, let's get into it. The coolest thing about this device is probably the box and packaging. They really upsell you with the presentation. It's a good thing, too, because those are the only positive feelings I have left from this item, so it was kind of them to trick me right out of the gate. Basic setup is, well, basic. You plug it in to an outlet and connect it to your modem. However, when it comes to setting up the WiFi network itself, they make you download an app. Okay, whatever, this is nothing new since literally everything has an app these days. They claim it is "easy and effortless setup." The setup, was in fact, neither easy, nor effortless. After the app was installed, I had to repeatedly go through the basic setup of connecting to my ISP because it kept failing. And this wasn't a "once or twice" type failure, it easily happened over a half-dozen times before it finally established a connection. Then came the actual network configuration, where you use the preestablished one they provide you, but then change to your own name and login credentials. This was a repeat of the process failing out midway and then having to start all over. This whole "easy setup" easily took over an hour, so yeah, I know that all I was doing was clicking buttons on the app, but it was still frustrating. Finally, finally everything seemed to be getting ironed out and the network was established. Okay, great, let's start connecting our myriad devices. Surprisingly, this was rather painless. Phones, tablets, PCs, security cameras, TVs, everything seemed to be connecting. I resigned myself to the whole configuration process having just been teething pains, and thought the worst was behind me. How wrong I was. The first 24 hours of usage were...fine...for the most part. One thing I noticed though was that despite speed tests showing good numbers, the perimeter security cameras were all showing lower signal strength than normal and seemed to be taking longer to access the live feeds. That's...curious...especially considering how strong a signal they had with the old router. This new one is supposed to have nearly twice the coverage range, right? Surely, the manufacturer wouldn't lie, right? We got about another day of relatively reliable usage and then the problems really started. Devices kept getting dropped off the network and we were prompted to re-enter the password. The cell phones and televisions would show connected but would have "no internet access." Then we started noticing sluggish performance on the work computers, with frequent drop-offs in connectivity. It got to the point where almost daily, and sometimes even multiple times per day, we had to power cycle the modem and router to get things up and running again. Based on the strange disconnection issues of the various devices, I feel like there had to be something weird going on with the tri-bands and that the 2.4 and the 5 and 6 weren't playing nicely. I certainly did not diagnose this, but it's just a hunch. I was not going to bother dealing with tech support. I really don't have time for that, especially not when I had a perfectly functioning, older router just sitting there that I could plug back in. And plug it back in I did. The older Nighthawk powered back up with the old network still in place and all the bad thoughts went away. Perfectly reliable connectivity was restored at only marginally slower speeds. Oh, and the cameras around the property all had their stronger signals back. Funny how that works. I really wanted to like this product because the promise of faster speeds and greater range was, well, promising. Alas, it was not to be, and so, with a tear in my eye, I packed it up and started the return process. Maybe I got a dud, but when you consider that this is their top model, that's not really excusable in my book. As I mentioned earlier, I've used Netgear products for years (and still do, technically), but I will be looking elsewhere for a router upgrade because I'm simply not willing to roll the dice on another one after this experience.