Netgear - Ac1200 Dual-band Wifi 5 Router Review
The Netgear AC1200 R6220 is upkeep-friendly dual-band wireless router which aims at catering to the needs of those people that find the latest devices (mostly AC1750+) with all their bells and whistles unnecessary. Sure plenty, the R6220 should exist well suited for the users that live in small apartments and that expect to simply accept a handful of connected devices, but is that the instance any more than? Ever year, a new 'common' device 'smartens upwards' and tin be connected to the WiFi network, and so, without realizing, at that place are more and more devices in our homes that depend on a reliable wireless connexion.
While it'southward truthful that the habitation network has go more enervating, not many WiFi adapters are compatible with the latest technologies, and then, even if the R6220 hasn't adhered to any of the flashy Wave 2 technologies, it should still evangelize a decent wireless operation (and, if the number of clients is big, you lot could always have a look at the Nighthawk series).
The competition is not that high for the entry-level routers and information technology's always nice to see newer devices (such as the pcWRT and the TP-Link Archer C1200) or products that have withstood the test of time, such as the subject of this commodity, the Netgear AC1200 R6220, so let's have a closer look and see if this router still offers enough for today's standards.
Blueprint
The Netgear AC1200 R6220 is not function of the Nighthawk serial (it belongs to the Smart WiFi family unit), and then don't await to see a dynamic, angular case, instead, the router is a chip more conservative, featuring a smaller rectangular plastic body on the top covered past a black glossy finish (that hands retains fingerprints) and with two antennas pointing from the rear side (similarly to the Asus RT-ACRH13 and RT-ACRH17, the antennas can't be removed nor upgraded, but remain omni-directional).
On the front, lateral sides and the bottom, the R6220 is covered by lots of triangle shaped cut-outs (although the front end ones are solely for increasing the aesthetic value of the device, while the others really have the role of keeping the router at a decent temperature). The Netgear R6220 was created as a replacement to the R6200 (which reached EOL) and, while at beginning it may not be obvious since the latter is a device that tin can only exist positioned vertically, these two routers accept a lot of pattern elements in mutual: but remove the stand from the R6200, add ii antennas to one side and you become the AC1200 R6220.
Some manufacturers cheapen out on the design for their entry-level models, simply this doesn't seem to be the example and the Netgear R6220 feels solid and there is no flex when pushing from the acme surface.
Even so, the router is surprisingly calorie-free (0.84 lbs) considering its size (9.43 10 7.14 x 1.59 inches), but, the manufacturer has added 4 small silicone pads on the bottom to keep the device from budging (and they do a relatively decent job when multiple cables are continued). In terms of oestrus management, the Netgear AC1200 R6220 should be able to proceed the temperature as depression as possible because of the multitude of ventilation holes and the increased elevation and, while I was testing the router, it did warm a bit virtually the label on the bottom, merely it was barely noticeable, so no, information technology did non overheat (even if the chipset is not really that efficient as its modern alternatives).
Even if it's not really a new device, the minimalist design of the R6220 and its small antennas should withal allow it to exist positioned pretty much anywhere in the house and, if you're curt on space, Netgear has added a couple of holes on the bottom side to hands mount the device on the wall.
The top side is a simple glossy surface and the only thing that breaks the monotony is the Netgear logo and the array of LED indicators which have the function of showing the status of the organisation and the network: from the left, there's the Power LED (if it's flashing green, then either the software is being upgraded or the device is returning to the default settings), the Internet LED, a single LED indicator for both radio bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz – if it's flashing, then the router is receiving/sending data packages), four LEDs, each for 1 LAN port, a USB LED (flashing dark-green indicates that an external drive was plugged in and is trying to plant a connectedness to the router) and a WPS LED (if information technology flashes for 2 minutes, then the WPS pairing procedure has been initiated).
On the rear side, in betwixt the 2 antennas, rests the WPS push button, the WiFi On/Off button, a USB 2.0 port (yeah, the quondam standard, but that's to exist expected), iv RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, one WAN port (Gigabit), a pocket-sized recessed Reset button (printing and hold the button for at least 7 seconds to return the router to the manufactory default settings), a Power On/Off switch and the DC In Power port.
Hardware
Within the instance, Netgear decided to equip the R6220 with the unmarried-core (dual thread) MediaTek MT7621ST SoC, clocked at 880 MHz, 128 MB of RAM (Nanya NT5CB64M16FP-DH), 128 MB of flash storage (Macronix MXIC T140705 MX30LF1G08AA-TI), a couple of HN4821CG x/100/yard Base of operations-T LAN Transformer Modules and the router also uses the MT7621ST equally the switch flake. Furthermore, the 2.4GHz wireless band uses the MediaTek MT7603EN 1422-BMAL WiFi chip (ii×ii:2, 802.11b/g/n), while the 5GHz band uses the MediaTek MT7612EN 1411-BMAL flake (802.11ac+an ii×2:2).
The Netgear R6220 is advertised as an AC1200-class router, so it features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 867 Mbps on the 5GHz ring, while on the 2.4GHz ring, it features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 300 Mbps (summed to 1,167 and rounded to one,200 Mbps).
Features and Operation
The Netgear AC1200 R6220 is considered an entry-level router, so it hasn't implemented some of the more than popular features that have the potential to enhance the wireless performance (such equally the MU-MIMO technology, eighty+MHz or an boosted radio band – at the same time, one of its competitors, the RT-ACRH13 does come with MU-MIMO), but it does support the WiFi BeamForming engineering science on the 5GHz band (802.11ac), and so the indicate is going to be focused towards the continued clients to ensure a more than stable network and a better throughput (due to less interferences). Furthermore, the R6220 is a dual-band router, then the clients can connect to either of the ii bachelor networks, merely it doesn't seem to have implemented any type of band steering tech, which would have made sure that one band would non get overcrowded.
If you were wondering if in that location is any take a chance that the AC1200 R6220 would work as a node inside a mesh network, well, unfortunately no, Netgear has not made any steps towards developing something similar to the Asus AiMesh, but it does have its own WiFi system called the Netgear Orbi that uses a form of mesh network (even if Netgear wanted to, the MediaTek SoC will have to be changed in order to reliably ensure that the R6220 could interconnect to other Netgear routers).
To test the wired functioning of the Netgear AC1200 R6220, I took a Desktop computer equipped with an Asus PCE-AC88 WiFi adapter (will act as the client), also as a powerful laptop that will function as the server and I continued these two PCs to the router using CAT6 Ethernet cables: from the customer to the server, the router delivered an average of 890 Mbps (TCP) and 867 Mbps (UDP), while from the server to the customer, it delivered an average of 823.5 Mbps (TCP) and 461.2 Mbps (UDP). Afterward, to test the wireless performance, I connected the customer device to the 5GHz network and, from the client to the server, at 5 feet, I measured an average of 497 Mbps, while at 15 feet, merely an average of 385 Mbps; at thirty anxiety, the router delivered effectually 262 Mbps. From the server to the client, I measured an average of 345 Mbps at about 5 feet from the router, while at 15 feet, I got an boilerplate of 334 Mbps; at 30 feet, the speed went down to 137 Mbps.
On the next stride, I continued both computers to the 2.4GHz network and, from the client to the server (at 5 feet), I measured around 80.half-dozen Mbps, while at 15 feet, the speed actually went slightly up to 96.five Mbps; at 30 feet, I measured an average of 73.three Mbps. From the server to the client, I measured an average of 78.9 Mbps and, at 15 feet, the throughput averaged slightly above to 79.3 Mbps; at xxx anxiety, I measured around 55.9 Mbps. Since the Netgear R6220 comes with a USB two.0 port, I had to test the storage operation and, using a Samsung T5 SSD drive (256 GB), I moved a ii.5GB multimedia folder: writing the folder, I measured an average of 22.1 MBps, while reading information technology, delivered an average of 30.4 Mbps (it may not look like much, just it'south quite decent for a USB 2.0 port).
Software
The Netgear Nighthawk series can be configured using either the traditional mode (via the web-based interface) or past using the dedicated Nighthawk app (as I recently saw with the Nighthawk R7000P). Fortunately, the Smart WiFi series can as well be configured using an app, and then, to initiate the Setup Wizard, I decided to install and run the Nighthawk app. For some reason, the app didn't recognise the router, so, to install information technology, I chose the Sign In option near the WiFi SSID (since the Nighthawk app was out of the picture, the router can notwithstanding exist later on managed and monitored using the Genie application, which is uniform with both the iOS and the Android Os). On the start step, I had to permit the Netgear genie UI detect the type of Internet connection that I accept in my abode, insert the ISP username and password (since it was PPPoE), configure the Admin Account Settings (a new password) and, later, await for the Wizard to check for the latest firmware. The process doesn't have many steps, merely is does take more than 5 minutes to end – afterwards, you could log into the Netgear Genie app (information technology supports both Local and Remote access).
The mobile interface has ii chief sections, one is on the bottom, where you have logged in and information technology shows the SSID and countersign of each network, as well as all the connected clients, while towards the top, at that place'south a menu with the most important options. Get-go, there's the WiFi section where y'all can change the SSID, the password, the security blazon and the channel (you can also view the Signal Strength and the Link Charge per unit), then, at that place's the Guest WiFi, where you lot can create two separate Invitee Networks; the Network Map shows a graphical representation of your network, displaying all the connected devices (tap on the proper noun to view detailed info almost the customer) and it allows you to enable the Access Command (this adds the power to break the Internet for any connected device). Next, there's the Parental Controls, which relies on OpenDNS, there's as well the Traffic meter (shows the total and the boilerplate transferred data), MyMedia (shows both customer Sources and any Speakers continued to the network) and ReadySHARE.
Other options that are worth mentioning are the Turbo Transfer (useful for receiving and sending files in the local network), Remote Admission and the ability to Reboot the router or to Annals the Production. Switching to the web-based interface (accessible by going to 192.168.1.ane – the default IP address) shows the same layout that we got accustomed with, which divides the settings into Basic and Advanced. The Bones section includes the Home tab (various network and router stats displayed into half-dozen mini-windows), the ability to gear up the Internet connection or to change the Wireless settings (for either of the two bands), view all the Fastened Devices (and enable the Access Control, a feature that tin can block the access to the Internet for specific devices), the Parental Command (different the app, I was surprised to see that the browser sent me to the Circumvolve with Disney page – similarly to how the R7000P worked, but apparently non as perfectly integrated), ReadySHARE (for connected external storage devices) and the Invitee Network.
The Advanced section includes the ADVANCED Abode (more than stats than the Basic Home), the Setup Wizard and the WPS Wizard. There's also the Setup grouping (allows you to set up the Internet, the Wireless, the Guest Network, the WAN (includes MTU Size, NAT Filtering and VPN Passthrough – IPSec, PPTP and L2TP), the LAN and the QoS (includes WMM, the power to set a maximum uplink bandwidth, to create QoS rules and fix QoS by Device)), the USB Storage, the Security (includes the Access Control, the Block Sites and Cake Services filters), the Administration (includes the Logs, the Backup Settings, the NTP Settings and the Firmware Update) and the Advanced Setup (offers more than in-depth Wireless Settings, the power to run the device in Admission Point Style or Wireless Repeater Way, it also includes the port Forwarding/Port Triggering characteristic, Dynamic DNS, VPN Service, Static Routes, UPnP, IPv6 and VLAN/IPTV Setup).
Overall, I felt that the web-based interface is dull, the router takes its time to load whatsoever new windows, it takes its time connecting to the Cyberspace if you removed the cable and it takes a while to utilize settings and restart, so you demand a lot of patience. But what I did like about the software is that it'southward notwithstanding existence kept up to date even in 2019 (the latest update has been released in February).
Conclusion
Without a doubt, the Netgear AC1200 R6220 is an entry-level wireless router, but it'southward still a surprisingly decent device particularly if you need to connect multiple uniform devices to the 5GHz network (and I noticed that more and more devices take distanced themselves from the older 802.11n standard). Certain, it lacks all those fancy WiFi enhancing features, but, every bit I said in the introduction, information technology will suffice for a pocket-size home. At the same fourth dimension, it does have one annoying shortcoming: the web-based interface. It's characteristic-rich, it offers everything you lot would want from a router (especially considering the price tag), but information technology'due south so slow and information technology takes ages to modify and employ any settings. At the same time, if you're non bothered by that and desire a decent upkeep wireless router, it'due south definitely worth checking out the Netgear R6220.
Check the product here:
Netgear AC1200 R6220
Pros
- Nice Design
- Skillful Wireless Performance on the 5GHz Band
- Tin can Be Monitored Using A Mobile APP And The Web-Based UI
- Has A Skilful Heat Direction
- Lots Of Features
Cons
- The Web-Based UI Is Wearisome
- Just 1 USB two.0 Port
- The Antennas Cannot Be Removed
Mark is a graduate in Reckoner Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT every bit a programmer. Mark is likewise the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, only also other cool electronic gadgets that you may detect useful for your every twenty-four hour period life.
Source: https://www.mbreviews.com/netgear-ac1200-review-r6220/