If you live in a connected home with multiple wireless clients competing for bandwidth, it might be time to consider a Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) router , such as the Netgear Nighthawk X4S Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7800), which lists for $269.99.

Good port selection; Lots of management settings; Solid 5GHz and Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) throughput in testing

Pricey; Middling file-transfer speeds in our tests

Netgear's Nighthawk X4S blankets even large houses with blazing-fast Wi-Fi.

2.53Gbps of wireless bandwidth; Two USB 3.0 ports; and an eSATA port; MU-MIMO directs signal directly at your devices

Confusing software interface; Divisive design

The Netgear Nighthawk X4S is a super-fast, high-end router. Available in two versions, the R7800 is a router only while the D7800 includes a modem, which means you can get rid of all the kit ISPs deliver – unless you're on fibre broadband.

High-speed 5GHz rates; Can plug into multiple HDDs; Good 5GHz range

Some long-range 2.4GHz reliability issues; Expensive

Kitguru Says: The Netgear Nighthawk X4S D7800 is far from perfect. The software pales in comparison to some competitors' efforts, and the USB performance could be better. But in its favour, we got some really good results over both standard 3×3 and quad-stream 4×4 802.11ac, particularly at long...

Excellent 3×3 802.11ac wireless performance; Good network performance over all wireless channels at short and medium range; Full of useful hardware features

Uninspiring software interface; USB performance misses the mark

Nowadays everything from smartphones, tablets and computers (both desktop and laptops) to TV screens, media players, security/alarm systems, lighting and home appliances (even small ones like coffee makers) can be connected wirelessly to your local network and although i was never (and probably...

- Very Good Build Quality; - Design; - Wireless Performance (Fastest Modem/Router In Our Charts; - AC2600 (Concurrent 802.11n & 802.11ac Bands; - User Friendly Web Interface; - Features; - Technologies Used (Beamforming / MU-MIMO / TurboQAM; - Windows; MAC; Android & iOS App; - 4 Auto-Sensing...

- Price (USA

Very nice router. Works perfectly once I was able to set it up in a certain mode that I needed to have it in.

Great signal strength

Wished Crutchfield knowledge staff would of been more knowledgeable when I needed help setting it up; They referred me to the manufacturer; Finally I was able to figure it out myself

The is a very strong package, let down only by its slow 2.4GHz performance and antiquated admin software. Still, it has the goods where it really counts, as it was the fastest 5GHz router I tested and also the fastest for file transfers, which is what the majority of people would use it for.

The Netgear Nighthawk X4S Smart WiFi Gaming Router is a solid choice for users who need to connect dozens of smart devices to their home network and need to ga

Netgear's X4S is as far ahead of the curve as a router can get at this point. With 160MHz technology being the next full step ahead for large performance increases, this router is ready to handle whatever you throw at it.

The R7800 pushes aside TP-LINK's Archer C2600 to take the #1 rank of 5 tested AC2600 class routers. The TP-LINK now is tied in second place with Linksys' EA8500 . The Ranker Performance Summary below shows the R7800's weakest spot is 5 GHz uplink range, where is ranks #3.