XR500 VS XR700

[soccerjean17]

I wanna know the difference between these two, because I don't know if I should keep the XR500 or sell it so could get the XR700. I purchased my XR500 about two months ago now you guys have another version coming out.

[PharmDawgg]

Think of it like this you are not getting anything else new from the DumaOS side. The only differences will be from the Netgear side.  To simplify it a little basically it is the X-10 (R9000) with Duma OS running only it.  So unless you need the more powerful router at a premium price. You are not getting anything else new.  So weigh the pros vs cons and decide from there.  I hope i did not miss anything.

[Netduma Admin]

Hi Jean - as PharmDawgg said, from a DumaOS side, everything will be the same. It's not like a new console release, both the XR500 and XR700 will have the same feature set and level of support.

The difference comes down to hardware. Both are very powerful routers, so you will get great WiFi range and speed no matter which one you choose. The XR700 just has even beefier hardware as well as a Plex Media Server running on it.

 

[mproper]

I was also a little shocked to see Netgear has already trumped the XR500 with a new model.  Having said that, since the  XR500 will continue to be supported on the software side as I'm reading here I'm still feeling very good about my XR500 purchase.  The DumaOS is 100% of the reason I purchased the XR500.  I don't need any of the extra features the XR700 offers and it's going to be over twice what I paid for my XR500.

$500 is really getting up there for a router... even with the beefier specs and features...  I got my XR500 on sale at Microcenter for $220 

[Guest Killhippie]

If you need a plex server the X700 is great, but game wise it cant make your gaming faster, games use so little bandwidth. Also 802ad is pretty dead in the water. The  X700 (R9000 without the gaming a makeover) is a big powerful router, but as pointed out it wont change the DumaOS feature set, also my XR500 pushes 4K Dolby Vision  via Netflix around along with Amazon Prime with ease over wifi or Ethernet, along all of my connected gear and of course DumaOS's great gaming features. The XR700 is for those that need 10G connections and a Plex server as I mentioned,  for most users it will be overkill, but for those really will use those features it will be a good buy, for 99% of gamers the XR500 is just fine. 

[Dementedpenguin]

Does the x700 have a longer range that the x500? 

 

[Netduma Fraser]

15 minutes ago, Dementedpenguin said:

Does the x700 have a longer range that the x500? 

Hey, welcome to the forum!

Yes it does, has much stronger/further WiFi range.

[Guest Killhippie]

19 hours ago, Dementedpenguin said:

Does the x700 have a longer range that the x500? 

 

Not buy much and TX wise all routers are at thier limit, the so called active antenna don't do that much and you cant transmit any more powerfully than a XR500 or a XR300 as their are legal limits that all powerful Netgear routers tend to reach they just add things like 'active antennas as part of the price justification. If the small gains are worth the price go ahead. I would say you wont really notice that much tbh. (R7800  compared with the R9000 (XR500 vs XR700) nothing has changed hardware wise apart from the XR500 gained a as yet unused extra 128MB flash NAND to bring it to 256MB vs the R7800's 128MB. Below are some tables showing wireless performance for the R9000 (XR700) and the R7800 (XR500) and a complete review of the R9000. Nothing has been done to the XR700 to make the Wi-Fi better than the R9000 its just in a new shell with a new paint job, and is still  buggy for its price as was the R9000 which is no surprise as they are identical hardware as I mentioned.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33046-netgear-r9000-nighthawk-x10-smart-wifi-router-reviewed