Customers are pleased with the Nighthawk AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Router's ease of use, range, and performance, citing positive experiences with setup and strong signal strength. Many appreciate the improved coverage and speed, although some experienced connection issues. A few users found the app inconsistent and noted that the price point is high. Concerns were also raised regarding the additional cost for parental controls.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 761 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Range, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Works great over 300 mbps
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Getting top speeds of 357 down on 300 meg service. I have a netgear cm1000 cable modem and have ax5400 hardwired. At first i was not getting my speeds about 160 mbps. Went to the advanced setting by using a browsers by entering 192.168.1.1 when to advance, advanced setup,then ipv6 put on auto detect mine selected 6to4 tunnel. And started getting my speeds 302 to 355 within 7 to 25 ft. I did lower the power of the wifi transmit power control to 50% since i live in a 800 sqft home.. Bigger place ill leave at 100%
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Ease of use, Range, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Fast Router with Incredible Range
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This router is a great WiFi6 router for small-to-mid sized homes (the box actually says 3 bedrooms) and it supports up to 4 wired devices (with 4 LAN and 1 WAN) 10/100/1000 Mbps gigabit ethernet ports. The device is perfectly fit to manage up to 25 devices and provide them with incredible speeds. When I initially opened this router, I couldn’t help but notice that it was packaged nice and had each antenna individually wrapped. This router has 4 adjustable antennas (2 side and 2 rear) and they have to be placed in the appropriate spot when attaching to the router. Netgear makes it a point to label these in numerous places to ensure you don’t get them mixed up. After you unpack it and plug it in, there are a few steps you need to take to get your router up and running.
When you go to setup the router, Netgear recommends you use the Nighthawk app but if you are “old-school”, you can use routerlogin.net or the 192.168.1.1 IP address to hit the administration screen of the router. Normally, I would go to the “old-school” route but wanted to give the Nighthawk app a try. Setting up the router was surprisingly easy with the Nighthawk app. It contains a QR scanner and you just us it to scan the QR code on the front of the router. From there, the app walks you through the rest. Despite the Nighthawk app being easy to use, I found myself reverting back to the “old-school” administrative screens to validate/confirm some of the router’s configuration from my laptop (vs. my smart phone).
Note – there was a firmware update right out of the gate, so you may want to give yourself a few extra minutes when setting the router up if you plan to use the latest firmware. The nice thing is that the router pops up with a question asking you if you want to upgrade the firmware immediately and Netgear provides you with the release notes so you know what’s in it.
The router has some of the more common features found in most routers like various security options, channel designation, SSID broadcast enabling and guest networks but it also has some features that aren’t found within all routers. For example, the router has a “Smart Connect” feature which lets the router intelligently select the best band for your WiFi connection (2.4 GHz or 5GHz). This router also supports AX features such as OFDMA and they can be enabled/disabled from the administration screen. It has implicit beamforming technology which is supposed to boost WiFi speed, reliability and range for mobile devices – a nice plus when most devices these days are wireless. The router has a plethora of options and settings to configure if you are comfortable in doing so but they have made it extremely easy to setup in the event you are novice just needing blazing fast internet from a solid router.
If you are comfortable making the changes to the router’s configuration, the administration screen has it all. From a security perspective, you can restrict (or allow) certain devices to join the network and block websites from being visited and services from being run. You can also setup a schedule for when users can access the internet through the device, if desired. If you want to use this device as an access point, you can, and opening up ports and static routes are a breeze. You can even enable remote management and VPN service, if you need to.
Additionally, the administration screen lets you observe the status of the router and network traffic at any time. Check in on the router’s status and see the devices that are attached to your network. You can even look at the logs, in the event you want to see who is doing what on your network.
In terms of performance, this thing is blazing fast. If you are needing a router that will keep your speeds quick, the new WiFi 6 routers can help you accomplish this objective. In addition to being fast, I was blown away at how far the range is on this router. I was able to walk to the opposite side of my house and even into my back yard and I still was able to stay connected to the router. Really impressed.
The router comes with 1 year free of Armor, which is Netgear’s advanced cyber threat protection. It is powered by Bitdefender, which is a notable brand in cyber security. With all of the security threats these days, it is nice to have some extra piece of mind. The security features within Armor are pretty nice and it lets you know how secure your network is by giving it a rating. Additionally, it indicates if you have any vulnerabilities and if any threats were blocked. It even provides you with recommendations on how to improve the security of your network even further. The 1 year free that comes with this router is a nice touch.
I participate in Netgear’s First Look and Review Program where the send me their newest devices in return for an honest and unbiased review on its usability and performance. The information helps Netgear bring their products to market and continuously improve them for their users. All in all, I would say that this is a great router that delivers fast speeds at incredible distances. It possesses all of the advanced features that expert network buffs will seek but is designed to be implemented and setup by even the most novice users. Throw in the 1 year of Armor protection and you have a great value at its current price point. I would recommend this router to friends and family who have a medium sized home or smaller.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome Router
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Wow! That was my reaction when I saw the download speed from this router. I used a 100ft wifi cable to run my connection from my main router to the Netgear router in another room and it still delivers extremely high internet speeds through land line and through wifi signal to my cellphone. This router has an app where you can completely control your router. You can check speeds, turn off/on, and even control who can and can't use your routers internet. This Netgear router is worth every cent.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great router for online gaming and work from home.
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I had an old router that was on its last legs and I finally decided it was time to upgrade. I read a long list of reviews before I finally landed on the AX5400 and it has not disappointed. My online gaming is flawless. My connection while working from home has not dropped once since upgrading. The cherry on top is the fact that my lady and the kids who are in in a different part of our home when I am working can finally get a descent connection for their electronics without slowing down my connection when I am working. I would absolutely urge anyone who has multiple devices in their home to pick one up. Furthermore, the WIFI 6 on my compatible devices is unrealistically fast when streaming HD videos. Two thumbs way up!
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Ease of use, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great product
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great product! Easy set up and great speed. No hiccups in connection.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Router!
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Once I got the router set up which took me a little bit of time since I am not a tech savvy person the router has great speed and connection. Worth the money. Wish I could have set it up quicker but I figured it out. Highly recommend it! You won't be disappointed. My whole house is like a hotspot and has extremely fast service even outside on my porch and patio.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great router
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This router works great with my gig internet , fi tv and all my app’s on my tv. Great speed on multiple devices at the same time.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
So far seems pretty nice.
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Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
There's a lot of bells and whistles on this thing. I've been stress testing it and it seems pretty tough. Replaced all the old cables in my house so I'm 10g ready. Just waiting for Starlink now so I can plug in some real power to it.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great upgrade
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
A great upgrade to my old netgear router very happy with the speed of it
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Very happy with the router and it's working awesome
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Performance
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Best ever
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This router is incredible works hands down amazing
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
NETGEAR NIGHTHAWK 6-STREAM AX5400 RAX50 ROUTER
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is a good router for a two or three bedroom home. I was not able to use my iPhone to set up the router. I had to do it old school in order to use it with my network. The AX feature was of no use to me. It still works good with my network although I do get some times when I have to wait for a show to load on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
I would recommend this to a friend
Brand response from Netgear Support
Posted .
Hi NIGHTHAWK,
Thank you for your review. We understand that you have been having a difficult time with the setup of your router and we would like to look into some of the support opportunities that we have available. Your product comes with a one-year warranty and 90 days of complimentary tech support. If you need further assistance, please email us at [email protected]
Thank you.
Pros mentioned:
Range, Setup, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Solid Route, great speed!
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Posted . Owned for 1.5 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Bottom line first: I would say that this is a great router that delivers fast speeds at incredible distances. It possesses all of the advanced features that expert will seek but is designed to be implemented and setup by even the most novice users. Throw in the 1 year of Armor protection and you have a great value at its current price point. I would recommend this router to friends and family who have a medium sized home or smaller.
Details:
This router is a great WiFi6 router for small-to-mid sized homes (the box actually says 3 bedrooms) and it supports up to 4 wired devices (with 4 LAN and 1 WAN) 10/100/1000 Mbps gigabit ethernet ports. The device can manage up to 25 devices and provide them with incredible speeds. When I initially opened this router, I couldn’t help but notice that it was well packaged and had each antenna individually wrapped. This router has 4 adjustable antennas (2 side and 2 rear) and they are marked for the appropriate spot when attaching to the router. Netgear makes it a point to label these in numerous places to ensure you don’t get them mixed up. After you unpack it and plug it in, there are a few steps you need to take to get your router up and running.
When you go to setup the router, Netgear recommends the Nighthawk app but if you are “old-school”, you can use routerlogin.net or the 192.168.1.1 IP address to access the administration screen of the router. However, setting up the router was surprisingly easy with the Nighthawk app. It contains a QR scanner and you just us it to scan the QR code on the front of the router. From there, the app walks you through the rest. Despite the Nighthawk app being easy to use, I found myself reverting back to the “old-school” administrative screens to validate/confirm some of the router’s configuration from my laptop.
There was a firmware update right from the first power-up, so you may want to give yourself a few extra minutes when setting the router up if you plan to use the latest firmware. The nice thing is that the router pops up with a question asking you if you want to upgrade the firmware immediately and Netgear provides you with the release notes so you know what’s in it.
The router has some of the more common features found in most routers like various security options, channel designation, SSID broadcast enabling and guest networks but it also has some features that aren’t found within all routers. For example, the router has a “Smart Connect” feature which lets the router intelligently select the best band for your WiFi connection (2.4 GHz or 5GHz). This router also supports AX features such as OFDMA and they can be enabled/disabled from the administration screen. It has implicit beamforming technology which is supposed to boost WiFi speed, reliability and range for mobile devices. The router has a multitude of options and settings to configure if you are comfortable in doing so but they have made it extremely easy to setup in the event you are novice just needing fast internet from a solid router.
If you are comfortable making the changes to the router’s configuration, the administration screen has it all. From a security perspective, you can restrict (or allow) certain devices to join the network and block websites from being visited and services from being run. You can also setup a schedule for when users can access the internet through the device, if desired. If you want to use this device as an access point, you can, and opening up ports and static routes are a breeze. You can even enable remote management and VPN service, if you need to.
Additionally, the administration screen lets you observe the status of the router and network traffic at any time. Check in on the router’s status and see the devices that are attached to your network. You can even look at the logs, in the event you want to see who is doing what on your network.
In terms of performance, this thing is blazing fast. If you are needing a router that will keep your speeds quick, the WiFi 6 routers can help you accomplish this objective. In addition to being fast, I was blown away at how far the range is on this router. I was able to walk to the opposite side of my house and even into my back yard and great for getting my garage door opener and laundry setup in the garage connected. Impressed.
The router comes with 1 year free of Armor, which is Netgear’s advanced cyber threat protection. It is powered by Bitdefender, which is a notable brand in cyber security. With all of the security threats these days, it is nice to have some extra piece of mind. The security features within Armor are nice and it lets you know how secure your network is by giving it a rating. Additionally, it indicates if you have any vulnerabilities and if any threats were blocked. It even provides you with recommendations on how to improve the security of your network even further. The 1 year free that comes with this router is a nice touch, altho after it expired I went to a Bitdefender security suite for the multiple device capability.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Ease of use, Performance, Range
Cons mentioned:
Lag
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Router
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I love this router. I love the interface and ease of use. I love the extra layer security for the devices. This thing churns out power. I haven’t experienced any interruptions when working from home. It’s got the range for two story houses. I have seen a difference with the WiFi 6 built into it and when I game at night I don’t experience the lags that I used to before. This router is worth the money.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Setup, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Faster than my Orbi & Signal Coverage is great!
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I was selected to test this product by Netgear. My previous setup was a Netgear Orbi Mesh solution with the router and 1 satellite. As far as speed goes, the Nighthawk AX5400 outperformed the Orbi on all wireless traffic.
When conducting a speedtest on a 802.11n wireless card, at ~50 feet away I was able to get 94 Mbps download speeds on the Nighthawk, but only 45 Mbps on the Orbi with the same device at the same distance.
When I went out to my backyard and into my work shed, which is ~100 feet from the router and passes through multiple insulated walls, the signal strength from the Nighthawk was not quite as strong as the connection to the satellite Orbi was, but I could still download at 30Mbps. The satellite Orbi connection allowed me to download at 45 MBps. (This was on an 802.11n card, not 802.11ac or 802.11ax)
When I was about 10 feet away from the Nighthawk router, I was able to download at 208 Mbps - my subscribed internet speed is 200Mbps, and this was on the 802.11n card. That's great speed. This is the fastest router I've ever used.
From a setup point it was really simple - you can use the NETGEAR app or just plug your PC/laptop into the router directly and go from there.
It has great QoS options to prioritize gaming/streaming devices - I'm just blown away that this has almost the same signal coverage as 2 Orbi mesh devices.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Router Still Going Strong
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great Wifi 6 Router Still Running Strong, It's updated regularly and has any features you could possibly want for a house hold router
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Range
Cons mentioned:
App, Price
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
So far so good after 2nd try, nighthawk app, not
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Purchased to replace an old netgear r6300. 1st unit purchased on Oct 3rd, never worked correctly, wasn't able to reliably connect to the internet and or communicate with ISP DNSs. Returned and replaced with same unit and installed today. I bought because it's supposed to be excellent for streaming video We shall see how it does there now that I have a functioning unit. Interested to see if the QoS settings have any impact on streaming video quality. Best buy was very cooperative about replacement and discussing problem with original unit and likelihood of occurring in replacement. So far so good. New system works good. Which the original never did. I'm marking it down on quality because of defective 1st unit. It is also on the pricey side. I may change my mind on the value once I see how it performs streaming 4K video. User interface isn't much different than r6300 so it was easy for me to figure out how to use. The netgear nighthawk app isn't worth bothering with. Much easier to use the web interface, Others who aren't familiar with the web interface may disagree. The app also kept complaining about connectivity and inability to check firmware. Even though phone had a good connection and the firmware was updated already via web interface. I would say the app isn't ready for prime time and isn't worth bothering with. I marked recommended, but that's tentative, have to wait and see how unit performs under a heavy load.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Setup
Cons mentioned:
Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Real easy to setup.
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Upgraded to this router from my aging R7000. Web pages and videos were starting to load sluggish. I knew I needed to start looking. Came across this new Nighthawk AX5400. I liked the look of it, I liked that it was WiFi 6. It was VERY easy to setup. BE WARNED, you will need a bit of time to set it up. It will update itself out of the box. You will have to download a smartphone app to get into the router. The instructions are clear and easy.
Afterwards of setting it up you can look at what devices are on your network. They will be named crazy names. Just go to each device, look up it's MAC and IP and match it in the app to the crazy named device. Then edit the name of the device on the app, you can even edit the icon of the device.
Combine the 2.4GHz and 5GHz name in the app. Your device will automatically switch to what is best for it at the time. ( you can keep the names separate if you wish )
The price of this router IMO is way over the top. If you can catch it on a sale then go for it. Other than that, I just feel It's overpriced. Should be 100 beans knocked off the total.
I did buy this from a local BestBuy near me.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Range
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent range and performance and very smart
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I was a beta tester and know of all of its features now. The range is excellent and the signal quality is excellent in any corner of my home. It has also 5G WiFi which is way faster but not all of my IoT devices are compatible with it. However, the regular 2.4 Ghz WiFi is excellent too and I can use it even from afar in my backyard. The latest firmware update is stable and I didn't experience any bugs and signal loss. I also use it with Armor that comes with Bitdefender (yet subscription is necessary). It has a user friendly mobile app too with which I can control the router and change settings. What I like best though is how it smartly manages my internet connection and how it prioritizes media streams so I don't have to suffer from buffering. In the back is also a USB port so you can attach a USB drive/storage and share it with all who are connected to the router's WiFi. It has many advanced settings which should be a delight for power users.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Setup, Speed
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Streaming with Fios at 1080p 60 FPS
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Once you get through the fear Verizon applies so you can pay them $15 a month to rent their mediocre router and actually purchase and install this, you will never look back! Coverage map for the wifi in my home is Incredible, no drop outs from internet, setup is extremely easy and the nighthawk app is the best for network maintenance. I continue to stream DJ sets and game as well, all at 1080P 60FPS. Downloading music and video with no hiccups or lags is a breeze. You can completely take advantage of the fios speeds with this router and never lose a beat! All the research completed paid off when buying this router, I will not be going back to “renting” another cable router ever again!