Netgear’s new gaming router comes with a pre-paired range extender

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A mesh networking package to deal with dead zones.

(Image credit: Netgear)

In our experience, Netgear makes some of the best gaming routers, but you may still find yourself dealing with dead zones if you live in a large home. Netgear aims to eliminate that with its new Nighthawk Pro Gaming Mesh Wi-Fi System (XRM570).

Despite the fancy nomenclature and new model designation, it's not actually a new product. Instead, it's a bundle of two existing products: Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 router and Nighthawk Mesh EX7700 tri-band Wi-Fi extender.

Unlike buying them separately, however, the mesh extender comes pre-paired with the router. This makes for an easier setup.

"With Nighthawk Mesh Extender rapid set up, simply plug it in and experience whole home seamless Wi-Fi coverage, with one network name," Netgear says. "The tri-band mesh extender enables faster Wi-Fi speeds than traditional extenders by providing a dedicated back channel for high-speed data flow and a Smart Roaming feature which intelligently connects your mobile devices to fast Wi-Fi as you roam around the home with seamless 4K video streaming, web surfing and more."

The dedicated Wi-Fi link is what separates a mesh network from a typical range extender. This allows for an extension of the wireless connectivity without cutting bandwidth in half.

As for the actual router, it's a dual-band AC2600 model that offers speeds of up to 1,733Mbps on the 5GHz band and 800Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It also has four built-in LAN ports for wired connectivity. Our friends at Toms Guide put one through its paces and found it be a "screamer that should endear... to gamers everywhere."

The MSRP on the XRM570 is $399.99, and you can preorder one on Amazon (it releases on June 30). That's around a combined $60 savings over the MSRP of both the router and mesh extender, though both are on sale so the actual savings is closer to around $10. That's not much, but if the combo interest you, it's still a better deal, and it comes pre-paired to boot.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).