Netgear Nighthawk X8 router with active antennas

The Netgear Nighthawk X8 Wi-Fi router was also in attendance along with the new Arlo Q security cameras at the event on Tuesday.

The X8 is the latest and greatest in Netgear’s line of rather splendid Wi-Fi routers and it promises to deliver blisteringly fast speeds as well as clever automatic connectivity management.

First and foremost on the list of features is its ability to offer Wi-Fi speeds of up to 5.3 Gbps, which makes it a very powerful device especially for a home environment where 4K video and greedy hi-res gaming are set to become the norm.

The Netgear Nighthawk X8 boasts a total of eight antennas – four are hidden internally and then there’s the four patent-pending external Active Antennas, an industry first, that boosts the wireless range of the Nighthawk X8.

In the presentation it was estimated that the average family household could have around a dozen devices connected – the Netgear Nighthawk X8 allows a wide range of devices to be connected simultaneously without sacrificing on the speed.

The router’s Active Antennas  will ensure that the customers get enhanced Wi-Fi range for their particular devices. Those antennas cannot be removed but you do get glowing LEDS.

Under the hood, the X8 is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core processor that promises unparalleled performance. Additionally, the Smart Connect feature can properly assess the required bands for a particular device and distribute speeds accordingly.

This means that if you have an old device and a new smartphone/tablet/PC running simultaneously on the same network, the router can properly gauge the required speeds and share it accordingly without sacrificing speeds.