Conclusions

This article is deliberately limited in scope, but I hope you’ve found it useful. I’ve certainly enjoying delving a little deep into something I’d previously avoided nearly altogether. While I can’t do a usual conclusion with firm buying advice, I can at least summarise my thoughts and experiences.

I have to say I’m not a fan of the hardware itself. The XR500 just looks a bit silly to me, and it feels cheap too. I also probably had too high expectations when it came to the range on it, but I was still dismayed to find that my home network saw no improvement from that standpoint. Thankfully, the Nighthawk X6S range extender sorted me out very nicely, but that’s another £130.

DumaOS, though, is a real triumph. It’s as if someone took the ideas I had when I was a lot younger about what router software “should” be like but which I was too inept to verbalise, and made them a reality. It makes controlling the major aspects of your network very easy (which devices are allowed on and how much bandwidth they can have), and then the extra gaming features like the Geo-Filter are really nifty, and also unique. I really like that Netgear isn’t going the overboard on marketing here with speak of ‘crushing pings’ or some other nonsense. The theory of what the Geo-Filter does is solid (on average, longer distance between you and a host will mean a higher ping), and it works in practice too.

Truthfully, I wouldn’t spend £240 on this, but that’s more a reflection of how little time I’m comfortable committing to online gaming these days than anything else. I certainly know a fair few people who love and play loads of PUBG, FIFA, Mario Kart, etc., and this will certainly be a talking point next time I see them.

I’d be interested in hearing what your thoughts are, too, both on this product (or gaming routers in general) and this article itself.