Netgear EX6200 review: Setup and software
In addition to its extending duties, the EX6200 extender can also be set up as an access point that can distribute Wi-Fi into unconnected parts of a house if you have a wired connection nearby. In addition to the EX6200’s USB 3.0 port (for a printer or hard drive), the extender has five gigabit Ethernet ports (for printers, data storage or other online connections). Rated at 5dBi, the antennas run circles around what you get with most Wi-Fi equipment and their signal is bolstered by a 700 milli-watt antenna amplifier.Īlong the back of the EX6200 is a power switch, a button to initiate the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) and a recessed reset key. It comes with a pair of screw-on antennas that can be rotated and angled to catch the strongest signal. It also has Netgear's FastLane feature that lets you combine the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels for greater efficiency. The EX6200 has all the latest Wi-Fi updates with MU-MIMO and beamforming technologies to satisfy several simultaneous clients and tailor the signal to suit the receiver. Assuming your utility charges the national average of 13.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, that adds up to annual electricity bills of $7, $2 more than the TP-Link RE650. When it was working, the EX6200 used 6.1 watts of power and stayed cool, thanks to a pattern of triangular cutouts on its top and sides. The extender worked for several days without a problem.
With my iPad Pro in hand, the EX6200 delivered 103Mbps of my 200Mbps broadband connection to a previously unconnected porch, plenty of bandwidth to play skip-free music and 4K video. Both were second best to D-Link's DAP-1720 at 95 feet. The extender and a client remained connected for up to 85 feet away, 10 feet short of the TP-Link RE650’s range.
It helped fill my old 3,500-square-foot home with data, filling in a prominent dead zone in the basement. Here, the D-Link DAP-1720 was off the pace with only 19.5Mbps of throughput. The TP-Link RE650 was able to deliver more than double that amount at 197.9Mbps. With the connected device an extra 35 feet away, the EX6200 came up short with available bandwidth of 70.7Mbps.
MORE: How to Set Up Your Wi-Fi Extender for the Best Signal In the same test, the TP-Link RE6560 managed 333.9Mbps, while the D-Link DAP-1720 scored 337Mbps. In our mock home setup, the EX6200 took the lead by pushing 350.5Mbps to a device on the next floor up and over 30 feet away. Again, the DAP-1720 lagged behind with 21.4Mbps of extended throughput. In the 50-foot extender test, the EX6200's was a little closer with the extender moving 462.6Mbps, 13 percent less than the TP-Link RE650’s 523.9Mbps. Still, it did better than the similarly priced D-Link DAP-1720 extender, which moved only 22Mbps on the same test. The EX6200, however, came up short on the Extender Tests, with throughput of 241.9Mbps versus the TP-Link RE650's 418.8Mbps on the 75-foot test, a decline of 73 percent. Both should do well in extending a Wi-Fi signal to the uncovered extremities of a large home. By contrast, the TP-Link RE650 delivered 434.2Mbps and 525.5Mbps on the same tests, putting the EX6200 a small step ahead on the former and a step behind on the latter. It was able to push through up to 436.0Mbps and 530.3Mbps on our 150- and 100-foot baseline tests. Netgear EX6200 review: Performanceīased on performance testing at our Utah lab with Ixia's IxChariot network-simulation benchmark software, the EX6200 performed admirably and was able to retransmit a strong Wi-Fi signal to the outer reaches of a home. It carries an AC1200 rating, less than half the theoretical throughput of the TP-Link RE650’s AC2600 rating. The EX6200 can deliver up to 300Mbps over the 2.4GHz channel and 900Mbps over the 5GHz channel. Overall, it can handle 2 X 2 data streams, putting it a step behind TP-Link's RE650, which can move 4 X 4 streams.
It uses the latest MU-MIMO techniques to satisfy a home full of data-hungry devices and beamforming to tailor the signal to individual devices, but the extender lacks a dedicated backhaul channel for streaming data from the extender to the host something its more expensive sibling, the Nighthawk X6S EX8000, has. Inside, the EX6200 has a dual-band design that relies on a Qualcomm Wi-Fi chip to retransmit the host router's signal across the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels. Unfortunately, you can’t turn the lights off to make it less obtrusive. There are also lights for its five wired Ethernet connections and its USB port. Green means a good connection, while yellow and red indicate that the extender needs to be closer to the router. Its control panel has nine operational LEDs that range from whether it has a link to the host router to color-coded 2.4- and 5GHz network information.