The long-awaited Wi-Fi 6E technology can finally find a place in your home. At the virtual CES 2021, Netgear unveiled one of the world's first Wi-Fi 6E routers: the Nighthawk RAXE500.

Netgear's Newest Wi-Fi 6E Router Is Blazing Fast

Netgear's Nighthawk RAXE500 is a tri-band router that comes with the ultra-efficient Wi-Fi 6E. This sixth generation of Wi-Fi allows for the smoothest and fastest experience while using the internet thus far.

Netgear Nighthawk CES
Image Credit: Netgear

The 6GHz band offered by Wi-Fi 6E provides much more breathing room for connectivity, meaning you can stream, game, and video chat simultaneously, all without worrying about bogging down your connection. The Nighthawk RAXE500 takes full advantage of this technology, opening up the lanes of connectivity for all of your devices.

According to Netgear, the Nighthawk RAXE500 offers 3.5 times more Wi-Fi channels and even provides 200 percent more spectrum than dual-band devices. It also boasts download speeds up to 10.8Gbps, letting you seamlessly stream videos in up to 8K.

With 12 Wi-Fi streams total—four 6GHz streams, four 5GHz streams, and four 2.4GHz streams—the Nighthawk RAXE500 can easily handle multiple devices and prevent congestion at the same time.

If you turn the router around, you'll see five gigabit ports, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. It features eight hidden antennas, tucked within the manta ray-esque wings on either side of the router.

Netgear Nighthawk Rear
Image Credit: Netgear

On the downside, no devices are currently compatible with Wi-Fi 6E. And yes, this includes all of the new smartphones and laptops that have been released within the past year.

But don't worry, there's still hope—in December 2020, Qualcomm released a mobile processor, the Snapdragon 888, which supports Wi-Fi 6E. Other tech companies will likely follow suit, so we can probably expect more compatible devices to be launched throughout 2021.

Nighthawk RAXE500: Availability and Price

Netgear's Nighthawk RAXE500 is currently available for preorder on Netgear's site. It sits at the steep price of $599.99, which is pretty expensive for a device that no one can really use yet.

It might be best to wait for Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices to come around before splurging on this blazing fast router. Over time, perhaps even the price of the Nighthawk RAXE500 will drop as well.

But as it stands, it seems that Wi-Fi 6E is going to be an expensive investment. Buying a pricey router is already a large expense, and when you combine that with brand new devices that support Wi-Fi 6E, you'll be spending a lot of money to use take advantage of this new technology.