Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After three weeks of breakneck Internet speeds, I hesitate to write this review for fear I might jinx myself, but, suffice it to say, this NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi Cable Modem Router+ is not only the most user-friendly we've had in our 20+ years of home Internet use, but also the most low-maintenance. The speeds we're experiencing today at the start of week #4 are as fast as they were on installation day (See Photos). I admit, my enthusiasm is partially due to having stuck with AT&T DSL Internet far longer than we should've. AT&T's fastest Internet speeds were outmatched by cable broadband several years ago, but we tolerated the bad service, the glitchy modems and the slow speeds because we thought that was easier than switching. There are two reasons I'm including this in my review: 1). I suspect a lot of people out there are like us in that they're just now looking to switch from AT&T DSL to faster broadband and are looking at this review because they're shopping for a compatible modem/router; and 2). I think it's important to explain that this modem/router can only work as fast as your provider delivers. To put it another way, think of this modem/router as a Porsche 911 Turbo and your Internet provider as the fuel you put in the gas tank. If you put watered-down, low-octane petroleum in your Turbo, you can expect watered-down performance. But feed it high-octane, premium fuel, and you'll get the zoom zoom zoom you expect. In my three weeks of experience with the Nighthawk, it delivers each and every megabit per second for which I'm paying to receive. When we decided to finally switch to Comcast/Xfinity, I insisted on purchasing our own modem/router, mostly because of 20+ years of bad experience using all the bad modem/routers that AT&T sold us. This required that I do a great deal of research prior to installation day, to find equipment that was guaranteed compatible, and that promised ease of use, exceptional performance and reliability. The Netgear Nighthawk WiFi Cable Modem Router+ Voice (AC 1900) was an easy choice, not only because it does everything we need (and more), but it's also manufactured for and marketed to Xfinity Internet and Voice customers. I was a bit worried at first about dropping our landlines and switching them to Internet phone lines, but all that worry seems silly now. I thought I might need to purchase new phones (I didn't). I thought I'd need to learn a new batch of complicated settings (I didn't). Honestly, all I did was plug the lines into their respective receptacles on the device and, voila — instant dial tone. While we did pay for Comcast to do an install, it's only because they required us to do so, considering we'd never had cable service before and they needed to run a line off the pole to the house. Setting up the Nighthawk took no time at all. The tech called the activation number, dictated the necessary codes off the device, and we were up and running. The installation tech tried to talk me out of using this router/modem at the start. He fed me a line about how he's had lots of customers complain about their speeds slowing down after a couple weeks, blah, blah, blah. He had a better router/modem out in the truck that he could use, blah, blah, blah. I thanked him for the warning, but I'd read up. I knew better. In the three weeks since the install I've reviewed all the settings and features. Early on I connected an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station via ethernet cable to extend the wireless signal to the top floor of our home. The two devices have played nicely together ever since, all without a hitch. I've included a picture of the Nighthawk in action (my hand is in the photo to give it some scale, so you can get a sense of how big the device is). I've also include screen shots of our Internet speeds both on installation day and today. Also, I included the speeds we were getting when we had AT&T using their Arris modem. No comparison. My only complaint, and the only reason I've given it 4 stars instead of 5, is because of the battery backup, which I hoped would power both Internet and phone, but no. The backup battery is only intended to power the phone function of the device. To me, that makes no sense. Instead, I opted to purchase a separate UPS (uninterruptible power source) backup battery capable of powering the whole thing — Internet and Phone — in the event of a power outage. Other than that, I highly recommend the Nighthawk.