Especially at a time when more and more games are 'online only', every gamer knows how important it is to have a reliable and fast connection to the servers of your favorite game. This is of course partly dependent on the internet connection you obtain from your provider, but also on the configuration of your own network. Your router is of crucial importance in this respect. The Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR500 is a router designed to optimize your gaming experience both hardware- and software-wise. That, at least, is the manufacturer's promise to us to subject him to our usual intensive testing procedure.

Netgear is a router brand that requires no introduction. This is now also the case for the Nighthawk series, which contains numerous routers with various specifications and functionality. The latest offspring of the Nighthawk family is the XR500 Pro gaming router. As the name suggests, this router is all about gaming. Under the hood, the XR500 is a 'regular' quad stream 4x4 dual-band router, albeit with support for things like MU-MIMO and beam forming. These are fine additions, of course, but we see those so often nowadays that they sound a little less special.