Netgear Nighthawk RS700S Tops 15 Wi-Fi 7 Routers for 2.4 GHz Coverage

Q: Is buying a premium Wi-Fi 7 router now a smart investment or just paying for features you will rarely use?

A premium Wi‑Fi 7 router is a smart investment only for heavy-demand homes; for many households, it is still paying extra for capacity they will rarely use. ZDNET’s July 2026 testing points to real gains from Wi‑Fi 7: better congestion handling, lower latency, wider 320 MHz channels, Multi-Link Operation, and stronger performance across crowded networks. That matters if you have a fast fiber plan of 1Gbps or more, a large home, 15 to 20-plus active devices, multiple 4K streams, gaming, content creation, or a dense smart-home setup. In those cases, systems like the Eero Pro 7, Netgear Nighthawk RS700S, or Orbi 970 can deliver more stable speeds and better whole-home coverage than older ISP routers or aging Wi‑Fi 5/6 gear. But the premium tier is hard to justify if your internet plan is under 1Gbps, your current Wi‑Fi 6 or 6E network already works well, or most of your phones, laptops, and TVs are not Wi‑Fi 7-capable. Backward compatibility helps, but older devices will not fully use Wi‑Fi 7 features such as MLO. For everyday browsing, video calls, and standard streaming, Wi‑Fi 6E remains more than adequate and usually offers better value. The practical test is simple: if your bottleneck is coverage, congestion, or a multi-gig plan, upgrading now makes sense. If your bottleneck is your ISP speed or you have modest usage, a premium Wi‑Fi 7 router is more future-proofing than immediate necessity. For most buyers, midrange Wi‑Fi 7 or strong Wi‑Fi 6E is the better balance today.

Q: With Wi-Fi 8 already focusing on reliability over speed, is the era of chasing faster home internet finally over?

No. The speed race is slowing for most households, but it is not over. Wi‑Fi 8 marks a real shift in priorities. Unlike Wi‑Fi 7, which pushed peak throughput to a theoretical 46 Gbps, Wi‑Fi 8 is being built around ultra-high reliability: fewer dead zones, better roaming, lower latency spikes, improved performance in crowded homes, and smarter handling of dozens of devices. That reflects a practical reality: most people do not need lab-grade top speeds as much as they need stable video calls, smooth streaming, and consistent coverage in every room. ZDNET’s router testing points in the same direction. Its top picks, especially mesh systems like the Eero Pro 7, were praised not just for speed but for reliability, congestion management, and whole-home coverage. For many homes, Wi‑Fi 6 or 6E remains sufficient, and even Wi‑Fi 7 is most useful for multi-gig internet plans, heavy gaming, content creation, or dense smart-home setups. But faster internet still matters. Fiber providers are expanding multi-gig plans, households are adding more connected devices, and applications such as 4K/8K streaming, cloud gaming, large file transfers, and AI-driven services continue to raise bandwidth demands. In those cases, speed and reliability are complementary, not competing goals. What is ending is not the need for speed, but the idea that higher headline numbers alone define a better home network. The market is moving toward a more mature standard: enough speed, delivered consistently.

3 articles · Updated · ZDNet · Jul 23

ZDNET’s lab found the Netgear Nighthawk RS700S delivered the strongest 2.4 GHz signal in two of three distance-and-interference bands, posting -38.4 dBm at medium D&I and -46.9 dBm at high D&I.
61 fixed test points across a 12,500-square-foot lab were used to compare 15 routers, with results weighted by separate low, medium, and high D&I bands to highlight far-field performance rather than near-router averages.
Netgear’s Orbi 370 earned an honorable mention with an excellent -27.2 dBm in low D&I, while the Linksys Velop Micro 7 ranked last in low and medium D&I and the Eero 7 lagged in high D&I.
The comparison covered only 2.4 GHz on a single floor, so ZDNET said real-world results can vary by home layout and band choice; its broader 2026 roundup still names the Eero Pro 7 the best overall router.