Netgear Nighthawk Wi-Fi 6 Routers: RAX50 vs. RAX80 vs. RAX120 vs. RAX200

Netgear has four similar Nighthawk Wi-Fi 6 Routers with Netgear Armor as you can pick between the RAX50, RAX80, RAX120 and RAX200. So, what are the main differences between these products? You can find out in this comparison guide between the four wireless routers.

Quick Summary

Thanks to being tri-band, the Netgear RAX200 is faster than the RAX50, RAX80 and RAX120. The RAX200 is also better at handling simultaneous stream than the other wireless routers.

In terms of security, the RAX80 and RAX200 are the only routers in this comparison to support Circle Parental Controls. Otherwise, the security features are the same across the four models.

Overall, we recommend getting RAX200 if you want the best performance, especially if you want to connect your network to multiple devices at the same time.

If you are interested, you can purchase any of the aforementioned wireless routers on Amazon with the following links:

• Netgear RAX50 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router
• Netgear RAX80 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router
• Netgear RAX120 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router
• Netgear RAX200 Nighthawk Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router

RAX50 vs. RAX80 vs. RAX120 vs. RAX200 Comparison Chart

What’s in the Box

In addition to the main router units, each product comes with an ethernet cable, power adapter and quick installation guide. You can take a look at what’s included in each box below:

Netgear RAX50 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• RAX50 router
• Ethernet cable
• 4 external antennas
• Quick start guide
• Power adapter

Netgear RAX80 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• RAX80 router
• Ethernet cable
• Quick start guide
• Power adapter

Netgear RAX120 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• RAX120 router
• Ethernet cable
• Quick start guide
• Power adapter

Netgear RAX200 Nighthawk Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• RAX200 router
• Ethernet cable
• Quick start guide
• Power adapter

Weight

The RAX200 is the heaviest out of this group for WiFi6 routers, followed by the RAX120 and then the RAX80. The RAX50 is the lightest. You can take a look at the weight specifications below:

• Netgear RAX50: 1.25 lb.
• Netgear RAX80: 2.82 lbs.
• Netgear RAX120: 3.00 lbs.
• Netgear RAX200: 3.20 lbs.

Dimensions

You can also check out the dimensions for the Netgear Armor equipped routers below:

• RAX50: 11.65 in x 8.11 in x 2.25 in
• RAX80: 10.75 in x 7.95 in x 2.83 in
• RAX120: 12.20 in x 7.48 in x 1.77 in
• RAX200: 11.70 in x 8.30 in x 3.07 in

Wi-Fi Bands

The RAX50, RAX80 and RAX120 are dual-band Wi Fi 6 routers and the RAX200 is a tri-band Wi Fi 6 router.

Antennas

The RAX50 and RAX80 both come with four antennas while the RAX120 and RAX200 comes with eight antennas.

Processor

You can also take a look at the CPU included in each wireless router in this versus guide below:

• Netgear RAX50: 1.5GHz triple-core processor
• Netgear RAX80: 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core processor
• Netgear RAX120: 64-bit 2.2GHz quad-core processor
• Netgear RAX200: 64-bit 1.8GHz quad-core processor

Wi-Fi 6 Speed

The Netgear RAX200 has the fastest potential speed at up to 11.0 Gbps, with a maximum 1.2 Gbps at 2.4Ghz band as well as 4.8 Gbps at both 5Ghz bands. The RAX80 and RAX120 are tied for the second fastest of this group at up to 6.0 Gbps, which is 1.2 Gbps over the 2.4Ghz band and 4.8 Gbps over the 5Ghz band. The RAX50 is the slowest at up to 5.4 Gbps with a maximum of 600 Mbps at 2.4Ghz and 4800 Mbps at 5Ghz.

You can find the Wi-Fi speeds breakdown below:

• RAX50 Router: AX5400 – Up to 5.4 Gbps (600 Mbps + 4800 Mbps)
• RAX80 Router: AX6000 – Up to 6.0 Gbps (1.2 Gbps + 4.8 Gbps)
• RAX120 Router: AX6000 – Up to 6.0 Gbps (1.2 Gbps + 4.8 Gbps)
• RAX200 Router: AX11000 – Up to 11.0 Gbps (1.2 Gbps + 4.8 Gbps + 4.8 Gbps)

Simultaneous Streams

The RAX 50 can support up to 6 simultaneous streams while the RAX 50 can support up to 8. The RAX 120 and RAX 200 can each support up to 12 simultaneous streams.

Ethernet Ports

The RAX50, RAX120 and RAX200 include one WAN port and four LAN ports while the RAX80 comes with one WAN port and five LAN ports. The RAX120 also has a 5G/2.5G/1G Multi-Gig Ethernet LAN port while the RAX200 has a 2.5G/1G Multi-Gig Ethernet LAN port.

Furthermore, the Netgear RAX120 features dual gigabit ethernet port aggregation while the Netgear RAX80 and Netgear RAX200 supports dual gigabit ethernet port in addition to multi-gig internet port aggregation.

You can check out the full breakdown of ethernet ports for the Wi-Fi 6 routers below:

Netgear RAX50 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 1x WAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port
• 4x LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports

Netgear RAX80 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 1x WAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port
• 5x LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Dual Gigabit Ethernet Port Aggregation
• Multi-Gig Internet Port Aggregation

Netgear RAX120 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 1x WAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port
• 4x LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports
• 1x 5G/2.5G/1G Multi-Gig Ethernet LAN port
• Dual Gigabit Ethernet Port Aggregation

Netgear RAX200 Nighthawk Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 1x WAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port
• 4x LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports
• 1x 2.5G/1G Multi-Gig Ethernet LAN port
• Dual Gigabit Ethernet Port Aggregation
• 1G + 1G Multi-Gig Internet Port Aggregation

USB Ports

The RAX50 is equipped with one USB 3.0 port while the RAX80, RAX120 and RAX200 each comes with two USB 3.0 ports. The USB is used for sharing.

Operating System Requirements

All four products in this comparison guide have the following operating system requirements:

• Linux
• Mac OS
• UNIX
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 10
• Windows Vista
• Windows XP
• Windows 2000

Browser Requirements

The four wireless routers also have the same browser requirements, which you can find a list of below:

• Internet Explorer 11 or higher
• Microsoft Edge
• Google Chrome 55 or higher
• Firefox 45 or higher
• Safari 10 or higher

Wi-Fi Features

When it comes to Wi-Fi features, all four routers support 1024-QAM, Beamforming+, OFDMA and Smart Connect. The RAX50 does not support MU-MIMO while the other three products do. You can find the lists of Wi-Fi features below:

RAX50:

• 1024-QAM
• Beamforming+
• OFDMA
• Smart Connect

RAX80, RAX120 and RAX 200:

• 1024-QAM
• Beamforming+
• MU-MIMO
• OFDMA
• Smart Connect

Nighthawk App

All of the routers support the Nighthawk App, which is used for setting up and managing your wireless network.

Security Features

As we stated above, all four Nighthawk routers in this comparison comes with Netgear Armor, which provides protection against cyber threats for devices connected to your wireless network. The products also feature automatic firmware updates, secure guest access, VPN and WPA3. The RAX80 and RAX200 are the only two to include Circle Parental Controls as well.

You can find a list of security features below:

Netgear RAX50 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 802.11i, 128-bit AES encryption with PSK
• Automatic firmware updates
• Secure guest access
• NETGEAR Armor
• VPN support with OpenVPN Connect app
• WPA3

Netgear RAX80 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• 802.11i, 128-bit AES encryption with PSK
• Automatic firmware updates
• Circle Parental Controls
• NETGEAR Armor
• Secure guest access
• VPN client support
• WPA3

Netgear RAX120 Nighthawk Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• Automatic firmware updates
• NETGEAR Armor
• Secure guest access
• VPN client support
• VPN support with OpenVPN Connect app
• WPA3

Netgear RAX200 Nighthawk Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• Automatic firmware updates
• Circle Parental Controls
• NETGEAR Armor
• Secure guest access
• VPN support with OpenVPN Connect app
• WPA3

Resources:

• https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/rax50.aspx
• https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/rax80.aspx
• https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/rax120.aspx
• https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/rax200.aspx