NETGEAR Nighthawk RS140

In this netgear nighthawk rs140 review, the NETGEAR Nighthawk RS140 is the best simple pick for small homes and it lands at number 9 of 10 in our 2026 gaming router guide. It is a dual-band WiFi 7 router that sells for $179 and covers up to 2,250 square feet for up to 80 devices. The rating sits at 4.2 stars from 420 Amazon ratings, which is solid for a router in this price bracket. Its BE5000 dual-band connection pushes up to 5 Gbps, roughly 1.2x faster than WiFi 6, across the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Buy it if you want quick, guided setup and steady WiFi in a compact home or apartment. Skip it if low ping and jitter control matter more to you than coverage.

In practice, the RS140 keeps the day-to-day work simple. You plug it into your existing modem or gateway with the included 2m Ethernet cable, then the free Nighthawk app on iOS or Android walks you through setup, runs speed tests, pauses devices and creates guest networks. On top of that, MU-MIMO and OFDMA let several devices send and receive data at the same time, so a console, a TV and a phone do not fight over airtime as much. Wired players get one 2.5G port and three gigabit ports, which means a PC or console can run on Ethernet while everyone else stays on WiFi. Security runs on WPA3 with an advanced firewall, and the router works with most cable, fiber, DSL and satellite providers, though some modem-router combos need bridge mode.

That said, the $179 price is fair rather than aggressive for WiFi 7, and the trade-offs live on the gaming side. By contrast, multi-gig gaming routers higher in this guide add a 6 GHz band and a game acceleration engine, and the RS140 has neither, so competitive players should look further up the list. Its 1-year limited warranty is also the shortest in the ranking, and there is just one multi-gig port. Even so, for a small home or a one-bedroom apartment running Netflix, video calls and light gaming, this router covers what matters at a price that stays reasonable. Meanwhile, if you own a larger or multi-story house, a NETGEAR Orbi mesh system will serve you better. If your setup is simple and your space is small, this is the one to get.