By this time, I was pretty sure it's some sort of hardware issue.

Free technical support is only available for 90 days so I am faced with having to pay to get my hardware issue resolved.

After a talk with netgear support over the phone, they offered to replace the router because it appeared to be a hardware issue

I think there is a hardware issue with certain Netgear X8 routers with the latest firmware release

The original unit and the replacement unit had the same hardware issue - solid amber Power LED.

I'm an IT/network professional and quickly diagnosed it as a hardware issue

Netgear makes you pay for shipping back and there are forums threads everywhere stating that this is a common hardware issue

Tech support then accessed my network to troubleshoot and then held it up for 150 dollar ransom in which if I didn't pay they wouldn't fix the hardware issue.

Customer service was nice (they kindly told me that the product was beyond the warranty date for hardware issues...) but really Netgear, this is a software issue and since so many of us have encountered it, you should have come up with some sort of standard fix.

In my estimation, it was definitely a firmware bug, though there may still have been some hardware defects - perhaps hardware issues that the firmware "bugs" were intentionally designed to cover up.

Overall, I really wanted this product to work as it was impressive while it did work

Keeps up with a PS4 and PS4 Pro running simultaneously as well as with many other devices

I like that the lights are on top as

The router also did not work as it was supposed to: I just couldnt connect at all to the 2.4 GHz band (Netgear73)

It is probably something I am doing wrong, but reverted back to old router as it is just easier.- Size: Without a doubt this is the biggest (2 - 3 times bigger) router I ever seen.

netgear don't get too complacent with your R&D

Overall, I really wanted this product to work as it was impressive while it did work

Keeps up with a PS4 and PS4 Pro running simultaneously as well as with many other devices

I like that the lights are on top as

The router also did not work as it was supposed to: I just couldnt connect at all to the 2.4 GHz band (Netgear73)

It is probably something I am doing wrong, but reverted back to old router as it is just easier.- Size: Without a doubt this is the biggest (2 - 3 times bigger) router I ever seen.

This thing visually is beautiful to look at with the LED’s in the antennae giving it a futuristic look

my iPads and iPhones enjoy almost 300Mb/s throughout my home on the higher bands

I kept MIMO on the R8500 with no issues and that could be the reason it outperformed the RT-AC5300’s broken (STILL alpha!

This thing visually is beautiful to look at with the LED’s in the antennae giving it a futuristic look

my iPads and iPhones enjoy almost 300Mb/s throughout my home on the higher bands

I kept MIMO on the R8500 with no issues and that could be the reason it outperformed the RT-AC5300’s broken (STILL alpha!

win 10, Ubuntu, Wii U, Magic Jack, a second older VOIP system, HVAC (Linux), android tablet and iPad, iPhone, Galaxy G5 and G6.Support experience: