Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 VPN Router Review: Tri-Band Speed Meets VPN Compromises

The Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 is marketed primarily as a high-end Wi-Fi 6E router for large homes, but the Topiry Team wanted to know how it performs specifically as a VPN router — a use case Netgear’s own marketing barely mentions. After extensive testing, we found a router with excellent wireless performance but a VPN implementation that requires some important caveats.

Overview

The RAXE500 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router with a 12-stream design and a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, positioned as a flagship option for large households with dozens of connected devices. It supports the 6GHz band in addition to standard 2.4GHz and 5GHz, offering substantially reduced interference in areas with many neighboring networks. For this review, our focus was narrower: how well does its firmware handle VPN client connections, and is it a sensible choice for someone specifically shopping for router-level VPN protection?

VPN Support: What’s Actually There

Here’s the important caveat up front: the RAXE500’s stock Netgear firmware supports OpenVPN client functionality, but it does not include native WireGuard support out of the box. This is a significant difference compared to the ASUS and GL.iNet routers we’ve reviewed, both of which handle WireGuard natively. For OpenVPN, setup is done through the Netgear Orbi/Nighthawk app or web interface, requiring you to upload a provider’s .ovpn configuration file along with login credentials.

Users who want WireGuard support on this router generally need to flash custom firmware such as DD-WRT or Asuswrt-Merlin ports where available, though official compatibility for the RAXE500 with these third-party firmware projects is inconsistent and voids Netgear’s warranty. For most buyers, that’s a meaningful barrier.

Performance Testing

All tests were run over the same 1 Gbps wired connection used throughout our router VPN review series.

Wireless performance on the 6GHz band is genuinely excellent, and if your primary need is fast, low-interference Wi-Fi throughout a large home, this router delivers. But as a VPN router specifically, OpenVPN throughput sits well below what we measured on WireGuard-capable competitors, dropping to roughly 17% of baseline speed on download.

Setup Experience

Netgear’s Nighthawk app is polished and beginner-friendly for general router administration — Wi-Fi setup, parental controls, and guest networks are all handled smoothly. VPN client configuration, however, is tucked into the web-based admin panel rather than the app, and the process is more manual than on GL.iNet or ASUS hardware, requiring you to source your VPN provider’s configuration file separately and upload it without an import wizard.

Security Features

The RAXE500 includes Netgear Armor, a subscription security suite (powered by Bitdefender) that scans for malware and vulnerable devices on your network. This operates independently of the VPN client and remains active regardless of whether a VPN tunnel is running. There is no dedicated VPN kill switch feature in the native firmware, meaning that if the OpenVPN tunnel disconnects, traffic may fall back to your regular ISP connection without an automatic block — an important gap for privacy-focused users to be aware of.

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Outstanding Wi-Fi 6E wireless performance; strong build quality; polished app for general network management; good for very large homes with many devices.
• Cons: No native WireGuard support; OpenVPN throughput is a fraction of baseline speed; no built-in VPN kill switch; VPN setup lacks the polish of the router’s general Wi-Fi features; custom firmware compatibility is inconsistent.

Third-Party Firmware Options Explored

Because native WireGuard is absent, we spent additional time researching whether custom firmware could close the gap. DD-WRT support for the RAXE500 exists but is limited to community builds with mixed stability reports, and Netgear does not officially support Asuswrt-Merlin on this hardware since Merlin is developed specifically for ASUS chipsets. For most buyers, pursuing custom firmware here means accepting a level of technical risk and potential loss of manufacturer support that isn’t necessary on routers with native WireGuard support built into the stock firmware.

Comparing the RAXE500 to WireGuard-Native Routers

Placed side by side with the ASUS RT-AX86U Pro and GL.iNet Flint 2 covered elsewhere in this review series, the RAXE500’s OpenVPN-only throughput is dramatically lower in absolute terms, even though all three routers are tested on the identical 1 Gbps connection. This isn’t a knock on the RAXE500’s engineering so much as a reflection of a firmware decision by Netgear to prioritize wireless features over VPN protocol breadth. Buyers specifically comparison-shopping for VPN performance should treat this gap as one of the most important differentiators between these three products.

Everyday Usability Beyond the VPN

Setting the VPN discussion aside, day-to-day usability is where the RAXE500 earns back credit. The Nighthawk app makes tasks like setting up a guest network, checking connected devices, or running a quick speed test genuinely simple, and the router’s mesh-extension compatibility with other Orbi and Nighthawk hardware gives buyers a clear upgrade path if their coverage needs grow. For a household where VPN use is occasional rather than constant, these day-to-day conveniences may outweigh the VPN throughput gap for some buyers.

Streaming and Gaming Performance

We also tested general gaming and 4K streaming performance without a VPN active, given the router’s flagship wireless specifications. Latency to gaming servers was excellent thanks to the router’s Dynamic QoS features, and 4K streaming across multiple devices simultaneously showed no buffering even with more than a dozen connected devices active on the network. This reinforces that the RAXE500’s strengths lie squarely in general home networking rather than encrypted VPN throughput specifically.

Value for Money

At its price point, the RAXE500 competes more directly against other flagship Wi-Fi 6E routers than against dedicated VPN routers, and buyers should judge its price primarily against that category. If VPN performance is a secondary consideration rather than the main purchase driver, the value proposition holds up reasonably well; if VPN throughput is the top priority, cheaper routers with native WireGuard support deliver more relevant performance per dollar spent.

Physical Design and Setup Experience

The RAXE500’s tower-style design departs from the flat, wall-mountable shape of most consumer routers, prioritizing internal antenna placement and thermal performance over discreet placement on a shelf. Initial setup through the Nighthawk app was among the smoothest of any router in this review series for general network configuration, walking through Wi-Fi naming, password creation, and firmware updates in well under ten minutes. It’s only once a user ventures into VPN client configuration that the experience becomes noticeably less guided, requiring a switch to the web-based admin panel and manual entry of provider configuration details.

Parental Controls and Additional Software Features

Separately from VPN functionality, the RAXE500 includes robust parental control tools through the Nighthawk app, allowing scheduled internet access, content filtering by device, and usage reports broken down by family member profile. These features operate independently of the VPN client and remain fully functional regardless of whether a VPN tunnel is active, making this router a reasonable pick for families whose primary networking priorities lie outside of VPN use specifically.

Warranty and Support Experience

Netgear’s standard warranty coverage and widely available phone and chat support give the RAXE500 an advantage in overall buyer confidence compared to smaller, more niche router brands, even though that support infrastructure is largely focused on general networking issues rather than VPN-specific troubleshooting. Buyers who value the reassurance of a large, established support organization will find that reassurance here, even if VPN configuration questions specifically may require more self-directed research than general Wi-Fi setup questions would.

Who Should Buy This Router

The RAXE500 is a better fit for buyers whose primary need is maximum wireless coverage and speed across a large property, with VPN functionality treated as a secondary nice-to-have rather than the main purchase driver. If router-level VPN performance is your top priority, routers with native WireGuard support will serve you better for the same or lower price.

Final Verdict

Judged purely as a Wi-Fi 6E router with excellent coverage, strong parental controls, and a polished app experience, the RAXE500 is impressive. Judged as a VPN router — the specific lens of this review — it falls behind competitors that support WireGuard natively, both in raw throughput and in the completeness of privacy features like a kill switch. Buyers should weigh which priority matters more before choosing this model specifically for VPN use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the questions we received most often from readers considering this router specifically for VPN use, based on the testing and setup process described above.

Can I add WireGuard support to the RAXE500?

Only through third-party firmware, and official support varies; this approach also voids Netgear’s warranty, so it’s not recommended for most users.

Is Netgear Armor required to use the VPN client?

No, they are entirely separate features. Netgear Armor is a paid security subscription unrelated to the VPN client function.

Does OpenVPN throughput improve with a wired connection versus Wi-Fi?

Slightly, since it removes wireless overhead, but the router’s processor remains the primary bottleneck regardless of connection type.

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