Netgear Cax30 is a wifi 6 router with a built-in Docsis 3.1 cable modem in one compact device. This product is an addition of previous most popular product offered by Netgear – the Netgear Cax80.
In this article:
- What Netgear Nighthawk Cax30 Does
- Netgear cax30 vs cax80
- Netgear Cax30 vs Motorola MG8702
- Spec comparison table
When the cax30 was released, Arris and Motorola still had not released similar products based on wifi 6 standard. Today you can find Arris products with wifi6 standard were released with its flagships Surfboards g36 and g34 following its success with Arris surfboard Sbg8300 that come with wifi-5 standard. Meanwhile, Motorola has also released the Motorola mg8725 wifi 6 product continuing its success with Motorola mg8702 that still come with wifi5 standard.
Now back to this netgear cax30 product and compare it with Motorola mg8702 see which one is more valuable to your business?
Netgear Nighthawk Cax30
Previously, netgear had released the netgear nighthawk cax80 in addition to the mesh gateway version with its product Orbi cbk752 ax4200 DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem. Netgear always strives to be in the forefront with new technology-based products including modem gateway products with wifi-6 technology where its competitors such as Arris and Motorola had not released similar products at the same time.
Netgear cax30 vs cax80
Unlike Orbi cbk752 which is a mesh gateway with wifi-6 router, both cax80 and cax30 series are wifi-6 routers with built-in DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, not mesh routers. What is the difference between cax30 and cax80? Please refer to table 1 below which provides a spec comparison between the two gateway series.
Different wifi-6 segment
Both are gateway products based on wifi 6 routers, both of which have built-in DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, however they have different wifi network segment design. For the needs of a small to medium size home wifi network and for those who need a single device product, the Cax30 netgear is sufficient.
For those who need a wifi network with a wider range of around 3000 sq. ft they can choose cax80 series that coms with faster network performance with ax6000 network. Both support mu-mimo concurrent data streams.
Netgear cax80 with 8-streams can send data streams to multiple clients faster than cax30 which comes only with 6-streams. Fortunately today you can find few models of usb adapters available in the market with wifi-6 technology such as Asus usb-ax56 with 2×2 mu-mimo supports.
Cax80 with 4×4 can send two data streams to two connected devices with USB ax1800 adapters that support 2×2 mu-mimo concurrently.
Hardware
Although the nighthawk cax80 is designed for higher network segment (ax6000), both of these product series use the same processor in their machine board, embedded with dual core 1.5ghz CPU. Probably we might expect the cax80 series to be equipped with a quad core processor.
Besides that, on the cax80 you can find an additional 2.5Gbps multi Gig Ethernet port that you can use to connect to high speed NAS that comes with 2.5Gbps port as well such as the Asustor Lockerstor 2 AS6602T – 2 Bay NAS.
Spec comparison table
Table 1 Netgear cax30 vs cax80
| Gateway models | Netgear cax30 | Netgear cax80 |
| Cable modem certified | DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem / compatible with 32×8 DOCSIS 3.0 | DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem / compatible with 32×8 DOCSIS 3.0 |
| Internet speed Max | 1Gbps | 1Gbps |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax2700 wifi -6 with smart connect with 6-streams | Simultaneous dual band ax6000 wifi -6 with smart connect with 8-streams |
| Signal rate | 0.9Gbps @2.4GHz 3×3 1.8Gbps @5GHz 3×3 | 1.2Gbps @2.4GHz 4×4; 4.8Gbps @5GHz 4×4 |
| Coverage | 2,500 sq ft up to 25 connected devices | 3,000 sq ft |
| Ethernet Ports | 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports, dual gigabit aggregation | 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports, dual gigabit aggregation 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet Port |
| USB port | 1x USB 3.0 port | 1x USB 3.0 port |
| Processor | 1.5GHz dual core processor | 1.5GHz dual core processor |
| Dimension | 10.0 in x 8.3 in x 4.3 in ( 254 mm x 211 mm x 110 mm) | 10.4 in x 8.5 in x 4.3 in (264 mm x 215 mm x 110 mm) |
| Weight | 2.10 lb / 0.95 kg | 2.55 lb / 1.16 kg |
| MSRP | $329.99 | $429.99 |
The prices difference between the two series is quite a lot around $100 with different network segment.
We’ll take netgear cax30 to compare with latest product offered by Motorola which is still based in wifi5 technology – the Motorola mg8702.
Netgear Cax30 vs Motorola MG8702
When the Motorola mg8725 had not been released to the market, the Motorola mg8702 was quite successful in the market and became the main competitor product for netgear cax30. And today you can find the new release of Motorola mg8725 which works @ ax6000 network segment with a built-in modem. In this article we only discuss the comparison between cax30 and mg8702 so that you can have an idea which product suits your business needs at home.
Table 2 below shows you spec comparison between Netgear Cax30 and Motorola mg8702 that can be used as reference for spec comparison between the two products.
Network segment
Both products are single wifi router devices with built-in Docsis 3.1 cable modem that can support internet plans up to 1Gbps from your cable provider. The main difference is the wifi technology applied to each product. Motorola mg8702 is still using legacy wifi-5 (wireless ac), while cax30 is already using the 6th generation wifi-6 (wireless ax).
There are many questions which is more profitable between a router with wifi ac3200 and a router with ax2700. Regarding total aggregated bandwidth they are certainly different; moreover they are also different in terms of wifi technology applied.
If all your connected devices at home are still based on wifi-5, of course the choice of Motorola mg8702 is more profitable with a wider aggregate bandwidth. However, your gateway router cannot be maximized if some of your new devices are already based on wifi-6. You will find that wifi-5 devices connect faster to wifi-6 router than connect to the same wifi-5 router.
Spec comparison table
Take a look more details on the following spec comparison table below.
Table 2 Netgear cax30 vs Motorola mg8702
| Gateway models | Netgear cax30 | Motorola Mg8702 |
| Cable modem certified | DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem / compatible with 32×8 DOCSIS 3.0 2×2 OFDMA | 2×2 OFDM DOCSIS 3.1 up to 3.7Gbps downstream / 800Mbps upstream 32x 8 DOCSIS 3.0 compatible |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax2700 wifi -6 with smart connect with 3×3 MU-MIMO | 1Simultaneous dual band AC3200 wave 2 with 4×4 MU-MIMO |
| Signal rate | 0.9Gbps @2.4GHz 3×3 1.8Gbps @5GHz 3×3 | Up to 2167Mbps @5GHz 4×4 Up to 1,000Mbps @2.4GHz 4×4 |
| Internet plan | Up to 1Gbps | Up to 1Gbps |
| Ethernet Ports | 4x Gigabit Ethernet Ports, dual gigabit aggregation | 4x 1Gigabit LAN Ports with Auto-MDI/MDIX |
| USB port | 1x USB 3.0 port | 1x USB 3.0 port with DLNA |
| Compliant with | Xfinity from Comcast, Spectrum, Cox & more | Xfinity from Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox & more |
| Processor | 1.5GHz dual core processor | Unknown |
| Dimension | 10.0 in x 8.3 in x 4.3 in ( 254 mm x 211 mm x 110 mm) | 9.5 in x 2.8 in x 8.8 in (241 mm x 225 mm x 71 mm) |
| Weight | 2.10 lb / 0.95 kg | 30.43 ounces / 862 grams |
| Price (Oct 2021 in Amazon) | $329.99 | $268.99 |
In some retails shop you will find additional ‘s’ suffix on cax30 to cax30s means netgear cax30 plus free subscription of 90 days Netgear Armor, network threat protection powered by BitDefender.
Price Points
See that the price difference between the two products is around $50. Now you will judge which one gives you best value between the two products. Netgear cax30 is ready with the latest wifi 6 technology and works at ax2700 network segment. Click the product link below to read more details in Amazon (#ads).
- Click here to SHOP Netgear cax30 in Amazon (#Ad)
- Or you may like to SHOP Motorola mg8702 (#Ad) with legacy wifi-5 technology.
Related products
If stepping to the next generation of wifi 7 technology is too much budget for premium wifi 7 network, while you still have Arris S33 cable modem in place, you may consider medium range wifi 6 network. You can start deploying Orbi RBK863 or deco x90, or you may consider lower budget by deploying Orbi 763 or Deco X75.
For easier deployment of wifi 6 network for small to medium sized building, you may consider POE-based mesh wifi network, TP-Link Deco X50-poe. With POE you can reduce complicated of installing network cable and power with onlu a single UTP cable network. Ideal for ceiling installation.