Calling it the first retail product of its kind, Netgear has introduced the Nighthawk X4S AC3200 WiFi Cable Modem Router, a device that combines a DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem with a high-powered router.
The product, also known as the C7800, carries an MSRP of $399.99 and is being sold online as well as by Netgear’s major brick-and-mortar retail partners. Comcast, which has been aggressive with its deployment of DOCSIS 3.1, has already approved Netgear's new D3.1 product for its HFC network. CableLabs has also certified the C7800 for retail distribution.
Netgear’s C7800 modem/router combo follows a batch of CableLabs-certified stand-alone modems that have been certified for DOCSIS 3.1, including other retail-focused products from Arris and Netgear, as well as models made by Zoom Telephonics (offered under the Motorola brand), Hitron, Humax, Askey, CastleNet, Sagemcom, Technicolor, and Ubee Interactive. Linksyshas a retail D3.1 product in the works.
Comcast is starting to lease out D3.1-powered router/gateway to 1-Gig customers in markets such as Salt Lake City (Arris and Technicolor are theknown manufacturers of that model) and has talked up plans to sell that device, called the xFI Advanced Wireless Gateway and formerly known as the XB6, at retail.
