and the wingspan with the three antennas attached makes it about the same footprint as 15 " laptop
Why do I have a large footprint?
UPDATE: 5/17/14 - PORN is stronger than the NETGEAR Nighthawk!I don't usually put my updates at the beginning of a review, but after writing such a stellar one only days before I felt it important to 'share' to warn off others.After setting up Parental Controls to 'custom' and checking off 'downloads, adult, nudity, and porn', I expected my home network would be porn-free, as it was with theBelkin N750 Wireless DB Dual-Band Gigabit N+ Router With High Speed HD Streaming & USB (F9K1103); which while slower - it's also a quarter of the price I paid for this one. Needless to say last night I learned that porn is stronger than the Nighthawk.Parental Control Problems:1. If you set the router on the highest setting for network protection it filters porn, however it also filters out pretty much anything but first grade friendly material. A no-go for a house with a teenager who has reports to do for school and needs internet access.2. In the Parental Control interface you can setup strict browsing for the family and an override account for those who don't need or want it, but using 'custom' settings is frustrating and seems to be hit and miss for porn specifically.3. In the Parental Control settings you can add up to 25 sites you want blocked. That's it - and it's not enough for all trash on the internet!4. In the Genie dashboard under Advanced - Security you can add keywords and domains (yuck dot com, dot net...) to block. When those are set, if a user attempts to go there they get a black screen with red stripes that says 'Firewall Blocked' user.5. Removing a 'keyword' is a joke too! You have to clear the list and start over, as it won't let you delete just one word like 'porn' to eliminate all sites with that keyword in the title from opening.You can set things up so that the administrator gets emailed every time one of the blocked sites gets a 'knock, knock' by a user on your network. Unfortunately, this too has a limited number of sites and/or keywords that can be added, and it's just not enough for the price you pay for this router!The speed and stability is great, but I hate that with this expensive piece of equipment and user-interface that seems to be so helpful - these limitations are put on the device.I didn't buy this router to limit porn, but it is one of the things I like to do on my home network. I'm not a prude, but I should be able to surf securely if that's part of what's promised at a premium price.Oh, and the way I found this out was that I periodically go onto a browser like Bing or Google and type in random words and phrases to see what shows up. When it's something related to porn and I know I have the filter set, I click to make sure they are blocked. Last night, it wasn't and I spent nearly 3 hours learning the limitations of the NETGEAR Genie software.Maybe this is something that can be addressed by the NETGEAR Team in an update? It will definitely have to be improved upon to be considered a safe router for households who are concerned with Parental Controls,  and I would not recommend this router for this reason.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is a huge, pricey wireless router which is worth every penny if you're living in a big home, have multiple devices all wanting WiFi, want to be able to take command of your network in darn near every way possible or 'all of the above'.WHY I CHOSE THIS WIRELESS ROUTER...I purchased this router with some trepidation due to the high sticker price. It's twice as expensive as the most expensive one I've previously purchased and also twice as big.  Despite these things, I was looking for a router to replace myBelkin N750 Wireless DB Dual-Band Gigabit N+ Router With High Speed HD Streaming & USB (F9K1103), which while OK, was struggling to keep up with the growing WiFi demands of my family.With 15 wireless devices used on the network (laptops, desktops, streaming devices, smartphones, gaming systems, etc...), if everyone was connected, we all experienced signal drop offs. When streaming video it was not uncommon to get lagging connections and/or encounter buffering issues.After reading a bit about higher end routers, I decided to get a simultaneous dual band router. This one works well as you can set the (QoS - Quality of Service) to uploads (for gaming) or to downloads (for streaming). These two things opened up a whole new level of enjoyment in this cord cutter household!Having written a book on cord cutting:Simple Guide to Over-the-Air Free TV, and using myRoku 3 Streaming Media Player,Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media PlayerandApple TV MD199LL/Ato supplement my over air HD TV network programming, I know the importance of a solid WiFi network and this NETGEAR Nighthawk beautifully gets the job done. Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus all load more quickly and offer great picture quality and stability.In addition to this router's awesome performance and range, this NETGEAR product has a fantastic software utility suite (for both PC and MAC) with free iOS and Android apps. The software is easy to use and highly customizable.  I love the Parental Controls, which can be set for the whole network, or just for specific devices.THE PROS:+ Exceptional range.+ Outstanding speed (*more than doubled my download speed from 33Mbps to 68Mbps) with simultaneous dual band (2.5Ghz and 5Ghz).+ Excellent security settings, which are setup for you at installation. **NOT true - see update!***+ Whisper quiet.+ Lights can be turned OFF in NETGEAR Genie (Settings - Advanced - LED Control Settings) or have them blink, or remain solid - your choice!+ QoS settings make customizing your network a breeze for the things you do most whether they are gaming or streaming; by group or per device.+ Can set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access your network from anywhere.+ Lots of options for tweaking the setup, if you desire it.+ READYSHARE for printers or for network storage and back-up is a great feature.+ Guest network setup is optional.+ At a glance access to all the devices on your network by app or PC with NETGEAR Genie software.+Setup Wizard in 'Advanced' area of NETGEAR Genie works to effortlessly get you online.+ You can set up FTP storage.+ DLNA enabled for media server functionality; including iTunes library.+ USB 3.0 port for connecting external storage or media server.+ Ability to block specific sites or sites by keyword, in addition to Parental Control settings which are highly customizable.+ Ability to block services on a schedule.+ Ability to have WiFi turn off during scheduled times during the day or by entire days of the week.+ Ability to set up email alerts when devices on the network attempt to connect to specific sites.+ Ability to enable wireless repeater function.+ Ability to see traffic loads (upload/download) on your network.+ The router can be hung on a wall or sit on a desktop.+ Very cool to the touch, with excellent ventilation on the sides of the device.+ You can set password recovery questions when you reset your password from the default 'password' at start up.THE CONS:- It's HUGE, and the 'wingspan' with the three antennas attached makes it about the same footprint as a 15" laptop. (I have mine hanging on the wall with the cables coming out the top for easy access.)- Initial setup even with NETGEAR Genie did not go smoothly for me, and I'm an intermediate to advanced user. Small tweaks here and there in the NETGEAR Genie got all of my devices to play well together eventually though.- The price is hefty compared to other wireless routers for home use, but its features and speed are impressive.THINGS TO NOTE...Firmware updates must be made out of the box; Advanced - Administration - Router Updates and then 'Apply'. (You can get the latest prior to setting up your router and install it by finding the file on your computer, or let the router connect and obtain it.)There's an iOS app called 'Net Analyzer Lite' that I found to be very useful in identifying some of my devices by MAC address. This in addition to the NETGEAR Genie app are both free, and well worth the downloads.This is an impressive package both in terms of hardware and software. I'm very pleased with this purchase and I highly recommend it to those who want a feature-packed router with top notch speed and security settings. I think it would be ideal for a small business, multi-level or large home, or any sized home with lots of devices (10+) who are all competing for bandwidth.Highly recommend this one if you can afford it!UPDATE: 5/11/14 - I'm loving this router! Netflix flies through shows using 5Ghz and no buffering with a Roku 3. I can download an album to the Amazon Cloud in about 15 seconds and every web browser: Chrome, IE, Opera, Safari... loads pages faster. I'll be hooking up a Seagate USB 3.0 external drive with movies to use the DLNA feature and will update this review after that use.Overall, I can't say enough good things about this purchase.UPDATE: 5/17/14 - That 'love' was short lived and the 5 star rating was dropped to a '2' star based upon porn getting through and the limited ability to add blocked sites or keywords for added security. Paying this much for a router - it should have solid security as well as speed. 