j7n

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm glad I didn't get the ASUS router.  Seriously though, don't let that reflect on all their products.  


 
When I ordered mine there was no reviews on either because nobody could buy them yet.  But I had read reviews on previous routers they have released and they all state the same issues you do.
 
Get the Nighthawk.  It has none of those issues.  I just transferred > 100 GB of data across my network, to the touch the router is maybe 10 degrees hotter than ambient.  It's warm, nowhere near hot.  I do some pretty hardcore stuff across my network.  It's my business to know a good router.  The R7000 is the sickest wifi router I've ever used.  Plug it in and it does it's job... I've had netgear routers in the past that have had hundreds of days of uptime.  Router rebooting on you, eff that!  lol.  For me, I need 100% uptime.  Glad I didn't risk it with ASUS.
 
Back to the Nighthawk.  I like the white lights, I put mine in my bedroom and the lights don't bother me at night.  It actually makes a nice night light.  I also love the external hi-gain antenna. One negative, I think they should have a USB 3.0 on the back as well as the front, but that's minor.  It's also BIG but when you factor in what it does and how well it does it... it makes sense.
 
Performance is over 2x better than I was getting on a brand new linksys AC 1750.  I only tested AC on my mac mini which has USB 2.0 (limiting the adapter to 480 Mbps) using Amped Wireless ACA1 I see a stable 30 MB/s+ (240 Mbps+) using the built in wireless 20-30 MB/s (160-240 Mbps+) not as steady but still very nice.  With the linksys AC1750 that I tested while I waited for the Nighthawk I was only getting 11-16 MB/s (88-128 Mbps) under the exact same conditions.  The flow of data on the nighthawk is also nearly flat... the linksys was going up and down, fluctuating second by second.
 
 
You probably won't ever meet netgear's tech support... every netgear router I've ever owned since the 90's... I still own.  And they all still work.  I can't bear to part with them.