Netgear Launches New Orbi Dual Band Mesh Wi-Fi System for $230

[MacRumors]

Netgear today announced a new mesh router in the Orbi family of products, called the Orbi Dual Band Mesh Wi-Fi System. The new system consists of one router and one or more satellites, and is aimed at homes that measure up to 4,500 square feet (with two satellites).

The router and satellites all feature the same design, measuring 4.1 inches on all sides and 2.7 inches tall. As with other mesh systems, after users purchase the base router they can continue to add on satellites to boost the range of the network throughout the home.

The new router delivers Wi-Fi at speeds up to 1.2Gbps, supports MU-MIMO for simultaneous data streaming, includes two high performance internal antennas, and is powered by a quad-core 710MHz processor. Because it's a dual band router, it also supports 2.4GHz (400Mbps) and 5GHz (866Mbps) bands.

The Orbi Dual Band Mesh Wi-Fi System features Netgear Armor cybersecurity, which is built into the router and satellites to protect the user's mobile devices and computers. Netgear Armor features anti-virus, anti-malware, and data protection for an unlimited number of devices.

The system also includes Netgear's Circle parental controls, allowing parents to set age-appropriate settings for each family member, enable safe search, block certain ads, and more.

The parental control settings and other features are performed through Netgear's Orbi app on iOS and Android, including the device's setup process. In the app, users can perform speed tests, manage devices on their network, troubleshoot connectivity issues, and more.

The Orbi Dual Band Mesh Wi-Fi System is available to purchase today for $229.99, including one router and two satellites.

Article Link: Netgear Launches New Orbi Dual Band Mesh Wi-Fi System for $230

 

[stevie grant]

That is some bad Photoshop work right there.

 

[alexandr]

man, why did apple have to go and stop making routers?

 

[W2u7Yw4HaD]

Still not seeing wpa3 support on this thing...

 

[Agneev]

Why dual band? There should be a separate 5GHz band like the RBK50.

 

[HacKage]

man, why did apple have to go and stop making routers?

A modern day Airport Express that had Alexa (I was going to say Siri, but unfortunately it is still miles off the competition) like qualities and able to create a mesh Wi-Fi network around the home/small workplace would be amazing.

 

[tennisproha]

man, why did apple have to go and stop making routers?

Ubiquiti routers seem interesting. Especially since they’re targeted towards enterprise. But idk how good they are compared to these Netgear and Linksys.

I’ve been thinking about getting their consumer-targeted Amplifi but it just seems too constrained in features compared to the business-line Unifi.

 

[jcshas]

I would be more interested in this router if were tri-band.

 

[swm]

messing with network traffic - even with the goal of 'parental control' - is a pretty bad idea. there are countless way to hide stuff. on device content blocking is far superior. and look, iOS and macOS already has support for it..

 

[gcmexico]

does it support homekit?

 

[swm]

I would be more interested in this router if were tri-band.

sure, for a proper mesh you'll need high gain antennas for the radio that does the mesh part. but not possible at that price point. this one has it: https://mikrotik.com/product/audience , but each piece is $169

 

[Ballis]

Low price and most likely equally low performance. If you can afford a 4500 sqf home, you can probably also afford good wifi. This seems useless.

 

[avtella]

Advertising MU-MIMO on a two stream router makes no sense. Most clients are dual antenna and so to have two MU capable clients active in parallel in MU you’d need a minimum 4 stream / 4 antenna router otherwise they just operate in standard SU-MIMO like every other client.

 

[Strigoi]

As far as I can tell no Wifi6 right?

 

[djc6]

I'm super happy with tri-band Netgear Orbi RBK53 kit I picked up at Costco three years ago. I never think about it or mess with it, everything seems to work.

 

[zorinlynx]

Low price and most likely equally low performance. If you can afford a 4500 sqf home, you can probably also afford good wifi. This seems useless.

Yeah, there's a point where it's worth paying someone a few hundred bucks to run cat6 network cable to the most optimal spots in your home to set up wired access points there. If you have something like 4500sqft you're already well past that point.

Once the wiring is in place it's forever. You can power the access points using Power over Ethernet, so no need for electrical outlets near them. You have dedicated bandwidth to each access point. You can keep upgrading the access points as tech improves.

Not to mention, while the guy is installing cable, might as well have him run network drops to your entertainment center and home office, so you can put that stuff on the wired network. The more stuff on your wired network, the better wireless will perform too.

 

[SuperMatt]

I would be more interested in this router if were tri-band.

Netgear sells Orbi tri-band solutions. I think this is a new "budget" offering for them.

 

[luckysob]

One local Ethernet port is not going to me off my old Airport Extreme. I would a switch in addition to this device to approach the utility of my current base station.

 

[LeeTom]

Where are the HomeKit enabled routers that Apple mentioned in June?

 

[coachgq]

I have 2 AirPort Extremes and 2 airport express devices in my house. I guess it’s not a true mesh, but I pay for 175 down from xfinity. I routinely get 150 near the extremes and 100 near the express.

 

[44267547]

As far as I can tell no Wifi6 right?

I don’t believe so. I checked their ‘spec page’ and I didn’t see anything listed about WiFi 6 capability. I also reached found their community support page for further clarification.

Orbi RBK13 | WiFi System | NETGEAR Support

Find support for your Orbi RBK13 wifi system including setup guides, troubleshooting articles, the latest firmware updates and much more. Visit our NETGEAR Support site today.

www.netgear.com

 

[randomplaydo]

"Up to 1.2Gbps" - ok that's nice. What's it ACTUALLY going to produce in real life? 150Mbps? 250?

 

[scottct1]

No Wifi 6?

Why buy a new router with old technology?

 

[MallardDuck]

"Up to 1.2Gbps" - ok that's nice. What's it ACTUALLY going to produce in real life? 150Mbps? 250?

maybe I'm dense but if 5ghz only goes up to 866mbps, how can the router provide up to 1.2gbps? Or is that aggregate across all devices connected at once?
[automerge]1571070704[/automerge]

No Wifi 6?

Why buy a new router with old technology?

and wifi6 isn't fully baked yet. Since ap's tend to be long term purchases, I'd wait for gen2 at least. Besides, wifi6 is more about congestion than performance.

 

[calzon65]

There is no doubt that WiFi is ubiquitous, but keep an eye out for CBRS based public/private LTE in the coming months/years. WiFi is TERRIBLE at power management, it is always "yelling" (i.e., full power) even if you are close to a base station. LTE is much more power (battery) friendly.

In the coming years, you are going to see more devices (phones, tablets, etc.) support CBRS / LTE bands on the recently inaugurated CBRS frequencies, recently approved by the FCC. Apple's newest iPhone 11 finally supports the new CBRS / LTE band 48, Samsung already had a head start on Apple supporting band 48.

I realize LTE band 48 might not mean a lot to most folks, but it's a huge step forward. Apple, Samsung, etc., would love to find a way to eliminate WiFi from their phones (less antenna, less space for transceivers, more efficient LTE battery consumption, etc.), but alas, WiFi is very very popular and won't go down without a fight … but remember the analog audio port … Apple (even Samsung) eventually got rid of it.

I concede it may take many years before CBRS / LTE becomes more popular than WiFi, if ever, but imagine putting an LTE hotspot in your home versus a WiFi hotspot ... that is where all this could be headed.