Amber Neely
Netgear expands its Orbi line with new dual-band Mesh WiFi system, designed to provide reliable and customizable Wi-Fi coverage to large homes.
The new Orbi Dual-Band Mesh WiFi System consists of one router and two satellites. The system is designed to provide reliable WiFi for streaming and gaming to homes that are 3,000 square feet or larger.
Orbi Dual-Band Mesh WiFi System utilizes a single WiFi network name, which eliminates disconnecting and allows for continuous streaming while moving throughout the home. The system can deliver combined speeds of up to 1.2 gigabits per second. The Orbi's sleek, modern design blends subtly within a home's decor. Slip a satellite into a bookshelf, counter, or entertainment center and provide WiFi to areas that previously had poor WiFi coverage.
Setup is easy and can be done within a few minutes from any iOS or Android mobile device. Orbi can be controlled with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to provide voice control for frequently used features, such as turning on or off guest WiFi.
The Orbi system comes with Netgear's Armor, a multi-layered cybersecurity designed to protect all your devices. It consists of anti-virus, anti-malware, and data protection for an unlimited number of features.
The system also includes Circle, Netgear's parental control solution. Users can set filters and assign them to individual users' profiles, with additional functionality giving parents the ability to customize settings for various apps, websites, ad blocking, and enabling safe search as a default.
The Orbi Mesh WiFi System includes one 1.2 gigabit per second router with two satellites for $229.99, and will soon be available to purchase from Staples.
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12 Comments
Curious how this system compares to Eero, which we invested in thanks to tech bloggers raving about it, but has been spotty in practice. Missing our Time Capsule, which produced a solid, stable WiFi signal.
Does this system support IEEE 802.11ax aka Wi-Fi 6?
The thing I like about Apple's Time Capsule is that the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks are as if combined into one. Every other wifi router I've tried keeps them separate. With the TC, I'm able to have my Epson printer and other 2.4 GHz devices not slow down my iPads and iPhones which are on the 5 GHz network, but I can still connect to those devices without having to reconnect onto the 2.4 GHz network. I'm still using the TC, but the new house I now in has thick, stone walls so the TC is sitting in the hallway. Not ideal but the only thing that works. I'd like to get a mesh WiFi network but I have a question. Do these mesh WiFi work like the TC does and allows me to have one account name for all devices (2.4 and 5 Ghz), yet keeping them on their own network? Or do you have to connect to the 2.4 GHz version of the network to do something like printing? Thanks.