Netgear Orbi WiFi Router Review; High Performance Tri-Band WiFi System

For big house owner, there always a problem with Wi-Fi signal strength as somewhere it shows 100 percent connectivity and somewhere it shows slow speeds or no connectivity. Above all, the situation becomes worse when you have everything connected to the internet like toasters, room heater, AC and others. To remain connected with all the devices in a home you need a rock solid internet connection and a complete Wi-Fi system that maintains uniform connectivity across all devices & places. To solve all your Wi-Fi problem, Netgear Orbi is here and the complete box is enough for 4000 square feet house.

For your information, the Netgear Orbi cost Rs. 28,999 and it is available on Amazon.in. The Netgear Orbi is a Tri-band mesh network which consists of a router and Satellite, resulting in uniform signal strength into every corner of your house. The Netgear Orbi router & satellite connected by a dedicated high-bandwidth Wi-Fi connection which offers impressive high speeds and uses a 5.0GHz wireless connection.

The Netgear Orbi has 4GB of RAM and 512MB of memory which is paired with six antennas, four Gigabit Ethernet ports, and one USB 2.0 port. Above all, it also supports implicit & explicit beamforming and MU-MIMO. All I can say, it’s the future of Wi-Fi.

Before I go into more detail, I would like to share the quick specifications of Netgear Orbi.

Netgear Orbi Specifications:

• Wi-Fi Spec: 802.11ac/Tri Band Router-Extender Kit
• Number of Antennas/Removable: 6/No
• Ports: Four 1Gbps LAN, USB 2.0, power
• Processor: Quad-core ARM 710MHz
• Memory/Storage: 512MB/4GB
• WiFi Chip: Qualcomm IPQ4019 and QCA9984 for backhaul control
• Peak 802.11ac Performance: 552.1Mbps
• Range: At least 150 feet, router only
• Size: 8.9- x 6.7- x 3.1-inches

As of now, you know the specifications, pricing, and where is available. Now you have purchased the device. It’s time to setup and gets started with using it.

Installation and Performance

The Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi system is easy to install like any other router. All you have to do is to plug the router and powered it up. After that power, it up, connect it to PC and type http://www.orbilogin.com into your web browser address bar to launch the setup wizard. The web setup wizard is easy to use and here you will find basic & advanced settings options. The homepage shows the tabs for basic & advanced settings, and also displays status information of internet, wireless, attached devices, and parental controls. Here, you get access to basic internet settings (Dynamic or Static IP, DNS, and MAC Address) and Wireless (SSID name and Security) settings and set up guest network in no time.

Once successfully connected to the Internet, you’ll be prompted with a message to set up the satellite which you can setup right now or skip for later. Now, you have to create a password and answer two security questions. After then, if you want to can change the router’s SSID name. You are ready to use the router and by any chance, if the firmware update is available (or not), just update it.

In case, if you want more control over your network, the advanced tab takes you to an advanced security section, where you can set up parental controls to block access to the website, restrict access to users, and get email alerts when someone tries to access a blocked website. In addition to this, you can also access Advanced Wireless settings which let you adjust transmit power, enable beamforming and MU-MIMO, use the router as an access point, and configure things like State Routing, VPN Service, and Port forwarding. There is a traffic meter includes in the advanced settings by which you can easily view the internet traffic statistics. If you want, you can also place limits on monthly upload and download capacities. When the traffic meter sees that the limit is reached its threshold, you can shut down internet access to all clients. You can also use Advanced settings to configure things like IPv6 tunneling, view system logs, and update the router’s firmware.

If you want to install the satellite, just place it at some distance away from the Orbi router, plugged it and wait for around 2 minutes to get synced with the router. During this sync, the light ring blinked white and magenta and then turned solid blue, indicating a good signal with the router.

After connecting it, experienced the same speed whether it’s the router or from the satellite and there is no signal loss.

For Wi-Fi clients, the Orbi supports the dual setup of the 802.11 ac Wi-Fi standard which means it has a top speed of 877Mbps on the 5.0GHz band and 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band.

Design and Features:

The Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi system comes with a router and one satellite; both of them are identical in appearance and are encased in a white, soft-touch enclosure that looks like a slightly squashed cylinder. On the dimensions front, both the router & satellite measures 8.8 * 6.7 * 3.1 inches (HWD).

The Netgear Orbi is a tri-band router with six internal antennas and it operates one network on the 2.4GHz band (offering speeds up to 400Mbps) while the other network operates on the 5GHz band (offering the maximum speed of 866Mbps). The third band is what separates the Orbi from others, there is a backhaul band which is pretty dedicated to communications between the router and the satellite. This a 5GHz band that can reach maximum speeds of 1,733Mbps. In the real world, it is impossible to see such high speeds but with Netgear Orbi you will be able to see high speeds even though there is protocol overhead or there is a distance from the router.

At the top of each component, there is a LED light ring. Talking about the router, the color on the ring is solid white at the time of booting up and it blinks amber when it loses its internet connection. It blinks blue and the magenta light indicates that you’ve reached your internet traffic threshold, and when the light is out, everything is working properly. At the back of the router, there are three Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a USB 2.0 port, and Sync, Power and Reset buttons.

Like a router, the satellite component also has a light ring that blinks white at the time of start and turns solid blue when the connection to the router is good, amber when it’s fair, and magenta when it loses its connection. On the back side of the satellite, you will find Gigabit LAN ports, Reset, Sync, and Power buttons, and a USB 2.0 port.

For your information, the satellite connects to the router and not to another satellite.

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