Here is our review of the Netgear Orbi Tri-band WiFi 6 Mesh System (RBK763S).
Upgrade to blazing-fast 5.4Gbps of WiFi 6 on up to 75 devices simultaneously across more space: 7 rooms or up to 6,000 sq. ft. The RBK763S includes a dedicated connection for instant router-satellite communication so WiFi speed stays fast as more devices connected, and 7 Gigabit ports to give your most demanding tech products their own wired connection. Keep your family and your connected devices safe from online threats with 1 year of NETGEAR Armor all-in-one internet security.
Features
- Ultimate Performance Whole Home Mesh WiFi System–Covers large homes up to 6,000 sq. ft with fast WiFi. System includes a WiFi router and two satellites.
- Powerful AX Mesh WiFi System– Keeps all your connections strong in every room, all the time. Enjoy 4K/8K UHD streaming and online gaming to multiple screens simultaneously without interruption.
- WiFi 6 Brings Capacity Beyond Belief – Latest generation WiFi 6 technology is faster than ever, with 4X increased capacity compared to a WiFi 5 (802.11ac) system. From 1 to 75 devices, WiFi 6 supports your devices’ connections for today and tomorrow.
- Seamless and Consistent Mesh WiFi Coverage- From front door to backyard and in every corner of your home. A dedicated quad-stream WiFi 6 backhaul allows up to four data streams on each band.
- Built for the Gigabit Internet Speeds Everywhere – Innovative Tri-band WiFi helps maximise the internet speeds available in your home to every device.
- Multi-Gigabit Internet Speeds Ready – 2.5Gbps Ethernet port support multigigabit Internet speeds available from service providers. Or use port aggregation to combine two Gigabit Ethernet (LAN and WAN) ports for multi-Gigabit speeds.
- NETGEAR Armor – Best-in-class anti-virus and data theft protection for all of your smartphones and computers. Protects your connected home from internet threats.
- Easy to Set Up and Use – Simple setup and WiFi management with the Orbi app. Create a guest network, view connected devices, and perform speed tests.
- Connect More Wired Devices – 2 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports on each satellite, and 3 on the router, support home offices or home entertainment areas.
- Works with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant so you can use voice commands to control your home WiFi network.
What’s in the box?
The box contains the Orbi router (RBR760), 2 satellites (RBS760), power supplies, and Ethernet cable and a quick start guide.
A Closer Look
Placing the Orbi Satellites
Once you have your Orbi router and network configured just how you want it the next step is to place your satellite, or satellites where you want them. Once you have them physically located where you want them it’s just a case of clicking on Add Orbi Satellite from the menu and following the on-screen instructions.
Once the process is complete you will be able to see them listed on the Attached Devices page.
Then all you need to do is connect up your devices to your Orbi network and away you go.
Final Thoughts
Setting up the router is relatively straightforward and fairly quick – just follow each of the steps and you should be up and running in no time.
One of the steps during the setup is a firmware check – make sure that you upgrade to the latest version of the firmware otherwise you might run into some problems.
You can choose to have your satellite or satellites connect to the router, or each other via WiFi – which depending on your walls and room layouts might work perfectly well, or if you have a wired connection near where you want the satellites you should connect the satellites to it. This then connects each satellite to the router using the Ethernet backhaul process which ensures you get the maximum possible speed from each satellite otherwise you will be limited to whatever speed the satellites will get when connecting either to the router or to each other. I noticed a significant speed and reliability increase when connecting the satellites to the router via Ethernet.
Then all you have to do is make any configuration settings you want and have your devices connect to the Orbi network and that’s it. Each satellite, along with the router also has Ethernet ports on the back so if you have devices that need a wired connection you can easily utilise those.
There are a lot of different configuration settings you can make – so do take the time to go through them all before you start connecting your devices as the web front end provides a lot of useful information as well.
The overall coverage you get with the Orbi is really great – and walking around where you do have coverage with your device provides a seamless constant connection. Speed wise I found the connection to be excellent when the satellites were connected to the router via Ethernet, and between very good and good when connected via Wi-Fi, although to be fair the was because of my particular setup, so make sure you do your own testing, but if you can use Ethernet for the satellite to router connections you won’t be disappointed.
If you are looking for the fastest and easiest way to setup and use WiFi 6 Mesh system for your home (or office) then look no further than the Orbi Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6, it’s fantastic!
The Netgear Orbi Tri-band WiFi 6 Mesh System (RBK763S) is available now priced around £599.99 (at the time of writing this review it was available for £479.99. Additional satellites can be purchased and added to your system as you need them.
