I Chose This Option For My Home WIFI Solution!
In a previous article, I wrote about what led me to the current WIFi 6 Orbi devices I purchased and the long road to get there.
Today I am pretty pleased to say this was an investment. I have no regrets. I experienced repeated cutouts, unrecognized satellites, unreliable speeds, and weak coverage with previous incarnations. I had been a supporter of Netgear, and it was for this reason I continued to stay within their offering of products until I found an option that worked. The Orbi units always come highly recommended, and I jumped at adding these to my home set-up.
For my home setup, I purchased the ORBI RBK-753, which consists of one router unit and two satellites. In addition to this package, I bought one additional satellite to ensure full home coverage. Was this entirely necessary? I was taking no chances!
It’s been several months, and these are my observations:
Appearance: The units are tall and a bit harder to hide than the previous Nighthawk (pictured) models I had. But they aren’t as boxy and are a little more eye-pleasing or ergonomic!
Increased speed- I have nearly Gig-speed (940mbps)as offered by Xfinity within my neighborhood. As expected, I do not get Gig-speed wirelessly, but it still comes in relatively high at 600 to 700mbps within the router room and in the 500 to 600 Mbps in the satellite rooms. A little bit less in the other rooms.
Coverage- As mentioned above, the speed is there throughout the house, but more importantly is the connection. I have not experienced any dead spots within my home, and I can say I get full 360-degree coverage around the exterior of my house as well. This becomes more apparent as I maintain a connection with my headphones throughout the cutting of my lawn.
Flexibility- Upgrading to the Orbi units also brought multiple ethernet ports (pictured) on the router and the satellites, unlike the Nighthawk units, which were limited to single ethernet ports on the satellites.
Reliability- This one was a must for me. I can’t tell you how frustrating my previous set-ups were. The application would show one satellite, then two, and then none. They would not maintain a signal, and it came to a head when I decided to upgrade. Upgrading is not always the right solution, but it proved beneficial in this case.
Ease of Setup: Set-up is pretty easy in the Orbi application, and I was well versed given my previous Netgear purchases. Scan the QR code, and you are in business! The satellites are easily recognized, and the application is pretty intuitive.
Firmware: Netgear does a pretty good job rolling out new firmware as needed. Since I purchased these, there have been a few updates, and firmware updates are easy to implement.
The Orbi application is pretty robust and can be used locally or through the cloud.
Conclusion: Overall, I am happy the Orbi system performs as intended, which was not the case in my previous endeavors. The satellites work, the system speed is reliable, and the coverage is complete. I think it is fair to say I am a satisfied customer.
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