You’re paying a pretty sum of money each month for home internet services but the WiFi range is poor.
You get signal while in the study but not in the bedroom.
You’re on a Skype/VOIP call and the call drops while you walk out onto the patio.
Sound familiar?
Enter the Netgear Orbi.
The Orbi comes as set of two attractive looking white towers. One being the router and the other the satellite.
The Orbi router gets plugged into the existing router that supplies internet to your home. The satellite some distance away in an area where coverage has previously been a little weak.
This distance can’t bee too far but there are lights that flash different colors during setup to tell you if the range is OK.
Both of these units have very clever antenna arrangements for both 2.4 and 5Ghz. They seamlessly switch between them depending on various factors.
Both units transmit the same name (SSID) so that as you move about your home your phone/tablet/laptop etc. automatically switches between the units and at the correct frequency.
I have tested this system in a 3700 sq foot home with the router in the study near the front entrance to the house and the satellite unit the other end of the house, upstairs on the landing.
Another bonus is that both Orbi units have Ethernet ports built into them allowing you to hard-wire Ethernet enabled devices at either location.
The coverage is so good that I have now disabled WiFi on the main ISP router as it’s no longer needed.
Speed tests indicate maximum speed regardless of location in the home.
For those of you so inclined go to the main Orbi site for more technical details.