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Netgear’s new Wi-Fi 6E router costs $1,500 — wait, what?

Netgear's new Wi-Fi 6E router costs $one,500 — look, what?

Orbi Quad-Band WiFi 6E is a $1,499 mesh router
(Image credit: Netgear)

The abode networking category is no stranger to big numbers and impressive claims, but the new Netgear Orbi Quad-Band Mesh WiFi 6E mesh system may take you doing a double take, thank you to its $i,499.99 price tag. That'southward more twice what you lot'll pay for the already-impressive Orbi Wi-Fi half-dozen (RBK852), one of the best mesh networking kits y'all can buy.

For a three-pack mesh organisation, what on world could justify paying $500 per unit? Merely the most impressive specs and promised performance we've ever seen. Permit'south run down the highlight list.

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The newest Orbi isn't the beginning Wi-Fi 6E mesh router to striking the market (though it's one of the primeval to arrive), but it is the start quad-band mesh router we've seen, and the starting time to offer that combination of both in a mesh system.

Wi-Fi 6E, for those who don't feverishly follow every technical change in router applied science, is a major step up from the already speedy Wi-Fi 6 standard, adding a new 6GHz transmission band to the two.5 GHz and 5GHz bands already in mutual usage. (Check out our article What is Wi-Fi 6E: Routers, devices and how it's meliorate than Wi-Fi 6 to learn more.) It's the aforementioned standard used by the award-winning Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500, but in a multi-device mesh system for bigger homes.

Unlike those mutual slices of spectrum, the 6GHz ring is virtually unused in consumer products, so it's non but an actress lane on a crowded route — it'south a 4-lane highway, and 6E-equipped devices have it all to themselves. Congestion is non-real, specially in crowded environments, like apartment complexes and cities.

The quad-band designation is simply as important. Where most mesh systems use one or ii wireless bands, the new quad-band Orbi uses three for users — 2.4, v and 6GHz — with a fourth 5GHz ring dedicated for sharing data between the router and satellite units for an AXE1100 rating. This backhaul channel eliminates the bottlenecks encountered when moving information between devices, ensuring that you get the best speeds for your devices, no affair where y'all are in your habitation.

Netgear Orbi WiFi 6e (RBKE963)

(Image credit: Netgear)

Netgear steps that up further with 12 internal antennas, supporting upwards to xvi simultaneous Wi-Fi streams, meaning that this mesh kit will be able to keep up, even when y'all have a business firm full of guests all trying to get online. For a household full of devices that connect and stream, information technology'southward the answer to today's increased bandwidth demands, easily supporting Tv set streaming, gaming, video conversation and content uploading without slowing annihilation downwards.

The rest of the Orbi Quad-Band Mesh WiFi 6E RBKE960 serial spec list only emphasizes the supreme capabilities offered past the new mesh system. The Orbi tin can handle up to 10.8 Gigabits per second, and covers upwardly to 9,000 square feet with the standard iii-pack of devices. The main unit of measurement can conform an impressive x Gigabit WAN, and every unit has a 2.v Gigabit port, also as multiple Gigabit Ethernet connections for connecting PCs, game consoles, and whatsoever other wired device at height speeds.

Netgear so adds its Smart Parental Controls and Armor security, forth with piece of cake set-up and direction through the Orbi App.

Netgear Orbi WiFi 6e (RBKE963)

(Prototype credit: Netgear)

The new Orbi even comes in black, if you lot want something different from the dozens of white networking devices on the market. The black edition of the Orbi Quad-band WiFi 6E is a limited edition, and offered but through the Netgear website, but doesn't price any more than the standard white model.

The Orbi Quad-band 6e mesh kit sells as a three-pack (one main router with two satellite units) for $1,499.99 (£1,499 / €1,699). The standard 3 pack (model number RBKE963) and the express edition blackness version (model number RBKE963B) both sell for $1,499 through Netgear.com, and the white model will be coming to major retailers later this month. A smaller two-pack (ane main router with one satellite unit) will be selling for $1,099 and unmarried addition satellite units (model RBSE960) will sell for $599 each.

But the real question is whether anyone even needs this level of functioning. And for most people, the answer is no. Gigabit speeds are usually the fastest available to most broadband customers, and the biggest do good from Wi-Fi 6E volition come from Wi-Fi 6E-equipped devices, which are still few and far between. That all translates into unused capability, finer serving as a really, really good Wi-Fi half-dozen mesh kit for nearly users and devices.

Is that worth the extra $1,000 or so you'll pay for this quad-band behemoth? Not at present, but perhaps in a year or ii. Every bit information-intensive uses like 8K streaming, online gaming and the ever growing demands of online life grow chop-chop, it won't exist long before this sort of performance goes from overkill to essential, making this a slap-up (if expensive) way to futurity-proof your abode network.

We'll be reviewing the new Orbi quad-band Wi-Fi 6e mesh system in the coming weeks, then keep an centre out for our in-depth evaluation.

Brian Westover is an Editor at Tom'south Guide, covering everything from TVs to the latest PCs. Prior to joining Tom'south Guide, he wrote for TopTenReviews and PCMag.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/netgears-new-wi-fi-6e-router-costs-dollar1500-wait-what

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