Tuesday, September 19th 2023
Netgear Brings WiFi 7 to Its Flagship Orbi Family, Unleashing Elite Connectivity at US$2,300
NETGEAR, Inc., the leading provider of award-winning connected products designed to simplify and improve people's lives, today took its award-winning Orbi line to new heights with a powerful new antenna design and exclusive, patented technology that enhance the benefits of WiFi 7. Born of over 25 years of NETGEAR pioneering WiFi expertise, the Orbi 970 Series delivers unparalleled performance, speeds of up to 27 Gbps, a slim, elegant design and high-performance antennas for 360-degree coverage across just about any home, no matter the layout.
With the rise of faster multi-gig internet speeds now available to more households, the growing number of connected devices per family and the ever-increasing growth of bandwidth-intensive applications such as 4K/8K video streaming, HD Zoom calls, graphics-focused work, highly interactive real-time gaming and immersive AR/VR entertainment, the need for faster WiFi speeds, lower latency and more capacity becomes imperative. Enter WiFi 7. While WiFi 6E opened the 6 GHz band as a superhighway for the latest, fastest devices, WiFi 7 builds on that promise by expanding the channels to 320 MHz and unleashing unprecedented speeds and performance. The Orbi 970 Series maximizes the potential of the new standard with innovative, new technology that ensures the benefits are delivered throughout the home, from the front door to the backyard, across all devices simultaneously.
Unmatched speeds, ready for the future
Orbi's exclusive, patented Quad-Band technology and unique Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul ensure WiFi stays fast across all devices. Setting Orbi apart from competitors, NETGEAR configures multi-link operation (MLO), a feature of WiFi 7, to create Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul which combines a dedicated 5 GHz band with a 6 GHz band to double the connection speed between the router and satellites and achieve 10 Gig wireless backhaul for reduced latency, and data delivery with maximum speed. The system's Smart Connect feature also intelligently selects the fastest WiFi band for each connected device.
The router features a 10 Gig internet port as well as one 10 Gig and four 2.5 Gig Ethernet ports, to achieve the fastest speeds available today. The new, elegant, cylindrical bodies of the routers and satellites are purposefully designed for optimal performance while gracing the home with their slim profile and smaller overall footprint to fit unobtrusively on a desk, entertainment unit or shelf. They feature 12 high-performance internal antennas with high-powered amplifiers for 360-degree, wall to wall, front to back coverage.
"The Orbi 970 Series is another major milestone in delivering the extraordinary power of our patented Quad Band technology across the whole home - from the wine cellar to the game room to the backyard grill - with speeds up to 2.4x faster than WiFi 6," said David Henry, president & GM of Connected Home Products and Services at NETGEAR. "We've combined our extensive RF (radio frequency) expertise and new patented technology with the features of WiFi 7 to provide the fastest WiFi speeds, ensuring anything and everything connected to the Orbi 970 system operates at optimal performance even across the most demanding smart homes."
Valuable Services
The kit comes with one year of NETGEAR Armor Powered by Bitdefender 2, providing an automatic shield of security for connected devices. Unlike traditional endpoint antivirus products, Armor is built into the router as an all-in-one security solution to monitor activity going to and from the internet, protecting computers, security cameras, baby monitors and other IoT devices on the network and flagging external threats and nefarious outbound activities from IoT devices while eliminating the need for multiple security subscriptions or software.
Orbi 970 Series also comes with NETGEAR Smart Parental Controls to easily manage kids' time online across their connected devices and promote good online habits for the family. Basic features are available free of charge. A subscription fee applies for a Premium Plan after a 30-day trial.
The NETGEAR Orbi app also enables convenient setup of the router and satellites, and access to the router features for network management from anywhere - at home or afar.
Need more coverage, look no further
The new Orbi 970 Series mesh system (3 pack) covers up to 10,000 square feet - 10 percent more than the Orbi 960 Series --and supports up to 200 devices. To extend coverage, extra satellite(s) can be added. Each add-on satellite increases the coverage of an existing Orbi 970 system by up to 3,300 square feet and each has one 10 Gig and two 2.5 Gig Ethernet ports to unlock unbeatable speed and reliability on more wired devices, making true multi-gig WiFi a reality.
Technical Specifications:
The NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series is available now in classic white on NETGEAR.com and at other major retailers subsequently. The Orbi black limited edition is available exclusively on NETGEAR.com.
Source:
Netgear
With the rise of faster multi-gig internet speeds now available to more households, the growing number of connected devices per family and the ever-increasing growth of bandwidth-intensive applications such as 4K/8K video streaming, HD Zoom calls, graphics-focused work, highly interactive real-time gaming and immersive AR/VR entertainment, the need for faster WiFi speeds, lower latency and more capacity becomes imperative. Enter WiFi 7. While WiFi 6E opened the 6 GHz band as a superhighway for the latest, fastest devices, WiFi 7 builds on that promise by expanding the channels to 320 MHz and unleashing unprecedented speeds and performance. The Orbi 970 Series maximizes the potential of the new standard with innovative, new technology that ensures the benefits are delivered throughout the home, from the front door to the backyard, across all devices simultaneously.
Orbi's exclusive, patented Quad-Band technology and unique Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul ensure WiFi stays fast across all devices. Setting Orbi apart from competitors, NETGEAR configures multi-link operation (MLO), a feature of WiFi 7, to create Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul which combines a dedicated 5 GHz band with a 6 GHz band to double the connection speed between the router and satellites and achieve 10 Gig wireless backhaul for reduced latency, and data delivery with maximum speed. The system's Smart Connect feature also intelligently selects the fastest WiFi band for each connected device.
The router features a 10 Gig internet port as well as one 10 Gig and four 2.5 Gig Ethernet ports, to achieve the fastest speeds available today. The new, elegant, cylindrical bodies of the routers and satellites are purposefully designed for optimal performance while gracing the home with their slim profile and smaller overall footprint to fit unobtrusively on a desk, entertainment unit or shelf. They feature 12 high-performance internal antennas with high-powered amplifiers for 360-degree, wall to wall, front to back coverage.
"The Orbi 970 Series is another major milestone in delivering the extraordinary power of our patented Quad Band technology across the whole home - from the wine cellar to the game room to the backyard grill - with speeds up to 2.4x faster than WiFi 6," said David Henry, president & GM of Connected Home Products and Services at NETGEAR. "We've combined our extensive RF (radio frequency) expertise and new patented technology with the features of WiFi 7 to provide the fastest WiFi speeds, ensuring anything and everything connected to the Orbi 970 system operates at optimal performance even across the most demanding smart homes."
Valuable Services
The kit comes with one year of NETGEAR Armor Powered by Bitdefender 2, providing an automatic shield of security for connected devices. Unlike traditional endpoint antivirus products, Armor is built into the router as an all-in-one security solution to monitor activity going to and from the internet, protecting computers, security cameras, baby monitors and other IoT devices on the network and flagging external threats and nefarious outbound activities from IoT devices while eliminating the need for multiple security subscriptions or software.
Orbi 970 Series also comes with NETGEAR Smart Parental Controls to easily manage kids' time online across their connected devices and promote good online habits for the family. Basic features are available free of charge. A subscription fee applies for a Premium Plan after a 30-day trial.
The NETGEAR Orbi app also enables convenient setup of the router and satellites, and access to the router features for network management from anywhere - at home or afar.
Need more coverage, look no further
The new Orbi 970 Series mesh system (3 pack) covers up to 10,000 square feet - 10 percent more than the Orbi 960 Series --and supports up to 200 devices. To extend coverage, extra satellite(s) can be added. Each add-on satellite increases the coverage of an existing Orbi 970 system by up to 3,300 square feet and each has one 10 Gig and two 2.5 Gig Ethernet ports to unlock unbeatable speed and reliability on more wired devices, making true multi-gig WiFi a reality.
Technical Specifications:
- 320 MHz high-capacity channels - New, ultrawide bandwidth means up to 2.4x the speed to connected devices and is fully backward compatible with older WiFi devices. WiFi 7 smartphones and laptops can get up to 5 Gbps.
- 4K QAM - Increases speeds for users by more efficient usage of the available bandwidth.
- Preamble Puncturing - Enables a wider channel than would otherwise be available in areas of high interference.
- Multi-link Operation - Uses multiple WiFi bands at once, for both backhaul and fronthaul to improve network reliability, reduce latency, and ensure data is delivered with maximum speed.
- Enhanced Dedicated Backhaul - Leverages multi-link operation (MLO), to combine dedicated 5 GHz with a 6 GHz band to get 10 Gig wireless backhaul speed between router and satellites.
- Multi-Gig Speeds with 10GbE Internet Port - Use the 10 Gig internet port for cable and fiber plans up to 10 Gbps. Compatible with any internet service provider.
- 10GbE LAN Ports - Option to use 10Gig wired connection between the router and satellites.
- More Capacity for Data-Intense Activities - Connect up to 200 devices, such as security cameras, smart home devices, and speakers, while enjoying smooth 4K/8K video streaming, ultra-responsive online gaming, AR/VR entertainment, and uninterrupted UHD video conferencing.
- More Multi-gig Wired ports on Router and Satellites - Plug in wired devices to improve performance via a 10 Gbps and four 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports.
- Wi-Fi 7 Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platform - Delivers uncompromising WiFi 7 performance for today's hyper-connected homes.
The NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series is available now in classic white on NETGEAR.com and at other major retailers subsequently. The Orbi black limited edition is available exclusively on NETGEAR.com.
- RBE973S: Router and 2 Satellites - 3 pack, $2299.99 MSRP
- RBE972S: Router and 1 Satellite - 2 pack, $1699.99 MSRP
- RBS970: Add-on Satellite, $899.99 MSRP
46 Comments on Netgear Brings WiFi 7 to Its Flagship Orbi Family, Unleashing Elite Connectivity at US$2,300
That said, I wouldn't buy this either, as it's simply too expensive for what it is.
The thing is that you don't need to "mesh" with this, since you can use the wireless as backhaul and use the satelites as APs. Even so, the price is all kinds of wrong.27 Gbps is combined over all the radios, it's a stupid marketing trick. You should be able to get around 2 Gbps using WiFi 7 with a 2x2 client.
I had to re-do some wiring in our house in Taiwan as the previous owner had messed up some of the wiring and it wasn't clear where other parts terminated, but without having wired Ethernet between the floors, I wouldn't have any WiFi either, as the signal from the ground floor wouldn't reach the second floor, nor the signal from the second to the the third floor due to thick concrete floors and steel reinforcement.
The flat we rented in London over eight years ago had a small patch panel in the utility cupboard and Ethernet jacks in all rooms except the bathrooms.
My tiny two room rental in Sweden has the same.
So no, most people aren't actually running wires, they just take advantage of what's already there.
Sadly, many people still don't know how to configure a managed switch or a router, so a plug-and-pray solutions still have a place under the sun, as sad as it is.
I pity the fools who renovate their houses and and they don't re-cable properly.
If you can configure routing, firewalls, VPN, and so on, then you'd need very little effort to learn some L2(+) stuff.
More things like subnets that I'm not familiar with.
Only MikroTik have some VLAN implementations that are not for the faintest of hearts. :D
Been playing around with VPN stuff for a few years, mainly to get remote access to my OMV NAS.
All new-ish homes in Sweden have Ethernet in most rooms, since the construction companies don't want to assume where you want to place your router etc. Most homes in built up areas have access to Gigabit or faster internet access as well.
I'm not sure why you'd need it in Japan, as most people live in tiny flats. I'm surprised it's not common in Korea, as they have really fast internet and don't live as cramped as the Japanese.
A high-power 2.4 GHz router would be nasty there.
Put how most routers always select the lowest channel (for obvious reasons) in the mix, and you can easily see 20 or more APs in the low band of the spectrum. And that is even with the strict EIRP requirements.
A few coats of RF attenuating paint is always a good option. It also increases the multipath propagation and makes MIMO gains possible.
I don't even want to hear about 6GHz because of its adverse effects on the health of many living things, humans incl.
Thankfully, it attenuates well, so even your neighbors' 6GHz won't be a problem for the others.
It will be long before most people adopt the latest technologies where stations and clients respect the medium if others are transmitting.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5_GHz_(802.11a/h/n/ac/ax)That's not really the case any more. I can't manually set the channel on my internet providers router that came with the place and I presume neither can anyone else in this building. That said, I barely see my neighbours WiFi signals, even on the 2.4 GHz band, due to how these flats are built.Depends, the ISPs here appear to be pushing for people using at least semi-modern gear after a couple of big whoopsies a few years ago with hardcoded ISP backdoors into the routers they provided.And it is in many countries.
Yes, most people use WiFi, but not because it's better, simply because they've bought the marketing, hook, line and sinker for WiFi and they believe it's the best thing since sliced bread.
Also, most consumers don't use desktops anymore, so wired doesn't matter for many, unless they do local backups of their computers and devices.
That's been impossible in all the three places I've lived in for the past 10 years, as it's either been in a utility cupboard full of ventilation stuff, not even possible to keep the router in there, or in the hallway next to the electrical stuff.
www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/intel-and-broadcom-achieve-major-wi-fi-7-industry-milestone.298691/