Introduction

So here I am, having moved out of the US after spending what seems like an eternity in Taiwan before finally moving to my new home in Europe for the time being. As it turns out, things are different here! Broadband internet connectivity can vary from country to country, but generally is far superior to the USA in terms of options, pricing, and bandwidth caps. Yet there remain issues in fiber connectivity to a lot of places; options are still limited in speed and stability even for a wired connection. The other improvement is with mobile networks, and when I started looking at this further, I realized that I was for once in a situation where mobile broadband for the home was a viable consideration. NETGEAR clearly thought the same with a portfolio of such products available for the consumer. Today, we take a look at another of their Orbi WiFi routers, but this time it is not a WiFi system and allows for 4G LTE connectivity as well.


An Orbi router by itself rather than a system of router and satellite units seems almost blasphemous, but there is good reason for it. The NETGEAR Orbi LBR20 is their current flagship performance router for mobile broadband connectivity, with no 5G option at this time. The other options from the company are mobile hot spots, of which we will look at one separately in detail soon, and a standalone WiFi 6 LTE Nighthawk router that has lower throughput compared to this. The LBR20 does retain the option to pair with satellite units (purchased separately) for further coverage expansion as needed, but this review covers the individual unit, beginning with a look at the specifications in the table below.

Specifications