NETGEAR Orbi Desktop Setup and Configuration

NETGEAR tries to get you to use the Orbi mobile app instead, which is admittedly a more user-friendly approach as you simply install the app and scan the QR code on the router to get going. I went this route with the NETGEAR Insight app and Orbi Pro last time around, and thus chose the old-fashioned way instead. Simply log into the generated WiFi network using the default credentials and head over to 192.168.1.1 or 10.0.1.1 depending on the connection, or Orbilogin.com, in the browser of your choice. Here too the push towards the app is apparent, but there is still an option to proceed at the bottom.


The first part of setting up the Orbi RBK853 is to get a successful internet connection, which means you need to at least also have the router plugged in and connected to your modem or gateway device via Ethernet. The GIF above shows the steps involved, which is primarily done by NETGEAR without much input from your side. Do go through the EULA if you have the time, although I know no one will read it before agreeing to it anyway.


Whether or not you have an Orbi system with satellites or simply the router, the setup wizard offers adding any compatible Orbi satellites in the vicinity. It only takes a few seconds to get both satellites recognized provided they are powered on and within the network generated by the router, and you then configure both the admin panel login credentials and those for the network SSID, which should preferably be different from those NETGEAR used by default.


The admin panel opens up in landscape mode and first does a firmware check on all three devices, which can be skipped as seen above. I heavily encourage you to update the firmware of your networking solutions whenever there is one, but perhaps do ensure public response has been fine given more than a few instances recently across such products where a broken firmware release went out and made things worse. I did have a pending update, which was applied successfully before the units rebooted and the admin panel went about its way advertising other NETGEAR software add-ons.


It's just part of business, but I am not a fan of how aggressive NETGEAR gets with what are essentially ads. A banner ad about NETGEAR Armour and Smart Parental Controls, both subscription services, remains after all the pop-ups are gone. On the plus side, you do not need to register the product or have a NETGEAR account to use the admin panel in the browser, which is more than I can say about the mobile app. The admin panel is simple enough in design, using a good chunk of the real estate on the browser tab and scaling well with high DPI displays.

There are two menus of options here, with the first being a simpler, basic set relative to the aptly-named Advanced set. The video above goes through the functionality of the browser-based control panel, which is on par with the previous few times I've used a NETGEAR Orbi product. It is exhaustive for the vast majority of end users, who will not bother going through all these, even assuming they step away from the mobile app. Note that a few of the functions are tied to subscription plans, be it from NETGEAR or separately, as with the case of a VPN and parental controls mentioned above.