Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review

Our Verdict

Netgear'due south Orbi RBKE963 is easily the fastest mesh-router system on the planet. It'due south likewise the nigh expensive mesh kit around and makes sense only for customers who have gigabit broadband connections and enormous homes.

For

• Best mesh performance of all routers
• Trial subscription for Netgear Armor security software
• Piece of cake-to-use app
• Splendid configuration options using browser

Confronting

• Incredibly expensive
• Insane specs would be overkill for most users
• Very big mesh-node devices
• Only 90 days of free tech back up

Tom'due south Guide Verdict

Netgear'due south Orbi RBKE963 is easily the fastest mesh-router system on the planet. It'south besides the most expensive mesh kit around and makes sense only for customers who have gigabit broadband connections and enormous homes.

Pros

• +

  Best mesh performance of all routers

• +

  Trial subscription for Netgear Armor security software

• +

  Piece of cake-to-apply app

• +

  Excellent configuration options using browser

Cons

• -

  Incredibly expensive

• -

  Insane specs would be overkill for almost users

• -

  Very large mesh-node devices

• -

  Only 90 days of free tech support

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6e (RBKE963): Specs

Wi-Fi specification:AX10800 (802.11ax, 10.8 Gbps throughput)
Number of antennas/removable:12/No
Router ports: 1 WAN/4 LAN
Satellite ports: four LAN, tin exist used to connect satellite to router with cabling
Processor/retentivity/storage: Quad-core two.2GHz/1GB/512MB
Wi-Fi flake:Qualcomm Networking Pro 1610
Superlative 802.11ax performance: 1.009 Gbps (at 15 feet)
Maximum range: 95 feet
Size:11.1 x 7.v x 3.0 inches
Estimated annual electricity cost: $64.00 (for router and two satellites)

Looking for the fastest domicile Wi-Fi mesh-router kit available? Netgear's Orbi RBKE963 breaks through the gigabit-per-second speed barrier, and the result is exceptional throughput that will attain all corners of an enormous home.

Consisting of a router and two satellites, the RBKE963 kit uses the latest Wi-Fi 6e (802.11ax) protocol along with a slew of speed-enhancing tricks to be more than plenty to fill fifty-fifty a tech billionaire'due south mansion with wireless data. By including Netgear's Armor security software equally a paid option, the Orbi RBKE963 also shows that running a network at top speed tin be condom.

A networking tour de forcefulness, the Orbi RBKE963's $1,499 cost tag is similarly stratospheric. Despite that price, it comes with just 90 days of costless tech support and a year of Armor security updates. Still, it's the best performing mesh arrangement effectually — if you can afford it.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review: Pricing and availability

The Orbi RBKE963 kit I looked at consisted of the RBRE960 host router and a pair of RBSE960 satellites that used the 2.iv, v- and vi-GHz Wi-Fi bands for sending information dorsum and forth. Together, the entire system tin can cover upward to nine,000 square feet, according to Netgear engineers — more three times the size of the boilerplate American home

The entire organisation sells for a whopping $1,500, which is more than the average monthly rent or mortgage payment in the U.Due south. An extra satellite to add roughly 3,000 square anxiety to the network's reach will set y'all dorsum some other $600 — the aforementioned price as Netgear's top Wi-Fi 6e gaming router

If all this sounds a little too rich for your blood, Netgear plans to shortly start selling a cheaper two-piece variant, the RBKE962, with a host router and a satellite that together will price $1,100 and cover 6,000 square anxiety.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review: Pattern

Netgear's designers, engineers and software writers accept brought mesh routing into the high-operation Wi-Fi 6e era with the Orbi RBKE963 kit. Both the router and the satellites have Orbi's distinctive rounded belfry shape but are huge at 11.ane x 7.v x 3.0 inches. That'due south 7 times the size of the Amazon Eero mesh devices, and twice as big as the already large Asus ZenWiFi AX XT8 mesh units.

(Image credit: Netgear)

In improver to the white (with chrome trim) colour scheme nosotros've come to expect from Orbi routers, the RBKE963 also comes in a limited-edition black edition.

In either color, these mesh units volition be hard to hibernate. They're probably as well large for a desktop, only  should easily fit on most shelves and can likewise be used as bookends. They cannot be wall-mounted right out of the box, but Netgear'due south RBKWM subclass ($23) allows them to be hung anywhere.

(Paradigm credit: Netgear)

Unlike some other routers and mesh systems, the Orbi Wi-Fi 6e units don't sparkle similar Christmas trees with a ton of blinking lights. Instead, in that location's simply one LED status strips at the bottom of each. When the status strip is blue, everything is good, with information flowing between the host and its satellites. But if the LED strip glows magenta, the unit has gone offline.

Nether the skin, the Orbi RBKE963 units are powered past Qualcomm's pinnacle-shelf Networking Pro 1610 chipset and a 2.2GHz quad cadre-processor. Both the base router and the satellites have 1GB of active retention and 512MB of storage infinite for firmware and settings.

The Orbi RBKE963 mesh system creates four private networks: ane in the ii.4-GHz band, two in the 5-GHz band (one of which is for "backhaul" data transmission among the units) and a tiptop-performing 6-GHz network. Each unit contains a dozen amplified antennas for the strongest possible signal.

The mesh set uses upwards-to-date 802.11ax technology and 4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) to push data to meridian speeds. In addition to beamforming to create signals to best connect with clients and MU-MIMO to feed data to many devices, the RBKE963 has better information-traffic management to streamline operations.

The Orbi RBRE960 router and RBSE960 satellites use the four Wi-Fi bands to motion 16 contained streams of data back and forth. Over its 2.4-GHz band, the system tin can move i.2 gigabits per 2nd (Gbps), while the pair of 5-GHz channels can deliver 2.four Gbps each.

The RBKE963'south vi-GHz band (the "e" in Wi-Fi 6e) adds another 4.8 Gbps of theoretical throughput. But due to the 6-Ghz band's limited range, this is just skilful for same-room or next-room uses. This all adds up to a theoretical throughput maximum of 10.8Gbps, a big step up from the Netgear Orbi RBK852's 6.0 Gbps.

The icing on the cake is the RBKE963's ability to tap into 7 ultra-wide 160-MHz channels in the 6-GHz ring. Notwithstanding, it lacks the power to aggregate two downstream wired Ethernet ports for summit speed.

Every bit is the case with other Orbi mesh systems, the RBKE963 uses one of its 5-Ghz channels for backhaul, moving data to and from the satellites and the base router. This leaves 8.4 Gbps of theoretical bandwidth bachelor for streaming data to client devices. However, you can run Cat 6 Ethernet cable between the devices to create a wired backhaul, freeing upwards that 2nd 5-Ghz wireless ring for your use.

(Paradigm credit: Netgear)

The mesh system'south ports are similarly performance-oriented but optimized for homes that have gigabit broadband service from their ISPs. The base router has a broadband input that tin accommodate up to a ten-Gbps data flow, plus 1 downstream 2.5-Gbps por, and iii 1-Gbps ports for connecting to wired devices such as scanners, printers or networked hard drives.

The satellites each have i ii.5-Gbps and three 1-Gbps output ports. Both types of devices have a recessed reset button, a device-sync button and identical Ac adapter ports.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review: Performance

The Orbi RBKE963 mesh system performed well in my 100-year-old home, easily filling the 3,500-square-foot construction with data. I used Ixia's IxChariot networking criterion to simulate 10 data-hungry users and a Samsung Milky way Book Pro to measure performance, and the Orbi RBKE963 outperformed all other mesh-router systems.

With xv feet (4.5 meters) separating the base router and the client device, the RBRE960 moved an average of ane.009 Gbps to the client, showing how much power a short-range vi-Ghz data ring can add.

That information transmission rate is a 12% increase over the Orbi RBK852's 883.6-Mbps maximum throughput. Others mesh systems trailed even farther behind, with throughputs of 820.3 Mbps (Arris Surfboard Max Pro) and 622.ane Mbps (TP-Link Deco X20).

As adept as it is, the Orbi RBKE963's available bandwidth was less than half that of its older and faster (and cheaper) cousin, the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500 gaming router. That model moved upwardly of 2.396 Gbps at xv feet.

As expected, the Orbi RBKE963'southward throughput dropped off rapidly with altitude every bit the 6-GHz band's range ran out and the ii.4- and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands took over. With l anxiety (15 meters) separating the Orbi RBKE963 and our test laptop, the router managed to move 190.5 Mbps. That'south 35% more than the Orbi RBK852'south 124.four Mbps, only well off the TP-Link Deco X20'southward 255.iv Mbps.

At 75 anxiety (23 meters), the RBKE963 delivered 93.four Mbps, right between the class-leading Deco X20'south 112.7 Mbps and the Orbi RBK852's 85.nine Mbps. The RBKE963 stayed online at 90 anxiety (27 meters), delivering 39.9 Mbps, and had a maximum line-of-sight range of 95 feet (29 meters). By contrast, the Orbi RBK852 had an 85-human foot (26-meter) range.

The Orbi RBKE963 came upwards short when sending a signal 25 feet (8 meters) and through a wall, with the Orbi RBKE963 delivering 547.9 Mbps. That's well backside the Orbi RBK852's 782.ix Mbps.

With the system'south satellite set upwardly in a floor above the host router and the receiving test arrangement ready 40 feet (12 meters) from the satellite on the same floor, the Orbi RBKE963 delivered 163.four Mbps. The Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) was the runaway winner in this test, delivering a throughput of 389.three Mbps, while the Orbi RBK852 lagged at 39.1 Mbps.

When I set up upwards the RBKE963'due south 2nd satellite a flooring below the base router, my test laptop received 410.0 Mbps at twoscore feet from the second satellite.

During a week of heavy use, the Orbi RBKE963 kept its absurd and never got above 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees centigrade). I used the mesh system to send and receive emails, watch 4K videos and catch some gaming feeds on Twitch.

(Image credit: Netgear)

The arrangement easily passed my network-saturation test, during which I watched 4K video on my iPad Pro equally a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 laptop played an cyberspace radio station and an HP Dragonfly laptop ran HD videos, all while a MacBook Air was swapping data with a networked RAID storage assortment. The video streams were flawless throughout, without whatsoever artifacts, skips or freeze-ups.

As it moved data dorsum and along, the base router consumed 17.4 watts of ability, while the satellites each used 13.four watts. If you pay the national average of 14 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, this adds up to $64 a year to breast-stroke your home in Wi-Fi data. This is more than twice the cost of running an Orbi RBK852 mesh organization, just the Orbi RBKE963 has an extra satellite and higher functioning.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi half dozen (RBK852) review: Setup

The organization's set-upwards process starts with downloading the Orbi mobile app for Android or iOS. The apps include ample illustrations of what to do during the setup process, but they display only in portrait mode and not in landscape, making them amend suited for phones than for tablets.

(Prototype credit: Tom'due south Guide)

After I installed the Orbi app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 phone, I plugged in the router and satellites. While they started up, I created an account with Netgear and agreed to the company's licensing and privacy policies.

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

The app found the router and satellites and I entered a new network proper noun, new access password and new administrative password. After I supplied the answers to two identity-claiming questions to be used in case I forgot the passwords, everything was set upward.

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

From first to finish, information technology took me 19 minutes and 40 seconds to fix the RBKE963, xl% longer than information technology took me to prepare upwards the Orbi RBK852 2-piece mesh kit. The RBKE963 yielded 192 Mbps out of my 200-Mbps broadband connection.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review: Configuration

Every bit with other Orbi products, the RBKE963 system can be configured and customized either through the Orbi app or by using a desktop browser on a reckoner connected to the Wi-Fi network. The former is easier to use and more visually oriented, but the latter offers more than options.

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

The Orbi app's Dashboard showed me how many satellites were online and possible configuration options for them. A grid layout listed Device Manager, which showed me the number of continued customer devices, and Security, which displayed the status of the Armor security software. The interface besides had links for checking the current network speed and bespeak strength and viewing a network map.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

If I clicked the home icon on the upper left of the dashboard, I would see links for adding another satellite, managing a Netgear account and checking for firmware updates. It institute it like shooting fish in a barrel to reboot the mesh arrangement using the Orbi app.

(Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

The Orbi RBKE963 system includes capable parental controls that can filter out inappropriate content and limit screen time. It took me nearly two minutes to set up that upwardly for a theoretical teenager. Like some of the other aspects of the Orbi RBKE963, the parental controls are only a trial offering; after the initial thirty days, the feature costs $70 a twelvemonth.

(Epitome credit: Tom'southward Guide)

Using a computer'southward spider web browser to admission the Orbi'southward administrative interface yielded a comprehensive primary screen that showed the system'south firmware version and provided an overview of the current system status.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I was able to adjust the CTS/RTS threshold and tweak the preamble to long or short to suit the local environment. I was able to fifty-fifty ready a countersign to secure the backhaul information.

(Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

Every bit mentioned above, I institute it easy to difficult-wire the satellites to the base router using True cat-half-dozen cabling. This should gratis upwardly the dedicated v-Ghz wireless backhaul channel for regular usage.

(Prototype credit: Tom'south Guide)

Smart-dwelling house-device owners tin can utilize the RBKE963's secure aqueduct to link to devices that work with the 2.4- or 5GHz bands. Just y'all won't exist able to create individual LANs for each ring.

(Paradigm credit: Tom'due south Guide)

The RBKE963 comes with a complimentary one-year subscription to Netgear's second-generation Armor security software. This provides router-based protection and unlimited device licenses for Bitdefender's Full Security software, which includes versions for PCs, Macs, Android devices, iPhones and iPads.

The Armor protection costs $99 a year subsequently  the one-year trial. That may seem like a lot, but the included Bitdefender software costs $120 per year on its own.

(Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

Nevertheless, the RBKE963'south one-year warranty and 90 days of free tech support seem skimpy, especially for such an expensive piece of hardware. Past comparison, Linksys offers three years of warranty coverage and gratuitous lifetime tech support with its Velop mesh products.

Calculation a two-yr warranty to the RBKE963 costs $forty, while calculation ii years of tech support raises that to $120. (Yous can buy Netgear products at Costco and get a year of complimentary tech support.) The good news is that the app lets you contact support directly either via an online chat or via a phone phone call.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Netgear'southward back up is among the all-time if you lot find yourself in a networking jam.

(Paradigm credit: Netgear)

In addition to total 24/seven support via electronic mail, telephone telephone call or chat window, there are a multitude of DIY options, including prepare-upwardly videos, FAQs and troubleshooting help.

Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E (RBKE963) review: Verdict

Netgear's Orbi RBKE963 goes to the head of the grade. This is the all-time-performing, virtually capable and most secure mesh organization available today. Combined with Netgear's Armor security software, the mesh network's quad-band pattern, dedicated five-GHz backhaul channel and Wi-Fi 6e capabilities add upwardly to fast and prophylactic internet utilize. The Orbi RBKE963 is what other mesh system wish they could exist — and its $1,500 price reflects that.

Because Netgear routers give you the choice of setup and administration using a connected browser or a smartphone app, the Orbi RBKE963 is among the easiest mesh systems to manage. Notwithstanding its units are big and hard to hide, information technology comes with only ninety days of gratis tech back up help and a one-year warranty, and information technology might be expensive overkill for anyone with less than gigabit broadband — or a less-than-gigantic  dwelling.

Despite its loftier cost and addition costs over time, this mesh kit is far and away the best system available today. If you can afford it, the Orbi RBKE963 can satisfy your need for speed.

Brian Nadel is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in applied science reporting and reviewing. He works out of the suburban New York City area and has covered topics from nuclear power plants and Wi-Fi routers to cars and tablets. The onetime editor-in-chief of Mobile Computing and Communications, Nadel is the recipient of the TransPacific Writing Honour.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/netgear-orbi-wifi-6e

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