Netgear Orbi WiFi 6E review: Setup and software features
Initial setup is carried out using the Orbi smartphone app. I tried the Android version and found the process very smooth: the app prompted me to use my phone’s camera to scan the QR code on the base of the Orbi router unit, then connect to its network using the default credentials as printed on the packaging. I was then invited to change the SSID and password to something more memorable. After a quick reboot, the whole mesh was up and running, with the remote stations automatically connecting to the base and picking up their settings.
You can then continue to use the app to monitor your network and perform everyday administrative tasks, such as turning the guest network on and off. I like the way it alerts you whenever an unrecognised device connects to your network, and I’m also a big fan of the built-in Wi-Fi analytics feature. This records signal strength as you wander around your home, helping you to ensure your satellite stations are in the best places, and also offers a frequency scanner to help you pick the best channels for your networks.
That change can’t actually be made in the app, mind you. For advanced configuration you need to switch to the Orbi’s fully featured web console. Here you can tweak your DHCP settings, set up port forwarding and activate an incoming VPN to allow secure remote access to your home network, although there’s no option to configure an external VPN to protect outbound traffic.
You can also enable multiple wireless networks. The main Orbi network combines 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz services under a single SSID, but you can choose to broadcast an additional 6GHz-only network with its own name and security settings, to ensure 6E-compatible clients are using the upper frequency band. There’s an isolated “IoT” network too, intended for smart home devices, and let’s not forget the guest network. In all, it’s an impressive degree of network segmentation, to an extent I’ve only previously seen on business-oriented hardware.
Finally, Netgear offers two optional modules. The Armor feature handles network security, blocking dodgy activity and scanning clients for vulnerabilities. It’s not exactly cheap: if you sign up in the Orbi app your first year of coverage is £34, but after that the standard rate is £85 per annum. However, that price includes a licence to install Netgear’s Bitdefender-powered security suite on any number of local clients, so for big deployments it could be good value.
There’s also an integrated parental control system. This lets you set per-device time limits, filter websites by category and track online usage – abilities that could equally be useful in a small office environment. You can try the service free for the first 30 days, after which it’s £7 a month or £30 for the first year, rising to £60 for subsequent renewals.
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Netgear Orbi WiFi 6E review: Performance
The Orbi WiFi 6E’s feature set may be strong, but its real selling point is performance. To test this, I set up the main Orbi router in my study and situated the two satellite nodes around my home as recommended by the app. I then carried a laptop to various parts of the house and measured file transfer speeds to and from a shared folder on an Intel NUC system, which was in turn connected to the Orbi router over a 2.5Gbits/sec Ethernet link.
Since almost all current client hardware will still be using the 5GHz band, I began by measuring performance using my usual HP laptop, equipped with an Intel AX200 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 card. Here are the speeds I saw:
The power of a three-station mesh system with a dedicated backhaul band is plain to see. The Orbi WiFi 6E’s download speeds were overall on a par with Netgear’s previous flagship Orbi, the Wi-Fi 6-equipped RBK852, and a step up from the two-node Asus system and the dual-band eero.
As usual, upload rates were less consistent – I suspect this is a reflection of the client hardware as much as the router. But the Orbi 6E certainly didn’t disgrace itself, delivering a minimum of 13.8MB/sec upstream even in the hardest-to-reach parts of the house.
Of course, 5GHz performance is only part of the story. Testing performance on the 6GHz band meant upgrading my test laptop, but this was surprisingly easy: I was able to order an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E card online for less than £40, and it took me barely five minutes to open up my laptop, slot in the card, snap on the antenna connectors and screw everything back up. This won’t be possible with every laptop, but even on systems whose RAM and storage are hard-wired the network card is sometimes user-replaceable.
With my new card in place, I repeated my tests. I was initially dubious as to how much benefit I’d see from switching to the 6GHz range, especially since – although Netgear doesn’t openly advertise the fact – Orbi systems use an 80MHz channel width rather than the maximum 160MHz. In the event, I couldn’t have been happier with the results:
It’s clear that 6GHz performance is a game-changer. In every room of the house the Orbi 6E gave me significantly higher download speeds than I’ve ever seen before. In the study and bedroom the connection was literally twice as fast as a typical Wi-Fi 6 router, even vying with a fully wired Gigabit Ethernet (105MB/sec, if you’re interested). While speeds naturally dropped off in tricker locations, the Orbi WiFi 6E remained far out in front of the pack, and upload performance was excellent as well.
