NETGEAR Orbi AXE11000 Quad-Band Wi-Fi 6E Mesh System 2022 REVIEW

Netgear Orbi provides an easy setup and a powerful Wi-Fi signal.

About five years ago, I installed my first Orbi system in my home. Since the technology behind WiFi networks has changed pretty dramatically since then, we’ve ended upgraded our wireless routers a couple of times in the meantime. The newest Orbi AXE11000 is the latest addition to our network.

DETAILS

The Netgear Orbi AXE11000 is an industry-first quad-band Wi-Fi 6E system. In addition to the dedicated Wi-Fi connections, users also get a 10 gigabit wired Internet port for ultra-fast speeds and a huge device capacity (can stream on up to 16 screens at one time). With this Netgear Orbi system, networks receive Wi-Fi speeds up to 10.8 Gbps across up to 9,000 square feet. The system comes with 1 year of Netgear Armor internet security.

Specs

• WiFi Coverage : 9,000 sq. ft
• Antennas : Twelve (12) high-performance internal antennas with high-power amplifiers
• Beamforming : Implicit & Explicit Beamforming for 2.4GHz, 5GHz & 6GHz bands MU-MIMO capable for simultaneous data streaming to multiple devices
• Processor : Powerful Quad-Core 2.2GHz processor
• AXE11000 Quad-Band WiFi : Netgear Orbi AXE11000 Router and AXE11000 Satellites (1200 + 2400 + 2400 + 4800Mbps)^†
• Router Ports : One (1) 10Gbps Multi-Gigbit Ethernet WAN port
• One (1) 2.5Gbps Multi-Gigabit Ethernet LAN port
• Three (3) 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
• Satellite Ports (each) : One (1) 2.5Gbps Multi-Gigabit Ethernet LAN port (each)
• Three (3) 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports (each)
• Memory : 512MB NAND Flash and 1GB RAM
• Security : Advanced cyber threat protection for your home network and connected devices, with comprehensive anti-virus & data theft protection for your PC, Mac^®, and mobile devices with NETGEAR Armor^™.
• Standards-based WiFi Security (802.11i, 128-bit AES encryption with PSK).
• Supports WPA3, the latest and cutting-edge WiFi security protocol.
• Guest WiFi Network is easy to setup separate & secure Internet access for guests
• Works with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant : Yes

USER EXPERIENCE

Netgear Orbi does a great job of making the installation of this router system extremely user-friendly. To get started, you download the Orbi app and make sure you have an account with Netgear setup. Once that’s in place, you can proceed with the rest of the setup. You will want to place your router near your modem because it connects directly to it. The main router unit as well as the two satellites have Ethernet ports so that you can hardwire devices into them. The WiFi speed can be up to 10,800 MB/s while the Wired connections around only around 10,000 Mb/s.

Even though the app provides on-screen directions, I’ve found that it goes much smoother if you go ahead and place the Netgear Orbi satellites where you want them in your home or office. They have a range of 9,000 square feet (with the 3-pack), which is 4,000 square feet more than our original Netgear Orbi system. Each additional satellite covers 3,000 additional square feet In our home, which is also our offices, we have the main router in the main office located in the front of the house.

The first satellite is placed in the second office space, which is down the hall from the main office and it’s on the north wall of the house. The second satellite is installed in our living room, which is located at the back of the house. When it’s all said and done, the three units sort of form an obtuse triangle. We structured them this way because it hits all the places that we typically need our Internet signal to reach clearly.

Now, I do want to point out that our home is only 1,500 square feet in size. So, this system seems as though it is overkill for the space. But, we’ve found that having an advanced, dedicated mesh WiFi router is the way to go – even if you don’t have 9,000 square feet to cover. We never find ourselves with a dead zone in our house and because the Netgear Orbi reaches so far, our network even extends into our yard.

I’m excited that this system supports WiFi 6 even though a lot of devices haven’t caught up to that technology. We actually have two laptops – the MacBook Air M1 and the MacBook Pro M1 Max – in our home that can take advantage of WiFi 6 speeds. I was able to verify that the network is actually compatible with the technology, but looking up my laptop’s current network information in the System Profiler. The PHY Mode shows 802.11ax, which is WiFi 6.

One of the big benefits of using a stable WiFi system like this is its ability to handle smart devices. Years ago, we started adding smart devices to our house. We started small with just a few lightbulbs, but suddenly, we were swapping out ALL our bulbs for the smart ones. We now have 67 different devices on our network. This includes devices on the WiFi network and those hardwired into our switcher. This also includes many different smart home products including light bulbs, hubs, speakers, controllers, and other sensors. This Orbi system supports up to 200 devices on the network.

We have not had any issues with how the system handles all these devices. Better than that, the setup couldn’t have been easier. Aside from the initial Orbi system setup, if you have an existing WiFi network as we did, you can simply rename your new Orbi network with your old network name and password. All your old devices should reconnect within a few minutes. Since we had so many different items, it did take about 30 minutes for everything to reappear, but most of the major devices popped up right away.

Ever since we’ve set the Netgear Orbi AXE11000 system up in our home, we have had super-fast, consistent Wi-Fi speeds. The Orbi app actually includes a speed test built into the app and with that, I completed a speed test of our network as I was writing this article. The screenshot below shows what our typical Wi-Fi network speeds are. Thanks to this Netgear Orbi system, we don’t have to rely on Ethernet connections to get the fastest speed provided by our ISP.

CONCLUSION

Even though there is a considerable monetary investment for a system like this, I think, based on my experiences with this and other Orbi (and non-Orbi) systems, that it is extremely worth it. Our house will never end up going back to a non-mesh network.

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