In these tough times that the world is going through due to COVID-19, there’s never been a bigger strain on home broadband as there is now. So many Aussies are forced to work and learn from home, entertaining and connect with loved ones over Zoom calls or Tiktok. But with more people at home binging Netflix, gaming and doing video calls, most home WiFi can’t keep up leading to much slower speeds and dead zones.
NETGEAR has announced two new WiFi systems to alleviate Aussies of their home internet woes; the Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh and Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6. Aaron Khoo, Director of Sales for NETGEAR ANZ says that the company is leading the transition to WiFi 6 especially with their mesh systems that are growing in popularity.
Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System
The new Orbi Whole Home WiFi System is a tri-band mesh system that can blanket a home of up to 5000 square feet in fast WiFi 6 goodness. Not only do you get up to 4 times faster speeds than WiFi 5, but the Orbi also allows you to connect up to 100 devices. The mesh guarantees a strong and stable connection throughout your home while a dedicated quad stream 5Ghz channel reduces congestion so devices can run faster.
The flagship Orbi RBK852 has 12 WiFi streams and 2.5 Gigabit speeds with support for over 60 devices simultaneously connected devices. The Orbi RBK752/ 753 get 8 WiFi streams and 1Gigbit speed but you’re still looking at about 40 devices connected simultaneously with interruption. That’s seriously impressive. All models offer Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for those who want the fastest possible connections.
The Orbi’s look damn sleek, a look that NETGEAR says is designed ‘to complement any premium home environment’. And it really kinda looks like something you’d see in one of those Nick Scali ads. But it’s not just a pretty face. NETGEAR has packed some other handy features like the Orbi app to simplify WIFI setup and management. There’s also the hidden but important NETGEAR Armor which gives an anti-virus and data theft protection for all your connected devices. Oh and the Orbi also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant so you can boss it around all day by just talking to it.
The Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System will be available in Australia and New Zealand from end-July 2020. The RBK852 unit will have an RRP of $1,399 (AUD), while RBK752 will be available from $949 (AUD).
Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6
The Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 is a compact mesh system that is targeted to the nerdiest among us. The Nighthawk router provides up to 1,500 square feet of coverage, easy customisation and Dynamic QoS. Like the Orbi, the Nighthawks have two Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired connections. Unlike the more expensive Orbi, the Nighthawk offers slower dual-band 1.8Gbps speeds and fewer simultaneous device connections — about 25 compared to the 60+ on the Orbi.
The Nighthawk is a stubby little black box that will certainly stand out wherever you choose to put it. The Nighthawk is available with the addition of one or two high-powered satellites that boost the coverage of the mesh. Need more coverage? Just add another satellite. The handy Nighthawk app for Android or IOS will help you to quickly set up and manage your mesh network.
The new Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 with one satellite (MK62) or two satellite (MK63) kit are available in Australia and New Zealand now. Local RRP is $449 (AUD) for MK62 and RRP $649 (AUD) for the MK63.
