Orbi Quad-Band WiFi 6E

An expensive but powerful introduction to 6E mesh networking

- By Cliff Joseph

£1,499.99 FROM Netgear, netgear.com/uk FEATURES Quad-band WiFi 6E (2.4GHz + 2x 5GHz = 6GHz), 2.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of memory, 512MB of flash storage; implicit/explicit beamforming for 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz Wi-Fi, 1x 10Gbps Ethernet port (router), 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port (router), 3x 1Gbps Ethernet ports (router), 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port (satellites), 3x 1Gbps

There’s a saying in the tech industry: ‘the good thing about standards is that there’s so many of them’. And, having only recently gotten used to all the jargon surrounding the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, we now have to contend with the new state-of-the-art, called Wi-Fi 6E. The ‘E’ bit stands for ‘extended’, as Wi-Fi 6E adds a new 6GHz frequency band, in addition to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands already used by Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 5.

Netgear has been quick off the mark with the new Orbi Quad-Band WiFi 6E, which is the first mesh Wi-Fi system we’ve seen that supports the new 6E technology. Mind you, Wi-Fi 6 products are still pretty expensive, and stepping up to 6E means that this new three-piece Orbi system weighs in at a whopping £1,499.99. Hopefully, at some point, Netgear will launch a two-piece system for smaller homes, although that’s still likely to cost around £1,000, which is far more than most of us can afford. Even so, it’s worth taking a look at the new Orbi to get an idea of the new features and performance available with Wi-Fi 6E.