The Orbi AC2200 RBK23 entire house Wi-Fi system is a smaller and extra reasonably priced tackle Netgear’s original Orbi system. As Netgear is eager to emphasize, this is not a sequel or alternative product; it is a part of the identical household, however geared toward a distinct market.
Whereas the unique Orbi system was designed to unfold Wi-Fi far and extensive in massive homes whereas utilizing a few of Netgear’s cutting-edge know-how, the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 is designed for extra modestly-sized properties, with just a few tweaks to the that preserve the value down; whereas the primary Orbi system impressed us with its efficiency, it had a excessive price ticket that was prone to put many potential patrons off.
The Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 goals to supply a extra reasonably priced method to get the Orbi expertise for individuals who don’t want all the unique Orbi’s high-end options. It’s a tremendous stability that Netgear is making an attempt to attain: decreasing the price of the Orbi by making some cautious cost-cutting choices, and with out slicing an excessive amount of.
Worth and availability
The Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 prices $299 (£299, AU$499) for 3 items: one router and two satellites, with Netgear promising a protection space of 6,000 sq. ft. It’s a transparent saving on the unique Orbi, which sells for $399 (£399, AU$749) and which comes with two items.
Nevertheless, that’s nonetheless a fairly excessive worth for a mesh-like router system (Netgear was eager to emphasize to us that the Orbi will not be a mesh Wi-Fi system within the conventional sense). Google Wifi, for instance, is our present choose for one of the best mesh Wi-Fi system, and it prices much less at $279 / AU$499 for a setup with three modules, much like the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 providing.
Within the UK, you will get a Google Wifi set with two items for £229. Google’s reasoning is that properties within the UK are smaller, so greater than two items will normally be overkill (though you should buy further satellites).
Netgear does supply a two-unit set with a protection space of four,000 sq. ft, accessible within the US for $200 at Costco. This may also be accessible within the UK for £229.99 – the truth that this worth is nearly similar to Google Wifi is probably going no coincidence.
Whereas the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 gives a worth that’s extra aggressive, it’s nonetheless a dear proposition, and there are a rising variety of mesh methods that might be competing with the brand new (and outdated) Orbi methods, which may make the excessive worth more durable to justify.
Spec sheet
Wi-fi Connectivity: IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, AC2200 2×2 (expandable mesh; tri-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, beamforming)
Processor: Quad-core ARM CPU (every core as much as 710MHz)
Reminiscence: 512MB RAM
Storage: 256MB flash
Beamforming: Implicit and Specific for two.four & 5GHz bands
Ports: 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports per unit
Dimensions: 5.6 x 2.four x 6.6 inches (142.four x 60.9 x 167mm; D x H x W) every
Weight: 476g every
Design and setup
The design of the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 might be immediately recognizable to anybody who’s aware of the unique Orbi, with the router and two satellites trying nearly similar, however with completely different dimensions.
The unique Orbi router and satellites every measured 6.67 x 2.36 x eight.89 inches, whereas the Orbi RBK23 items measure 5.6 x 2.four x 6.6 inches. This makes for a far much less intrusive router and satellite tv for pc system, and the design definitely appears nicer when shrunk down; the bigger white items of the unique Orbi have been a bit too huge to position across the house with out them trying misplaced, whereas these smaller items may be tucked away with out calling an excessive amount of consideration to themselves.
As with the unique, the three items look the identical at first look, however the prime of the router unit has a faint blue end. Every unit has two Ethernet ports for wired connections, though one of many router’s Ethernet ports is highlighted yellow and is labelled ‘Web’. That is the port you join your present modem to.
This implies the router unit solely has one spare Ethernet port for hooking up wired gadgets. The unique Orbi system has 4 Ethernet ports for every satellite tv for pc, and three Ethernet ports (and one reserved for connecting to the modem) on the router unit. When you have numerous gadgets that also require wired web connections, then this decreased connectivity could disappoint. Nevertheless, by slicing the quantity of Ethernet ports, Netgear has been in a position to cut back the dimensions and worth of the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23, and for households that use predominately wi-fi gadgets, this might be a welcome transfer.
One other port that’s been ditched is the USB connection. Within the unique Orbi (and plenty of different routers) a USB port was included for simply sharing recordsdata on a USB stick, or entry to a printer.
It’s a pleasant characteristic to have, and its absence within the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 might be disappointing to some, however for many individuals the port would have not often been used, and if that’s the case then the shortage of the port might be a worth value paying for the decrease price of the router.
The shrunk-down measurement – each bodily and in terms of worth – has led to reductions elsewhere. Whereas the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 gives simultaneous Tri-band Wi-Fi, as the unique Orbi does, it has 4 inside antennas, in comparison with the unique’s six. Having the antennas housed internally within the physique makes for a nicer-looking machine, however can probably restrict the protection in comparison with routers with exterior antenna, particularly ones that may be positioned to level at varied gadgets.
The antennas are able to beamforming, nevertheless, which is a characteristic that cleverly detects the placement of gadgets linked to the Wi-Fi, and goals the wi-fi community in the direction of that location for higher protection.
Total, we predict the design of the Orbi AC2200 RBK23 interprets very nicely to the decreased measurement. In reality, we’d say it really fits the smaller Orbi AC2200 RBK23 higher than the unique. The discount in ports is comprehensible, in our view, as Netgear is aiming for a smaller, cheaper router that is designed to enchantment to extra informal customers who gained’t use many wired gadgets, or wish to share USB equipment between PCs linked to its house community. When you do miss these options, then Netgear’s perception is that you just’d be higher off placing down cash for the unique Orbi.
The easy setup of the unique Orbi system carried over to the brand new system, so that you get a gorgeous and easy-to-use app on your Android or iOS machine, which takes you thru the method of organising the Orbi AC2200 RBK23. We plugged the router unit into our modem and adopted the directions. The app was intelligent sufficient to set the IP addresses the Orbi fingers out to a quantity that gained’t conflict with the modem, which might usually occur whenever you’re putting in a brand new router and permitting it to behave as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server.
This led to a reasonably painless setup for the router unit. Netgear is clearly assured that the setup process is easy, because the directions it provides, both within the type of the bodily (and flimsy) guide that comes within the field, or by the app, are very fundamental. This may be a difficulty when it misses out an necessary bit of data, or when one thing goes unsuitable and also you wish to troubleshoot it, which occurred to us.
It’s because after putting in the router unit, the app requested us if we needed to put in the up to date firmware for the unit. We agreed to this, as we needed to check the router with the newest software program put in. Nevertheless, this was to trigger unexpected issues, and nowhere within the documentation have been we warned about these.
With the router unit arrange and dealing nicely, we then went so as to add a satellite tv for pc unit elsewhere within the constructing to assist broaden the W-Fi. That is completed in the identical manner satellites have been added to the unique Orbi: you plug within the satellite tv for pc, press the ‘Sync’ button on the satellite tv for pc, then press the identical button on the router and let the items speak to one another; an LED mild on the prime of every unit lets once they’e linked. The method needs to be easy, however we hit a snag.
This was that the router unit simply couldn’t discover the satellite tv for pc. We moved the satellite tv for pc unit nearer, however no luck – even when they have been in the identical room, the 2 items would not pair. We have been perplexed, and checked the documentation – and that is the place the shortage of in-depth documentation triggered a difficulty, as whereas the guide explains what shade the LED lights change to if there’s an issue, it doesn’t say how one can repair that downside.
We ended up looking out the web, and located a publish on Netgear’s boards that supplied the reply to our issues. It seems that when the router firmware has been up to date, it then cannot discover satellites whose firmware hasn’t been up to date – and you may’t replace the satellite tv for pc firmware with out it being linked to the router.
You want to join the satellites, then replace the satellite tv for pc firmware first, earlier than updating the router firmware, in any other case they gained’t sync. So we needed to reset the router to the manufacturing facility defaults, set it up once more, join the satellites, then replace the firmware. We did that and all the things linked tremendous, but when there had been a warning about this within the guide or app it might have saved us time and vitality spent fixing this difficulty.
With that downside solved, nevertheless, the remainder of the setup process went nicely, and the well-made app helped us end organising the system. When you don’t have a appropriate telephone, you should use your PC to hook up with and arrange the Orbi AC2200 RBK23 system.
The setup process is unquestionably geared toward informal customers, and is made so simple as doable. However whereas that is nice when issues work as they need to, in the event you’re after extra management over your router setup, or want data when issues don’t go as deliberate, then chances are you’ll find yourself annoyed.
Benchmarks
Right here is how the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 fared in our transient suite of exams (performed on a 70Mbps service):
Ookla Velocity Check 5GHz (Obtain | Add):
Inside 5 ft/1.52 meters; no obstructions: 68.eight | 17.9 Mbps
Inside 13 ft/9.14 meters; three plaster partitions: 68.7 | 17.9 Mbps
Efficiency
Whereas the variety of antennas within the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 has been decreased in comparison with the unique Orbi, so has the velocity. Whereas the unique was able to AC3000 throughput (1733 + 866 + 400Mbps), the brand new RBK23 is simply AC2200 (866 + 866 + 400Mbps).
For busy wi-fi networks with numerous visitors and excessive information throughput, this can be a difficulty, however for many modest house setups chances are you’ll not discover, particularly in the event you primarily use the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 for connecting to a normal house broadband connection, as most individuals’s speeds gained’t be restricted by AC2200.
The Orbi methods (each outdated and new) have a devoted connection between the satellite tv for pc and the router, and with the newer model this connection is slower. So, in the event you’re connecting wirelessly to the satellite tv for pc, your community visitors is then going by a secondary wi-fi connection between satellite tv for pc and router. As we talked about, for normal web shopping this most likely gained’t be a difficulty (until you have got a really quick connection) however streaming gameplay or shifting massive recordsdata round could have an effect.
Nevertheless, we discovered that even one satellite tv for pc, by no means thoughts two, could also be superfluous until you have got a really massive property. It’s because the vary of the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 is great by itself.
We examined it in a medium-sized property within the UK, with three flooring, and with simply the router unit plugged in we obtained glorious protection all through the constructing. As you may see from our check outcomes, the web speeds remained fairly according to our check machine linked to the router in the identical room, and on the highest flooring.
That is glorious protection that beats many routers we’ve tried with exterior antennas. In reality, it’s so good the additional satellites weren’t wanted. Nevertheless, with them arrange, it meant we had glorious protection all through the constructing, with our machine seamlessly connecting to the closest satellite tv for pc.
Even on this pared-down kind, many individuals will contemplate the Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 overkill. Nevertheless, when you’ve got a really massive property, or need the identical Wi-Fi community to cowl your total property, then you definately’ll be impressed with this machine.
It additionally dealt with our wired gadgets nicely, though we used a community swap as a result of lack of ports on the unit. For individuals who primarily use Wi-Fi, this gained’t be a difficulty.
Verdict
When corporations deliver out, cheaper, pared-down variations of their established merchandise they should rigorously trim options with out slicing an excessive amount of, and the excellent news is in creating the Orbi AC2200 RBK23, Netgear has made some good choices.
Slicing the variety of Ethernet ports, and dropping the USB port altogether, are sacrifices that we don’t assume the goal consumer will thoughts making for a smaller kind issue and cheaper price.
The minimize within the quantity and velocity of the antennas could have extra of an affect, however once more Netgear is positioning the Orbi AC2200 RBK23 as an answer for smaller households with much less busy Wi-Fi networks.
And, as our exams confirmed, the Orbi AC2200 RBK23 stays highly effective sufficient to provide all however the largest properties quick protection all through – particularly whenever you add the satellites in carefully-placed positions.
The Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 equipment can be geared toward individuals who desire a fast and straightforward method to arrange and broaden their house Wi-Fi, and whereas it will enchantment to many, if you would like a extra in-depth and highly effective system for controlling all features of your own home community then you definately’ll really feel annoyed by the easy nature of this method.