Netgear Adds To Its Wi-Fi 7 Lineup Of Home Networking Products

Networking giant Netgear has expanded its Wi-Fi 7 mesh and standalone router range with the launch of the new Orbi 770 Tri-band Mesh System and Nighthawk RS300 Router. The new products are Netgear’s most affordable Wi-Fi 7 offerings to date.

Wi-Fi 7 is the very latest wireless networking standard and provides speeds that are up to 2.4 times faster speeds than the Wi-Fi 6 standard. In addition, Wi-Fi 7 also delivers low latency and is better at rejecting interference. The result is a better wireless experience for 4K/8K streaming, video conferencing and gaming.

Since the launch of Netgear’s first Wi-Fi 7 products—Nighthawk RS700 and Orbi 970—multi-gig fiber Internet services have become even more affordable and to take advantage of the faster connections, households need faster wireless. Better speeds are also ideal for homes that use data-hungry devices like AR/VR headsets or AI-focused platforms like CoPilot+ that require extremely low latency and higher throughput.

The take-up of Wi-Fi 7 is growing and the latest smartphones, laptops and other devices that support Wi-Fi 7 are hitting the market. The new router and mesh products from Netgear also incorporate improved security to tackle IoT threats.

The Orbi Wi-Fi 7 Tri-band mesh system provides wireless speeds up to 11Gbps with capacity for up to 100 devices in homes up to 8,000 square feet using the Orbi three-pack. The new Orbi provides improved connection speeds by combining the 5Hz and 6GHz bands using something called Multi-Link Operation. This is used for both the fronthaul connection to devices and the backhaul connection that takes the data back to the main router.

With its 2.5Gb WAN port, the new Orbi system can take full advantage of the super-fast fiber Internet services currently being rolled out. This makes the Orbi system able to take advantage of a new era of entertainment, hybrid work and next-generation devices and applications. The 2.5Gb LAN ports on the router and satellite units can be also used to connect over high-speed Ethernet using Cat 6 cabling.

The new Orbi 770 looks a little different too with its slim and cylindrical profile. The Orbi units have been designed to deliver optimal performance. Each unit includes four high-performance internal antennas with high-powered amplifiers that provide 360-degree coverage, regardless of the home layout.

The Orbi 770 provides a robust Wi-Fi signal thanks to preamble puncturing, a technology that selectively blocks interference to create a more stable connection.

Launching at the same time is Netgear’s Nighthawk RS300 tri-band router with blazing Wi-Fi 7 for speeds up to 9.3Gbps. This budget router has a sleek new body and patented omni-directional internal antenna design for improved coverage that pushes wireless signals to the farthest range, providing up to 2,500 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage across a max of 100 devices.

With the Nighthawk RS300, everyone in a household can access multi-gig Internet speeds thanks to the inclusion of a 2.5 Gig Internet port. There are additional 2.5Gb and two 1Gb LAN ports that can be used for fast-wired connections for latency-intolerant devices like gaming PCs and consoles.

According to Netgear, home network devices can experience an average of 10 attacks every 24 hours, making it vital that home networks are adequately protected. Powered by innovative encryption protocols and advanced threat detection mechanisms, Netgear routers work as the first line of defense for a home network. The technology stops evolving cyber threats and incorporates security features like automatic firmware updates, VPN support, WPA3 security, access control, plus guest Wi-Fi network options.

The Orbi 770 series will be the first product to offer an extra layer of security with the incorporation of the new Advanced Router Protection feature, exclusive to Netgear. This feature protects the router from known threats and unknown threats using a combination of advanced exploit prevention and heuristics to recognize and block exploitation attempts.

Additionally, Netgear also regularly releases live patches for emerging threats without waiting for a new firmware update. The company says this significantly improves response times compared to the traditional method of releasing firmware updates for each specific router model and further strengthens Netgear’s commitment to providing security protection for its router and mesh products from cyberattacks.

Advanced Router Protection will be rolled out to the rest of Netgear’s Wi-Fi 7 lineup later this year. Meanwhile, for added protection, both Orbi 770 and Nighthawk RS300 include a 30-day trial for Netgear’s Armor Powered by Bitdefender, a service that provides a security shield and the added privacy of a VPN.

Unlike traditional endpoint antivirus products, Armor is built into Netgear’s router as an all-in-one security solution, protecting computers, security cameras, baby monitors and other IoT devices on the network and doing away with the need for multiple security subscriptions or software.

Both the new products also come with Netgear’s Smart Parental Controls to manage children’s time online across their connected devices and promote good online habits for the family. Basic features are available free of charge. A subscription fee applies for a Premium Plan after a 30-day trial.

Pricing & Availability: The Netgear Orbi 770 Series is available now from netgear.com and other major retailers thereafter. The price for the RBE773: A router and two satellites will cost $999.99. The RBE772: A router and single satellite will cost a$699.99. Additional satellites can be bought for $399.99 each. It may sound like quite a lot but this is about as cutting edge as home mesh networking gets with Wi-Fi 7. The Netgear Nighthawk RS300 is also available now on netgear.com and at other major retailers subsequently. The price is $329.99.

Tech Specs

Orbi 770

• Wi-Fi 7 tri-band speeds up to 11Gbps.
• Wi-Fi 7 enhancements like 320MHz, 4K QAM and preamble puncturing.
• Multi-link Operation combining two Wi-Fi bands at once, for both backhaul (shared 5GHz & 6GHz) and fronthaul (5GHz & 6 GHz) to improve network reliability, reduce latency, and ensure data is delivered with maximum speed.
• Multi-Gig speeds with 2.5 Gig Internet port.
• Multi-gig wired ports on router and satellites.
• Orbi App for managing the network from anywhere.

Nighthawk RS300:

• Wi-Fi 7 tri-band Speeds up to 9.3Gbps.
• Wi-Fi 7 delivers 2.4x faster speeds than Wi-Fi 6 with ultra-wide 320MHz high-capacity channels and 4K QAM.
• Multi-Gig Speeds with 2.5Gig Internet port.
• 2.5Gb wired ports.
• USB port for drive sharing.
• Nighthawk App configures Wi-Fi for peak performance on priority devices.