Custom PC - UK (2020-06)

Thebrowserinterfaceandapparen’tthemost comprehensive,

butgetthebasicsdone.

Whenit cametotesting,wewerehamstrung by coronavirus

restrictions,meaningwedidn’thaveaccess to our usual test

location.Nonetheless,wewereabletoassess the new Orbi

sufficientlytodrawourmainconclusions,but further testing

willbeneededforcomparisontoothersystems.

Withthetwounitsoneroom(5m)apart, they maintained

a Wi-Ficonnectiontoeachotherfastenough to max out

theLANconnections,andthisspeedwas more or less

maintainedwhenmovingthesatellitearound the rest of a

smalltwo-storeyterracedhome.Attaching a client device

overWi-FiresultedinstrongWi-Ficoverage (300Mbps+) at

thebottomofthegarden,20mawayfrom the main router

(12mfromthesatellite).

Conclusion

TheNetgearOrbiRBK852is an

incrediblyfastrouterthatcancovera

vastrange.However,there’sjustno

gettingaroundthatprice.Withthenow

relativelyaffordableOrbiRBK50still

offeringexcellentperformance,there

arefewhomesituationswherethe

RBK852is justifiedrightnow.

EDWARDCHESTER

T

heNetgearOrbi(RBK50)hasbeenourfavourite

router/Wi-Fisystemsinceit arrivedbackin2016.Its

range,performanceandeasysetupmadeit the

ultimaterouterforlargerhomes.NowNetgearis backwitha

newflagshipOrbi,theRBK852,whichpacksthelatestWi-Fi 6

( 802. 11ax)technology,withanastronomicalpricetoboot.

Opentheheavyboxandyou’regreetedbytwolarge,

densedevices.Disappointingly,thesilvertrimaroundthe

outsideisn’taluminium,asyoumighthopefortheprice.

Instead,alltheweightcomesfromanenormousaluminium

heatsinkinsideeachunit,enablingNetgeartoomitfans.

Thistwo-devicesystemconsistsofa masterrouterand

a slavesatellite.It’sa differentconfigurationtomanyother

full-meshWi-Fisystems,whereallunitsaretreatedequally.

Whilethelattermakessuchsystemsmoreversatile,though,

it generallydoesn’thelpwithpeakperformance.

TheOrbidedicatesoneofitsthreeWi-Fibandsto

communicationbetweentherouterandsatellite,intheory

makingfora fasterandmorereliablesetup.Youcanalso

adduptotwomoresatellites.Thistwo-unitsystemis

sufficienttocover5,000ft²accordingtoNetgear,whichin

ourexperienceis plentyfora three-storeyUKhome(router

downstairs,satelliteonthemiddlefloor).

TherouterandsatelliteincludefourgigabitEthernetLAN

portseach,withtherouteralsohometoa 2.5Gbpsportto

connecttoyourinternet/WAN.TheRBK852canalsobe

setupasa Wi-Fiaccesspointratherthana router,sothe

WANconnectioncouldplumbintoa fasterLANsystem,but

otherwise,the2.5Gbpsportis fairlypointless,asfewhome

internetconnectionsreachsuchspeeds.Also,whilethe

previousOrbiunithadUSBportsforsharingprintersandUSB

storagedevices,therearenoUSBportsonthenewmodel.

Indeed,overall,theRBK852is relativelyspartan

whenit comestoextrafeatures.

Insideeachunitis a tri-bandWi-Fisetup,with

allthreebandscomplyingtothenewWi-Fi 6

standard.Wi-Fi6 bringsa boosttotheoretical

topspeeds,andreducedlagandincreased

speedformulti-usersetups,assumingyou

havecompatibleclientdevices.

Setupis easy.YoucaneitherusetheOrbi

apporbrowsetothedefaultIPaddress.Going

viatheapprequiresyoutocreatea Netgear

account,butif youconnectdirect,youcansetup

thesystemwithoutanyexternalinterference.

REVIEWS / NETWORKING

VERDICT

A mightily impressive Wi-Fi system,

but its price puts it totally out of

contention for most users.

OVERALLSCORE

75 %%

DESIGN

16 / 20

FEATURES

14 / 20

PERFORMANCE

30 / 30

VALUE

15 / 30

SPEC

Weight

2 x 1297g (per unit)

Dimensions

254 x 71 x 191mm (per unit)

Ports

4 x Gigabit LAN (per unit),

1 x 2.5Gbps WAN

Wi-Fi

2 x 5GHz (1200Mbps), 1

x 2.4GHz (2400Mbps),

8 x internal antennae

ORBITAL
+Phenomenal
Wi-Fispeed

+Massive Wi-Fi
range

+Easy to set up

EXORBITANT

• Astonishingly
  expensive


• Limited extra
  features


• Overkill for
  most homes

SUPPLIER ebuyer.com

NETGEAR ORBI WI-FI 6 SYSTEM

AX6000 (RBK852)/£750 inc VAT

802.11AX MESH ROUTER