Netgear Orbi review: I tried Wi-Fi 7 and it has changed my life
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If truth be told, before I started covering technology for a living I hadn’t even realised there was a Wi-Fi 2 let alone 7. But the latest generation of broadband technology is being rolled out this year - and I have been lucky enough to test it out.
My internet set-up in my house has been adequate for the year we’ve been living in it. I was the only one who worked from home, so I never really ran into issues - despite some occasionally janky video calls.
So I was a tad skeptical about how much of a difference using Netgear’s Orbi Wi-Fi 7 mesh system would actually make. However dear reader, I could not have been more wrong.
My TV actually looks better
This is going to sound ludicrous, in fact at first I thought it was just a trick of the eyes, but the picture on my TV has actually looked significantly better since setting up the Orbi. Of course this is because I’ve mostly been streaming shows on Netflix or Disney Plus, so with improved Wi-Fi speeds comes a better picture.
I had been thinking about buying a new TV recently because I was not happy with the quality of the picture. So by harnessing Wi-Fi 7, I’ve actually saved myself having to fork out for tele just before Christmas.
Multiple people are able to work from home
My partner has recently started a new job and is able to work from home multiple times a week. Prior to hooking up the Netgear Orbi towers, we were starting to run into problems with being bounced out of systems on our computer or janky quality on video calls.
That is completely gone now. It has made working from home for both of us an utter dream.
Downloads happen at incredible speeds
I enjoy playing video games, but the only problem when you get a new one is waiting for it to download. The Orbi isn’t a miracle worker, but where in the past I may have had to wait a whole day for a game to download - especially if it was a massive one with hundreds of GB of data like Call of Duty - it has become a much speedier affair.
It is so easy to set up
Perhaps the best part about the Orbi is just how easy it is to set up. I was a bit worried that it would involve a lot of complicated steps, but in truth it couldn’t have been easier.
There is an app to download and a few easy steps to follow. It was so quick and painless, it made me feel silly that I even put off doing the set-up.
Have you tried Wi-Fi 7 or any of the other more recent iterations? Share your experiences by emailing me: [email protected].