Comments on: Netgear Orbi RBRE960 Standalone Router Review: Overpriced and Handicapped

By: Dong Ngo

Dong Ngo — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 16:16:26 +0000

In reply to PAW. Your numbers are about right, Paw. That system works best via wired backhauling as mentioned, but for the money, the ET12 will do MUCH better both in performance and features. I'd not trust any app for testing though.

By: PAW

PAW — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 08:36:11 +0000

I have the 963 setup, my house is 10gb to the wall in each room, the router and both satellites are up at 2.5gb as i used the wired backhaul solution. It would have been great if the netgear router recognised this and opened up the higher 5ghz band. i have the black version, my wife refused my preferred route of a WAP ceiling solution due to not liking the look / idea. So it was no suprise when she also said no to the Asus ET12, quote it looks cheap and i dont like the clear plastic section. For me it would have been the Asus route. To summarise, the wife is not always right. My speeds have been greater than you have experienced, in most of my rooms on 6ghz, i get 2401mbps recorded within the orbi analyser app on my phone, further away dropping to 1921mbps.

By: Dong Ngo

Dong Ngo — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 15:08:55 +0000

In reply to H.T. II.

Yes it should, maybe. Those numbers are rather meaningless anyway. My rating is at the bottom. Specs are from the vendors and marketing is generally about misleading the consumers.

By: H.T. II

H.T. II — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 11:23:17 +0000

In reply to Dong Ngo.

Hey Dong;

While perhaps Netgear may state it that way. Should the RBRE960 really be rated as “AXE11000” for max. through-put and not “AXE8600?”

Since the 5Hz-2 band is never available for fronthaul traffic from clients …

By: Dong Ngo

Dong Ngo — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 17:37:23 +0000

In reply to Varda. I've done many, Varda. Here are those between mesh systems. XT12 vs RBKE960 is apples to oranges, you have to use the ET12 in this case.

By: Varda

Varda — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 17:25:03 +0000

Thanks for the article. Could you do one of your Comparison articles where you compare two options of two different Mesh systems?

Between a Mesh system of either the Orbi RBKE963 versus the ASUS Zen XT12.

By: Dong Ngo

Dong Ngo — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 16:57:15 +0000

In reply to H.T. II. Thanks for the input. I mentioned those in the review of the RBKE963… and you’re spot on!

By: H.T. II

H.T. II — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 15:45:17 +0000

Hey Dong …

And I would also add as an additional “Con” of the Netgear Orbi is being forced to use only a single SSID for all bands (or “band-steering”) for WiFi access.

As I always prefer the option to separate my bands into different SSIDs since the router or satellite node’s firmware can make poor decisions at times and wrongly steer a high speed client on to the much lower speed 2.4 GHz band.

Also, some wireless 2.4 GHz only IoT and other devices have trouble connecting to an AP if they can’t see a separate 2.4 GHz only band SSID.