There are a few problems with Insight from our perspective, and the first is that for a location where this is the only Netgear equipment, it’s complete administration overkill. Today I had about 4 dropouts within the space of an hour (none before and none since) but it's simply not acceptable. Easy to setup, easy to maintain, has a guest network which is good for those insecure IoT devices (or dubious country of origin programming) WiFi 6 (AX)– With a rated speed of 4200Mbps. 2.4GHz (600Mbps) + 5GHz (1200Mbps) for WiFi devices to connect to the Internet. 5GHz (2400Mbps) dedicated WiFi link for faster data connections between Orbi Router and Orbi Satellite.

The more Netgear hardware you have, the cheaper per device it is, but unless you intend to extensively use this level of management, it is something that you can do without once you are up and running. Price-wise, the Orbi RBK752 is certainly easier to stomach than its big brother. With a single device for testing, performance was quite similar, although the RBK852 still has plenty of bandwidth left. With both systems, you get the same range of features, so there’s no clear winner in either; it is a shame that neither system supports Netgear’s parental controls at the moment.

Testing with a 2×2 Wi-Fi 6 card in a Windows computer, the Orbi RBK752 should technically give similar performance to the RBK852, maximising the full bandwidth available on the 5GHz channel.

When it comes to the recommended speed from your internet provider, the RBK653 and RBK753 can support up to 2 Gbps while the RBK853 support up to 2.5 Gbps. Wi-Fi Coverage In my tests, that proved to be true, with the RBK752 managing decent throughputs of 442.92Mbps at close range, 319.54Mbps on the first floor, and 284.78Mbps on the first floor. That’s just a little way behind the RBK852, although the bigger system still has plenty of streams left for other clients, whereas I was maxing out the bandwidth of the RBK752. Even on the SXK800 and its 6,000mbits of potential bandwidth users can only grab the same bandwidth that the router of the Mini delivers if they can bond multiple 5GHz and 2.4GHz channels into a single connection. Most users will be connecting over a single data stream and be bound by the effective limits of the bandwidth each channel offers, even if they’re the only person connecting. Thanks to the third satellite, I could even get reception in my kitchen, which usually suffers. Here, I got throughputs of 174.25Mbit/s. For the price, the new Orbi RBK853 is a decent performer. Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 Dual-band Mesh System (RBK353) Conclusion For the main, the RBK353 is controlled via the Orbi app from your phone. If you’re signed into a Netgear account, then you can also remote control the system, even rebooting it when you’re out and about. It’s a handy troubleshooting tool.There are three Gigabit Ethernet ports for connecting wired devices, which is one less than on the Netgear Orbi RBK852. Still, this will probably do for most people and you can always add a Gigabit Ethernet switch if you need more devices. The satellite(s) on the right features a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports which can be used to connect wired devices or a switch for additional connectivity. Orbi RBK753: Setup and Configuration Therefore, at close range, connections of over 500mbits per second are entirely plausible. But that’s a single connection at close range, and a second connection at that speed would consume all the bandwidth that 5GHz has to offer (1200Mbit). The software features are also simplified in a few places, compared to Netgear’s standalone routers. For some reason, band splitting isn’t allowed on the Orbi platform, so you’ll have to operate both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks under the same name. Parental controls are entirely absent: the manufacturer says it’s working on adding support for the Circle app, but it hasn’t committed to any time frame. And, inevitably with no way to connect external storage, you miss out on file-sharing functions. Still, the web portal itself is neater than the Nighthawk variant and the smartphone app works well as a central point of management for your distributed network.