WHEN NETGEAR’S FIRST
Wi-Fi 7 mesh kit launched last year, the Orbi 970 was a hefty $1,700 for a two-pack, and $2,300 for a three-pack. Netgear has now launched a new addition to its range in the form of the Orbi 770, which is considerably less expensive at $1,000 (three units) or $700 (two units).
It’s still not cheap—after all, Wi-Fi 7 is still the current state-of-the-art for Wi-Fi tech—but the Orbi 770 provides triband Wi-Fi 7 with a top speed of 10.8Gb/s, which should be more than fast enough for most homes and small businesses. More importantly, it’s a lot less expensive than previous Orbi models, and can compete with systems from rivals such as Linksys and TP-Link. The main sting in the tail is Netgear’s fondness for selling subscriptions that provide additional parental controls and security features.