Netgear has launched its most affordable Wi‑Fi 7 mesh system yet, the Orbi 370. The headline price is $350 for a router and two satellites, which is extremely competitive. A quick look at the specs, however, reveals several trade‑offs that make the lower cost possible.
The company says the Orbi 370 is “designed for customers with moderately demanding Wi‑Fi needs,” claiming the system’s total bandwidth is 5 Gbps. However, since it carries only a 2.5‑gigabit internet port, the maximum speed to a single device is limited to 2.5 Gbps.
The Orbi 370 is strictly dual‑band, with only 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios — there's no 320 MHz or 6 GHz band options. This means the Orbi 370 is missing one of Wi-Fi 7's biggest advantages in most setups.
Households with a two‑gig connection or less likely won't miss the extra headroom, and a mesh Wi‑Fi system remains one of the best ways to solve dead spots around your home. Netgear’s flagship model, the Orbi 970, offers 27 Gbps total bandwidth, with a 10‑gig internet port and a quad‑band setup. That model comes with a price tag of roughly $2,000 for a router and two satellites and would likely be overkill for most households.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/netgear-launches-its-most-affordable-wi-fi-7-mesh-system-163234180.html?src=rss
