Netgear wants you to spend almost $700 on an Orbi Wi-Fi 6 router

At the IFA 2019 tech show in Berlin, Germany, Netgear announced the worldwide release of the Orbi Wi-Fi 6 mesh system, as well as a price – and it’s shockingly expensive.

While we’ve known that Netgear has been working on a Wi-Fi 6 update for its Orbi system, we now know that it will launch in the coming month, and the price will be $700 (£749, around AU$1,300) for a router and a satellite system.

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That’s right… $700. It seems if you want the latest Wi-Fi tech in an Orbi system, you’re going to have to spend a lot of money.

While we’re sure the Orbi Wi-Fi 6 kit will be very good – like its predecessor – the $700 asking price is pretty ridiculous.

For that (incredibly high) price, you’re getting the next generation of wireless technology that promises wider coverage and better transfer speeds in an update to its brilliant Orbi mesh routers, which in our view is one of the best routers you can buy.

Offering speeds and bandwidth that allows 4K and 8K streaming, as well as keeping up with the increasing speeds of broadband internet, the Orbi WiFi 6 Tri-band Mesh System (RBK852), comes with 4x4 radios and supports 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz fronthaul, as well as 5GHz backhaul (which is the wireless network that connects each individual mesh router together to create one large Wi-Fi network).

It’s promising tech, and Netgear states that the Orbi WiFi 6 Tri-band Mesh System (RBK852) will be the first Wi-Fi 6 mesh system on the market (though Asus also announced its ZenWiFi Wi-Fi 6 mesh system at IFA), but will it be worth the money?

Nighthawk Wi-Fi 6 mesh extender also announced

Netgear also announced the new Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream WiFi 6 Mesh Extender (EAX80), which it claims will bring Wi-Fi 6 speeds to parts of your house previous wireless networks struggled to reach.

It comes with four gigabit LAN ports and a USB 3.0 port for network storage, and it is comparable with any Wi-Fi router, potentially turning your existing router into a Wi-Fi 6-enabled device.

This could be a more affordable way of getting into Wi-Fi 6, and it’s available to pre-order for $250 (£279, around AU$500), with an expected shipping date of later this year.

• IFA 2019 is Europe's biggest tech show, and the TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new TVs, phones, laptops, wearables and other devices as they're announced.

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