Netgear's New Orbi, Nighthawk Routers Bring Wi-Fi 7 Prices Way, Way Down

From PC Mag: A three-pack of Netgear’s newest Orbi 770 Series mesh Wi-Fi router, launched Tuesday, will set you back $1,000. That’s a lot, but it’s a far cry from the initial crop of Wi-Fi 7 routers launched late last year, including the eye-wateringly expensive $2,230 Orbi 770 Series.

Wi-Fi 7 is rapidly maturing, but that’s not the primary reason for Netgear’s drastic price drop. The Orbi 770 is simply a watered-down (but still extremely capable) system compared with the Orbi 990 flagship. Instead of 10,000 sq. ft of coverage, you get 8,250 sq. ft., which is plenty for all but the most expansive of mansions. The Orbi 770 also lacks the 990’s 10Gbps Ethernet ports. But it does have four 2.5Gbps ports, which is more than enough for any wired connections you’ll likely use at home.

Perhaps the most significant difference is that the 770 is a tri-band device instead of a quad-band one like the 990. Among other potential impacts, this limits its total rated throughput to 11Gbps, down from the 990’s 27Gbps. Proportionally speaking, the speed decrease is even larger than the price drop.

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