Netgear Orbi RBK13 Mesh Wi-Fi System review

Finder score: 3.5

How we score our reviews

Where to buy

Netgear has a wide range of mesh network products designed to improve home Wi-Fi throughput in the market, but with the Netgear Orbi RBK13 it targets a rather specific sector. Many Mesh network systems work on the presumption that you want cutting edge technology and you're happy to pay for it, but the Netgear Orbi RBK13 is instead pitched at a more budget-centric crowd. That means it does lack a few features found in the fancier mesh gear, like a dedicated backhaul channel or ethernet ports all round to spare. Still, for its asking price, it's a very nicely designed and easy to use set of mesh nodes.

Design

Design

• Low profile nodes
• simple notification lights
• satellites lack ethernet ports

• Read our full review of the Netgear Orbi RBK13's design

  Most Mesh Networking systems have to serve two design purposes. Clearly, they've got to be functional, but beyond that, they don't as easily have the advantage of being something you might hide away in a cupboard like you would a regular router. Ideally you're going to position mesh nodes throughout your home and office, and nobody really wants ugly tech cluttering up their décor.

  It's one feature of the Netgear Orbi RBK13 I really rather liked, because each of the nodes are low-profile boxes with a single small blinking light at the front and a serrated top that for some reason my brain decided was in a pavlova shape. From then on, I tended to refer to them as pavlovas rather than nodes. Maybe that's just me.

  My over-active dessert-focused imagination notwithstanding, there's relatively little difference between all three of the boxes you get with the Netgear Orbi RBK13 – there are also RBK12 and RBK14 variants that ship with 2 or 4 nodes respectively – except for the primary router node.

  The Orbi router has two ethernet ports, one for incoming Internet connectivity and one to provide a point of wired connectivity to selected nearby devices. Netgear does provide a simple plastic wrap around each node to identify whether it's a router or satellite node, but given that the satellites lack any kind of external connectivity that isn't a power plug, you're not likely to be confused for all that long anyway.

Installation

Installation

• App based install
• trials of Internet security and parental control products embedded

• Read our full review of the Netgear Orbi RBK13's installation process

  The standard approach for most consumer-facing mesh network products is an app-led installation process, and this is exactly what Netgear does with the Netgear Orbi RBK13. Indeed, you're not left with much more than a card telling you to download the Netgear Orbi app for iOS or Android in the box if you did want to set it up manually.

  

  You'll also need to set up a Netgear account, so it may be wise to do a little configuring of app downloads and accounts before you actually start to configure the Netgear Orbi to ensure you've got connectivity when you need it.

  The benefit of an app-led installation process is that it can take a lot of the complexity of networking out of your hands, which is what most consumers are going to want. The Orbi app does a fair job of taking you through the install process physically for the system.

  One point of difference for the way Orbi approaches its mesh network is that it suggests you plug in all of your nodes at once during the configuration process. Many other systems take it on a node-by-node basis, but Orbi wants to tackle and configure the whole system all at once.

  Installation also may involve a firmware update – that was certainly my experience – and that will largely be guided by the speed of your internet connection.

  The Netgear Orbi RBK13 also includes a few optional software components. It prompts you to download the Circle app to enable parental controls at a router level, and automatically enrols you in a 30-day trial of Netgear Armour, a BitDefender-based internet security and threat management product. It's got a nice interface and decent flexibility, but it's worth remembering that it's only a trial, and after a month you'll either have to disable it or cough up $69.99/year for the privilege.

  You'll also have to put aside a little time for the Netgear Orbi to fully configure itself. My review kit took around 30 minutes to configure, but that was on a reasonably fast NBN connection, so those on lower-grade connections could wait even longer.

Performance

Performance

• Fair performance for a 3-node system but not the best

• View test results and read our full review of the Netgear Orbi RBK13's performance

  Any review or test of Wi-Fi equipment has to provide a simple caveat before you start. Wireless transmission is subject to numerous and various interference factors, and the environment in which a review or test takes place can (and probably does) differ from your home or office. Unless you're one of my immediate family, but that's less likely, of course.

  The point is that that what works well in one situation may struggle in another due to differences in scale, interference factors and even simple matters like the methods of construction used in one office or home or another.

  All of our mesh reviews to date have been performed in my suburban Sydney home. That way there's a consistent metric for comparative purposes.

  I've used my home not just because I live there, but also because I'm very familiar with its wireless network issues. I live in a moderately large home by Australian standards, but my home office is located in an extension to the original building. Between it and my home NBN connection point lies a hidden wall that at one point was the actual side of the house.

  No, you haven't accidentally clicked through to the sealed section of Architecture Monthly. The issue with that wall is that it's very good at blocking standard Wi-Fi signals, turning my home office into something of a dead zone for signals to bounce around.

  This creates a very good stress test for any router or mesh Wi-Fi system. Here the fact that the Netgear Orbi RBK13 ships with three nodes was a potential plus, because I've typically had to play careful placement games with systems that ship with only two. Having 3 nodes meant that I could place the Netgear Orbi RBK13's nodes in my usual positions for any mesh system, with one right next to my NBN modem-router, one in a mid point bedroom, and one in the far home office.

  Predictably, the far home office node noticed it wasn't shifting signal very well, lighting up orange to let me know that it wasn't ideally placed. Had it been purple, it would have had no signal at all, but at least some shared node signal was getting through.

  In terms of core throughput specifications, the Netgear Orbi RBK13 sits on the modest side. It's a dual-band AC2100 system theoretically capable of up to 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 866Mbps on 5GHz. The Netgear Orbi RBK13 doesn't present itself as separate 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz networks, mind you, although it does allow for guest access if that's an important feature for you.

  Testing the Netgear Orbi RBK13 involved the same standard suite of tests I've used for other mesh systems once it had time to bed itself in and apply all firmware updates. First, I measured RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) to check signal sharing and strength, from three different locations in my home. The near point was basically on top of the primary Orbi router for maximum throughput, with a mid-range point in a bedroom nearby, and then finally with a far point in my home office.

  Here's how the Netgear Orbi RBK13 compared to a wide range of available extension and mesh products:

  The Netgear Orbi RBK13 managed a fair job of signal propagation and sharing between nodes, which is what RSSI is measuring, no doubt helped by the fact that it's a 3-node system, where many of the listed systems only provide two nodes.

  It's not just about signal strength though, but also throughput. To measure that, I ran Finder's Broadband Speed Test through an Aussie Broadband 250/25 HFC NBN connection.

  That provides a significant challenge when it comes to comparison, however. Since my last mesh test, I've upgraded to a 250/25 HFC connection, where prior tests were either on a 100/40 HFC NBN connection, or before that on a 115/5-at-best Telstra HFC connection. Keeping it strictly to the NBN side of affairs, I had to average out based on the potential of each connection as a percentage to give some kind of comparative figure.

  But even before I could do that, I had another issue to contend with. I've written about my experiences with NBN 250 here and as noted, at the time of writing my ISP is somewhat overprovisioning the link. What that means for me is that I tend to get speed test results downstream that are higher than the 250Mbps I'm paying for. If I used 250/down as my baseline, the Netgear Orbi RBK13 might appear to be offering over 100% performance!

  To average that out, I first connected via ethernet to run speed tests in order to get a baseline to work from and created my percentages from that.

  So with that level of exhausting explanation out of the way, how did the Netgear Orbi RBK13 compare?

  Now, the data here does need a little context, because on the face of it, it looks like the Netgear Orbi RBK13's download throughput fell off a cliff when it came time to use it in my home office. Realistically it did relative to what the line should have been capable of, and certainly compared to the generally great throughput it gave the rest of my home.

  Bear in mind, however, that that 5% figure is 5% of 272Mbps down, which was the measured maximum throughput at the time of testing. So the average was still just over 15Mbps down, which isn't blisteringly fast, but it's still enough to get by on for simple work. The Velop and D-Link mesh systems tested do manage to give more throughput in both percentage and real number terms, but they're also significantly more expensive than the Netgear.

Verdict

Verdict

• Not super fast, but good value for money

Should you buy it?

Netgear doesn't promote the Netgear Orbi RBK13 as its flagship mesh product, and that's vital to recognise when assessing its value. We're hoping to get its fancier RBK50 system in soon for testing, because that'll give a better head-to-head result against the more capable and expensive systems we've largely tested to date.

Where that leaves the Netgear Orbi RBK13 is in the value mesh segment. It would be a good match if you need a bit of network boosting across a wide area with not too many interference variables. If, like me, you've got an area where Wi-Fi signals fear to tread, however, you may have to spend a little more to make the most out of your home Wi-Fi connection.

Pricing and availability

The Netgear Orbi RBK13 starts at around $299.95 in Australia (three-node system). Alternative bundles are also available.

AmazoneBay

Specifications