What you need to know
- Netgear launches a new Wi-Fi 6E router and Orbi Pro router.
- The new Nighthawk RAXE300 makes Wi-Fi 6E more affordable with a $399.99 price tag and tri-band AXE7800 wireless speeds.
- The Orbi Pro SXK50 is a tri-band WI-Fi 6 mesh router for small businesses and work-from-home professionals.
- Netgear also announced Game Booster, a service for Orbi mesh systems that improves gaming performance with features including ping heatmap, geo-filtering, and QoS.
Netgear announced a couple of new routers starting with the Nighthawk RAXE300 Wi-Fi 6E router and the Orbi Pro SXK50. A new gaming feature called Game Booster is coming to the Orbi RBK750 and 850 series to improve ping and performance for competitive gaming. Netgear is also bringing NFT support to its Meural Canvas II art display.
The Nighthawk RAXE300 Wi-Fi 6E router joins Netgear's 6GHz lineup including the blazing-fast Nighthawk RAXE500 and Orbi RBKE963 system. The Nighthawk RAXE300 comes in at $399.99 with wireless speeds up to AXE7800. With three bands, this router offers the majority of its speed to current 5GHz devices with 160MHz support and up to 4.8Gbps maximum speeds. The 6GHz band has another 2.4Gbps of capacity so Wi-Fi 6E devices can still connect at full speed.
With eight streams in total, the router has plenty of speed for an internet connection of 1Gbps or higher. On the back, it has five gigabit ethernet ports and a 2.5Gbps port that can be used as WAN or LAN. The router will also support Netgear Armor as well as Netgear's Smart Parental controls. The Nighthawk RAXE300 will be available in the first quarter of 2022.
Netgear is also expanding its business offering with a new Orbi Pro system with the AX5400 Orbi Pro SXK50. This package comes with a router and satellite for coverage up to 5,000 square feet. It has an AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 connection. This system also supports multiple VLAN-SSIDs meaning you can have separate networks for work or home usage. This system will be priced at $449.99 and will be available January 2022.
This Orbi Pro system will also work with Netgear's Insight Business VPN. This allows for site-to-site or site-to-multisite VPN connections from the main office to branch offices or even home offices. This allows employees to connect to a common, trusted, work Wi-Fi network from any connected office including home.
For existing Orbi RBK750, RBK850, or RBKE960 series users, Netgear will be adding a new gaming feature in Q1 2022. This included the Orbi RBK752 system which is one of the best Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems you can get. Game Booster is a set of software features built on its DumaOS 3.0 gaming platform that includes ping heatmaps, geo-filtering, and QoS settings.
With Game Booster, gamers can be sure they're connecting to the best possible server to keep ping times as low as possible. The QoS settings can be fine-tuned to make sure the most important devices on your network get top priority. This service will be available in Q1 2022 for $49.99 per year after a 30-day trial.
