Netgear Debuts Orbi 770 Series and Nighthawk RS300 Wi-Fi 7 Routers

Netgear has introduced its latest Orbi 770 Series mesh Wi-Fi router, available in a three-pack for $1,000. This price is significantly lower compared to the initial Wi-Fi 7 routers launched late last year, such as the $2,230 Orbi 970 Series.

While Wi-Fi 7 technology continues to evolve, the primary reason for the reduced price of the Orbi 770 is its more streamlined design compared to the Orbi 970 flagship model. The Orbi 770 provides coverage for up to 8,250 square feet, which is suitable for most homes, though slightly less than the 10,000 square feet coverage offered by the Orbi 970. The Orbi 770 features four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports instead of the 970’s 10Gbps ports.

Another notable difference is that the Orbi 770 is a tri-band device, while the Orbi 970 is a quad-band. This means the Orbi 770 has a maximum speed of 11Gbps, compared to the 970’s 27Gbps. Despite this reduction, the tri-band Wi-Fi 7 Orbi 770 is expected to significantly outperform earlier Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 5 devices due to Wi-Fi 7’s Multi-Link Operation (MLO) feature. MLO allows devices to communicate over multiple bands simultaneously, improving speed and reliability. The Orbi 770 uses MLO for both wireless backhaul and fronthaul, reducing latency and improving network performance.

In addition to the three-pack, Netgear offers a two-pack Orbi 770 for $700 and individual satellite nodes for $400 each. These prices are lower compared to the Orbi 970 Series, which starts at $1,700 for a two-pack.

Netgear also launched the Nighthawk RS300 Wi-Fi 7 standalone router, priced at $330, making it one of the most affordable Wi-Fi 7 routers on the market. The RS300 offers a maximum speed of 9.3Gbps and coverage for up to 2,500 square feet.

Both the Orbi 770 and the Nighthawk RS300 come with a new software feature called Advanced Router Protection. This feature allows Netgear to release real-time security patches between firmware updates, reducing the response time for new vulnerabilities from a month or more to just a few days. Netgear plans to extend Advanced Router Protection to its entire Wi-Fi 7 lineup later this year.