The Prime Big Deal Days are in full swing, but a discount on Netgear’s Orbi 770 Series is not to be missed, since this is the best Wi-Fi 7 mesh for most homes right now. It is easy to set up and use, delivers stable and speedy performance, and provides expansive coverage. If you’re looking to jack up your home Wi-Fi, the Orbi 770 Series is a great way to do it—especially with this Prime Day deal.
On the prowl for tasty discounts? You owe it to yourself to check out our roundup of the Absolute Best Prime Big Deal Day Deals, covering all categories, and our fun and frantic Prime Day liveblog.
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill
For many years, I recommended Asus mesh systems, like the XT8 (also on sale right now), because they perform well, include free security and parental controls, and allow for deep configuration. The XT8 is still my pick of Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems, but Asus has failed to impress with Wi-Fi 7, releasing mesh routers with flaky firmware. They are slowly improving, but in the meantime, Netgear stepped into the breach with excellent Wi-Fi 7 systems.
Netgear’s premium pricing used to put me off, but it has started to offer more affordable mesh routers, and the Orbi 770 Series is the sweet spot in the lineup for most folks. Refreshingly easy and impressively stable, this tri-band mesh offers three bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) as a unified network that’s available for devices and as backhaul (traffic between the main router and satellites). You can expect very fast speeds at short range but also wide coverage for more than 100 devices.
A 2-pack of the Netgear Orbi 770 Series will likely be enough for most homes, and easily delivered in my modern 1,600-square-foot house, extending a strong Wi-Fi signal into my backyard. However, after moving into an old Victorian house with thick walls, I had to switch up to three. Luckily, the 3-pack is also on sale.
Handling four simultaneous movie streams and online gaming sessions with apparent ease, the Netgear Orbi 770 is easy to recommend. The accessible app shows connected devices, allows you to set up a guest network or IoT network, and offers a handful of analytical tools. The main router has a 2.5 Gbps WAN and three 2.5 Gbps LAN ports, while the satellites make do with two 2.5 Gbps LAN ports apiece.
The subscriptions are a bit of a catch with this system. Netgear Armor is feature-packed security software that includes Bitdefender Security and VPN service, but it’s only free for 30 days, then $40 for the first year, and $100 a year after. Basic parental controls are free, but to set limits, track website and app usage, apply age-appropriate filters, and set bedtimes, you must subscribe to Smart Parental Controls for $8 a month or $70 a year after the 30-day trial. You can live without these, but they’re nice to have.
While a cheaper Wi-Fi 6 mesh will still serve most homes well, snagging the Orbi 770 enables you to tick off Wi-Fi worries for the next few years. It is a supremely slick, set-and-forget mesh that’s robust, reliable, and rangey. And this Prime Day deal is the cheapest I’ve seen this system so far.
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