Test: Netgear Orbi 5G NBK752 – Both broadband and 5g router

At first I have a hard time figuring out what I am actually testing. So the product name itself. Netgear has a preference for using product names that are so general that more than one product can have the same name, as well as sprinkling with letter and number combinations that are not necessarily unique to the product they apply to. The easiest way to find this combination is to search on NBK752. What you get then is a broadband router with both Ethernet connection to fixed broadband and SIM card slot for connection via the mobile network with 5G. This router is also sold separately under the name NBR750. The package also includes a satellite unit that creates a meshat Wifi 6 network together with the broadband router, for better surface coverage.

The very unique feature that you get a Wifi network that uses the 5g network for its connection, does not obviously feel like selling. At least in Sweden, it must be difficult to find a place that does not have access to fixed broadband via fiber or cable TV, but which has 5g coverage. If, on the other hand, you let it be just 5g, there are definitely situations where it is a point to have a broadband router that also has a mobile network connection. It can be like a pure backup function, or you have a router you move between two places seasonally, or you need reliable internet but have unstable fixed connection… none of them maybe something that everyone recognizes in, but rather many small special cases. The important thing may be that you are not locked to using the router via the mobile network, it can also function as a normal broadband router connected to a fixed network.

The main router is a sturdy piece that can not be clamped on any hat shelf. In addition to the SIM card slot and Ethernet socket for connection to broadband, it has another pair of Ethernet ports for direct connection of computers and connectors for external antennas that will amplify the signal. However, these antennas are not included. The satellite unit is the same size but lighter and feels immediately fragile. Plastic parts move in relation to each other and it feels like I could accidentally break it.

Installation with strul

You configure Netgear Orbi 5g (I intend to call it that in the text even though it may refer to more than one product) with Netgear’s app. I have vague memories from the last time I tested Netgear that I did not like the app, and these memories will soon be my reality again in the present. Almost every step of the installation process generates error messages. During the installation, the app repeatedly claims that it can not find the router, the app crashes and has to be restarted a couple of times, and it wants to install new firmware to the router but fails. It really is not trustworthy, but in the end, after trying and trying again, everything is clear.

During the installation, Netgear wants me to activate their security software, something I (again based on experience) try but fail to avoid. After that, I get a couple of notifications for each device that connects to the network and another couple once a week, all to tell you that there is nothing to report or that the newly connected device does not pose a security risk. To bombard someone with notifications to say that you have nothing to say is directly provocative.

Then I need to configure the router as I want it. It is preset to use only the mobile network, and also 4g and not 5g, and I have to dig deep into the settings to change it. Once there, I can choose between using the mobile network (and I can turn on 5g) or the fixed network, or that it should use one with the other as a backup alternative if the connection should be broken. You would of course like to have this function much more easily accessible so that you could switch with the push of a button, on the device and on the mobile phone.

Once I have switched to using the fixed network in the first place and the mobile network in the second place, Orbi 5G wants, for safety’s sake, after changing the setting, that I go through the entire installation procedure from the beginning. Even if it messes up less this time, it’s not fun.

Good but not better

Once everything is configured, most of a wifi network requires that it provide a stable, hassle-free internet connection without making any fuss. Netgear Orbi 5g can handle most things. But it is a really expensive product with large and clumsy routers. Then they are expected to be faster, more stable or able to handle several simultaneous connected devices compared to a cheaper product. I can not say that I notice either. When I test speed, I get perfectly okay results but not significantly better than cheaper alternatives, for example TP-link Deco X60, where you get three units instead of two and at a much lower price. Even my old Google Wifi often manages to keep up with the Orbi 5g in many cases. It also does not stand out significantly with better range or stronger signal through walls. In terms of stability, it happens that I lose connection just as it does for other wifi routers.

Netgear Orbi 5g does the job I expect it to, but at a price tag that is too high, and with unnecessary suffering to get there.