While the Netgear Orbi 970 series has impressed me over the past month, it’s not perfect. I first tried to test this system before its release and had to give up after encountering frequent network outages. To be fair, I had trouble testing many pre-certified Wi-Fi 7 systems, particularly with Google’s Pixel 8 (and I’m not the only one). Netgear has updated the firmware of the Orbi 970, so it works much better. I had problems with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra this time, but deleting its network settings and reconnecting them fixed my problems.
Special price
There’s a lot to like about the Netgear Orbi 970 series, but it makes the Eero Max 7 (7/10, WIRED review) and TP-Link Deco BE85 (7/10, WIRED review) look relatively affordable, and both systems slightly outperformed it in many of my tests. The scenario where Orbi excels is in very large homes with multi-gigabit Internet connections. If you have a big house, you can probably afford it, but why pay more? One possible answer is extras.
Netgear Armor is a comprehensive security suite with many features. It scans devices when they connect to your network, proactively blocks threats including malware and shady websites, and includes Bitdefender Security and VPN service to protect your devices outside the home. This package certainly adds value and some families will find it very useful, although you will only get the first year free. After that, it costs $100 a year.
Basic parental controls are free, but they limit you to creating profiles for your kids’ devices and pausing your internet. If you want to set limits, track website and app usage, apply age-appropriate filters, set bedtimes, and more, you need smart parental controls for $8 a month or $70 a year after the 30-day trial. These are comprehensive parental controls, but they incur a significant additional fee.
While the subscription model now dominates, Asus still offers much of the same functionality for free with its range of routers. It’s not as easy to use, but you can modify more settings. If you prefer the set-it-and-forget-it approach, you can save hundreds with the Eero Max 7 at $1,700 for a pack of three either $1,150 for a two-pack (less if you expect a sale). It’s just as easy to use, and an Eero Plus subscription for $100 a year includes everything you get with Netgear Armor and smart parental controls, plus really useful additional smart home features and one of our favorite password managers.
You may pay more for some brands of consumer electronics because you love the design or their unique features, but that’s harder to justify for something as utilitarian as a router. The Netgear Orbi 970 series is certainly an excellent mesh, but it doesn’t do much, if anything, that another mesh system can’t do for less. Ultimately, it is too expensive and excessive for most people.