Netgear orbi rbk50 review in Spanish (full analysis)

Navigation through the use of a WiFi network is very comfortable but it has the drawback that its range is limited, which means that there are areas of our house where the signal is too weak to allow us to enjoy fast and uncut navigation.. Netgear Orbi RBK50 is a router + network extender kit that comes to solve this main drawback of wireless networks.

We thank Netgear for trusting us with the product for its review:

Netgear Orbi RBK50 technical specifications

Unboxing and design

The Netgear Orbi RBK50 is presented in a standard size cardboard box. Where we see on its cover an image of the router and satellite.

While in the rear area we have the most important detailed features.

Once we open the bundle we find the following bundle:

Netgear Orbi RBK50.Manual and quick guide. Two power adapters. RJ45 network cable. Disc with software.

Netgear Orbi RBK50 is a state- of-the-art network router and extender set that offers the best features such as excellent speed, support for Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) and many more features that we will discover as the analysis progresses..

WiFi technology is a marvel that allows us to surf the web, play and watch all kinds of multimedia content without the hassle of cables, however, it also has the disadvantage that the quality of the signal decreases as we move away from the issuing source. To solve this problem there are network extenders that communicate with the main emitting source to extend the signal intensity in the most remote parts creating a secondary network, Netgear Orbi RBK50 provides you with one of these extenders with the peculiarity that it uses a Dedicated WiFi band to communicate with the main router, thus both devices are part of the same network and there is no need to configure anything additional on the satellite.

Therefore, the Netgear Orbi RBK50 system consists of a router and a satellite extender or repeater, both are identical in appearance with measurements of 17.01 x 7.87 x 22.6 cm and a weight of 889 grams. Both are built with a very minimalist design that is based on the use of high quality white plastic. The router includes tri-band AC3000 technology with six internal antennas that can offer a maximum theoretical speed of 1, 266 Mhz (400Mbps in the 2.4GHz band and 866Mbps in the 5GHz band). The third band is what makes this system special and is used to communicate the router with the satellite.

At the top of both is an LED lighting system. In the case of the router when the lights are off it means that everything works perfectly, when it is white it indicates that the devices are booting, once started it turns amber. Finally, a changing light in magenta and blue indicates that the traffic limit has been reached. In the case of the satellite, the white light remains when it is booting and turns blue once everything is running, when the connection weakens it turns amber and finally turns magenta when the connection to the router is lost.

At the back of the router are all its connections, specifically we have three Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a USB 2.0 port and the sync, power and reset buttons.

The satellite also has several ports on its back, specifically four Gigabit LAN ports, a USB 2.0 port and the sync, power and reset buttons.

Testing equipment

To make the performance measurements we will use the following components:

1 Asus PCE-AC88 client.Pendrive USB3.0 Sandisk Extreme (approximately 200mbps read / write), formatted as NTFS.Team 1, with Intel i219v network card.Team 2, with Killer E2500.JPerf version 2.0 network card.

Wireless Performance

In this case we are lucky to have a 3T3R client and we will be able to exploit this router to the best of its ability. This is the PCE-AC88 that we have already analyzed, so it has a Broadcom chip, which has shown better performance than the Quantenna chip-based client that we use to test against your most direct rivals. The yields obtained have been the following:

Router - Equipment in the same room: 92 MB / s. Router - Equipment in the Room at 5 meters with 1 wall: 88 MB / s. Router - Satellite in the Room at 7 meters with 1 wall: 84 MB / s.

Firmware and configuration

Netgear Orbi RBK50 can be configured through a mobile application or through the use of a web-based console so there is no need to install anything. The console is very easy to use and sets itself apart from the competition by offering all the basic and advanced settings that are characteristic of a router. The Home section includes tabs for basic and advanced settings as well as displaying basic information about the status of the Internet connection, WiFi network, connected devices, and parental controls.

For a more advanced control of our network we have the advanced settings section where we can manage security that includes parental controls to block access to websites and some users, we can configure to send us an email when someone tries to access a blocked site. We also have advanced WiFi settings from where we can manage MU-MIMO technology and more like the VPN service.

In the advanced section we also find a traffic meter that will help us control the amount of data used in case we have a limited plan contracted. We can configure that access to the network is cut off once the traffic limit is reached.

Final words and conclusion about Netgear Orbi RBK50

The Netgear Orbi RBK50 Kit is a really interesting combination for those homes that have a very long journey or have several floors. Since your router (AC3000) plus satellite offers us good coverage and the possibility of having up to 15 clients connected in total. Nothing bad!

We recommend reading our guide to the best routers on the market.

In our tests we have been able to verify that its performance is more than remarkable. With a really low latency and very good average rates near 85 MB / s in different situations.

Its price in Amazon Spain is 430 euros, yes we know, its price is high. But taking into account the wireless possibilities it offers us and you need to have coverage throughout your home it is a great option.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ MODERN DESIGN.	- PRICE IS HIGH, BUT IT IS WORTH IT.
+ GOOD CHIP AC3000 AND POSSIBILITIES OF ROUTER OR ACCESS POINT.
+ HIGH PERFORMANCE.