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I receive dozens of tech questions every week, and many of them ask me for advice on the best way to cover a large multi-story home with a strong and fast Wi-Fi network.
I’ve written several posts about this very topic over the years, and the solution that I recommend tends to depend on the state of wireless technology at that particular point in time.
I recently had the opportunity to check out the amazing Netgear Orbi Tri-band WiFi system, and I can tell you that this is an excellent solution for ensuring that every room in your home has a strong and super-fast Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.
The Orbi system is extremely powerful, yet dead-simple to set up. Simply connect the Orbi base station router to your modem, then place the satellite unit in a central location in your home and set up your Wi-Fi network using the simple browser-based setup utility.
Here’s a very short video that demonstrates exactly what you can expect after installing an Orbi mesh WiFi system in your home:
Pretty impressive, right?
I’ve tried a number of “mesh” multi-device WiFi systems, but the Orbi system is the easiest to set up by far. Here’s another video that shows just how easy it is install and configure one in your home or office:
The Orbi system is a fast “mesh” Wi-Fi solution that provides effective whole-house coverage for homes with up to 5,000 square feet and/or multiple stories. Every room in your house is virtually guaranteed to have a super-fast wireless connection. It worked spendidly in mine, including the garage and basement.
The secret to Orbi’s magic is a dedicated high-bandwidth Wi-Fi connection that’s used solely for the base station and satellite unit to talk to one another with your computers, smart phones, tablets and other Wi-Fi devices using separate connections to communicate with the network.
That means your Wi-Fi connected devices won’t have to compete with the router and satellite units for the limited amount of bandwidth that’s available on a typical router/Wi-Fi extender network.
Better yet, your family won’t have to deal with the hassle of using multiple Wi-Fi networks since the Orbi system connects every device in your home to the same network using the same network ID and password, regardless of whether they happen to connect to the base station or the satellite unit.
Bottom line: If you’re looking for a dead-simple solution for blanketing your large home with a single fast, multi-user Wi-Fi network, I believe the Netgear Orbi system is a great way to go.
Click here to read more about the Netgear Orbi Tri-Band WiFi System at Amazon.