Introduction

NETGEAR has been strongly represented on TechPowerUp thus far and it just happened to be a NETGEAR product that I used for my first WiFi 6 networking product review. That particular model was the Orbi Pro SXK80 that blurred the lines between consumer needs and professional requirements. Indeed, it was a product with features that suited small business owners in particular and so it was only a matter of time before we took a look at the more consumer-oriented Orbi RBK853—a triple pack SKU based off NETGEAR’s Orbi 850 series from late 2021 that introduced WiFi 6 to the company’s popular mesh networking system line. We’ve since covered other WiFi 6 routers, including this niche mobile hotspot that is part of NETGEAR’s Nighthawk line, but suffice to say that most end users these days are looking at mesh WiFi systems and NETGEAR was certain to update the RBK850 series.

It took nearly an year but we did get an announcement of the new Orbi 860 series in Oct 2022. This is not to be confused with the Orbi 960 WiFi 6E series that released in late 2021 and still remains at the top of NETGEAR’s Orbi product line. Instead, the new RBK860 series builds upon the older, still capable Orbi 850 series in being WiFi 6 routers and satellites. Today we take a look at the NETGEAR RBK863S WiFi 6 system that provides one router and two satellites in a tri-band configuration with the dedicated backhaul channel the Orbi family has long boasted, allowing for it to be an AX6000 (6000 Mbps total throughput) product.. It is sold in a white color version throughout the world but can be had in an exclusive black color version directly from NETGEAR. I happen to have the latter here for review and thus I decided to use the white version as the thumbnail for this review so you get an idea of how the two look. This triple-pack SKU also used to be exclusive to NETGEAR.com in the US and most regions, but now happens to be a general retail option in Europe courtesy the denser building materials used here that challenge WiFi signal strength propagation more than the at times ridiculously large mansions in the US. Thanks to NETGEAR for providing the system to TechPowerUp for review which begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications