Impartial. No-nonsense. Real stuff.
All reviews on this website are based on thorough hands-on testing and real-world first-hand experience.
This category also includes previews and first-takes, derived from initial impressions, past experience, or preliminary assessments.
The new NETGEAR Orbi RBKE960 series—currently available as a 3-pack Orbi RBKE963—is a nice and large Wi-Fi 6E mesh box of mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s excellent, delivering seemingly everything a home user would ask for in a home mesh system. On the other, it has a deliberately … Continue Reading
Here’s some upsetting news for those who use NETGEAR home Wi-Fi routers. As it turned out, the networking vendor has been quietly killing off useful features from its networking devices. Over the years, the company has slowly been removing non-essential features such as QoS and Parental Controls from its web … Continue Reading
The GS110EMX 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Smart Managed Plus Switch with 2-Port 10G/Multi-Gig Uplinks has a very descriptive name—yes, that whole thing is its full name. So this is a Gigabit switch with two 10Gbps Multi-Gig ports, designed for uplink purposes. As such, it’s a well-made device. It’s compact, and quiet … Continue Reading
The NETGEAR MK83 Nighthawk tri-band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System, first announced on March 16, 2021, sure seems an upgrade to the previous Dual-band MK63 model. It has an additional 5GHz band and, therefore, more bandwidth. But on the inside, it’s pretty much the same as its lesser cousin, … Continue Reading
The NETGEAR SXK30 Orbi Pro Wi-Fi 6 Mini AX1800 Mesh System, first announced on May 11, 2021, is the answer to my lamentations on the SXK80’s expensive cost. (No, I didn’t get that loan.) Indeed, the new mesh’s pricing is more sensible, costing $300 for a 2-pack or $400 for … Continue Reading
The NETGEAR WAX214 AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Access Point (WAP) was available simultaneously with the oddball WAX204, but I decided not to review it until now due to some firmware issues. Indeed, with the latest firmware release, version 2.0.1.0, this (still) new access point proved in my testing to be reliable. … Continue Reading
As the second Wi-Fi 6E broadcaster on the market, the much anticipated NETGEAR RAXE500 Nighthawk 12-Stream AXE11000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Router is the presumed rival of the ASUS GT-AXE11000 that arrived earlier this year. Apart from the additional 6GHz band, the two have many other things in common. That includes … Continue Reading
