Brick, tile, wooden or concrete, small or large, whatever the shape, size and construction materials of your house there’s always an annoying WiFi blackspot.

Google’s Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System is here to sort that out.

Either in a single or multi-pack (depends on how big your place is as to how many of these you will need), the aesthetically pleasing Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh has been future proofed for instant connectivity to Matter gear as well as having WiFi 6E, which is twice as quick as WiFi 6.

One unit is expected to cover 150m2. That’s a fairly decent footprint. And in my place, a two storey concrete and wood townhouse it was more than enough from every corner of the house.

There’s two ports at the back, one to plug in to your existing ISP modem and the other spare if you want to hardwire anything in to it.

This said for most you’ll find the wireless broadcast more than sufficient for multiple devices in the home and all smarthome tech.

If you already have other Google devices in your setup these will integrate with the Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System real easy via the Google Home app. And it is also within the app you can see current speeds, what’s currently connected and using bandwidth, restrict, block and more.

You’ll also get security as well as notifications and alerts on your smartphone, iOS if you have the Google Home app installed.

The Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System is a definite for a one bedroom place and a more modest sized two bedroom, like mine. But if you have two or more bedrooms you may want to invest in more than just one Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System unit.

For me it worked perfectly with zero blackspots in any room of the house and what’s more when compared with other similar Mesh systems available, the Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System is more than affordable.

Get everything connected, have everything staying connected with the Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System.

The post Google Nest WiFi Pro Mesh System Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

As Dr. Emmet Brown from Back to the Future would say, he needs ‘gigawatts’ of power, and that’s pretty much what the Netgear Orbi 860 Black Edition mesh has.

A modem and a router setup that is from the future, Netgear have packed a lot of tech in this two unit pack to have you and everyone in your home surfing and streaming like never before.

This two pack sees a modem and and an extender that is able to cover up to 560 square meters in and outside your home.

From your driveway through to the darkest corner of your backyard you’ll have a robust and reliable connection.

Whether you opt for wireless or connected you can.

The modem is equipped with a Quad-core 2.2GHz processor and both 512MB NAND Flash and 1GB RAM and is equipped your primary internet port with and additional four ethernet ports. The extender, or ‘Satellite’ has four ethernet ports.

Each port is capable of up to 1Gbps but this will of course depend on your receiving device’s network card with the main internet port on the modem being 10Gbps. Speed capabilities will of course depend on your ISP and the fibre line that comes in to your home.

Placing this in to the context of gaming, your console or PC should likely be able to download a sizeable game within minutes, not hours.

Trying this out, downloading EA’s Star Wars: Jedi Survivor which is over 100GB for PC usually takes an hour, usually two, before it’s good to go.

Cabled in to the extender that is wirelessly synced to the Orbi 860 modem Jedi Survivor download timeframe was way quicker, being ready to play in only 37 minutes.

Asides from chunky downloads, if you’re an online gamer you can say goodbye to network latency, hiccups and blips. It’s smooth and fast.

The Netgear Orbi 860 allows up to 100 in-home connected devices and aims to stream the connection at 100% to all. So everyone can stream, play and work uninterrupted.

100 devices seems a bit of an overkill, right? Well, no not really. If you have a smart home the number of smart devices vying for a connection increases exponentially and even if you don’t have smart gear automating your household, think of how many phones, tablets, connected TVs and computers / laptops that might be all queuing for a connection.

I remember when I first started kitting out my place as a ‘smart home’ and back then this was a relatively new concept. I was always experiencing devices fighting for IP Addresses from my modem. More often than not I’d have to restart my modem to renew IP Address leases. First world problems, yes, but super frustrating.

With the Orbi 860 you’ll never have this issue. If anything Netgear have future proofed.

Wireless speeds are up to 6Gbps and again this will depend on your receiving device. Distance from the mesh should not be a factor within your home. My laptop, which is multiband compatible was able to get a wireless speed average of 4 – 5 Gbps from the Orbi 860 mesh.

The Netgear Orbi 860 Black Edition is tri-band including Wi-Fi 6 of course and yep there’s an Orbi app.

This is super handy and you’re going to need it for setup anyway.

The Orbi 860 comes with defences by way of ‘Netgear Armor’ to protect your devices from any internet nasties. you can also use the app to see speeds, what’s connected, filter and more.

Last year I reviewed the RBKE963 Mesh System and this blew away all expectations of what a mesh system should be capable of. The Black Edition is very much the same and in my opinion more styley in its darker colour scheme.

But with all of this said, reliability, speeds and future proofing does come at a cost. The Netgear Orbi 860 Black Edition is not cheap.

If you’ve got the budget and hot speed interwebs in and around your entire domain is critical, the Netgear Orbi 860 Black Edition is a must.

The post Netgear Orbi 860 Black Edition Mesh Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Acer today unveiled the Acer Connect Vero W6m mesh router, its first eco-friendly Wi-Fi 6E router that incorporates post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials in its chassis and features an Eco mode for efficient energy consumption.

The router is powered by a quad-core 2 Ghz processor and includes a bundle of enhanced connectivity, coverage, and security features, including Wi-Fi 6E Tri-Band AXE7800 capability and compliance with Radio Equipment Directive (RED) EN 303 645 articles 3.3 Cyber Security Standards.

“We are thrilled to expand Acer’s portfolio of network devices with the launch of the Acer Connect Vero W6m Wi-Fi 6E mesh router, engineered with support for Wi-Fi 6E tri-band connectivity to provide swift and secure connections with vast network coverage within any home or office locations,” said Wayne Ma, General Manger, IoB, IT Products Business, Acer Inc.

“The performance-driven router is also the latest addition to our growing Vero line of ecoconscious products, embodying Acer’s commitment to fulfilling its environmental responsibility and helping minimise carbon footprint.”

The Acer Connect Vero W6m, Acer’s first eco-friendly router, comes with Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and conforms with security standards set by the European Commission’s Radio Equipment Directive. Capable of supporting Wi-Fi 6E Triband (2.4 Ghz/5 Ghz/6 Ghz) AXE7800 throughput, the device provides speeds of up to 7.8 Gbps to deliver fast, stable internet connections when online.

The Wi-Fi 6E router can also be paired with up to 4 units and features impressive network ranges of up to 465 m2 on a dual mesh system and up to 930 m2 on a quad mesh system to help eliminate dead spots in larger coverage areas. Powered by a state-of-the-art quad-core 2 GHz A53 processor with 1 GB LPDDR RAM and 4 GB memory capacity, the Acer Connect Vero W6m is engineered to keep up with high-bandwidth requirements.

The new Vero router also gives great importance to data protection and security as it is the first Wi-Fi 6E mesh router to pass EU EN 303 645 (RED) Cyber Security Standards. It also comes with a dedicated WPS button for effortless network security setups. The router is further optimised with intelligent device/application recognition and standard LAN and WAN ports for added connection flexibility.

Designed with the environment in mind, Acer’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions is reflected in every aspect of the device, from its chassis to energy-efficient features. It also utilises 100% recyclable paper in its packaging.

The Acer Connect Vero W6m’s minimalistic and compact aesthetic is made with 30% PCR plastic and painted with a cobblestone gray finish to let it blend in with any office or home setup. The dedicated Eco mode function optimises the router’s power consumption, along with other connected devices by managing their sleep time when not in use and efficiently regulating its data frequency distribution.

The Acer Connect Vero W6m router availability and pricing is to be announced.

The post Acer Unveils its First Eco-Friendly Wi-Fi 6E Mesh Router appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NETGEAR has announced the New Zealand arrival of the Orbi 860 Series.

Building on the award-winning 850 Series, the new addition to the Orbi portfolio future proofs home internet with a 10Gb Ethernet port, supporting multi-gig internet connections; upgraded antenna design for greater WiFi performance. and a bundled year of NETGEAR Armor, providing homes with an automatic shield of security against internet threats across every connected device.

Following on the tremendous success of the Orbi 850 Series (WiFi 6 AX6000 Mesh System RBK853), the Orbi 860 Series joins NETGEAR’s industry-leading WiFi 6 Whole Home Mesh WiFi portfolio.

The past few years have seen huge changes to internet usage spurred by the pandemic, including a dramatic increase in just about everything from home, working, shopping, learning, and socialising. As Internet Service Providers enable faster multi-gig internet speeds, up to 10 Gigabits per second, and hackers create new sophisticated cyber-attacks, high-performance and secure WiFi are now imperative.

With NETGEAR’s latest WiFi 6 tri-band and patented dedicated backhaul technology, the powerful Orbi 860 Series mesh systems are designed to keep connections strong and running at maximum speeds in every room without slow-downs or buffering, providing families the bandwidth to address household demands even when simultaneously 4K / 8K streaming, Zoom conferencing and WiFi calling from a bedroom, basement or the backyard.

In an environment where homes are connected with Gigabit plus internet (1.4 to 10 Gigabit) and have an increasing number of connected devices – more than 25 on average, the new Orbi 860 Series provides the best WiFi experience for WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 devices. It’s an upgrade from the Orbi 850 series with a stepped-up internet connection, from 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit, and new antenna system with wider coverage areas.

The new Orbi RBK863 3-pack WiFi Mesh System provides up to 540 square metres of coverage with up to 6Gbps WiFi speed and support for 100 devices operating at the same time. This coverage can easily be expanded with additional Orbi RBS860 satellites. To achieve this industry-leading performance and wider range, NETGEAR uses patented dedicated backhaul WiFi technology and antenna design. The exclusive tri-band mesh system with NETGEAR’s pioneering innovation ensures speeds stay fast as more WiFi devices connect to the home network with less dropped connections.

“When we launched our flagship Orbi product line in 2016, we set a new benchmark for connected home products with faster speeds, higher capacity and wider coverage areas with our patented tri-band mesh design,” said David Henry, president & GM of Connected Home Products and Services at NETGEAR. “Our new Orbi 860 Series is designed to continue to deliver on the promise of superior WiFi. It provides the capacity to capitalise on higher incoming Internet speed, up to 10 Gigabit, an increasing number of devices and even better WiFi range than the Orbi 850 Series. On top of that, we couple it with one of the industry’s best internet security protection services to help New Zealand households to secure all their WiFi connected devices, including laptops, phones, tablets, speakers, cameras, baby monitors, TVs, light bulbs, light switches and more.”

Tech Specs

• Faster Speeds with WiFi 6 – WiFi 6 offers four times the speed, capacity, and bandwidth of WiFi 5. You get best-in-class performance regardless of activity or device type.
• Stays Strong Even as You Connect More Devices – Enjoy consistent, peak speeds and high performance on up to 100 devices across 743 square metres with Orbi’s patented tri-band mesh router-satellite WiFi connection.
• 20% WiFi Boost with Exclusive Antenna Array Design – With unique WiFi optimisation and a new, improved antenna array, the Orbi 860 system provides more range and speed compared to the previous Orbi 850 Series.
• Multi-Gig Speeds with 10GbE Internet Port – The 10Gb Internet speed port enables you to connect to the latest cable and optical fiber offerings over 1 Gbps up to 10Gbps, and you can plug in your wired devices to improve performance via four Gigabit Ethernet ports on each router and satellite.
• Seamless WiFi for Multiple Devices – Say goodbye to slow connections. WiFi 6 makes shared bandwidth much more efficient and prevents connection delays.
• Dedicated Backhaul – Unlike competitors with a shared backhaul, Orbi’s patented dedicated backhaul connects the router to satellites with a dedicated WiFi pathway exclusively used for communication between the base router and the satellites while our competitors share that link when communicating with other connected devices. This dedicated backhaul design ensures blazing speeds throughout your home and on all your devices.  Connections stay strong all the time.
• Orbi App – Easily set up your WiFi system, manage your network remotely, pause the Internet on any device, track your Internet data usage and more.

For added peace of mind, the Orbi 860 Series includes a year of NETGEAR Armor to protect the connected home from online threats.

Unlike traditional endpoint antivirus products, NETGEAR’s Armor is built into the router as a comprehensive security solution to monitor activity going to and from the Internet, protecting computers, security cameras, baby monitors and other IoT devices, flagging external threats while eliminating the need for multiple security subscriptions or software. Additionally, it provides on-the-go protection and VPN for phones and laptops. Armor acts as a strong and effective “front- and backdoor lock” to any home network.

NETGEAR will also offer a standalone Orbi router (RBR860S) for those who live in smaller homes or apartments and desire the best WiFi performance as well as the flexibility to easily expand to Orbi mesh as their needs change.

The Orbi 860 Series Mesh System and satellites will be available in black, with an option also available for a white router, providing elegant and unobtrusive colourways to complement any home decor. The system is available now from all good technology retailers including JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, PB Tech and Noel Leeming.

You can also find out more on the official website.

The post NETGEAR shuts down internet blackouts w. Orbi Black 860 Series appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Who says bigger is better?

Amazon prove that solid, reliable tech does come in small packages with their eero 6+ WiFi Mesh kit.

You can opt to buy singularly, but if you’re wanting full cover for home, no black spots (and mine has a few) then the three pack of eero 6+ routers is the way to go.

My home is a smart home. Which means my bandwidth is choca loaded with devices all screaming out, demanding an IP address.

The routers that telco’s hand out just don’t cut it.

Having so many smart devices, lights, security, entertainment and more all connected swapping out a router can be a nightmare.

But Amazon have made it super easy with the eero 6+.

Your eero app (iOS or Android) is your go to. It will guide you through the set up assist with reconnecting devices and even tells you what is connected.

First the app is going to need to use Bluetooth on your smart device. Once one of the eero 6+ units is plugged into your existing modem it’s simple as from there.

If you already have an Alexa device in your home an Alexa skill is automatically added (providing you log in to your Amazon account during setup). This allows you to have some voice control over your eero 6+ mesh.

The three pack has a trio of tiny sized eero 6+ routers. One to be the main device and the other two extenders. Brilliantly, you do not need to use a specific eero 6+ to be the primary – they are smart enough to know what’s connected and who’s the boss.

Each unit has two 1GBps ethernet ports. This might be a bit of a downer if you’re someone who prefers to hardwire your gear in, but for WiFi it’s not going to matter.

Spreading the eero 6+ devices throughout your home will see the end to those annoying dead zones – and it did for me.

Upstairs has always been a bit iffy. After setting up the eero’s I was getting full and same coverage anywhere in the house.

They are dual band  WiFi 6 @ 160 MHz and also backwards compatible for those older connected devices. The eero 6+ are smart enough to distribute the load accordingly. Honestly once set up, there’s nothing you need to do but chill, game, stream and more.

There’s some security too. You can block apps, block ads and create rules via profiles (if you set these up) and of course see your in-home data usage which can detail individual devices connected to your eero 6+ network.

When compared to similar kits the Amazon eero 6+ is value for your dollars, coming in at near to half the price of competitors (for the three pack).

Give your home based devices the freedom and connectivity that they deserve with Amazon’s eero 6+ and stream content in your home like a pro.

The post Amazon eero 6+ WiFi Mesh Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Every home has one.

That room where your WiFi signal drops or is weaker than anywhere else in the house.

For bewildering reasons a black spot of your WiFi coverage can be frustrating and the cause can be one of many things.

Weak signal, cluttered network environment (too many things connected) or simply an obstacle such as a wall.

Netgear has the solution with their Orbi RBKE963 Mesh System.

In the box you’ll get one Orbi router (modem) and two Wifi extenders.

I always get a little nervous when replacing my current modem. I have so many things connected and my home is a smart home, mostly controlled by a few Amazon Alexa devices.

Reconnecting all of that to a new modem is a nightmare and time consuming.

But with Netgear’s Orbi Mesh System it was surprisingly straight forward.

You will need to get yourself the Netgear Orbi app for iOS (iPhone) or Android. Setup is done via the app and it can also tell you how many devices you currently have connected within your home network including the names of each one.

The Orbi app additionally gives you a report on your current speeds and rates the security.

Once you have your modem up and running adding the Mesh’s is near-to automated.

The Netgear Orbi Mesh System has a few connectivity options. 2.2GHz, 5GHz and future proofed with 6GHz.

The 2.2GHz is the more standard one, older devices will use this band, but there can be issues where it can become noisy if you have a few things going on in your network.

5GHz has for a wee while now been the 2.2GHz failsafe where compatible devices can opt to connect to this essentially removing the clutter from the busy 2.2GHz.

For the 6GHz, now this is relatively new, but most newer smartdevices should be compatible. Having the three bandwidths to choose from, or allow the modem to auto select, spreads the load nicely.

This said, even on the 2.2GHz I was able to see from the app that the speeds, while lower than the other two alternatives, was consistent.

Where you place you Mesh devices is up to you and will depend on your house.

The app will help you to spread them out effectively.

The Orbi modem has a powerful quad-core 2.2GHz processor and differing physical ports for up to 10GBps. The maximum area it can radiate its signal is 835 square meters. If your house is small-ish you may only need to use one extender, or perhaps no extender at all. In saying that I would still recommend having them dotted around as it will maintain a strong and non-interrupted connection.

They also look styley. All three units are the same in design and have been created with aesthetics in mind. Pop the Mesh extenders on a shelf or desk and they don’t look out of place from the rest of the decore.

Honestly, I had no idea how transforming the Netgear Orbi Mesh System was going to be. Fast and consistent speeds, no drops, lag and also no network clutter or devices dropping off due to interference. There’s also a parental control where you can set times where the younger people in your house can and cannot access the internet from their phone, tablet or computer.

Future proofed for years the Netgear Orbi RBKE963 Mesh System is super reliable and turns your home in to a super smart home.

The post NETGEAR Orbi RBKE963 Mesh System Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NETGEAR, provider of mesh WiFi systems that power today’s smart homes and small businesses, announced the introduction of the Nighthawk Mesh WiFi System.

With the broadest range of WiFi 6 offerings in the industry, NETGEAR, the leading provider of mesh WiFi solutions, continues the commitment to advance WiFi performance with the launch of a new product line, the Nighthawk Mesh WiFi system. With the launch of Nighthawk Mesh WiFi, the performance line will now join the fastest growing segment of WiFi advanced solutions – WiFi 6 mesh systems.

The award-winning NETGEAR Orbi WiFi Mesh System has provided the consumer with an advanced WiFi solution, which has become synonymous with ease-of-use and performance, whereas the Nighthawk line of performance routers has been reserved for those customers who prefer to have greater capability to customise the settings for personalisation and optimisation of their network.

Designed for the tech enthusiast, the new Nighthawk WiFi 6 Mesh System brings the experience of reliable and flexible WiFi coverage with specialised features such as Dynamic QoS, which automatically prioritises both video streaming and gaming traffic. NETGEAR will continue to add features establishing Nighthawk Mesh WiFi system as the most robust and adaptable system available.

Every member of a household now has a well-defined need for super-fast, reliable WiFi from gamers, to telecommuters and those who stream HD video to numerous screens within the home.

NETGEAR has answered this call with the Nighthawk Mesh WiFi System delivering the future of WiFi with next-generation WiFi 6. The Nighthawk Mesh System comes with one or two high-powered satellites to provide whole home broadband WiFi coverage. Dead zones are eliminated by easily adding satellites wherever needed or to scale up when moving to a larger home. Setup is completed in minutes with the free Nighthawk App on Apple iOS or Android OS and is also used to easily manage the network from your mobile device.  “In a period of just three years, mesh WiFi has taken a large share of the WiFi market. NETGEAR has led this charge with our popular award-winning Orbi Tri-band Mesh WiFi system,” said David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home Products for NETGEAR. “We are excited to bring the power and flexibility of Nighthawk to this market, and lead the transition to WiFi 6.”

A Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 router or a satellite supports dual-band WiFi with up to 1.8Gbps using the latest WiFi 6 and is the ideal companion for the latest iPhone or Samsung smart phones and the new WiFi 6 capable gadgets introduced over the last several months. Legacy devices also will experience enhanced connectivity, as the WiFi 6 backhaul for mesh systems improves utilisation of WiFi channels with its use of faster speeds and better efficiencies over WIFi 6.

The router also comes equipped with 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports (one for the internet and the other for the LAN) while the satellite comes with 1 Gigabit Ethernet port. This exciting new addition to the NETGEAR family of mesh WiFi products will set a new bar for performance and capacity to meet the increasing bandwidth demands of our customers.

NETGEAR already has the industry’s most complete WiFi 6 router portfolio and are now happy to offer the same for WiFi 6 mesh solutions.

The post NETGEAR PUSHES THE TRANSITION TO WIFI 6 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Unless you’ve been asleep for the last few years, you’ll know that we live in a connected world. So connected, that the constant flow of information to our devices is expected no matter where we are.

Networking outfits, such as Netgear have successfully given filled our houses with wireless networking, even in the most hard-to-reach, out-of-the-way places. Now that Wi-Fi access has been sorted in the guest bathroom. What about the garden?

Be it just ignorant Facebooking whilst having a barbie, or streaming Spotify to a conveniently located outdoor speaker, it’s likely that your Wi-Fi network starts to fade away the further you move from the house.

Netgear’s Orbi Outdoor Wi-Fi Mesh Extender is primarily designed to complement and extend Netgear’s own Orbi routers, but it can work with any Wi-Fi equipped router. I tested in with a D-Link Viper 2600 with no connection issues at all. Setup is easy, using the Netgear Orbi app.

The rather hefty device relays your existing Wi-Fi signal amplifying it and thus extending your Wi-Fi networks range. It doesn’t need to be wired into your existing network; all it needs is a power supply. The Orbi is completely weatherproof. I tested it against the best Sydney could throw at it with torrential rain and blisteringly hot sun.

The unit is advertised as being rated at AC3000 MU-MINO. It’s tri-band with three radios, 1x 400Mbps @ 2.4Ghz, 1x 866Mbps @ 5Ghz and 1733Mbps @ 5Ghz.

The heatsink on the rear of the device is justified by the amount of heat that the unit kicks out. This suggest that your extended Wi-Fi does come an additional cost on your electricity bill.

I’m sceptical about Wi-Fi range at the best of times. It would seem that most router manufacturers test their devices in buildings made of Papier-mâché. For my test I set the Orbi Extender up about 20m from my modem. Using Speedtest, I was getting a 100Mbps download speed at the modem. Standing next to the Orbi I got a very reasonable 80Mbps.

Moving further afield, about 20m from the Orbi / 40m from the house, the download speed dropped to around 45Mbps. Still acceptable. At this point, though, Whilst I was still in line of sight to the Orbi, I wasn’t to the house, the Orbi relaying the signal around the garden shed.

It was only when I got to the road at the top of the drive, about 60m from the house that the signal took a dive to about 14Mbps. I was still able to stream Netflix from the Wi-Fi. At this point the Orbi single would passing though a garden shed and a colorbond fence to get to my phone.

At the best part of AUD$500, the Netgear Orbi Outdoor Wi-Fi Mesh Extender isn’t cheap. But it is weather-resistant and comes complete with fixings for wall-mounting or free-standing. In brilliant white, with a (thankfully) optional LED light, it’s not the most subtle of devices. But it does its job. If you need wireless networking across your garden, the Orbi Extender is worth looking into.

The post Netgear Orbi Outdoor Wi-Fi Mesh Extender Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.