orbi models power range comparison

Ciao Pino,

By rule of thumb, a R7500 (or virtually and WiFi router) or the Orbi Router has rouhgly the same range. Thing three circles - the outer most for 2.4 GHz, the middle one for the high power 5 GHz channels, and a smaller one for the lower 5 GHz channels.

The basic idea of Orbi is that you can add Orbi Satellites to the Orbi Router. When using the wireless backhaul, the distance between the Orbi system is about the radius of the high power 5 GHz circle so the dedicated 5 GHz backbone has a good connctivity. This allows to stretch the coverage in a form say like the Olympic rings and all Orbi systems are creating a wireless mesh. Alternate - or to be correct as an add-on, a star or daisy chain wired backhaul can be configured between the Orbi Router and the Orbi Satellites.The wired backhaul should be preferred over the wireless backbone in building structures which are not wireless friendly - like concrete, underground, fat walls, ... 

What Orbi dos not want to be is a I-want-the-maximum-throughput-for-my-computer virtually anywhere. If you expect top of breed 802.11ac using 160 MHz (or 80+80 MHz) on 802.11ac on 5 GHz allowing almost a Gb for one system on shorter range, Orbi isn't for you. If you have many wireless devices, all have to be covered, most in 2x2 or 1x1 configuration like the majority of notebooks, tablets, mobile phones, ... Orbi can be considered.

This graphic is borrowed from Netgear's marketing material for Orbi Pro in a daisy chain config. But them it does also show the idea of the rings I was talking of before. Just for the wireless backhaul, the ring radius must be fully overlapping.