Yes, they are. (Isn't a taxi cab basically a 'car'?)
The difference is that the all mesh systems communicate with each other about which devices are connected and have advanced features to handle the "hand off' from one access point to another.
A normal WiFi access point knows nothing about any other WiFi unit.
It is really irritating that Netgear decided to implement the Orbi system this way. Other vendors who use identical hardware for routers and satellites allow the user to define which unit will be the gateway to the internet and the rest can be satellites. But, Netgear chose to do it this way.
There was one enterprising hacker who discovered a way to change the original RBR50 router into an RBS50 satellite, but thus far no one has come up with a similar method for other models.
Re: can the orbi router rbr750 work as a satelite in a setup?
In theory, anyone could take the GPL source code from Netgear's web site, recreate the package, and make any changes they want. I tried and failed miserably. I know of one other person who was successful. Voxel is in a league of his own.
