Nest WIFI vs Orbi – Whats The Best Mesh Router

When you really take some time to think about how the modern population is dependent on the internet, you’ll definitely be surprised. There is no doubt that we rely on the internet for many aspects of our lives. The world is changing at an extremely quick pace and at this point, having a wireless internet connection is no longer a choice. Nowadays, we talk of smart homes, and that means smart light bulbs, smart bells, smart plugs, smart key locks, smart TVs….the list could go on forever. All these devices require a stable internet connection for them to function properly.

Although it’s a somewhat new technology, mesh wifi has gained so much popularity in just a few years. With mesh wifi, you can enjoy having a strong wifi signal throughout your house regardless of the layout or the presence of thick walls. In the past, people had to use range extenders just to get a decent wifi signal in certain parts of their homes, like the bedroom on the second floor. But things have changed thanks to mesh wifi because it eliminates dead zones and blankets your entire home with a strong and speedy wifi signal.

That being said, you will need a mesh router with superior performance. Since there are so many new mesh systems hitting the market every day, you have lots of options on your display. Nest wifi mesh system and the Netgear Orbi are among the industry top mesh systems in the market today.

They both offer great features and seem to have been designed with users in mind. But if you had to choose between Nest wifi and Netgear Orbi, which one would you go for? What if you are torn between these two impeccable mesh systems? Well, we have compared these two mesh systems in terms of design, performance, price, and user-friendliness to help you make an informed decision.

Nest wifi specs

• AC2200, dual-band mesh router that comes with AC1200 satellite
• Quad-core CPU, 1.4GHz
• 4×4 5GHz band, also 2×2 2GHz band, and no additional backhaul band
• 4GB flash memory, 1GB RAM
• WPA3 encryption
• A two-piece system that covers up to 3,800 square feet area
• The satellites are available in three colors and also include the Google Assistant smart speaker function
• The satellites don’t have Ethernet jacks
• The system doesn’t support wifi 6

Netgear Orbi specs

• AX6000, triband mesh router with AX6000 satellite
• Quad-core CPU, 2.2GHz
• 4×4 5GHz band, 4×4 2GHz band, and an additional 5GHz backhaul band
• 512MB flash memory, 1GB RAM
• WPA3 encryption
• A two-piece system that covers up to 5,000 square feet area
• The router comes with a 2.5GB WAN port and four gigabit Ethernet jacks
• The satellites also include four gigabit Ethernet jacks
• The system is able to support wifi 6

Design differences

If you have an eye for sleek and elegant devices, the Netgear Orbi would be your ideal device. The router comes in an elegant and modern design that you can display in your home without it clashing with the décor. The router has LED lights at the top, which spontaneously turn blue whenever there is a weak or strong connection. The lights turn off when the connection is stable. This is convenient because you are easily aware of your internet connection.

The Nest wifi router is only available in white, but the satellites or points, as the parent company Google calls them, come in a choice of three colors (white, blue, coral). The sleek-looking, fin-like Netgear Orbi routers, and matching satellites certainly command lots of attention. However, the Nest wifi is the one that’s cuter and designed in the perfect way to blend in with your home.

As for capabilities, each of the mesh systems has some design features that the other one lacks. For instance, the Nest wifi points or satellites are not just for extending the range and creating and speedy wifi all through your house, but they also double as smart speakers. That means you have access to the Google Assistant voice commands.

On the other hand, the Orbi router consists of a WAN port that works to accept incoming internet speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. That’s an impressive feature, and to top it off, it also supports wifi 6. In this regard, the Netgear Orbi has done better than its counterpart Nest wifi, where incoming speeds are typically capped at 1Bbps. It’s clear the Orbi is well equipped to handle gigabit internet speeds than the nest wifi mesh system.

Aside from that, the Orbi router and its satellites each feature four gigabit Ethernet ports. On the other hand, Nest wifi only has one spare jack on the router and none on the satellite or points. Therefore, you cannot possibly create a wired connection between the satellites and router for faster speeds.

Orbi has three wifi bands, and one of them is specifically dedicated to the backhaul, and that means the nodes on your network can communicate with each other. Meanwhile, Nest wifi lacks an extra band reserved for backhaul transmissions between the router and satellites. What happens is your transmissions blend with the regular traffic network, and hence your speeds might be slower than usual when connecting to a satellite from afar.

Top speeds

As far as speeds are concerned, the Netgear Orbi proves to be quite a powerful piece of equipment. It beats the Nest wifi mesh system, hands down. Netgear claims the measured top speeds of both the 5GHz band and the 5GHz backhaul settle at 2, 400Mbps. The 2.4GHz band follows closely at 1,200Mbps. Nest doesn’t have any listed top-measured speeds for each of its bands, but the overall rating suggests those top speeds add up to a total of 2,200Mbps.

So far, everything looks good, but we had to carry out our own speed tests to determine the truth behind the claims. Each of the systems actually registered slower speeds than what the manufacturer has indicated on the specs.

This is nothing unusual because several factors can also affect the speeds delivered. The tests involved wiring both the Nest wifi and Netgear Orbi mesh systems to a MacBook pro so that it acts as a local server. A second laptop was used with the wifi 6 and then connected to the router. We had to measure the transfer speeds as we download files from the server but at different distances.

In the tests, Netgear orbi seemed to be doing remarkably well. For instance, at five feet, the router delivered a top speed of 865Mbps. When the range is increased to at least 75 feet, the speeds dropped to 594Mbps, which is still a good result.

The truth is these numbers are far from the expectation considering the system is advertised to deliver top 5GHz speeds of about 2,400Mbps. All we can say is they are at par with many of the high-end mesh wifi systems that support wifi 6.

Moving on to Nest, this mesh system did no really come close to scoring as high as its counterpart. But it still did fairly well by notching speeds of 601Mbps at a distance of five feet and 425Mbps at 75 feet, respectively. In that case, the Netgear Orbi is the faster mesh system, no questions asked.

App usability and extras

Nowadays, most of the routers require an app that you will use to set up the system. The same goes for the Nest wifi and the Netgear Orbi. You can easily download the app for both mesh systems on your Android or iOS device. Setting up your mesh network using the apps is basically quick and painless. Though, there are a number of things that may differentiate them, especially in terms of usability.

You will require the Google Home app to set up the Nest wifi system. The Google Home app is more practical and polished compared to the Orbi app. With the Orbi app, you can do a couple of things remotely to control your mesh network. You can easily check your system’s status, run a quick speed test and pause wifi on any of the devices that are on your network. The Google Home app for Nest has pretty much the same features as the ones you will find on the Orbi app.

Many people feel that the Orbi app lacks a user-friendly interface and many smart features. Another thing is that it doesn’t have parental controls, which are very important for people with kids at home. Though, on the brighter side, you can create a guest wifi in minutes. This means that you won’t have to share your network login credentials with the guests that come to your home. On the other hand, Nest wifi has family wifi that lets you group some particular devices together.

You can decide to turn on the Safe Search feature to create a schedule access, block inappropriate content, or pause the group. Parental control is important for parents who want to control their kid’s access to the internet.

Security

Security should always be a key consideration for a mesh wifi system. You have to be sure that your data and internet activities are safe from hackers and cybercriminals. These two systems each provide support for the WPA3, which is actually the latest encryption.

This should allow you plenty of peace of mind because the WPA2 has been a subject of controversy in the past and surrounded by cases of hacks. It’s still reliable and in use, but the WPA3 is more capable of protecting your network against threats like hackers.

Regarding privacy, Google says it doesn’t track the websites users visit or monitor your traffic content. But it keeps track of the performance of your network as well as the devices connected to it. They also admit your wifi network performance data is only shared with third-party apps and services that you will have permitted. They won’t use that data to personalize the ads that appear on your online feed.

Moving on to Netgear, the company doesn’t seem to be direct and transparent about its privacy policy. There is a privacy policy online, but it’s mainly unhelpful, and you won’t really get any direct answers to your questions. Furthermore, the Orbi app doesn’t allow you to view fine print unless you’re logged in and connected to the network.

Ease of installation

The good thing about both of these mesh wifi systems is that they have a compact design. This makes it easy for you to setup the mesh wifi without taking too much space and using lots of energy. You also don’t need to be a technician or tech guru to install and setup the network. The only thing you actually need is your smartphone to download the app and the router. After that, you can comfortably setup the mesh wifi on your own.

You are provided with a quick-guide containing a set of instruction, which you should follow when setting up the mesh networks. As long as you keenly follow the instructions to the latter, there won’t be any issues.

The verdict

The Nest wifi has done remarkably well, and it gets close to beating the powerful triband systems like the Netgear Orbi. It will eradicate most if not all the dead zones in your home and also provide a reliably steady connection. It’s easy to use, and most parents are happy about the parental control feature. You can remotely control your kid’s internet usage and prevent them from accessing inappropriate content online.

Still, Orbi’s performance is second to none, especially the recorded top speeds. The multi-gig WAN port is perfect for those who have heavy internet usage and hence require gigabit speeds. Furthermore, it has enough Ethernet ports to keep your gaming console, PCs, and other devices connected. It’s definitely worth the splurge, but only if you already have a gigabit internet plan to take advantage of the wifi 6.

Unless there are a couple of gamers in the house, or you often transfer large amounts of data between computers, you may not need a powerful mesh system like the Orbi. You should probably go for a cheaper and more suited option like the Nest wifi.