Netgear sells the black Orbi 970 Wi-Fi 7 mesh 3-pack for $1,799.99 on its own store, $200 less than the identical white kit at $1,999.99. The gap is real, but it is not a Black Friday cut. The black kit has carried the same price since at least August 20.
The kit is one router and two satellites. Each unit is a quad-band Wi-Fi 7 radio with a 6 GHz band, two 5 GHz bands and a 2.4 GHz band, one of them reserved for traffic between the units. Netgear rates the trio for up to 10,000 square feet, so this is a system for a large house, not an apartment upgrade.
Black Friday lands on Friday, November 27, so the useful question is which Wi-Fi 7 markdowns are actually new. At the makers' own checkouts, only Netgear has marked anything down, and its newest cuts are also its smallest.
Amazon keeps its own eero mesh systems at regular price on the eero store, and ASUS does the same with its Wi-Fi 7 routers. TP-Link and Linksys have no Wi-Fi 7 router for sale on their own US stores.
Which Netgear Wi-Fi 7 routers and mesh kits are marked down now
| Product | Netgear price | Crossed-out price | The spec that decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbi 970 Black Edition 3-pack (RBE973SB) | $1,799.99 | $1,999.99 | Up to 10,000 sq. ft.; 10Gbps Ethernet on every unit |
| Orbi 970 Black Edition 2-pack (RBE972SB) | $1,349.99 | $1,499.99 | Up to 6,600 sq. ft. |
| Orbi 970 router only (RBE971S) | $599.99 | $799.99 | Up to 3,300 sq. ft.; an add-on satellite costs $799.99 |
| Nighthawk RS700S | $539.99 | $599.99 | 10Gbps internet port plus a 10Gbps LAN port |
| Nighthawk RS500 | $379.99 | $399.99 | 2.5Gbps internet port; 6 GHz band included |
All five are sold and shipped by Netgear and listed in stock at the time of writing, with no end date given. The black 3-pack and the white router already sold at these prices in August, while both Nighthawk cuts arrived after late September.
Why the black Orbi 970 kits cost less than identical white ones
Colour is the only difference. On its own Orbi 970 page, Netgear says the black and white systems have identical performance and features, and that black is sold only at NETGEAR.com. That makes the white kit's price an honest yardstick: the saving is measured against what the same hardware costs on the same store today.
The same logic applies one size down. The black 2-pack is $1,349.99, $150 under the white 2-pack at $1,499.99, and is rated for up to 6,600 square feet. It was $1,299.99 in August, though, so today's price is $50 higher than it was then.
The spec that justifies either kit is on the back. Every satellite has a 10Gbps Ethernet port and two 2.5Gbps ports, and the box includes a cable for wired backhaul. In a home with Ethernet already in the walls, the units can link over cable at multi-gig speeds instead of relying on the air.
If you are unsure whether you need two units or three, mapping your current Wi-Fi signal room by room is a cheaper test than guessing.
Why the Orbi 970 router's $200 markdown is not a holiday deal
On paper, the steepest cut is the Orbi 970 router on its own at $599.99, against a crossed-out $799.99. In practice, Netgear was already selling the white router for $599.99 in mid-August, so that is its everyday price.
The router covers up to 3,300 square feet by itself, with a 10 Gig internet port, a 10Gbps LAN port and four 2.5Gbps LAN ports. Netgear pitches adding a satellite later, but the add-on satellite costs $799.99, more than the router. Bought separately, the pair comes to $1,399.98, or $49.99 more than the black 2-pack today.
Nighthawk RS700S and RS500 carry the only new Wi-Fi 7 cuts
The Nighthawk RS700S is $539.99, $60 under the full $599.99 Netgear was charging in late September. It also sits $10 below the $549.99 it reached in a July sale. Its deciding spec is a 10Gbps internet port paired with a 10Gbps LAN port, which only pays off on a multi-gig internet plan or with a fast NAS or PC on the wire.
The Nighthawk RS500 is $379.99, only $20 off the $399.99 it cost in September. It steps down to a 2.5Gbps internet port and up to 3,000 square feet, but keeps the 6 GHz band that some cheaper Wi-Fi 7 routers, such as TP-Link's Archer BE230, leave out. Your phones and laptops need 6 GHz support to use it.
Should you buy a Wi-Fi 7 router now or wait for Black Friday
It depends on which brand you want. The eero 7, eero Pro 7 and eero Max 7 carry no markdown on any pack size at eero's own store. ASUS likewise holds every RT-BE router and ZenWiFi Wi-Fi 7 kit at its regular price, so if one of those is your pick, November 27 is the next checkpoint.
It also depends on what you connect. A Wi-Fi 7 router only shows its speed to devices that support Wi-Fi 7, as covered in whether to upgrade your router to Wi-Fi 7. Older phones and laptops still connect, but only at the limits of their own Wi-Fi generation.
If you want an Orbi 970, buy the black kit, since the white one beside it proves the saving. A gap of $150 to $200 has held since at least August, so there is no deadline to beat.
The RS700S is the one markdown that is both new and meaningful, and it earns its price only with a multi-gig plan or fast wired gear. Prices on Netgear's store can change at any time before Black Friday.
Discussion (0)
Be the first to comment.