‘Alexa, upgrade my home wi-fi’

Netgear Orbi with Alexa

£399, netgear.co.uk 

One of the subjects I can get very evangelical about is mesh wi-fi. This is just one of the many reasons people tend to edge slowly away from me at parties. ‘But what is mesh wi-fi?’ my victims ask, falling into my trap.

Basically, instead of having one router where the phone socket comes into your house, you have several units, so you get coverage everywhere.

I’m not exaggerating when I say it has transformed my life – largely by allowing me to pick up Netflix on the kitchen TV, so my children can watch rubbish there rather than on ‘my’ telly.

There are several mesh systems available, with Google and Netgear popular choices. Netgear’s Orbi has just forged into new, surreal territory with a unit that comes bundled with a satellite Alexa speaker.

It’s much pricier than a normal Alexa speaker, but extends your wi-fi coverage by up to 2,000 sq ft. You plug the base station into your normal router – from Virgin or Sky, for instance – which then links to the Alexa speaker, creating a new super-fast, wi-fi network that can blanket a three-floor house without problems or blackspots.

It’s much pricier than a normal Alexa speaker, but extends your wi-fi coverage by up to 2,000 sq ft

It’s easy to use, powerful, and even sounds pretty decent as these things go. But you do need to be in the market for both a new wi-fi network AND a smart speaker at exactly the same time – and that’s a rather niche market.