I mean I can't think of a single negative aspect. Hence the 5 out of 5 stars. Set up is easier and faster than making a sandwich. And I'm a sandwich ninja. Certified. Anyway, so this thing is absolutely amazing! My router/modem is located in our basement where the kids sleep (no it's not a dungeon, it's finished with cool stuff like a ping pong table and peace on earth) and upstairs was not getting a good WiFi signal at all. Pretty much useless. Once I installed the Orbi, the clouds parted and I heard angels singing "Whyyyyyy Fiiiiiiiiii". Life has returned to the upstairs area, the darkness has been lifted. I can now stream 1080 HD videos about food once again. (Sandwiches of course) - Thank you Orbi 1 Kenobi, you were my only hope.
Looking for a mesh home wifi solution? I've now bought 3 of them, here is what I bought and my results:
1. Linksys Velop Tri-band Whole Home WiFi Mesh System, 2-Pack (coverage up to 4000 sq. ft) - http://amzn.to/2xCaDyf
2. Luma Whole Home WiFi (3 Pack - White) - http://amzn.to/2xmmDEE
3. NETGEAR Orbi Home WiFi System: AC3000 Tri Band Home Network with Router & Satellite Extender for up to 5,000sqft of WiFi coverage - http://amzn.to/2w7NENN
1. 120mbps at base unit, 40 mbps at satellite unit, 5 mbps at farthest point from base unit in my house
2. 120mbps at base unit, 25 mbps at closest satellite, 15 mbps at furthest satellite, 10mbps at farthest point from base unit in my house
3. 120mbps at base unit, 120mbps at satellite unit, 65 mbps at farthest point from base unit in my house
Orbi is the clear winner for me.
Let me start with some quick house topography for you. My house as two floors and a basement.
Basement: Approximately 1300sq ft
First floor: Approximately 1500sq ft
Second floor: Approximately 1700sq ft (there is a bonus bedroom above the garage)
I have 50Mbps DSL that comes into the office, on the first floor. It's in the corner of the house, very far away from that bonus bedroom.
In our old house, we had a TP Link Archer C9. That covered the house well. But with this new house, there were slow downs and dead spots not only. I believe this is not only because the new house is bigger, but also because the new house has full insulation in EVERY wall (even internal), making the signal harder to push through.
I eventually added some signal boosters, and that helped, but only a little.
So I needed something better. I researched a number of mesh routers, but after I found out about the performance drop for every node (e.g. if you connect direct to the router, you get 100% speed; if you connect to the first mesh node, you get 50% speed; if you connect to the second mesh node, you get 25% speed; etc) I was rethinking my position.
I started to look into high powered devices, but didn't really trust that those would solve my problem.
Then I found the Orbi. I read a lot of technical details and reviews, and I was sold on the idea of a dedicated wireless backhaul (since I don't have Ethernet to where I need it if I want a wired backhaul).
Let me tell you, the reviews are right, this technology works great!
After I first opened the router, I upgraded the firmware manually (after that, I have seen automatic firmware updates applied, which is nice!). Then I changed the router to be in Access Point (AP) mode so that it essentially works as an Ethernet switch and wireless access point, without needing to do the heavy lifting of the router duties. I chose this because my DSL modem is also a router (which I have turned off the wifi), and having a router behind a router has caused troubles for me in the past.
This works great! Now I have great coverage all over my house. Even in that spare bedroom, I am pulling down 29-32 Mbps (previously, with the range extender, I would get 6-8 down). I can even mow the lawn on the other side of the garage, and I'm still getting a signal that pulls down 16-20 MBps. I can nearly watch a 4k stream out there!
There are no dead spots at all in the house. I'm getting the full 48Mbps (this is what I generally see as top speed over Ethernet) in over half the house. And the drop off is not dramatic. t will only drop a few Mbps per room (to the low point in that spare bedroom).
The only downside I have encountered so far is the lack of abilities I have when the router is in AP mode. For example I no longer get parental controls. There are many other things disabled (many of which make sense), but some which I would like back (I plan on contacting support, as they seem receptive to adding new abilities via firmware).
2 weeks in, and I couldn't be happier with this purchase. Netgear has finally won me over.
Just moved to a 3,500 SF 2-story home. Initially bought a Netgear AC1750. Great router, but just wasn't reaching the far ends of the house or back patio. Decided to try the Orbi after a ton of research on mesh network products. Installation was a bit cumbersome, as I had to logon with a laptop to configure the router to AP mode (behind a Spectrum Modem) and adjust a few other settings. I also had to manually download and install the firmware update. Not hard, just took some time.
Performance is outstanding with 1 caveat: It all depends on where you place the satellite Orbi. Initially I placed my satellite in the upstairs rear game room, while my router sits in the office downstairs at the front of the house. I was getting an Amber LED and very slow wifi speeds at the satellite. I ended up moving the satellite one room closer to the router upstairs and I got a Blue LED. Bam! Suddenly I was pegging out my download speeds on wifi. Drop off in speeds throughout my house is minimal and I have 3 bars everywhere. My back patio is a mix of 2-3 bars, and speeds about 75% of that inside. Still, I am impressed.
If you have a large house, Orbi is THE product you need for wifi solutions.
I am giving it 4-stars due to high price. I think 250-300 is fair. 350 is a bit high. And also for the somewhat cumbersome initial setup. That being said, I would recommend this.
I have long been a fan of Netgear but I won't buy the latest and greatest unless it has a proven track record. After doing my research, being comfortable with the brand's reputation, and on the recommendation of an IT colleague, I decided hey, maybe I'll give this a try. My colleague had one too and loved it. I CAN TELL YOU, WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN BANDWIDTH SPEED! The speed increase was phenomenal.. the connectivity more stable with less buffering when streaming. My house is quite big with connectivity needs throughout. I purchased an additional Satellite to ensure I had the max coverage and all I can say is this is by far the best hands-down Wi-Fi system I know of. I looked at it's competitor but this rose to the top. Very easy to DIY set up, only the instruction leaflet could have been a bit more explanatory. I did do all the required firmware updates on initial install and thing s were fine but about 3 weeks in one Satellite was stuck on the yellow light on the ring. I checked online thinking it was doing another update but 10 hours later I returned from work to realize something is amiss. I called tech support (not the easiest thing to do) and they were polite, asked me to do a few tests and they surmised it needed replacement under warranty. I did get a replacement within a week and up and running ever since. I love the stability of performance and the fact that my speed is like blazing faster than what I had with a Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 beforehand.. This is totally awesome and I've recommended it at least 2x and they have bought also. Love this technology.
Feature Product
- Ultra-performance Mesh WiFi network blankets every inch of your home in super fast and seamless WiFi connectivity - room to room, wall to wall, floor to floor
- Eliminates WiFi dead zones and buffering - 5,000 square feet of consistent coverage - with speeds up to 30 Gbps.
- The most award-winning Mesh WiFi system on the planet: PC Mag, CNET, Wirecutter, Forbes, SmallNetBuilder.
- Maintains speed even as more devices use your WiFi at the same time, thanks to patented tri-band technology. Ports -4 LAN Gigabit Ethernet ports.
- Simple setup with the Orbi app - create guest network, access parental controls, perform speed tests, and more right from the appRefer to the PDF attached below in Technical Specification for Manuals.
- NETGEAR Armor- Built-in anti-virus and data theft protection for all of your smartphones and computers. Protects your connected home from internet threats. Included trial covers unlimited devices.
Description
FAST WHOLE HOME SYSTEM Bring fast, secure, and reliable internet to your entire family with the NETGEAR Orbi Home WiFi System. No more WiFi boosters or extenders necessary. The Orbi WiFi Router and Satellite extend high performance WiFi to your property from the basement to the backyard. The system smartly manages your WiFi so that each device's access is optimized and never interrupted. Up to 5,000 SQUARE FEET OF COVERAGE From the home office to the basement to the pool, this wireless internet system covers every inch of your home with a strong WiFi signal. Unlike router and repeater combinations, Orbi covers the whole home with a single WiFi network and name, enabling seamless indoor/outdoor and room-to-room connectivity. TRI-BAND TECHNOLOGY Award winning and patented Tri-Band Technology provides Orbi with a dedicated backhaul connection between the router and the satellite, so the system can manage multiple network connections without compromising speed. Watch movies and TV, play video games, download music, books, and more. QUICK & EASY SETUP Selected as Editors’ Choice by PC Magazine, Orbi works with your current internet service provider and sets up in minutes right out of the box. Use the Orbi app or any web browser to create your entire home’s secure WiFi network in minutes. No personal info, account creation, or hands required with the new Amazon Echo Alexa skill and our intuitive and preconfigured system. GUEST CAPABILITY Allow guests the opportunity to access WiFi while protecting your network and password. Easily create a network to service visitors, and Orbi handles everything else. You'll rest easy knowing that your information is safe from security breaches, viruses, malware, and network worms. - NETGEAR Orbi AC3000 Home WiFi System - WiFi Router and Satellite Extender - High-Performance Tri-Band Technology - 5,000 Square Foot Range - RBK50
My setup: 2 story house, 2500 sq. ft, w/ 1/4 acre lot; 100 mbps cable connection. Between mine and the kids' devices, will have 20-25 devices connected at peak, most wireless.
I ordered this from AMZN Warehouse to replace a Netgear R7900 - lost a 2nd 5GHz channel, but gained MU-MIMO support (R7900P has MIMO, R7900 does not). I have 2 Rokus and a laptop with with MIMO capability and will upgrade any new laptops with an Intel 8265/92xx or Killer cards.
Orbi RBK50 is simple to install... 1) plug in RBR (router base) and RBS (satellite); 2) satellite LED turns blue when it's synced to router; 3) Go to orbilogin.com and it's all on-screen prompts from there.
I lost some time since I got a used RBK50 and didn't hold the Factory Reset button down long enough (30 seconds). When I did hold it long enough (40-60 seconds; power light will go steady green), it took less than 5 minutes to go from plugged in to whole home wifi.
Observations:
1. Quick connection. The R7900 was fast; the Orbi is quicker on Ethernet and wifi connections.
2. Single SSID - Orbi decides QoS, priority, best connection btw 2.4 and 5 GHz channels. Router software allows you find your connected devices and define what they are (media server vs. iPad, for example). That's different than renaming the device so you know what's on your network; I wonder if defining the type of device leads to optimized handling on the network?
3. Orbi kit comes with a Cat 5e (100 mbps) cable. Why? Cat 6 (Gigabit) cables are so cheap now. Although you may not get true Gigabit speed for a cabled device, why make the cable the rate limiting factor?
4. Single SSID means if you want to change password, you will have to keep a single password that smart home devices can handle (most can only handle numbers and letters, no special characters).
5. Connections: router has USB 2.0 and 3 Ethernet ports. Satellite has 4 Ethernet and USB 2.0 port. The 3 Ethernet on the back of the router is odd, esp. since there's 4 on the satellite. And 2.0 vs. 3.x USB might cause a performance hit on NAS. I put most stuff in the cloud; I have a 5-port GB switch, and can probably hook up anything necessary (TiVo, server, etc.) through Ethernet. That's why you buy the Orbi - the backhaul channel runs at GB+ speed, and it's got the overall strongest signal and bandwidth pretty much anywhere in its range.
Overall I like what I've seen. If you're going to get a new router anyway, my experience has been to make sure your "foundation" is solid. The foundation for a home network is the router, and it's OK to over-engineer that since it handles everything going in and out of your house. A router with MU-MIMO (Multi User Multi Input-Multi Output) is not necessary now, but will be as more devices take advantage of it.
First, let me state I change my router every 18 months because my internet speed increases, I am always adding more wireless clients and then lastly wifi technology is constantly changing. Orbi, eero, Velop and Google Wifi are called mesh because you can install multiple access points that all communicate and can self-organize.
There are three very important things that you need to remember about mesh,. First the Access Point can be Dual band (2 radio) or Tri-Band (3 radio), Second, a radio can be 4x4 or 2x2 (more rarely 3x3). Thirdly the radio can be high power or medium power. There is a huge difference in price when you select different options. For example, the Orbi RBK50 series are 4x4 and tri-band and they are very expensive. I bought the RBK23 that is tri-band 2x2 similar spec. as the latest eero. If your budget is infinite, buy an RBK50 series and add more satellite.
Don't pay attention to the square footage listed on the product. It is totally misleading because coverage depends on the layout of the house. If you live in a 6,000 sq ft loft with open space, you probably only need one Access Point. If you live in an older house with many halls and the signal bounces around a lot, you need multiple AP and a high power radio for the backhaul. There are no secret formulas for number of access points and house sq footage.
Now onto installation. It is very important that you do a survey of your house and determine where to place these Access Points. Don't place them randomly because you will end up with the purple ring of death that many reviewers have complained about. Place them strategically and ideally the satellite should be one hop away from the main router. I know that it is not always possible to do this. You may have to try different locations. This is the hardest part of the installation. The installation procedure offered by Linksys is OK and not fool proof. So, if it fails, restart the installation process.
I was shocked that I had to place the Access Point relatively close to each other in order to get a good coverage in my space. I suspect that the RBK23 don't have high power radios. But I placed them strategically in such a way to get a triangle on the App. (v.s., a line) and I now have full coverage in the house. I was also surprised that it takes a long time for the Access Points to converge. I don't know what type of algorithm is used but it takes a long time to settle. I had to wait 3-5 minutes for things to settle down.
Lastly if you use Apple Print, and you have another Gateway (e,g., Verizon FiOS or Comcast) then you should make the Orbi an AP not a router. Printing will not work properly if routed due to broadcast traffic.
Overall, I am happy with thus purchase, I paid $200 for a kit of 3 Access Point (RBK23) and they do the job for a 3,000 sq foot space. Thank you for reading.
Got this and quickly went to work installing. Installing is too much of a description. It's basically plug in and sync. Seemed to go okay, but then it didn't. Futzed about trying to get it work and then decided to go back to square one. I did a bit a research and then tried to do a Factory Reset. Didn't help. Finally, after several failed attempts I disconnected the satellite units from power. I did a full 20 second reset and power down on the base unit. Powered up, it locked onto my modem. I then went and powered the satellites. Everything came up. I'm very happy with the coverage as I can now reach out to my workshop/garage where I had installed the base unit for a video surveillance system that required an Ethernet connection. (BTW, the Ethernet connections were why I bought this system) All works great. I'll never know what I did wrong originally, but it works now. Bottom line, if you have to do a Factory Reset, disconnect the satellites.
Update 30 Nov 2018. I have an issue with the Orbi in that it is not easy to connect some 2.4GHz devices. Because of this I'm deducting a star even though the wifi service in my house is great. Thedevice I had issues with required me to connect with my cell phone on 2.4GHz. Orbi only has 1 ssid for both 2.4 and 5GHz so turning the 5GHz off would also turn off the 2.4GHz. There appear to be tech ways to add another ssid and also to turn off the 5GHz. This is all good and well but they didn't seem to work for me. Perhaps Netgear has eliminated these workarounds. I finally disconnected both satellites and took the device and my phone far enough away from the base to force my phone to 2.4GHz. After a couple of tries the device connected and works well now. It would be highly beneficial if Orbi/Netgear would provide the ability to turn off, even temporarily, a network. I realize they are trying to make this system idiot proof, but now it's almost too simple and makes what could be easy tasks into complex endeavors.
I had happily been using a Linksys EA9500 for almost two years until it recently started locking up and causing all our streaming TVs to stall. As I've not been too happy with the Linksys (Belkin) software/firmware support, I wanted to look for another vendor. I did a lot of research and settled on the RBK50 (1 RBR50 + 1 RBS50).
I required enough WIFI in AP (bridge mode) to cover a 3800+ single story home. I placed the router (RBR40) in one corner of the house behind a pfsense router and the the satellite (RBS50) on the other side of the house intending to use ethernet backhaul. After some initial hurdles, this is now my setup. I'll share a few points you need to follow to get this set up:
1) Do the initial setup using the wifi backhaul
2) Update firmware to the latest
3) Set to AP (bridge) mode
4) Uncheck (DISABLE) Daisy-Chain
Advanced-tab -> Advanced Setup -> Wireless Settings -> Enable Daisy-Chain Topology
5) Place the router and satellite in place and attach the ethernet wires using the ports on the router (don't use a switch).
Once this is complete, you will enjoy seamless wifi covering your entire home and paremeter.
I would like to point out that most of the managed services are disabled in AP mode. Here's what is left working:
- Wireless Configuration
- Attached Devices (router and satellite)
- ReadySHARE Printer
- Guest Network Settings
- Add Orbi Satellite
- Logs
- Firmware Update
- NTP Congiguration
- Password
- Backup Settings
- Dynamic DNS
- Static Routes
So far so good. I did all the setup offline (I have a fairly complex system) and swapped out my RT-N66U. I now have my own signals stronger than my neighbors (condo) - finally! I had tried extenders (EX6200) which worked "OK" but the mesh system seems to do the job better. I would have preferred separate SSIDs but I can probably live with one.
One thing I am VERY surprised at is not being able to set a login ID. Netgear only allows "admin" as the ID. Yes, you can change the password, and since the Orbi is behind my Uverse modem (WiFi disabled), getting at it from the outside would be difficult but c'mon Netgear, you should know better!
Performance overall seems to be better than with my older RT-N66U, which I always thought did a great job. I do prefer the Asus GUI but the Orbi GUI isn't too bad, even if its a bit slow.
Updating: of course the first thing you do is update the router - which is a generally easy process. You can update online or manually. I first tried online and the main router firmware downloaded fine but the satellites did not. The Netgear website shows firmware for the satellites but when I downloaded it, the zip file did not have a .img file, just a .chk file which appears to be an error on their part. But eventually the satellites updates themselves online and all was good. Netgear does say to update the satellites first but their online method seems to update the router first. But everything seems to be OK.
One thing I would like to see added is signal strength for each connected device - it may be there somewhere if I dig deep enough.
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