NETGEAR Mesh WiFi System RBR50 - Discontinued By Manufacturer

I moved from a Netgear Nighthawk which was not supporting all my devices connected. I was also using an apple express airport to extend my network to another part of the apartment.I have Philips Hue lights and devices (12), Nest devices (2), Ring Video Doorbell (wifi 2GHz), Three cell phones, three laptops, three tablets, a video system, a mac, two amazon devices, two televisions and a Sony Digital Paper device ... sometimes the occasional friend/s too. The nighthawk was crumbling.This device - I've had ALL devices on simultaneously and did not notice an issue in performance at all. It's quick and easy to install, I was impressed with how simple this was to connect. I purposefully changed my SSID and connection passwords, it was time consuming but worth it in the end.The interface looks like the same interface on all the netgear devices today. It's easy to navigate, configure, update and manage devices connected.The range, I no longer need a wifi extender as this unit does what it says and covers my entire 1000 square feet of apartment living space plus. I pull up and IFTTT kicks off the connection to the wifi unit, my hallway light goes on, the living room lights go on, I'm a good distance away.The 5 and 2 bands work together great. I have several devices that only run on the 2GHz network and only ever will. I need the network to be strong and have a bit of distance. My video doorbell is the furthest device and was necessary for me to move the nighthawk. I actually moved the Orbi further away without problems what-so-ever. On both networks I get spectacular performance. Best I've had anywhere to include other public and private locations.Overall, this device is a great addition to any home, multi floors would require grabbing two or more but in a typical two floor home, two of these would easily cover and handle all the automation devices most homes would have.

This router works well in the room it is in and adjacent rooms. However, it leaves dead spots in parts of the house due to the brick construction and l shape of the house. It cannot be used as a satellite to another router without changing the firmware (not supported by Netgear). This is a nice project for those in IT but invalidates any manufacturer warranty and could lead to a bricked device . I ended up getting a 3-mesh system to solve my house configuration issues and giving this to a friend of mine in need of a router upgrade that didn’t have the same issues I had with their house. It works well for them.

I've paired this one two of the satellite units and they work great! Having a separate band for their uplink keeps it off your actual wireless network and saves bandwidth. Plus, with the Ethernet ports on the modules, I can save wireless bandwidth there as well. I have these set up in each room with my streaming devices plugged in directly to the ethernet ports. I never have an issue with connection anymore. I also run 8 wireless surveillance cameras, with a wireless DVR, and I don't have any bandwidth issues there either. Of the 3 or 4 competitors in the mesh home market right now, I think the features that this setup has are just a little better than the others. It could use a more insightful app, maybe a better software firewall, but I use a separate firewall appliance anyways.

If I could give this product zero stars I would; ONLY because of the almost total lack of technical support from the manufacturer.I recently bought the three-piece Netgear Orbi kit from COSTCO, spending about three times as much for the kit as I have ever spent on a router before. Because it cost so much, I spent hours researching this and similar products, only to be convinced that the nearly $460.00 (purchase price + tax) for this product was money well spent.I was pleasantly surprised when I set up the router in my living room and only had to use one of the two satellites in an upstairs bedroom. The router and satellite synced without any problems, and the coverage throughout the house was so good, I did not need the second satellite. I must say, that when the system works, it works great!I was so impressed with the performance of the Orbi router with just one satellite, I decided to purchase another stand alone Orbi router from Amazon and use it and my spare satellite at daughter’s house. For almost five hours I tried to sync the new router with the spare satellite and every time it failed to sync. I searched the internet; watched multiple Youtube videos; and scoured the Netgear website trying to figure out why the router and satellite would not sync.I then registered my purchase with Netgear so I could take advantage of their “90 days complimentary technical support”. (The fact that I spent several hundreds of dollars with Netgear and they only offered 90 days of free support is another area of concern.) After submitting my support request online, obtaining a case number, and calling in for my “priority tech support” (my call was supposed to be answered sooner because I had obtained a case number from their website), I was on the phone for almost an hour and three quarters.After 25 minutes on hold I was greeted by an agent who told me I would have to be transferred to Orbi technical support. I explained that I had selected Orbi support from their menu, only to be told all calls first go to into a general support queue. After waiting 40 more minutes another agent answered and promptly told me I needed to be transferred to an Obi specialist. I explained to her that I was told that 40 minutes ago, and the agent said my call had been routed incorrectly. Another 30 to 40 minutes later the same (second) agent came back on the line and told me no one from Orbi support was answering, and someone would call back within two hours.At this point I called the manager at the local COSTCO, explained what happened, and he agreed to open and exchange a satellite from another Orbi kit. (YAY COSTCO!!!) I drove to the store, picked up the new satellite, brought it home and synced it to the second router and all was well….until I brought the equipment to my daughters the next day. The router and satellite would not sync at her house; I wasted another two hours trying to fix it again; and then finally gave up.The next day I called Netgear corporate offices and after numerous attempts, I was finally able to speak to a receptionist who would not/could not put me through to the office of the CEO of Netgear. I very patiently and politely explained my problems and frustrations to the receptionist, and that it had been well over 48 hours since Orbi tech support was supposed to get back to me “within two hours”. The receptionist expressed her sincerest apologies and assured me she would bring the matter to the attention of senior Netgear management, and they would be contacting me very soon. It has been over 48 hours since my conversation with the receptionist, and no one at Netgear has called me back.I would love to give Netgear and Orbi the highest possible score, because the system works well at my house. The problem is, it doesn’t work at my daughter’s house; I can’t get any tech support (three weeks after spending nearly $700.00 on Orbi equipment); and no one from Netgear Corporate responds to, or addresses, issues related to the company’s inferior technical support. The Netgear Orbi might be a great product, but if Netgear isn’t capable of providing adequate technical support, I’m afraid that’s going to be a deal breaker for me. At this point I think I have no choice but to return the Orbi kit I purchased from COSTO, as well as the additional router purchased from Amazon.Long story short: Amazon and COSTCO are great! Netgear (Orbi), just the opposite.

I found the setup of the router straightforward. I found the performance of the device excellent. I felt my network had improved speed and I was getting the benefit of my high speed internet connection. I went with a basic setup without satellite devices (extenders). I read that the interface for setup was outdated but did not find this a real problem.