Customer Ratings & Reviews

Pros: Setup Instructions: A LAN connections: A Ease of Use: A System GUI: A Reliability: A Speed: A Cons: Checking for updates: B Price: C After upgrading my internet to 2/2Gbps fiber, I also wanted to upgrade my mesh network to fully take advantage of the speeds available in my fiber plan and as a secondary measure to future proof for Wi-Fi 7. I tried the TP Link Deco 16000 which is quad band and also Wi-Fi 7 ready. I had so many problems with that system, specially constantly disconnecting for the service and reach of signal. I even bought an additional satellite (BE95) and still was having issues with signal in a 2326 sq. ft one floor home. After about 3-4 months I finally gave up and decided to try the Orbi 970. I must say I am impressed, I have not had a single signal drop since I switched over and my speeds are just above the 2/2gbps according to my fiber plan. Also, the 3 towers provide me enough signal outside of the home (compared to the 4 DECO towers) for my cameras to work fast and efficient, even when checking remotely away from my home which the DECO also lacked due to signal degradation. The GUI for the Orbi is straight to the point and easy to navigate through. Overall, I’m truly impressed with this mesh system, its reliability, and signal reach. The 2 things is dislike are the high price, and when you check for updates the app locks-up in that page checking for updates between 2-5 minutes and not allow you to do anything until the system informs you whether there’s an update or not. At the end, you truly get what you pay for and that’s a reliable system… as it should be! Definitely recommend this system compared to others.

Spent a little extra to future proof the technology. Very happy with the router and satellites. We are getting speed we hadn’t seen from our ISP and was very easy to set up. One small hiccup due to settings the ISP required, but netgesr support is easy to work woth and followed up the next day to make sure it was resolved and still working well.

Excellent router, great performance and speed, amazing signal all over the house

Expensive, not worth the price of entry for many. These routers/mesh systems shouldn't be so expensive and we shouldn't be supporting companies who sell their items at exorbitant prices like this. However, if price doesn't bother you or you can find a good deal for a discounted price then I would say it might be worth it - depends on your situation. This is currently the best Wifi 7 Mesh System on thr market. I was able to secure a good deal on this item and did not pay anywhere near full price. So, I'm still giving it five stars because the product itself is excellent. I will finish my review by stating the obvious, Wi-Fi 7 still hasn't matured anywhere near the point of usefulness. So if you can find a good Wi-Fi 6E router or mesh system that may be a better bet than paying this much money for a Wi-Fi 7 system when most devices do not even support Wi-Fi 7 yet. Ultimately the choice is yours to make.

Orbi 970 has the best speed tests out of all the current WiFi 7 mech systems but did not work better than ATTs stock gateway with there extenders attached. The cost is the highest and not worth it as with my case it would have lots of issues to work in a smart home with 190 devices. Speed tests always high but even ATT with extenders with slower speed tests worked more consistently and better overall than the Orbi did. It would cut out through out day even tried two separate occasions hoping that this would be the best for our smart home. In real world testing did not perform even with around 30 tech support sessions!

This replaced my Orbi 6E system. this setup is more than adequate for my needs, I am now enjoying 2.6Gbps (ethernet) from google fiber with their $100/month plan. I purchased a 2.5Gbps Netgear switch for $100 and have the main router on my main floor in the middle of my house and each satellite on each end of my house. the speeds are really good. I don't have any WiFi 7 devices to test it on yet, but get great speeds on my iPhone 13 Pro Max and plan to get the iPhone 16 in September of 2024 which is rumored to have WiFi 7. mainly the ethernet ports that ran at 2.5Gbps were the main draw as the Orbi 6E had 1 - 2.5Gbps port on the router and satellites and the rest were 1Gbps. this has 1 - 10Gbps ethernet port and other ports are 2.5Gbps. - covers a 3,000 square foot house with finished basement and 2nd floor no problems, (using hardwired backhaul)

We now have wifi all over the house and back yard. Super fast ans very reliable

When it works, it's great but we've had it nearly two years and it's been worse than it's predecessor. We paid way too much for as terrible as it has been. Constantly drops the network. Requires a complete restart most of the time in order to fix issues and we're IT professionals. It's been incredibly disappointing. Switching to a TP link soon.

Easy Setup. I was expecting to use my old wifi network name and password to transition all my devices seemlessly, upgraded from an old Nighthawk triband router, but the orbi wouldn't accept network names with spaces, I needed to use underscores so because of that I needed to add EVERY SINGLE DEVICE onto this network, so that was the only downside to the installation.

Excellent Wifi stability. Maintains high speed over larger area without dropping or lowering the signal much. Good customer support. Easy to install with the app.

So I had an Orbi RGB50 with two satellites for years which treated me well, so I decided to upgrade as I would occasionally lose my service. Big mistake! This new $2,000.00 system is fast when it is working, but it hasn't been two weeks since the Geek Squad installed it and I’ve already had to reboot it a couple of times. If this keeps up I just might have to send it back and find something else, which I am not looking forward to. And a note about Geek Squad. He was certainly a nice guy who was obviously on a clock for how much time he could spend here, as he wasn't able to get all of my devices up and running

This is the best Mesh system out there. I get full 5gb/sec in Speedtest from my laptop that’s connected through the 10gig port. So I’m getting every bit of speed possible with Fios. The older 960 was limited to 2.5gb/sec.

Netgear is a Company that I have been owning since I was eight years old one of the best companies in the market make the best product ever

This is the #1 Wifi 7. you will get maximum speed if you don't really care using OVPN (open VPN). the internet speed is amazing and it will be max out to you data plan

UNBOXING: Firstly, the box is pretty big and decently hefty for this Orbi 970 system. There are 2 boxes within a larger box. The first box contains 1 router node and 2 satellite nodes, and the second box contains the 3 power adapters and a single ethernet cable for connecting to your router. The overall packaging was good, and the nodes fit snugly without concern for damage. BUILD: The chassis for each node is plastic, but I feel the plastic is decently durable with no glossy elements that would lead to cosmetic blemishes. Additionally, there are LED status indicator lights in the front of the unit towards the bottom, so it illuminates the surface it stands on. You also have a very basic power status LED on the back of each node. Each node is 11.58in x 5.68in x 5.15in and weighs 3.96 lbs. These nodes are certainly not small, and they can also dissipate a decent amount of heat. The router has (1) 10 gigabit WAN ethernet port to connect to your modem, (1) 10 gigabit LAN port for a client device, and (4) 2.5 gigabit ethernet LAN ports for client devices. Meanwhile, the satellites each have (1) 10 gigabit LAN port and (2) 2.5 gigabit LAN ports for client devices. You can connect the satellite nodes to any of the LAN ports on the router if you prefer to use them as wired access points, or the satellites can connect wirelessly to the router. Other than that, the router uses an undisclosed Quad-core processor at 2.2GHz, 4GB of Flash storage, and 2 GB of RAM. All 3 nodes have 12 high performance internal antennas with high-power amplifiers, and they all have quad-band WiFi with 6GHz, 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands with an additional dedicated 5GHz band as the dedicated backhaul for wireless communication between nodes. SETUP: Setup is pretty easy, albeit that may also depend on your own comfort with technology. You can set up via web browser or via smartphone app. I chose to perform the setup via the smartphone app. The app provided guided setup instructions from plugging in the router, to setting up the satellite nodes, to connecting to your ISP. With my fiber optic internet, I knew that I had to connect via PPoE, for which I had credentials which I’d obtained from my ISP. The app gave me this option during setup and let me provide my username and password. In a short amount of time and with very little friction, I was up and running with all nodes. I do want to mention, you should avoid switching between the browser-based setup and app-based setup as you may end up repeating steps. Stick to one throughout the setup and you should have minimal issues. Once I was through the setup, I also wanted to set up a dedicated 2.4GHz network for some devices in my home that only support that band. You can achieve this in the Orbi app by going to the hamburger menu then selecting Settings > WiFi Settings > IoT WiFi. The Orbi app calls this an IoT (Internet of Things) network dedicated for smart home devices like robot vacuums, thermostats, and other devices that care more about signal strength and not bandwidth. SETUP ISSUES: In terms of issues I encountered, the first is more of a gripe than an “issue”. Whenever you reboot the Orbi 970, it can take quite some time for the router to re-establish a link with the satellite nodes. In my home, I set up the satellite nodes as wired access points to the router node. And despite that, I had to wait several minutes before the main router and satellite nodes were operable. Most people shouldn’t have to reboot the system frequently, but for the price you’re paying, I would have hoped it could perhaps be faster at re-establishing a connection. One thing I didn’t like is that the Orbi App prevents the IoT network from having any spaces in the SSID. It’s a minor issue which can be bypassed by setting up this IoT WiFi network through the browser console. But this limitation caught me off guard since I wanted to maintain the same SSIDs as my previous mesh router system so that I wouldn’t have to go around my home and reconnect all my devices to a new SSID. But again, setting this up via the browser lets me get around this issue, but it’s very likely that some folks may not think to try that. PERFORMANCE: Once I set up my network, I was off to run some performance tests. Within the app, you’re able to run a speedtest, and I was measuring about 2ms ping to the nearest server, and typically over 900Mbps for both download and upload speeds. So from the Orbi’s perspective, it’s getting excellent performance from my modem. When testing a client device like a laptop or desktop, I deliberately set my WiFi card’s driver configuration to prefer a 5GHz + 6GHz connection to achieve the best possible bandwidth, and in my testing, I was typically able to get over 900Mbps download and upload speeds with around 4ms ping. This is substantially higher than what my previous mesh WiFi 6 system delivered, but you’ll also need to have a client device with a WiFi 6E or WiFi 7 chipset to achieve these kinds of speeds. And if you happen to have a 2.5 gigabit or 10 gigabit internet plan, you can theoretically achieve even better results than this from your ISP. At the time of writing this review, there aren’t a ton of WiFi 7 devices in existence which makes the Orbi 970 system a pretty expensive investment to be on bleeding edge tech. But if you happen to have 10 gigabit internet access, have very high bandwidth traffic, or need internet access across a very large floorplan, the Orbi 970 system is worth a look. Because it has a 5GHz dedicated backhaul, it should be able to sustain high-bandwidth traffic for up to 27Gbps of WiFi throughput and support up to 200 concurrent devices. While there isn’t a ton of high bitrate 4K/8K content on streaming platforms, it’s conceivable that some folks may have high-bitrate transfers over their local WiFi network, and that’s where the Orbi 970 can especially shine. Whether it’s transferring high bitrate camera footage from a computer to your network attached storage (NAS), or streaming high resolution PC Virtual Reality to a wireless VR headset like the Meta Quest, the Orbi 970 can handle this traffic and with low latency. Of course, this will also be dependent on the specifications of your client devices, so you can’t expect magic, but if you’re looking to purchase this system, then it’s likely that you also lean towards keeping technology in your home up-to-date. OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES: The first apparent feature of the Orbi 970 is the NETGEAR Armor security software which detects vulnerabilities and protects against them. It’s powered by Bitdefender which is a trusted cybersecurity company. However, this is not a free feature and is a paid add-on. A 1-year trial is included and activated out of the box. The Orbi 970 also features the ability to host a VPN so that you can join your home network at any time. It’s only accessible through the browser console under the Advanced section. The browser console allows you to download the configuration package for use within an OpenVPN compatible client and also includes instructions for Windows, macOS, iPhone/iPad, and Android. Another feature that can be important to operating the VPN is the Dynamic DNS. The IP address that your ISP provides you can change, so a Dynamic DNS will give you a static domain name that will route to your home IP address. This way, you’re always able to connect to your home VPN without issue and without having to know the IP address assigned to your modem. If you happen to have a data cap or are simply interested in seeing your bandwidth usage, there is a monthly Traffic Meter which can help you see your daily usage as well as set data caps so that you don’t go over your monthly bandwidth cap. MISSING: The Orbi 970 marketing advertises a paid NETGEAR Smart Parental Controls integration, but I was not able to find this feature in either the Orbi app or the browser console. So at the time of writing, this feature is not available despite being advertised. CONCLUSION: The Orbi 970 is an excellent performing mesh WiFi system both in its ability to deliver high bandwidth throughput, as well as deliver on signal strength/range. It has some good features like VPN hosting for more advanced users, but forgoes features found on some competitors like the ability to directly host USB storage over a samba share. And while the software experience is decent, it still feels a bit barebones compared to some of the competition. At the current MSRP, you’re paying to be on the bleeding edge of WiFi 7 which doesn’t carry much value yet since there aren’t many WiFi 7 devices on the market yet. But if you need something to cover a large floorplan and would rather be future-proof, you will absolutely be paying a premium for the Orbi 970 mesh WiFi system, as I imagine the pricing will decrease over time.

Nice knowing that im future ready for a while. Very easy set up. Actually couldnt be easier. Glad I purchased.

Greatest purchase ever for my home internet needs! Fast speeds and complete coverage all over.

So far, it’s been excellent. I only have one computer that uses max speed of this router.

I live in a home of 1,837 sqft that is automated. Equipped with over 150 connected devices. Given the constant evolution of technology and the need for faster and more reliable internet, I've consistently invested in upgrading my routers and internet plans, even though it has often meant paying a premium price. The increase of IoT devices and tech equipment demands a robust network infrastructure capable of handling high-speed internet, which has been a budgetary concern due to the typically expensive nature of such solutions. In light of these considerations, I recently decided to upgrade to the NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series BE27000 Quad-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System (3-Pack) to address several persistent issues I faced with my previous router mesh system. These issues included: 1. Random device disconnections often require a router restart to resolve IP conflicts. 2. Slow internet speeds lead to low-quality video streaming and buffering. 3. Frustrations with the Apple HomeKit application and device responsiveness, particularly concerning WPA3 and 160GHz compatibility. 4. Connectivity problems with 2.4GHz devices, occasionally necessitating router restarts. 5. Persistent dead zones, despite my house not being exceptionally large. Transitioning to the NETGEAR Orbi 970 proved to be a transformative experience. It resolved all these issues seamlessly. The unboxing experience was a luxurious one, with the router and two satellites neatly packaged alongside a CAT 6 Ethernet cable for modem-to-router connection. Setting up the system was straightforward, thanks to the user-friendly app. Importantly, I was able to retain my existing SSID and password, avoiding the hassle of re-entering them for my numerous devices. Following the pairing and connection process, the app provided comprehensive device management features, notifying me of new device connections and their security status. Renaming connected devices enhanced network security by identifying unfamiliar ones. Notably, the router includes built-in Bitdefender security, safeguarding each connected device. Additionally, Bitdefender Armor can be downloaded to scan Wi-Fi-connected devices and protect against hacker threats for a year. The Orbi 970 system is thoughtfully designed, offering quad-band support for Wi-Fi 7, encompassing 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, and featuring a dedicated 5GHz backhaul. While its size might occupy counter space, it ensures adequate ventilation, aided by its 360 antennas, without compromising coverage. This mesh system does not get super hot!! Compared to my previous mesh system which gets super hot. With 10 gigabit ports on the router and 4 of 2.5 gigabit ports, I was able to optimize my network connections for various devices, such as my Alienware PC, Philips Hue, and Arlo BaseStation. The two satellites also provide ample connectivity options. The mesh system can handle 200 concurrent devices at the same time. In addition, it is allowable to choose between 2.4 and 5ghz for IoT devices or even select both. However, when I selected both frequencies, some of my smart display devices lost connection which is proven that 2.4ghz is the optimal frequency for IoTs. Also, for the main Wi-Fi network, the security method of the protocols can be chosen from WPA2/WPA3-Personal or only WPA3-Personal. Again, my experience forced me to use both WPA2/WPA3 for network stability. After completing the setup, I immediately noticed a remarkable improvement in my network's reliability and speed. Browsing became virtually instantaneous, and video streaming could occur at the highest available resolution without buffering. Even my 2.4GHz-supported devices maintained stable connections throughout the day. Furthermore, my speed tests now reflect the true capabilities of my Xfinity Gigabit plan, with download speeds reaching 1467 Mbps and upload speeds at 247 Mbps. This performance fully justified the cost of my Xfinity plan. The Orbi 970's app boasts a user-friendly interface and its "access anywhere" feature ensures convenient remote management from any location. NETGEAR offers two types of subscriptions to enhance the capabilities of the system. NETGEAR Armor provides advanced cybersecurity protection and vulnerability scans for all connected devices. Additionally, there are two tiers of ProSupport, one offering extended warranty and support, and the other offering extended warranty only. Both tiers provide repair and replacement services, but the extended support tier offers more comprehensive assistance. Given the investment in this system, I would opt for the highest tier to ensure coverage in case anything goes wrong. In summary, the NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series BE27000 Quad-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System has been a lifesaver, effectively addressing the connectivity issues I previously encountered. Its seamless setup, robust features, and impressive performance have transformed my home network into a reliable and high-speed internet for all my connected devices and applications and that is noticeable! I could continue writing about this system for hours, as it is truly remarkable and resolves all connectivity issues while providing simplified system management, including features like parental control, device manager, built-in speed testing, and a network map displaying the router and satellite nodes. The security section also presents the current security status and any detected threats, and the ability to share Wi-Fi credentials via a QR code is a fantastic feature. Great setup and reliable performance.

Netgear releases one of their first WiFi 7 mesh devices and it packs a nice punch with older devices. With this system, Netgear includes a base and two satellite devices. Each device is LARGE; I do not mean to exaggerate (It almost resembles the size of a football). Each has a 10GB port and additional ports (4 on the base station, 2 on each satellite station) to connect devices to it via ethernet. In total, Netgear states that it can cover up to 9,000 sq ft of space. I found that setting up the system took about 15 minutes with the longest part being setting up a Netgear account. The main base station had a QR code sticker and after scanning it with my phone's camera, it prompted me to install the Netgear Orbi app to set up the system. While there aren’t many new devices that support the new wireless standard, WiFi 7, this system does a great job of implementing it. In short, it looks to add better efficiency and potential speed. When compared to my other WiFi 6 router (I tested it with all of my devices running on the WiFi 7 network to get a real feel), I did notice a difference in overall speed on my devices. At times while streaming videos on multiple devices, I would occasionally experience hiccups using my previous WiFi 6 mesh system. While this isn’t something to worry about (1st world problems), it can get annoying, especially when having guests over for a movie. I did not experience this on the Orbi 970 during the time I’ve tested and used it. Websites would load up quicker and video streaming services such as Netflix & Disney + would load videos in higher quality (sometimes they would load in a lower quality at first then scale to a higher video quality), and with much less stuttering in between (experienced a 1 second delay once using an extended Zoom conference call). Another cool thing about the Orbi 970 was that it automatically created a SSID or additional name for IOT devices to connect to, such as smart lights, speakers, thermostat, locks, etc. While this feature does not segment or separate these devices from your network and can be powered off, it helps when connecting them (since the SSID is strictly using the 2.4GHz band) and identifying which devices are connected from a management standpoint. Through the Orbi app, with each new device you connect to the network, you are sent a notification, and soon after, a vulnerability report. The Orbi 970 system comes with a year of Netgear Armor - Netgear’s security service that regularly costs $99 a year. Netgear Armor includes network-level protection (device vulnerability scans, exploit, brute force, and DDoS network protection), Bitdefender's Antivirus for computers and mobile devices (unlimited number of devices), and Bitdefender’s VPN service (covers 200MB per day, what a bummer!). Lots of features are included that help protect your network. Netgear also claims to detect anomalies in the network (what the system would identify as odd network behavior) and notifies you of it. As I set up the devices, I was not prompted to enter a credit card to get the Netgear Armor free for 1 year and automatically was set up with the system. The app has several features and sections, with one of them (continuing the topic of security) being security. Your Orbi system gives a rating of your network's current level of security and also gives recommendations to strengthen it. As previously mentioned, a vulnerability scan is run on each device connected and the app will notify you if any vulnerabilities were found that could pose a security risk on the network. The app also notifies you if it detected and blocked any suspicious websites and lists them. Additionally, on the Orbi app you are able to set up parental controls, view the signal strength and run tests on each station, view connected devices, setup guest Wi-Fi and more. To access advanced settings such as setting up a VPN, VLAN, UPnP settings, and others, you will need to login to the router settings via a web browser. My biggest gripe with this device is that to use the more advanced features of parental controls, you will have to pay for a subscription service. Without a paid subscription, you can only control internet access of the devices that are connected to it. You can pause the internet but are unable to track or disable the use of certain websites or apps. Also, it would be nice to have some of the advanced network security features for free versus having to pay a yearly subscription. Overall, I loved the system and the range each of the base and satellite stations had. I have several IOT devices, kids with tablets that like to stream videos, gaming systems, and other devices that can take lots of bandwidth. I was able to get at a bare minimum medium strength signal in my 3200+ sqft home and use all of my devices regularly without hiccups. Of course, it also depends on your internet provider and the speed you're paying for to get fast internet. As far as using the Orbi 970 series, I can definitely recommend it for those that need good range, want top notch residential network security, and want to futureproof their Wi-Fi network.