NETGEAR - Orbi AC3000 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi System (2-pack) - White

With this product I don't feel as though like with many released in this generation that I am participating in a beta test. It simply works and it works very well. The app was a little finicky but once the router and satellites were updated everything stabilized. I've been running it for a few weeks now and the range is about twice as good as my nighthawk from 2017 and despite what some people have said in the past it appears to hand off wifi from one satellite to another very quickly. Overall this was a solid purchase.

The mesh Netgear Orbi router has been great. Very reliable so far. The issue is their horrible app. It’s clunky, they bombard you to subscribe to their crappy security malware protection garbage. I just paid over $200 for a router, why would I then want to pay another subscription. Of course you have to call to cancel if you do sign up so you probably have to wait a long time to get to a representative or they hang the phone up on you or they try to upsell you up eventually from canceling. I’ve seen this shady tactic, time & time again. Shady business practices Netgear. Even though the hardware is good, based on the software, I’m going to have to say pass on this router. Look elsewhere.

This product has restored my faith in Netgear and made me come back, I have been purchasing, configuring and using Routers since the early 90s I have also experimented with range extenders and routers in bridge mode etc through the years, trust me nothing has ever compared to Orbi when it comes to speed and range. It is truly amazing how I get full bars and almost no signal degradation whatsoever in every single room in the house and even outside, the dedicated 5GHz channel that the satellite device uses to communicate with the Orbi router is actually making the big difference here in my opinion, something that ONLY the Orbi has at the time of this review. The first thing you’ll notice when you are getting it setup is how simple it is for the average consumer to get this up and running, basically the system is pre-paired from the factory, the user basically only needs to name their Wi-Fi network and optionally register the product and that’s about it, you’ll be enjoying super-fast Wi-Fi throughout your entire house in no time. The software has been rock solid and stable so far, configuration has all the features that an advanced user would need such as Guest Network, Port Forwarding, Static routers/ IPs etc, it’s all in there with the exception of true QoS (Because there’s some basic sort of version of it included) and being able to name your 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands independently but I’m sure this will also be included in future firmware versions. The system is not without some minor issues though, I ran into a small problem when initially upgrading the software where it could not auto-update on its own, people who purchase this in the near future will not run into this problem as newer units will for sure come with more up to date/improved firmware, early adopters who get it now though (and I recommend you to do so) can just manually update the firmware by downloading it from the Netgear support site then going into the Orbi’s web interface and upgrade it manually. I also wish Netgear would improve their Mobile Apps, the current Android version of the app as of today 12/27/16 (This might not be the case a few months after I write this) is basically only good for setting up the Orbi for the first time, besides that it's virtually useless, also the Netgear Genie app for the PC is so dated, it really needs a facelift and I was disturbed to see that it has not changed GUI wise since the last time I had tried it like 5 years ago, after installing it I immediately removed it, it is really not good at all. Before having this up and running I was afraid I would need to purchase a second satellite because of the size of my home, no need at all, in fact I was able to get rid of two range extenders while still having full bars/speed in my entire house with just the main unit and the one included satellite that came included with the package, awesomeness! My home is totally made out of bricks and this is the first system that gives me consistent 90/MBps down 12MBps Up ALL the way from the front of the house to the backyard, I'm talking Internet speeds (which is more than what I pay Comcast for) the actual transfer speeds between devices is much more greater than that, I tell you try Orbi if you haven't yet and see for yourself, if you don't like it you can always return it, nothing to lose.

One year review. After trying some other options such as router extenders etc, this finally did the trick with my large home. I hard wired one of them and placed it in the center of a 3 story home and put the other one on the top floor. Every since I have installed these, I have had zero problems with wifi and I have a loaded "smart home". I also think they look nice.

The Short: went from 10mbps to 287mbps with a snap - The Long: a friend recommended the orbi system, I was using the default wifi that came with xfinity and had to regularly call them to have them reboot or restart the modem, not cool when it's in the middle of watching a movie!!! not only that, but my kids were always complaining about slow or no service, the wifi didn't reach their room, or it was just too slow, so they'd turn off the wifi on their device and BAM, then we go over the data limits and pay an outrageous mobile phone bill! well, I put these things in and all that went away, I have a 3031sq ft house and this thing nails it, no problem - speed is awesome, SHD/4K movies stream no problem, makes the pic so much better, before the image would get pixelated because of the bad service, and now it's flawless - streaming is a dream - get the orbi system - it also works with alexa, she can manage guest access!

After wasting my money on WiFi extenders, I came across an article about whole home WiFi. I'm going to post the signal speed from my WiFi extender and the speed from the Orbi satellite. They are maybe 6-7ft apart with no wall or anything in between the two. The WiFi extender and the Orbi satellite are both on the 1st floor over 100ft away from the cable modem/router and where the Orbi router is (on the 2nd floor). The pictures say enough about whether the Orbi Netgear works or not.

I have a solid brick building with extremely thick plaster walls. I can get it perfectly all over the house with only 2 of the devices...one being the reciever/transmitter. Works perfectly and I can get it on the sidewalks too!

I’ve been installing residential WiFi for decades. WiFi mesh is a technological jump from routers and extenders. Don’t waste your money on anything else. 10 stars