Customer Ratings & Reviews

I can catch WiFi all around my house even outside.

Works very well although could be spotty at times but good overall

This has boosted our high speed coverage throughout our house.

This router was a snap up set up and has incredible distance.

My wireless in my bedroom improved over 80 percent.

Had trouble with other routers.. this one is perfect!!

Great coverage and very stable connection. So far so good!

I bet you are saying, “yawn, another review about a router that is going to claim to make my internet super fast.” Well, not so fast ( pun intended.) Over the past year or so, manufacturers have been introducing new routers to not only extend the WiFi coverage but to maintain peak speeds at all areas of coverage. This is usually accomplished through something called a mesh network that consists of the main router and a satellite “extender” that is used to extend coverage and maintain speed integrity. That is where the Netgear Orbi comes in. The Orbi consists of one router and one satellite unit. I know what you are thinking ( as did I,) “who cares – just another extender.” Traditionally, that would be correct as most routers and extenders communicate to each other by one or two of the standard bands of the router ( 5GHz and 2.4GHz) and do not necessarily increase network performance. The Netgear Orbi System on the other hand is a tri-band router with one 5 GHz channel dedicated for communication to the satellite and two other bands ( 5.0 GHz and 2.4GH) for direct connection to the router. What this does is creates a network that allows two bands to be dedicated for connected devices and a third band for those devices connected to the extended signal of the satellite. A novel idea but Netgear did not stop there. On the back of the satellite is 4 ethernet ports and USB connection for storage devices ( sadly it is only USB 2.0.) This means you can connect up to 4 internet capable devices directly to this dedicated channel. Connect a gaming system directly to this satellite with an ethernet cable and you have the fastest, stable connection you can get. So what about the other features? At $400 , you would expect the best of the best features and the Orbi has them all. It is 802.11ac, IPV6, parental controls , access point mode, Dynamic DNS, port forwarding etc. Most people do not care as long as the device works but some of these make the router future proof. I tested the port forwarding for IP camera and it worked fine. Another nice feature ( which you will see the first time you set up the router) is automatic over the air updates. No need to worry about checking for updates, the Orbi will take care of itself. The first update took over 5 minutes so be patient during initial set up. Speaking of the setup , I really think Netgear did a good job on this. It was a straight forward, browser based installation . It can be done through any mobile device or computer. First you plug in the router to the modem, plug in the power and then set the satellite in the appropriate place in your home. The network is already set up ( you can change the name and password during the set up if you want) and you just need to follow the web based set up instructions. It took me about 15 minutes with updates. Not bad at all and I experienced no issues. One note, you will only see one network after set up, the Orbi handles whether it is on the 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz bands. It did catch me by surprise but it makes sense after understanding how the product works. I have been running the Orbi for a few weeks now and have noticed a difference. Although I do not live in a large house, there were some issues in the overall performance of my existing internet provider supplied router. One measurement of internet performance is latency. Latency is how long it takes data to travel between its source and destination, measured in milliseconds. The higher the number, the worse it is. Old Network latency was acceptable, falling between 53ms. and 76 ms depending on location. For some gaming, this could be noticed depending on network activity. With Orbi, it is a ridiculously low 3 ms to 39ms. 3ms is as fast as a T1 connection, so this is fast. Signal strength was –65 dBm range ( which is fair) and now is –23 dBm ( which is a strong signal.) The stronger the signal, the greater range you will have before performance degradation. Of course, some of this dependent on the ISP but all things being equal, there was a noticeable improvement with the Orbi in my home. Overall , my impression is this is solid, well thought out device. The router and satellite are sizable, each being about 9 inches tall by 7 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Not too large compared to some other huge routers on the market. Both the router and satellite are completely white and have overall feel of quality. For those living in a small to medium sized single level home, you may not see that much of a difference in performance. You may consider it for the advantages of the satellite connections. However, for larger or multi-levels homes or ones with lots of connected devices; this is the way to go and you will notice a difference. This is not a device that promises you faster internet, it is device designed to maximize the performance and speed consistency of your network. With today fast devices and ISP's, it really is all about the quality of the network. At $400, this is in line or lower than the competition in price and it makes the Netgear Orbi a better overall value.

Devices seem to drop off the network randomly. Never had that with my old router.

I love this system. It has solved my wifi issues completely.

It works great and was easy to set up the very first time!

It works great and added connection speed to my internet.

The Orbi AC3000 Tri-Band wifi works very good in my house.

I recommend it to anyone, cool gadget..............

It was good for about a month till it wasn’t able to handle bandwidth of 5 devices running at 400. Tried updating didn’t work, only way to fix was to do a reset every 4th day.

Worked well for a 3K sq ft 2 story home. Much better than the Linkys

Improved wifi throughout the entire house. Worth the price!

Liked it so much purchased another for the office.

My son recommended this product after his researched

This is the best wifi system ive ever used....hands down!