Customer Ratings & Reviews

At first everything worked fine. It was great! I got internet signal out in my shop with the RBW30. Full speeds! The RBS50 was going great and it seemed this thing was going to work well for me. Then the problems started. Dropping connections, losing internet, speed crawling. The firmware is absolutely junk. None of the updates to the firmware work and Netgear is rolling it back to really old ones just to fix things that they've broken in newer releases of firmware. Netgear needs to get their stuff (insert other word there) and get Orbi functioning for the HUNDREDS of people that are complaining about it online.

This was awesome when it worked, but it consistently dropped connections. My son couldn't use it for Xbox gaming because it dropped the connection all the time. Did a lot of online research and this appears to be a well-known issue without a satisfactory resolution.

bought this and set it up. very excited. not so much after setup. my connected speed is 1gigabit per second. with the orbi, I got 400 on my laptop and 550 on my phones. near the satellite, I got 200 on the laptop and 150 on the phones. with my very old Nighthawk 1900 I was getting 750 to 900 on my phones and 450 on my laptop. outside the front door, about 100 feet from my Nighthawk, I was getting 250 mbps, much better than near the orbi satellite. plugging the very old Nighthawk back in and unplugging the orbi. it's going back. what a waste of time and money ...

I used to think that Netgear was a reliable brand for networking and internet products. Not anymore. I’m on my third Netgear modem and third Netgear Orbi network, and I have to say both the products are garbage, and the tech support is horrible. Every time my power goes out or I have to shut down the modem, the Orbi network never comes back. I have to try all kinds of calisthenics to get it to work again, and invariably I have to call tech support for yet another nightmare. I have no problem with tech support being in another country as long as they are competent and understandable. I have had to call NETGEAR’s tech support more than a dozen times over the past four months, and each time took at least three hours. I actually spent three days on trying to fix the problem back in August and finally gave up and returned the items. The last time I called, which was a few days ago, I was transferred five times and was on the phone for exactly five hours. And I even have their premium service plan! The tech person couldn't wait to get off the phone with me because it took her so long to figure out the problem, and she never did explain what the problem was. It happened again this morning when electricians came to fix the problem that caused the frequent outages. They shut down the power, and when it came back on, of course Orbi wasn’t working. I’m in the process of looking into returning all of the equipment, and, as much as I don’t like Comcast, lease the equipment f try on them so I don’t have to friend on NETGEAR’s terrible tech support. I would not recommend buying any Netgear equipment try if you don’t know how to fix networking problems yourself or if you have a life to live.

It worked great for 13 months. Then the satellite failed... one month out of warranty. There was no fixing it. It just flashes white and the power LED flashes red. No ability to connect, even hardwired, to troubleshoot or reload firmware. Tech support just told me to buy a new one. Since there were no satellites available for individual sale, the only choice was to buy a whole new setup. Complete failure with no replacement offered = 1 star review. Here's the call transcript with Netgear support: (06:04:07) Jason My RBS50 Satellite will not work anymore. I was supposed to get a call from ORBI support between 9a and 11a but never heard from them (06:04:20) James May I know if you are trying to set it up for the first time? (06:04:45) Jason No. I set it up about 1 year ago and it worked fine until recently (06:04:53) James have you replaced your device ? (06:04:59) Jason no (06:07:53) Jason It just flashes the red power LED and white 'ring' light continuously (06:09:39) James this device is also got corrputerd you need to repalce this device (06:10:18) Jason It's only 1 year old. I think the warranty ended just weeks ago. (06:10:42) James yes it is (06:10:52) James then you need to buy new one

I purchased this little over 1 year ago, had a lot of problems getting the satellite to connect no matter where I located it, the only way I could get it to work was doing wired backhaul to it. Unfortunately the satellite died last week and the replacement cost $249. wound up getting instead two RT-AC86u Aimesh units, setup was flawless and range is almost double of the Orbi. Live and Learn.

Had really high hopes for this with my FiOS Triple Play, especially when Verizon advertises it as a great WiFi option to get full whole home coverage. When it works the speeds ARE great but this thing NEVER WORKS. For the first 5 days things were great, then the drops started. 2 one day, 3 the next, but my first full weekend I had 5 or 6 drop-offs each day. I got exhausted from running downstairs to the router and unplugging it and plugging it back in. It works then an hour or less later, it drops again. Kept losing internet AT THE ROUTER, which of course then knocks down the satellite. Tried contacting Netgear and got no response. I am not surprised as I can only assume this is a known issue they simply have no answer for. Look at all the reviews, at least 2 of every 10 is like mine. Mine is going back. Almost the worse $324 I ever spent.

It was great while it worked. Sadly I did not buy the protection plan it took about a year to brake.

Maybe I had a defective product, but I've had non-stop problems with this mesh system. If I had a power or internet outage, the Orbi would not restart normally. Multiple reboots would never seem to get back online. Unfortunately, the only solution I could leverage (due to extremely lacking online support guides from Netgear) was a full "restore to factory settings" and start over each time I had any internet or power disruption. The firmware would never update -- ever! Connecting to the router is only possible through mobile apps which don't work with the router won't reboot properly. In the 18 months I have this product, I've spent well over 100 hours of my own time to keep it running. Online support is useless as well and I was left trying to search for support through other methods. Today I gave up, bought an Eero and had the entire Eero mesh system up in less than 15 minutes without any problems. Maybe I had a dud, but I would not recommend this this product.

Be aware there is a long-standing issue with Orbi and Apple IOS devices that Netgear Has completely ignored. What happens is that over a 24-36hour period wi-fi performace of IOS devices (iphones, iPads etc) will degrade until the IOS device can no longer connect to anything. Netgear’s ONLY response to date is to reboot the Orbi router which does clear the issue for another 24-36 hours. Netgear has even gone so far as to suggest that customers put a timer on their Orbi devices that power cycles them on a 24hr basis. There have been some other suggestions to turn off features of the Orbi system to eliminate this problem, all of them are suspect and don’t make sense, why would you buy a product like Orbi only to have to turn off features to make it work properly.

Look carefully at all the forums regarding the firmware issues with this unit. The firmware is constantly being doled out because they cannot fix all the bugs THEY introduced. Problems: iOS units drop offl;ine or have slow speeds. Orbi satellites drop off. The router randomly reboots. YOU CAN'T USE A GOOGLE HOME DEVICE WITH THIS SYSTEM! Their tech support told me that a Google "device" and especially the Home unit causes "interference" with the router. There are a host more. THey've had to roll back the firmware multiple times because of all the issues they have. I've now been on hold with "Tier 2" support for an hour. Not actually talking to someone, but ON HOLD!!! Honestly, for the money they want, this is poor service and even poorer merchandise. RUN AWAY!!!

What a dissapointing expirence. I read the reviews and purchased. The first 5 minutes were easy and the base unit synced with the remote, Great. Then I signed in on wi-fi and registered all still, Great. This process took 5 min max. Then the web site said it was downloading a firmware update and the pain began. The base unit failed to update and then the remote unit became unattached. At this point I had 2 dead bricks and no way to figure it out since the internet was DOWN. I used my iPhone to look for support and after 30 min of frustration trying to type in the serial number only to be told it was wrong I looked for some technical support. GUESS WHAT - they want $49 to place a call to support. AWFUL cusotmer service!!!! I'm taking it back. This has to be the worst expirence with a product in the last 3 years. I would not recommend this to anyone. The reviews seemed to have no issues but then there is lots of stuff on the internet about the firmware breaking this device [ i found out afterward] and criptic ways to fix it. This is supposed to be a consumer grade device and once it breaks - TAKE IT BACK. if enough $400 units come back they might have to fix the firmware issues. Lots of potential and great marketing but LOUSY implementation.

Do not buy this item. I purchased the unit in. March of 2018 and it worked great for about a month. Then they did an upgrade and now all it does and drop the signal. I kept calling tech suppoot and they kept having me did the same thing over and over. Now it’s past 45 days and I cant return to Bestbuy. Called Tech suppoot today and now they want to charge me for tech suppoot! Don’t buy this product, do your online research and read about the dropped signals and bad update. Spend the money and get a nighthawk, I took the hit and purchased the nighthawk and it’s working great! Guess ill use the orbi as a table stand for the nighthawk. Lesson learned. I didn’t mean to give it one star, but after i hit it, it would let me uncheck it. Sorry

Bought this item in 2020. Worked without issue for about 2 years, then suddenly died. Will not allow any computer to login to the router, cannot change settings, system reset doesn't work. Seems to be bricked and Netgear has nearly no support for it.

App constantly crashed during setup. I had nergear 7 years ago and didn’t know password from then, reset wouldn’t work. Have to pay “circle” $5/mos to use parental controls. Satellite needs to be close, supposedly does 5000 ft.², only does 2/3 of our 3500 square-foot house. Too much $ to have to pay subscription.

Not only did customer service not know how to handle the issue with my mac not connecting properly, mac couldn't either. Ive never had an issue with other routers but this unit requires me to disconnect from the router on my computer every time I open my mac book (2017 model) and reconnect. Not pleasant. I have a night hawk 1900 and actually had more coverage in our house than this unit. I believe the speeds are the same, never had any issues with other devices throughout the house but I'm very disappointed in this rather expensive and less useful unit.

I bought this system to solve the "weaker" Frontier router issues. I bought an extender so that the network would be strong across the house. But I have had more problems with Orbi! The extender keeps losing the connection. It doesn't extend to the upstairs, one area that I was hoping to get better service. It is worse than not having it at all. Netgear needs to fix this connectivity issue asap, and it needs a better system for indicating that the connection works. The lights blinking and then turning from white to fuschia to blue and then off is a terrible indicator.

So, the orbi delivers fast, and so far secure wifi to my entire home. 3500 sq ft 3 levels. HOWEVER!!! The USB port will not support a hard drive. REALLY!? This alone is enough to make me return it and go to another product. All my digital media will not work now..... BYE BYE NETGEAR...going back to CISCO

I read the reviews indicating there was a problem with the Orbi dropping connections but also saw that firmware had been updated to eliminate the issue....I have firmware V2.1.2.18 on the router and satellite. I bought the Orbi RBK50 yesterday, installed it (including the satellite) today and almost immediately started having dropped connections....wired and wireless (the Orbi router just stopped working). I restarted the router and it started working again. I've done this 4 times in 45 minutes. While it was working my speed test showed 60+ Mbps; but moving away from the router and nearer the satellite I only got 28 Mbps. Reviews indicating great coverage for a 5000+ sf home are suspect. My home is 2600 sf. I have an Ethernet cable going from the router to a Netgear switch....I read that this may be a problem....why have the ports if they cause problems.

Orbi met every need of our household when I bought it in mid 2017. Blanketed the house seamlessly and cleaned up my "deadzones" from mixing routers and extneders. Over the past few weeks Netgear released 2 updates. They update automatically. You don't have the choice to accept the update. One update caused connection issues and the router rebooting. The update to update made things worse. That update was released right before Christmas and Netgear has frozen the "autoupdate" until they can resolve things. If you're looking into buying Orbi, I'd encourage you to go to Netgears support forum and do not purchase until their is a stable firmware update.