Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great WiFi network, bad Alexa integration. Unable to use in Alexa speaker group.

Excellent product,Would buy it again . Very Decent price at best buy.

tl;dr: this easy to set up device has great coverage and fast speeds that work for any house. I have had wifi problems in my house for years, because of something that is in the walls. WIFI signal died out over 20-30 feet, not what should usually be covered in even some of the other high powered devices these days. I was previously using a NETGEAR nighthawk, and that wouldn't cover the area. FINALLY SOMETHING DOES. Pros: whole house coverage with very fast speeds. Superb audio quality Cons: Kinda big..., pricey Setup: super easy, the app is intuitive and nice to use, and walks you through everything step by step. Quality: The build quality is superb, it is a professional and solid product. Looks beautiful and the design quality is excellent! Disclaimer: Received from NETGEAR as part of a review and test program, though all opinions are solely my own.

Great for whole house coverage and like Alexa feature.

My whole home is smart and those mesh takes it lol a boss

Good units... easy to set up. Wish speaker utilized Apple music

Alexa did not connect, purchasing decision by the way, tech support landed me in India, never could understand the person. 3 days later Netgear reached out to me with “Tier 2” tech support, by then I removed the hair from my head already and had others help. Since Alexa did not work until I had co-workers in IT dept help, they found info online after a while and had to force an update to Satelite unit. Apple music is not compatible on this “Alexa” device, so If you as I made a decision to purchase on being able to do that, now you know. Other than that, ok

Returned this version with Alexa, Alexa would randomly talk or make noises all hours of the day. None of our other Alexa devices do this. Returned the unit and did replace with a non-Alexa Orbi. The orbi system worked to extend the wifi and speed across a flat 2200 square foot house, just wouldn't recommend the Alexa option. Get an echo dot if you want Alexa.

Up front: I received this free of charge as part of Netgear's First Look review program. This is an awesome combo pack that gives you fast wireless speeds along with Amazon Alexa, a great audio speaker and more. If you want to really upgrade your Internet to fill your whole house with fast speeds, this should be exactly what you need. Here are some pros and cons. Pro + The fast AC wireless speeds are perfect for today's fast games and big Netflix bandwidth. + Easy setup. Netgear makes their products easy to set up on first use, and their advances in using a phone app have made it even simpler. + The built-in Amazon Alexa means you get a super convenient voice-activated helper for no extra cost. Reduce your number of plugged in devices with this. + Harmon Kardon speaker for great sound quality; enjoy your music loud and clear. + Circle by Disney means you can set up easy to use, effective parental controls--this is AWESOME for parents. Con - Not cheap; don't buy this on a whim, but if you know you need this, I think it's worth the money. - The dual device mesh system is great for a larger house, so it's overkill if you have a small house and one regular wireless router can give you great signal throughout. Alternatively, two devices may not be enough if you house is too big or oddly shaped. As I said above, if you want to upgrade your wireless setup to the fastest, most combo-licious tech around, this is where you should be looking! Slow wifi speeds and bad music quality be gone!

Setup: Setup of the Orbi and satellite was fairly easy. Had a few issues with getting the satellite to pair initially, but resetting both units resolved that issue. I do agree with some of the other reviews that the web interface provides some additional setup options that help with a more advanced home network. Features: The features are comparable to most of the Netgear home networking products I have used over the years. Providing multiple options for how it is configured and what services it provides depending on your needs. ** One important feature that is missing on the Alexa side of the unit is the calling feature that allows for calls between Alexa devices, and to approved contacts. My family makes extensive use of this feature to give us a home intercom system. Hopefully it will be added in a firmware or software update. Performance: So far the performance has been great and have not noticed any dead spots in the coverage. Audio quality: The audio quality of the speaker is really good. Makes listening to Amazon Music and Pandora great. The product met my expectation and has me considering getting another satellite if I start noticing any dead spots. I would recommend this to friends and family that are looking for a new router, especially if they already use Amazon Alexa devices. I received the RBK50V from NETGEAR as part of a review and test program. And I am glad I received it because it was not a product that I was aware was on the market.

I've struggled with getting a consistently strong signal in my home for years. Repeaters never really did the trick, and often times caused more problems than they solved. We've always had dead or weak zones, but the Netgear RBK50V Orbi has uncomplicated all of that for us. - Setup was easy, most everything just worked out of the box. No messy configuration settings and anyone should have a pretty easy go of it. - Having Amazon Alexa built into our network has upgraded our home. It feels like the future is now, and it's been helpful in ways we never imagined. This device is a total package solution for home connectivity, much more than just a router. - Mesh technology works great, no dead spots. I've never experienced such great coverage in our larger home. - Audio quality is superb and you don't need to yell to be heard by Alexa. - It's a great value for the price, considering how much more it offers than just a home network. You'd spend much more doing these things separately, and not to mention cluttering your home with devices that may or may not be unsightly. - I recommend this to anyone who is looking to create connectivity in their home for the current age. It makes you much more efficient and wastes less of your time. We received this item as a part of NETGEAR's review & test program.

Netgear Orbi Review This is a “mesh” WiFi router system. Mesh means that there are two or more units that communicate with each other to “mesh” their signals and provide a wider WiFi signal range than a single unit. SETUP The setup instructions are not provided in the box. Instead Netgear has you download the Orbi app and you use it to install and setup the system. To me, this is easier because it guides you through it. To make setup easier, Netgear has you scan with your smart phone the QR code for each device which has the technical details encoded. Follow some simple steps guided by the Orbi app, sign into your account, and you are easily setup with your WiFi network and internet. It was easy for me until I got to the Amazon Alexa feature. I have subscriptions to Amazon Prime, Unlimited Music, and Audible. However, I have never had an Alexa device or the app for it. The Orbi app has a place for you to sign into your Amazon account to use Alexa. I’m not sure that I need the Alexa app to use it? Also, we have a family Amazon account which allows each family member to have their own account and get the benefit of the main account. Yet, Orbi and Alexa feature does not seem to allow for multiple accounts. In any case, the instructions were lacking for this. I make use of the Guest WiFi when I have visitors. The Orbi app to use it is good but the setup could be more intuitive. FEATURES Orbi has most all the features that a regular router has but also a type of extender called a “satellite”. It is not an extender because it doesn’t have separate broadcast/network name. Managing the router’s features is easy with the Orbi app. You can even see what devices and who is connected to your network and disable them with a single button if you like. The ability to re-name each connected device is also very useful so you don’t have to remember the devices technical name. The Orbi app doesn’t have all of the router settings. You will need to go to your browser interface to see all settings. I really like the satellite built-in speaker and Alexa feature. I didn’t think I would use it, but I find myself listening to music through it and my children listening to audible books. PERFORMANCE The network performance is better than my Netgear R8000. I have the two Orbi units on opposite ends of my house. The signal strength is excellent all throughout which was not previously the case with the single R8000 unit. I think that this type system “mesh” with a base unit and one to many satellites is the future of home WiFi. The satellite Harman Kardon speaker is good sound quality for its size. I think that the ability to stream to multiple devices via new technology has significantly improved lately. Even if your existing WiFi router is only a few years old, you should notice a significant improvement as I have. MEET EXPECTATIONS I didn’t know what to expect since I never had anything like it. I’m pleasantly surprised by it’s features and performance. It has been reliable so far and I use the satellite speaker and Alexa more than I thought I would. I have not had any issues with it so far and I suspect that others who have had problems are now fixed with a firmware update. PRICE/VALUE There are many other mesh WiFi systems on the market now, I could find only a few that have a built-in speaker with Alexa. When you get satellites with these features for not much more money than basic systems, the value gets better. RECOMMEND? I would recommend it, especially if you have a larger house and would use the Alexa and the speaker. If you don’t have Amazon services, you can still use the satellite speaker with other apps. I received received my RBK50V from NETGEAR as part of a review and test program. I have no problem recommending to my friends and family because of the performance and reliability and I’ve always had good results from NETGEAR Support.

Setup: Setup out of the box was pretty easy. Just download the app and follow the steps! Value: This is a wifi router, extender(basically), and smart speaker(like echo) all in one. if you add up the individual costs for those items, i think youll find this is cheaper. Features: The features i thought were cool about this product is the added smart speaker built into the sat. you also get some network ports in the sat which could be very handy! This way, you dont have to run ethernet across the house. The speaker quality was good. I wouldnt say its Homepod quality but pretty good sound. I did try to update the firmware on the sat and had a bit of a hard time getting it reconnected to the router but after resetting it paired up fine. The added alexa capability is cool...its a little sluggish but you can get used to it. where this product shines is how easy it is to configure. This works well for people that dont have a lot of technical knowledge. IT IS FAST TOO! The internet speeds are optimized automatically.

Overall, the NETGEAR Orbing Voice is a fast mesh network with what's essentially a good-sounding Alexa on the satellite unit. Setup took less than five minutes. It did require restarting my modem, and the instructions and the mobile app differed slightly, but overall it was quick to get everything running smoothly. The mobile app functions well and has an appropriate number of controls (good amount of features and not overly complex). The Orbi units themselves look sleek, and since they are vertically-oriented and don't have lots of flashing lights, don't look out of place being out in the open. The main features of this router are the mesh network, so you can coat a large area in Wi-Fi, and that the satellite unit has Alexa built-in (with a Harmon/Kardon-designed speaker). The mesh network in general has worked well, although the satellite unit was dropped by the base unit once. My internet speeds are plenty fast through the router. If you're in need of Alexa and don't already have it, I think this is a good product. Alexa sounds much better through the Orbi than an Echo Dot, for example. If audio quality isn't as important to you as convenience for playing music, this is also a good solution, especially if you are putting the satellite unit in a location where you don't have a speaker. If audio quality is your top priority, I think a dedicated micro Hi-Fi unit or HomePod/Sonos may be better options, although I was not able to directly compare to the last two. The Orbi satellite would probably work best to call up Alexa for a recipe, timers, or podcasts while cooking, for example. At the time of writing, Spotify and a few other radio services are available, and it seems like Apple Music will be available in the future. The volume controls on the Orbi satellite are capacitive, and don't always pick up input correctly, but they function OK. Overall, the product meets my expectations for being a high-speed mesh network with dedicated Alexa functionality. Personally, I wouldn't use it to replace a dedicated speaker, but it can augment a space by adding a high-quality voice to Alexa. If you are already an Alexa user and need a mesh network for your house, getting this makes perfect sense. I gave the unit 4 stars instead of 5 due to the finicky touch controls on the Orbi satellite; and the sound quality, while better than an Echo Dot, was below my expectations (I expected more with the Harmon/Kardon branding). Something NETGEAR can improve in the future is also to integrate the AC adapter into the unit instead of at the wall plug, which currently is relatively large. I received my RBK50V from NETGEAR as part of a review and test program.

Easy Setup - Setup is very straight forward with the Orbi App with step by step guide. You have to setup an account if you don't already have one for the Orbi App. It connects to Amazon Alexa, but to only one account. This part of setup could use some more work to make it more intuitive. Features - Router and WiFi and Speaker w/ great Sound all in one. Combine all this powerful features with the Disney Circle it's awesome. I really like the Disney Circle feature for parental controls for my kids. To me Alexa and other features were 2nd to Disney Circle being built in with this device. Since it provided so many features and app integrations, security and safe browsing is my number one priority and I am glad Disney Circle delivers on that note. Performance - I had multiple devices connected with WiFi and I did not see performance issues compared to my previous NightHawk R7000 router. I connected multiple devices for testing purposes only to push the performance. I currently use this device to extend my WiFi into the opposite side of my house. I have a cable modem router NightHawk X4S as my primary connection to my ISP. This way I have 2 devices for my WiFi and I get coverage everywhere, even my backyard. Audio Quality - Audio is awesome, no complaints. This product definitely exceeded my expectations. I feel with all the feature and performance it provides, it is fairly priced. I would recommend it anyone that is looking for an integrated devices or just in the market looking for new WiFi Routers. You can spend a couple hundred dollars just on WiFi Routers, so why not get an integrated devices for a little bit more that is packed with many useful features. *** I did receive the RBK50V device as part of a review and test program from NetGear ***

Immediately out of the box, set-up was a snap. The router is located in one corner of the basement and the signal reaches to the bedroom furthest away with no problem. It also talks to the Arlo cameras spread out to the garage. I speed tested it against our old router (75 mbps) and Orbi is faster. This is our first experience with Alexa and the kids like to ask her questions. I would recommend this to anyone, it exceeded our expectations and has been a great router so far for us. I received my RBK50V from NETGEAR as part of a review and test program

Our house is approximately 5000 sf with an additional apartment out back some 70 feet away. Signal and load allows us to stream from both locations so not too bad. CON- The support is uneducated and non-communicative. Meaning we bought another satellite Alexa voice. hooked up just fine but decided an hour later we wanted to connect it to another Amazon Family account. This action locked us into a never ending circle of Alexa asking us to register it but not accepting either account or password. Called support and after 30 minutes they told me it was a bug on my end causing a unsecured connection due to one of our connected devices causing a bug glitch and not truly connected... but the rest of the network is working fine? Told me to return it and hung up. 5 minutes later after uninstalling Alexa and Amazon apps then restarting the connection I am up and running. Now I have reloaded the apps and doing fine. Lesson being - DON'T get a NETGEAR support contract because they don't know what they are doing and will blame it on something that makes it your fault not theirs. I don't need to pay someone to tell me tough luck. If you are someone that needs support I would NOT suggest this because Netgear support isn't long or good when you do have it.