I have had the orbi 973 system since it came out ...
Absolutely love it ... I did have one issue with the router last year and netgear replaced it... I installed a fan on it and never had a problem since.
I did purchase a 800 series orbi about 3 years ago and returned it, nothing but problems . This 973 orbi is the best..
Before this orbi 973 I had the Asus et12 that is also a great router but only wifi 6E not 7
Routers and wifi are very difficult today ....
I have lots (45 plus) of devices on the orbi 973, no problems at all....
Your diagnosis is right, the R6700v2 is too old and too small for a 2-story 2100 sq ft home. The dropping 5GHz, daily restarts, and inconsistent speeds are all classic signs of a dying router, not a Cox issue.
You want a **Wi-Fi 6 mesh system (2-pack)**. Three solid options:
- **TP-Link Deco XE75** (~$200–230) - best value, Wi-Fi 6E kills the 5GHz interference problem
- **Eero Pro 6E** (~$250–280) - easiest setup, very reliable if you just want it to work
- **Asus ZenWiFi Pro ET12** (~$350–400) - best for gaming, has QoS traffic prioritization for PS5
One thing to check: if you're using a Cox-provided gateway, put it in **bridge mode** after setting up the mesh or you'll get double-NAT issues that hurt gaming latency.
Hardwired is best. If you have extra phone lines or coax cable you can use that. If not you'll have to Go wireless. Ubiquiti is great. But, it's beyond most homeowners without really doing their homework. Therefore, I would recommend an Asus system. All of their stuff works. Just buy two, three, four of their routers in the AI mesh system will work perfectly.(Buy the exact same router for everywhere). You just need to make sure they are tri-band or quad-band routers (one band will be used exclusively for wireless backhaul). For example, et12, ET 8, et9, bt-10 are all recommended.
Check out Dong knows--his website is great.
Backhaul is how the routers talk to each other. It's best to do it wired. But, if you can't they will use one of the channels on the router that becomes a dedicated circuit (band) where they talk to each other. That's why you need at least three bands.
If you want Wi-Fi, 7 I would recommend the bt-10 or the expensive BE98 pro. If you just want Wi-Fi 6e, any of the routers I mentioned before would work.. et8, et9,xt9,xt12,et12.
Additionally, avoid the BQ 16 and the be96u, the firmware on the routers is buggy and has not been updated.
I have personally used the et8, xt9 and the be98 pro. They have all been fantastic.
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