NETGEAR - Orbi 850 Series Tri-band WiFi 6 Mesh System (RBK853)

I use a Netgear Orbi system and they work great. I have a lot of Nest products and they work flawlessly: https://amzn.to/3AGPCbO

I have an Orbi RBS850 system now that i have had for years and it has worked great. 1 router with 2 satellites. I need to expand the wifi coverage in our house as we added an addition. I looked on line and I can buy used satellites to add to my system as Orbi has stopped supporting the product. So I was just going to buy a new Orbi 970 system to upgrade as I am assuming that it is better performance than my current system. But I just saw this post. I went on line and looked at the Ubiquiti products. From what I can see their products are not tailored to the home user. I had no idea what I would need. This is what I am looking to do with replacing the current Orbi system. The internet comes into the house in the basement - so router would go in basement. I currently have 2 satellites throughout my house and would like to replace them to extend my wireless coverage. I do not have hardwired connections back to the router from these satellites- they work solely off wifi. So I need the new system to work this way as well. Does the Ubiquiti system work like this or do I need a hardwire run to the router? I also need to be able to run an ethernet cable from a satellite point to my PC as it is currently hardwired to the Orbi satellite and the PC does not have a wireless card in it. If I wanted to try the Ubiquiti system what would I need or should I just stick with Orbi as my old system has worked well so the new Orbi system should be an upgrade for me? Thank you!

My ORBI 50 series worked flawlessly, until lightning got it. Then I bought an 850 and it's been great also. Running three satellites with it. Connected to a Netgear CM-2000 modem.

Having also got a property without scope to wire the place, I've recently dipped my toe into the UI world with a UCG Fiber and a couple of USW Flex 2.5G switches, whilst retaining my existing Netgear Orbi (850) mesh, which has been pretty rock solid. Despite having wife approval for some wholesale network changes, I decided to stick with the existing kit in AP mode at this point as the UI mesh definitely seems lacking according to research here. The killer, as I understand it with UI Mesh, is the lack of dedicated wireless backhaul at this point which degrades the speed at each hop (there is an article on the UI support site explaining this better than I can. Also, quick search suggests that the Google mesh doesn't have dedicate backhaul either, which may explain issues you experience with it). This sub will overwhelmingly tell you wire it, that's the way UI kit works best and wireless mesh is a fallback - but, many of us simply can't wire it (my house is made of brick and very little drywall to be able to run cable). I guess it depends on what speed you get and how much you want/need from each AP, but, it's an expensive experiment to find out how things perform in your exact building. My Orbi is running really well in my setup, I appear to have the best of both worlds at this point (for me); the wireless backhaul that works and gives me peak of c750Mbps on my satellites and the excellent OS that the UCG Fibre gives, allowing me to have 5G failover for those occasional ISP outages and copious amounts of data and control to the nth degree of what is happening on my network which the Orbi simply doesn't provide. Mesh generally is about finding the optimum spot for your nodes to maximise performance. Not sure that necessarily answers the exam question, but, thought it might help.

What is the size of the home in Sq Feet? Do you have Wifi 7 or 6Ghz supporting devices? You could theoretically get up to 2.5Gb speed over wifi on the 850 series. But would need more 4x4 supporting devices.

Id keep with the 850 series. It's a solid system on v.21 FW and works well. If it's still working for your needs, hold off for now. BE WiFi is still maturing and seeing various wifi issues across different router Mfrs and device Mfrs, like Samsung and Apple with there latest wifi 7 devices.

Sounds like a user mis-configuration issue here. The 850 series is a solid system. If it's not deployed well or not configured well, then ya, Orbi or any other brand MESH will not work well. I had my 850 series online a short time ago. Zero issues: [https://community.netgear.com/discussions/en-home-orbi-ax/share-your-orbi-350-750-850-or-960-series-system-uptime/2339936/replies/2450694](https://community.netgear.com/discussions/en-home-orbi-ax/share-your-orbi-350-750-850-or-960-series-system-uptime/2339936/replies/2450694)

The rbr alone probably can’t handle you home. My 853 system handles my 5k sq ft home beautifully.

I have an orbi rbrr850 with two satellites that works fine

Same, had issues with Orbi for years. I had the 852 a d the RBR50 before that, but upgraded to the Dream Router 7. Instantly my speed went up 50%. Plus actually having 2.5gbps ports is amazing. I absolutely love the features on the app.

I bought an 853 and it sucked. Even bought a Netgear cable modem thinking it could improve the experience. Nope it was bad.

Most mesh systems take a few days to adjust and will move channels until it finds the best scenario. Netgear orbi’s do this as well as the eero systems. But once there fully optimized they should be set it and forget it and just work. Speed fluctuations are normal but I did find the eero did have less speed than my netgear with identical locations and settings. So I reset the eero from scratch and then the speed was where it needed to be. I believe it has something to do with firmware as I get the feeling the updates don’t always go well with some older firmware lingering after the upgrade. Reset seems to clear it out

Here’s the deal with the netgear systems the last update rolled out on all systems 7 8 and 9 series has a bug that spikes the cpu at 100 and causes clients to drop off and system to either reboot on not respond. I witnessed first hand with the 963b and the 853 at my vacation home. Only solution was to downgrade the firmware back to the previous release and then reset the whole system. Netgear is aware of this and still has not released a new firmware to fix it. Also after resetting the system you have to turn auto update off or you will be doing the same song and dance again. I know you returned your system so this is more for those who are still having issues.

You aren't being entirely coherent. I have had 0 issues with 3 different orbi systems. 852, 962, and 353 (beta tested this system). I have a whopping 2 apple items on my network and they have 0 issues. My point is in all my years it's apple products trying to use non-apple "things" that have issues. Not sure if it's because of the apple infrastructure not playing nice outside of "Apple" or it's Apple users not knowing how to use the more prevalent non-apple stuff. I'm thinking it's a combo.

RBR850 works fantastic. All satellites connected to cat6. 600Mbps on wifi from an iPhone.

Your title says this brand sucks. I’m pointing out that the brand does not suck. The Orbi model I have works flawlessly.

Sounds like OP already made the switch, but I can provide my specific experience for the benefit of others. I ran the RBK852 config for the past three years and it was absolutely rock stable. Never had any issues with it despite a house full of devices and multiple 4k streaming TVs. I was itching to try Wi-Fi 7 though as my Pixel 9 Pro comes with it. As luck would have it, I was gifted the Orbi 770 for Christmas. I ran benchmarking speed tests all over my house and yard with each setup. I'm on 1 gig fiber internet. To start, the 850 does have better max range. In most locations (short and medium distances) there's not much difference on the download speed, but at farther distances the 850 performed better. For example, on my outside patio I would get 40mbps with the 850 and 18 Mbps with the 770. Where the 770 really shines is in the consistency of both upload and download performance. With the 850 I would get something like 500mbps down and 300 Mbps up. With the 770 I get 480 down and 450 up. Imperceptibly less down performance, but way better up performance. I saw this pattern in every location around my house with the 770. I was nervous about the 770 using MLO for back haul instead of a dedicated channel like the 850, but the back haul works perfect. Satellite performance just has the same range limitations as the router, no fault of the back haul. I'm keeping the 770. I like knowing that my future devices will be on the newer 7 standard. For my house I don't need the absolute most amount of range. I just need solid performance within the walls and the 770 does that great.

Last year i replaced my Amplifi HD mesh system with an Orbi 850. The Orbi has been a huge improvement, but that's probably to be expected since the amplifi we as several years old.

both the asus zenwifi xt9 and the netgear orbi 850 series are excellent tri-band wifi 6 systems, but they each have their pros and cons depending on your specific needs. since you’re prioritizing ease of setup, great performance, and reliability in a 3500 sq. ft. 2-story brick house, here’s how they compare: the asus zenwifi xt9 is a strong contender for someone who isn’t super tech-savvy but still wants robust performance. it’s generally easier to set up, thanks to the asus app, and it includes lifetime access to asus’s ai-protection (built-in security and parental controls), which is a nice bonus without ongoing subscription fees. asus routers also tend to be more flexible with settings, which could be useful down the road if you want to tweak things or expand the system. its range and speed are excellent for a home of your size, especially with only one satellite. the netgear orbi 850 series is another great choice but leans toward a “set it and forget it” approach. it’s incredibly reliable and performs well in larger homes with its strong signal propagation through walls and floors. however, its app setup can sometimes feel clunky, and many features, like parental controls and advanced security options, are locked behind a subscription to netgear’s armor service. while its performance is slightly better at long distances, that $100 premium may not be worth it unless you really need the extra reach. for your situation—a brick house with 500mbps internet (possibly gigabit later)—the asus zenwifi xt9 is probably the better fit. it’s easier to use, has fewer hidden costs, and delivers more than enough speed and range for your current and future needs. the orbi is great, but it feels more at home in very large spaces or homes with heavier network demands. since cost isn’t a big concern for you, the zenwifi xt9 offers the best balance of performance, features, and simplicity without locking you into subscriptions. go with the xt9—it’s a win.

My wifi is broadcast with Orbi 850 + 2 850 satellites + 1 EX7700 extender. My understanding is Orbi is not a true mesh, with satellites sending signal through each other... rather each satellite backhauls just to the base station. My home was built in 1937, so wood and plaster. 2400 sq. feet across 3 floors, including a bump-out. I broadcast from the bottom floor (finished basement). I have 500Mbps fiber service that is closer to 600Mbps. There isn't a corner in my house with less than 400Mbps wifi. Basically my whole small yard (1/4 acre?) also has wifi from inside my house. Depending how well your "strategically placed" satellites receive signals today, an upgrade could be of benefit. If they lose a ton of signal trying to backhaul, you may want to explore a true mesh network and be even more strategic with placement.

... the rest of the story... My Orbi is set up as an access point. In front of it I have a 2.5Gbps switch and in front of that I have a Firewalla Router. My router has a FQ\_Codel Smart Queue, and so I throttle some items , like the PS5, to 450Mbps down/up, since that is the primary bandwidth hog, if downloading a game. In fact, I implemented this throttling due to ongoing cutouts of my service that seems tied to game downloads. Since implementing the Smart Queue I have had no more service drops. FYI, the Orbi 850 tech specs advise backhaul maxes at 2400Mbps.

I think as always the answer is it depends. I’ve had 2x Orbi 850’s for years and they were flaky. However the most recent update has made them rock solid and added an IOT network option. I don’t use Armour or parental controls though, just point the DNS at NextDNs.

this is a very interesting thread, as I have an RBS850 and have been noticing drops as I moved into a new home. we have 100+ devices, 4000 sq foot and the RBS850 with a mother and two child nodes. everything is wired via ethernet and gets pushed through my Aruba S2500 24 port POE switch. we moved into this new build in July, and ive had very strange network drops (my iPhone 16 pro can't consistently stay connected) and had to go through and restart the entire network and had to move the child nodes around to get consistent signal. ive been told about ubiquity stuff for a while, but always had the same opinion "doesn't seem like an easy thing to set up and manage", but looking at this thread it seems like that may not be the truth. thinking that I may get a few E7s and the UDR7 over the summer and see how it handles things - I love the speed of the orbit system, but hate the inconsistency of the connection. thanks for this!

My experience: The Orbi 850 has a better range, but the stability is much better with the Orbi 770, especially with iPhones not dropping anymore. Additionally, the design is sleeker, faster Ethernet ports (although less), you can use all WiFi channels (no channel is reserved for wireless backhaul although you might not use it), it got virtual patching, and WiFi 7, of course. I am happy with my change to Orbi 770.

Your current router struggles to keep up with all those devices and your house. For a 1 Gig Fios plan and multiple gadgets, you’ll want something strong and reliable that covers the basement and upstairs well. I’d recommend checking out mesh WiFi systems like the NETGEAR Orbi AX 6000 or the Syrotech WiFi 6 Mesh Router. Both are adept at handling lots of devices at once and spreading a solid signal throughout a big home. They’re easy to set up and keep your connection steady, even under heavy use. Definitely a big upgrade from older routers and perfect for gaming, streaming, and working without annoying dropouts. If you want something simpler but still powerful, the TP-Link Archer AXE75 is also a solid standalone router with strong coverage and fast speeds.

I had so many problems with my orbi setup. Both wired and wireless backhaul. System stability was about 3 days between reboots by the time I left it.

I’ll give you a fourth “possible” - Bug riddled firmware. This was the final straw for their dog shit firmware update for me. Keep in mind this wasn’t the first shit firmware they had put out. ***13th May 2022*** >[Orbi RBK85x and RBK75x Series Mesh WiFi 6 Systems](https://status.netgear.com/orbi?start_date=2022-05-15) >We are aware of an issue affecting the Orbi RBK85x and RBK75x Series Mesh WiFi 6 Systems. Some customers can no longer access or manage their Orbi systems through the Orbi app or the web user interface. A factory reset ***usually*** resolves this issue. ***We are working to understand the root cause and identify an alternative recovery method that doesn’t require a factory reset.*** They didn’t meaningfully figure it out. They left a lot of people in a fucked state for a long time.

I have an Orbi wifi6 with 2 satellites and while I don't think there serious issues with them, they aren't exactly stable or speed demons. My macs have trouble connecting to satellites at times and speed isn't always fast. I have better luck with the main 5ghz router in the basement sometimes than with the orbi mesh. So overall the system is just meh in my experience. I might return it to Costco and get a refund once I find something to replace it with.

I know YMMV but I've had the wifi 6 orbi mesh and just hoped to the 970 wifi 7 mesh. And both were seamless, flawless and worked great. My new system also has amazing coverage across my whole house

Orbi 6 currently Costco usually has great deals on newer mesh systems.

I hated the WiFi 6 Orbi system I bought. It was lacking so many fairly basic features, such as QoS, firmware updates breaking basic functionality, and a very lackluster app-focused experience.  I replaced it with an ASUS WiFi 7 system comprised of a RoG router with two Zen nodes and it’s been a lot more solid with far more configuration options than I’ve ever seen on a residential router.  Maybe the Orbi WiFi 7 line has solved their earlier issues, but I’ll never buy one again based on my prior experience. 

Can someone please recommend a wifi 7 mesh system that really works. I have netgear orbi wifi 6E. When it works it is fast but the connection drops sometimes out of the blue and it is unstable. I hate that. It was the same with Orbi Wifi 6 that I had previously. So I am reluctant to go for the Orbi WiFi 7 system, pay again premium price and get beta hardware and software.

I had a WiFi 6 Orbi set up. It worked for about a week and then the mesh point died. The problem was that it died silently. It said it was working but nothing would connect to it. Netgear support was marginal, but once they determined it was faulty, they wanted me to send it back on my dime and they'd send me a new one. Again, the unit was a week old. I returned it and went back to using (already old) Airport Extremes for another year. I had 3 around the house and they started needing to be rebooted regularly. Given their age I couldn't complain at all but I replaced them with Amplifi Aliens. Those have been rock solid. I'll never buy Netgear products again.

iPhone 16 pro max here. I have no problems other then sometimes I may have to disable wifi and then turn it back on, on my phone. I noticed the 15 pro max was getting 1600Mbps and my iPhone 16 pro max gets 1300Mbps. Both phones are 2x2 mimo Maybe your mesh is not good… I don’t know you didn’t really do anything other then complain…

2 networks plus guest network. Network 1- 2.4/5/6ghz Or 6ghz Network 2- 2.4ghz Or 5ghz Or 2.4/5ghz Guest network… 2.4/5ghz Or 6ghz network Or 2.4/5/6ghz

Oops my bad, 2 networks plus guest network. Network 1- 2.4/5/6ghz Or 6ghz Network 2- 2.4ghz Or 5ghz Or 2.4/5ghz Guest network… 2.4/5ghz Or 6ghz network Or 2.4/5/6ghz

Wild. I’ll tell you. My Orbi system has a dedicated wireless backhaul.

I've used orbi 5ghz 4 nodes in 7500sqf home for years and worked great. I was able to use MOCA since the house got coaxial wired to all rooms. I've downsized and recently bought Asus axe7800 3-pack at bestbuy. Just grab 2 sets and you got a router and 5 nodes to mess around with.

Not crazy. They bought back my Orbis when I gave up on NetGesr and switched.

I agree with your thoughts on UniFi, that’s what I have, works great, but significantly more complicated setup than others. However, I do not agree on NETGEAR/Orbi. Yes, they are easy to setup and fast, but NETGEAR is so slow and unresponsive to security vulnerabilities that I would never recommend them. I say this as a former Orbi user, had multiple issues with the router itself getting hacked even with strong passwords and most features disabled.

I have also had fantastic luck with Orbi systems over the years.

I had a bad experience with orbi also. Took it all back.

I've had an Orbi router for years, and while frustrating, it's worked okay. It finally crapped out on me and is stuck on, but without the ability to access its interface, so I'm looking into a new setup. The network diagram is mostly correct, but omits ioe stuff like garage doors, thermostats, lights, etc. I'm looking to purchase unifi's cloud gateway ultra, but could use some insight into access points, as I'm unfamiliar with the market and have been using Orbi's mesh satellites as quasi APs. I'd like 3 or so APs, but I have a rental house next door that I've been providing wifi as a free utility (my guest network) via Orbi's satellite. It's not wired, so am also looking for thoughts/recommendations on a device that I can put in their house that extends my network.

I have an e7 and another wifi7 AP that I don’t care to remember its name, and I went back to using my old orbi mesh system. It was nothing but headaches with the ubiquity WiFi. If I were you I’d try a decent Deco mesh system. Ive set a few of those up at clients and they are very nice and super long range. If it don’t work good you can always return it :)

Same here. Orbi was pain in the ass. Netgear told me to factory reset after every firmware update. It took over one hour every time…They write it in every forum thread. They never fixed their firmware. This was an awful experience. Never netgear again. And you cant configure anything that matters with orbi. For example the router and ALL Satellites are alwayw on the same wifi channels. You cant so anything about it.

Eero. I've historically had good luck with Eero. After Amazon bought them and it was time to upgrade, I switched over to Netgear Orbi. Awful mistake. It made me appreciate Eero that much more. I picked up the Eero Pro 7 on the Prime day sale, despite being an Amazon company now. So far so good. Performance has been great. I'm not a fan of TP-Link personally since they don't have the best security track record.

Orbi is rough to configure and keep running. Many complaints on this sub that everytime they push a firmware update connections break. I've had mine almost 2 years and have many times wanted to throw it out the window of a moving car.

I do this with Netgear Orbi. I have a router running in bridge mode and 2 satellites with a wired backhaul. Great coverage and works flawlessly. The key with the Orbi is running the backhaul on its own vlan. I use 5 port Netgear or TP-link Mansged switches. I get them on sale for 25.00.

It depends on what you want to do. I’m not familiar with the TP link systems you mentioned but I use an Orbi system with a primary and a couple of secondary AP’s. The secondary’s have a dual radio link to the primary and all full duplex (send and receive at the same time - unlike wifi) and have a mini switch built in to connect wired devices.  This gives our Apple TV’s and PC’s better performance. It also depends on your home construction. If possible you want to just have 5Ghz, so having multiple access points around the home is beneficial. The furthest room away from the primary is the “throne room” in the master bathroom. I get awesome signal and because of that, three units are not excessive for a 2,000ish sqft house ;)

+1 to this, I had Orbis and they never worked well. Both my Asus router and Unifi APs have worked far better

I switched from eero to Orbi back when Amazon bought eero. Nothing but odd behaviors and frustrations with my Orbi’s. Switched back to eero’s last year — rock solid. Both were/are configured in bridge mode. Eero’s just work.

I've had good experiences with Netgear Orbi and with TP-Link Deco mesh systems. I'm currently on a Deco BE22000 WiFi 7 3-Pack mesh and it works very well, some teething pains when it first came out that were fixed via firmware but that's about it. I get well over 1Gbps via on WiFi 6E and 7 devices. My past Mesh was an Orbi and that worked great for 5 years or so. Primarily consider the speed of your internet connection and try to look for a mesh that can make use of that bandwidth. Generally speaking a WiFi 6E mesh should do the job and considering your layout, a 3-unit mesh would be ideal specially if you can connect them via ethernet cable for backhaul.

My Orbi system works reasonably well except for IoT stuff. I've basically given up on that. We're moving soon and I plan to install a Ubiquiti set up. We have one in a vacation home and it is bulletproof. Everything just works.

I had nothing but problems with my Orbis. Dropped packets, dropped connections, and way too many reboots. I agree with OP, these are garbage. Went to Ubiquiti, never looked back.

Pls don’t get a Orbi mesh network anymore… they where great years ago but nowerdays… u can read my post that I have in this sub if u wanna.

https://www.synology.com/products/routers They not bundle like others but they support mesh. And yes Orbi mesh, my other neighbour using it, not bad, just no VLAN.

I picked up the BE1100 last time it was on sale at Costco. My old Netgear Orbi main router crapped out after 5 years. The main reason is the 2.5gbe ports. I run them with a wired backhaul. I live in a pretty congested wifi area about 5 strong signals not including mine. After optimizing the channels (unfortunately you can't manually pick) the speed with wired backhaul has been amazing. I have 2 wifi 7 devices that can max out my 1gb isp, though they aren't battery optimized so they drain the mobile battery like crazy. The signals are strong on all my 40 devices. Pro tip: any devices that's stationary and don't move, I would select them and turn off the mesh connection. This way it locks them to a single node. This prevents hunting wifi signals between nodes if they overlap too much (that single dropping and connecting) After doing that the network has been solid since I bought it.

I currently have an Orbi with 2 APs downstairs and 2 upstairs. Occassional dropouts but rare so its doable.

Have orbi before and so many problems with homekit but since changed to eero been working perfectly fine

Netgear orbi is fantastic, but it's not cheap

I used Netgear Orbi mesh Wi-Fi for 2 years and had issues only once. Now my setup is different and I’m hard wired via Ethernet to one of the satellites which, in turn, is hard wired to the modem. No issues as well.

MoCa is just Ethernet over coax. You can get gig speeds with them now. You're better off keeping Fios for your internet. Then find all the coax cables in your apartment and put them and only them together on a splitter. Then get however many MoCa adapters you need and connect them to the coax jacks in your rooms. Then connect whatever to the Ethernet. You can throw your wifi adapters on them and keep wifi. You can put a small switch at each one and use a wired connection for what you can and wifi for the rest. That said, does your mesh connection give you a status of everything? I have an Orbi setup and it tells me if my backhaul connection is good or not.

I gave up on orbi a year or so ago after running them for a couple of years. I switched to eero (despite resisting due to not liking that they're Amazon-owned) and they've been a dream. No issues, no interruptions, no speed degradation at all.

I bought 6 of TP-Link’s newest Deco WiFi 7 mesh access points, as well as 4 of their Deco outdoor units. I just tested them last night at my other house from my neighbor’s house to mine (their house is 200’ away and brick). I plugged one indoor Deco into their modem, then put one of the outdoor units 60’ away from their house, then another one 60’ further, then one on my back porch, and then one more indoor Deco in my house which is also brick. All of the APs had full signal strength and I got 657mbps speeds at these huge distances. Just the one Deco WiFi 7 I put inside my house was providing full signal strength throughout my entire house and even in my garage. I currently have a Netgear Orbi system that can’t even do that with 3 APs. I’m hoping when I go back to my other house tomorrow and install all of these new Deco units they will be strong enough to fully bathe the indoor and outdoor with WiFi signal. Supposedly 3 of them can do up to 10,000 square feet and I bought 6 of them, plus the four outdoor units. Everything seamlessly connected together and it scanned for interference on each channel and set them to the best for each band. If this works I’ll be happy. If not I will just ship them back to Amazon. They are expensive (~$350/unit) but if they work they’ll be worth it.

We use a Netgear Orbi base station and two satellites and it works pretty well. I was looking on eBay to pick up a third satellite to extend the signal out into the garage.

Wifi range extenders are the devil. They literally cut your speeds in half. Best thing to do is to get the Starlink Mesh units or a mesh wifi system such as the netgear Orbis.

my comment may have come off as overly critical, wasn't really meant to be. I was trying to say that as far as *hardware* goes, the Orbi is a good premium mesh system and it was overall a good choice on your part, but yeah, the software fucking blows and you need a dedicated and better gateway with actual features. I didn't mean a whole ubiquiti system from soup to nuts, I just meant getting one of their gateways to attach to your Orbi in AP mode. But I don't even have ubiquiti, I went with the first Firewalla gold years ago. Once I realized NG severely nerfed the software for power users (I'm a network admin by trade), I got a dedicated gateway. I thought about the dream machine for just the gateway portion to pair with the Orbi, but Firewalla had better parental control reviews than the dream machine at the time. it's been great and rock solid since 2020. Firewalla continuously update it with new advanced features too. I bought it for around $400 at the time and it's only got 1Gb ports but that's fine enough for me as my ISP doesn't even get past 850Mbps. Now they are up to 3 different versions of the Gold and the bottom one (gold SE model) is what they released to replace the original model. It now has 2x2.5Gb and 2x1Gb ports and goes for $479. Price went up but I Still think it's a value. The other two--"plus" and "pro" models are too expensive imo. As far as Orbi overall Ive had my issues with Netgear over the years (fuck Arlo), but my best performing wireless devices I've owned were my nighthawk and my Orbi. I've had Asus, Linksys, tp link etc etc. Around 2019 I wanted to go mesh and bought several different systems without breaking the bank and they all sucked in one way or another. The Google stuff wasn't fast enough, the newly released eero wifi 6 had weird stability issues, Asus wouldn't allow AP handoff properly, etc etc. As you mentioned, at the time, ubiquiti required the APs to be hardwired so I passed on it. Out of desperation I dropped a lot on a 4 station orbi triband and it just worked so well out of the box. I have a 3,000 sqft home so 4 strategically placed APs wirelessly connected to each other over the dedicated 5ghz third band works really well.

If WIFI, go Netgear Orbi. It's set and forget and just works, quite awesomely. If you can go wired, definitely run CAT 6 cabling, preferably "plenum", which is fire resistant. Good luck!

I had a 4 story with a central staircase, all concrete with infloor heating, so very thick floors. I ended up putting mesh units right by the stairwell on each floor to get full coverage and it worked decently. This was 8 years ago and were orbi units, you’ll probably get better results with newer mesh APs.

I had the same issue when I moved into my current home. I bought the Netgear Orbi mesh system with three satellites and it’s worked brilliantly for me

My experience with a very expensive orbi system a couple of years ago convinced me to never buy another netgear product. Switched to ubiqui and it was game changing

We have the same thing. The people we bought our house from said don't even dream of having WiFi here it's impossible. Well, we made the impossible, possible. We have internet coming in to our flagstone basement, and use a MESH system to have excellent WiFi throughout our house. We have an Orbi system it goes through all the layers and delivers full (5 bars) connection throughout our over 3500 sq ft 1730 home.

Unfortunately I had an orbi and I learned what all these terms meant while troubleshooting! Now I have a different mesh network and it just works and I didn’t have to learn anything or do any troubleshooting. Why should you spend so much on an Orbi and yet have to do so much extra work and then pay Netgear for the privilege of using customer support? Quit while you’re behind and move on to a better system.

I would have probably kept going with Orbi if I could call support, but you need to buy a subscription from netgear! Dodged the bullet

As others have mentioned, UniFi doesn’t support a dedicated wireless backhaul, but you might be willing to make that trade off (cut bandwidth in half when mesh hopping) like I recently did. I went from a Netgear Orbi system which had a dedicated wireless backhaul to a UniFi Dream Router + U6 Extender (no wireless backhaul). I traded the backhaul for much more control over my network (VLANs, multiple SSIDs, etc.). Even with half the bandwidth over a mesh hop, I still have plenty of bandwidth for my needs. Also, my house is 2,500 sq. ft. and the U6 Extender is borderline unnecessary. You might be fine with just the UDR if you place it in a central location. Hope that helps!

I've tried Orbi several times over the last few hardware generations and it had been the same shitty experience for me each time. It seemed there was always something up with it, and the parental control options were junk.

I'm faaaar from a network expert, but I have used both WIFI extenders (few different tp-link ones) and mesh. I can tell you, it's night and day difference for my setup, the mesh works so much better, both in coverage, speed, and ease of use. I have an Orbi setup I got from Costco on black friday a few years ago, it's a couple gen old now, but still works fantastic.

Orbi to the rescue.

Go Orbi won’t regret it

I had a similar experience but with Netgear Orbi. They gave me so many problems and their support was absolutely horrible. Once I switched to Eero I was delighted. My only wish is that Eero Plus should be cheaper, half price if that.

TP-Link Deco BE33000 user here - I can’t compare this to other WiFi 7 devices, but I will compare it to my previous mesh networks. I have found that Netgear Orbi seems to be easier to manage all around. If i didn’t get a steal for my Deco BE33000, I would get rid of it and buy the Orbi (still might do that). Hope that helps.

I’ve installed hundreds of netgear Orbi products zero issues some systems are covering 15,000 square feet.

Get a managed switch, turn on igmp snooping. If you have a lot of iot multicast devices like chromecast etc, it overwhelms and crashes these devices. 16pro max here with 4 orbi.

I agree, had my orbi for 4 years it is one of the worst routers I used. My neighbor that I helped with his orbi router is equally terrible.

I have been using a UDM Pro with RBK852 system in AP mode since 2020 and it works great. Orbi in AP mode works much better in my experience but you also have to make some changes with the security for older devices. You may also need to change the channels depending on how dense of a Wi-Fi environment you’re in.

This item worked reasonably well with occasional drop outs.It was at one point the best technology for me to get a fair signal through my 3 story house. But The ORBI mesh system I now use is 1000% better. Not cheap but it works brilliantly.

I had Netgear (with an external firewall and generic access points) before they acquired Orbi, then tried Orbi which did not have enough info/options. Then went to at least 4 different types of AX Asus units for the longest time (10+ years with plenty of options and info but started to become unstable), then recently switched to Gryphon AX due to the need for parental controls for kids. I am thinking of going to Unifi next in a year or 2, as I miss the options/info that Asus provided, and get more with Unifi.

TP Link Deco definitely requires an app and an account and although there is a web interface, it can't do much. Nice gear, but not acceptable under your policy. Netgear Orbi may have required me to install an app and get an account to get it setup (I didn't try to get around it.) But the web interface is full fat and I've never opened the app since installing.

I personally have a Orbi system in my house (using a wired backhaul) and it is terrible - would not recommend

tp link makes a good mesh system as long as you get a triband system.. you might want to look at an Orbi system they cost more but they work and are very reliable. Just disable the wifi on your att modem and hook up the system and get a couple of satellites for a house this large, and you will have speedy wifi in the whole house top to bottom...

just keep the Orbi as your mesh and use it in bridge mode. If you want to do everything through firewalla buy their AP7s

Orbis have wireless back haul too. And with the firewalla AP7s it's VqLAN, not Vlan.  Small difference.  I had orbis for a long time before my firewalla and then as my wifi with my firewalla. They aren't bad. 

I had a set of very expensive netgear Orbi which I put up with for a couple of years. They were horrendous and I vowed never again. I switched over to the Deco BE11000 units and LOVE them - they just work and they’re always stable and blazing fast. It is sad to hear that you’ve had trouble with your decos - that’s just not the experience I’ve had.

I LOVE my Deco mesh system. I have base + 5 satellites and they work flawlessly and are easy to configure. The Deco replaced a crappy and very expensive Netgear Orbi which was absolute crap for me - constantly buggy and dropping out. If the power went out, it wouldn’t come back on until after I manually unplugged. The wired backhaul would constantly drop too - so in the end, I threw them out!

Unifi stuff is not very difficult to set up. It’s pretty plug and play. If you WANT to get into the weeds , sure you can do that too. And it’s much easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. I used to have Orbi and the web interface is a joke.

Still rocking my very old Orbi. Works fantastic as a mesh system.

You could always put the orbi in AP mode and use a different router.

Look it up in your owners manual. It will explain it better than I can. I have run my Orbi system this way for YEARS and it is rock solid.

I got rid of my Orbi system and switched back to eero. Won’t make the mistake of buying Netgear again. I’ve always regretted.

you need to tell us what kind of - internet service/speed - number of users - number of devices - budget but in general r/orbi is what i set up many with not impressed with eero, but depends on model been using/recommending mesh for over a decade now

I just use an orbi router with two satellites. The router and satellites each have ether net ports. Spread the satellites to the floors the other two stories. There may be better mesh systems for your application, but this works for me.

I used to ride on orbi, always had problems. Moved to eero maybe 4 years ago now, and i havent had a single issues.. its been 100% rock solid perfect. I hope y’all do yourselves a favor and upgrade during Black Friday sales

There is many variables to your question and I don’t think there a simple answer. Hardwired device and APs will provide the best coverage but if you can do that then you are looking as some type of wireless backhaul. How well it performance will depend on your environment and use. If your house is an open floor plan with a few users surfing the web and watching a few videos it will most likely be fine. if you have multiple gamers and have thick walls(plaster and brick) they will most likely be unhappy with the performance and latency using WiF. I personally have 5 hardwired APs in my house which has plaster walls/ceilings, and multiple fireplaces(consider brick) and a few corners that have poor coverage. Deployed 2 Orbis with wireless backhaul in my brothers house that is an open floor plan and he have the best coverage ever. Best situtio is try make your house and see where the dead spots are. if you can move APs do that and retest. There are a few free scanners out there to help. Hamina is pretty detailed and has a light version that is free.

Personally, we got rid of our Orbi’s. Too much hassle after each update they got slower and slower.

I bought an Orbi when it came out to cover some dead spots in my house. All my streaming video stuttered. I wasted days troubleshooting this issue. I went back to my old router for a couple of years then I moved to a Netgear RAXe500 recently and finally was able to coverall the dead spots in my (3100sf) house and get the performance I was looking for.

If you want good enough, simple outta the box, then Orbi mesh is great. I have a 2 story 2350sf house. I have an Orbi with the master AP upstairs in the hall covering all the bedrooms rooms. Downstairs I have 2 Orbi Client APs on either end of the house covering all the downstairs, garage, and outside. The master Orbi router is in pass through mode. In the wiring closet where the 1gb WAN comes in I have a unify UCG Ultra Cloud Gateway Router. That has 4 ports. 1 port goes to the Orbi master router in the upstairs hall way to provide WiFi. 1 port goes to the living room where it’s plugged into the Apple TV 4K Ethernet to provide streaming TV to the main TV without hogging up Wifi bandwidth. 1 port goes to the master bedroom TV to provide streaming TV without WiFi. 1 port goes to my office where I gave a switch for the laser printer, computers, NAS, etc. It’s been dead simple to administer. I’ve never had any issues with coverage or bandwidth.