NETGEAR

Orbi RBR50 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router

NETGEAR Orbi RBR50 AC3000 Tri-Band WiFi Router

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Overall

#161 in

WiFi Routers

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score57% positive
12
2
7

Top Pros

Top Cons

Last updated: Jun 26, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconAmazing-External9546
5 months ago

I love my Orbi system and my sister was able to install one with absolutely minimum technical skills. The idiot lights that are included with some models make finding a workable location for satellite(s) and the app is great for diagnostics.... Very user friendly.

5 months ago

I understand that you may have had a bad experience. But you might want to do a bit of research. Yes, my older system no longer does firmware upgrades and I'd have to check with netgear to see if getting an additional satellite works with my older ones. But, I just looked and I can still find compatible satellites and even one rated for outdoor use. Neither of those are big concerns as I can get wifi 50 meters into my back yard....yes, slower at that range but it works for my cell phone for WiFi calling. But the biggest item is my RBR50 and it's two satellites still work and while I'm only using 300 gbps internet, I still get 270 gbps on wifi throughout my house and it's 9 years old.

5 months ago

You are mixing apples and oranges. Is the Orbi system perfect, hell no. Does equipment need to be updated periodically, hell yes. Can I give an IT challenged family member most mesh systems and have it work from a starlink satellite dish at home in a large house and days later run the same system 400 miles to the east in the woods.. probably not. Again, while it's not a great idea to run 9 year old mesh routers, give me another system with similar longevity and zero failures except for power outages and ISP failures. How in the hell do you use a router to manage switches? I used to regularly do that and just connected directly to the switch. Also, 3-6 satellites for a home?? I have 2 and do well with a 2,000 square foot home. My sister's similar system functions well in a home twice as big with 3 levels. Oh...the system the original poster mentioned, orbi 370 BE5000 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System with one satellite lists right now at $250. That's a bit off your $1,000 quote. Also, I have absolutely no problem with the Obi app and in my home it connects close to perfectly with 7 computers/tablets and a couple dozen IOT devices. They all show up in the app. I did have to do a bit of detective work with my IOT Dyson fan but that was because Dyson broadcasts a combo of letters and numbers without any connection to a fan or the Dyson company. But it showed up and I can use my Amazon Alexa apps to control/communicate with it, my TV, my satellite dish, my kindle tablets, iPad, iPhone, dish network video/stereo receiver, etc., etc. etc. The system also works well when my daughter's family shows up and add another half dozen devices. And probably most important for the vast majority of users, it works with minimal IT skills. BTW, I ran an entire school districts computer system for over a dozen years until I retired. I built the system from a few dial up computers to a system that provided one on one fully networked computers for every student and multiple labs in every school. Would I recommend an Orbi system for those schools?, hell no. But the larger of those schools at times will have 300-400 computers operating on Wifi at any given moment. (Those schools are currently using Ubiquiti Unifi systems with VLANs connected with Cisco Switches and routers.)

5 months ago

Apologist with Stockholm syndrome huh? You did make me laugh with that concept. I'll assume you wanted to hit me with some big words. I am now fully bloodied but unbowed. Again.....9 years of bullet proof service for my Orbi system and 6 years watching my sister with hers. I will let you think you somehow won the discussion. But I think you fail one of the primary rules: Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

5 months ago

Chuckle! Love it when some with the title "whooooocaaaarrees" appears to have his/her panties in a twist. And why? Could it be he/she is working for another company? (noting the "brand affiliate" label)

7 months ago

If you are going to depend on WIFI mesh is a great choice. Main with one remote with 1700 ft is probably great but one with two even better. You don't necessarily need all the newest wifi whistles and bells but the user interface on the newer mesh systems is a huge help. My orbi system has all kinds of things like idiot lights that while I don't need them still are nice.

Reddit IconChrisHanSolo
5 months ago

This is my response from a different thread but this applies: A sample size of one but I wanted to give you my perspective. I used to have RBR50 with 1 satellite with wireless back haul. I get 1.2GBPS at from my ISP. I used to get really good speeds (5-600) everywhere, but about 2 months ago it started getting worse and eventually died. I’ve had these for 5-6 years so I got my money worth. I bought Deco BE11000 and had it for a week. I hated it, it was unstable and the internet speeds were all over the place. Compared to my Orbi, I got higher speeds (800 deco vs 500/600 Orbi) when I was close to the router, but worse speeds (80/90 deco vs 200 Orbi) when I was far away from the router. Some of my smart devices didn’t even connect at all. My work computer kept on dropping connection constantly even at 15 feet! Then tried the 770. The firmware was a mess. Constant dropping connections with several drops. My TV which is about 20ft away kept on losing WiFi and it drove me crazy. Specially at the price of 770. I finally went back to RBK752P and it’s been a dream. I get 800+ pretty much everywhere in the house and connection has been rock solid. Take that for what at worth!

Reddit Iconcorradokid1
about 1 month ago

This. I’ve been running Voxel’s firmware for over 5yrs now and it’s fixed all glitches and issues I had. Since then I’ve been only installing the Voxel updates that happen roughly quarterly. If you’re keeping RBR50 setup, definitely move to this.

about 1 month ago

Yes, the Orbi app still works as expected showing connected devices and how devices are connected. It occasionally tells me there’s a firmware update available but never install as it would revert to the Orbi software I assume. Voxel keeps all the packages installed updated vs the Orbi older software.

Reddit Iconcupra300
about 1 month ago

This is the way, I degraded mine to WiFi Mesh Access only and that's what they do good. Having a separate good router is better anyways

Reddit Iconget-idle
10 months ago

I can send you my Orbi wifi router.  I lost its mesh network buddy somehow in the house move.  So had to buy a new one.  It's great, no complaints. Probably 4 years old?   Netgear Orbit RBR50v2 DM me your address if interested.  

Reddit Iconlbpz
about 1 month ago

I second this. I’ve been running Voxel’s firmware on my RBR50 and two satellites for over a year. It’s been great.

about 1 month ago

Night and day difference for me. The system is MUCH more stable with Voxel’s firmware.

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