NETGEAROrbi Whole Home Mesh WiFi System with Tri-band (RBK40) – Discontinued by Manufacturer

I have a janky house with thick walls and lots of odd halls and turns. This layout created several dead-spots with previous wifi setups. It doesn't help that there is only one place that my internet provider was willing to install network access.So, I tried multiple routers that promised quick functions that allowed them to bridge them together, but they always came up short (the most recent being a couple of Nighthawks). They would work for a little while but then would start screwing up the handshake and would need to be rebooted. I also tried throwing in some simple access points into the mix but they would always either be slow or declare themselves out of range despite not being moved. I decided to go with a mesh system because it seemed like it would fix all the issues I was having.I chose the Netgear system because of its reviews, and the fact that I have always liked Netgear products. (It didn’t hurt that I was getting a refurb for $70 less than retail). I also wanted to be able to use wi-fi when I was in my hammock in the back yard. And, even if the system I was purchasing wasn’t strong enough to reach back there I could eventually get the outdoor Orbi and it for sure would.I am happy with the choice I made because It does indeed fix all those Wi-Fi dead-spots in my home. My wife doesn’t complain that her office has no signal. And, the range is good enough that I can pick it up in the backyard in my hammock.Pros,-Range and power to go through walls.-Number of ports on each unit (I actually like to be able to plug stuff in when I can so the fact that each unit is basically a 4 port full size router is great)-Easy setup, I actually prefer the browser based setup page, it looks like exactly the same as it is on every other Netgear. But, there is also an app which has been helpful when I wanted to make a quick adjustment to something (like setting up a quick guest network)However, there are some things I don’t care for which I will share now.1 – The units are huge. One is in my utility room so I don’t see it. The other is wall mounted (special bracket I bought and like) behind my TV (I have my TV on a drop down mount which affords a little bit of space). But they aren’t like the cute little hockey pucks from google that can be hidden behind a plant or something. They are basically the size of a flower vase, bright white, and on occasion glow so they are in no way shape or form subtle.2- Speaking of the glow, it is a great way to see connection status on the units. However, it turns itself off after a while and there doesn’t seem to be a way to manually turn it on briefly for a quick check. At least, I haven’t found one.3- The units are oddly shaped. This might seem minor, but to me but goes back to how they get placed in my home. If they were a traditional rectangle the could probably be easily hung on the wall or just kindof - put back there – you know, behind stuff. But, Netgear had to make them “pretty”, which meant I needed to buy a special bracket (one made by a third party because Netgear doesn’t sell one) to wall mount it and get it off my mantel near my TV.3- I do not know if this is exclusive to Netgear or it is all mesh systems… but the option to specify which unit something connects to is very much needed. I have two devices in my entertainment center that always get connected to the “main” unit rather than the remote unit – which lives 5 feet away from the devices. No matter how crappy the signal is or how spotty the connectivity both my Roku stick and my Harmony hub will get routed to the main unit. I can reboot either of them and they will lock on to the remote station, but only stay connected to it for a day or two before being reconnected to the main. Which, is 4 rooms away - through 3 drywall (one tiled) walls and one cider block one. It is the dumbest thing ever and Netgear needs to add something in their software giving devices a “ranking system” or something to avoid this. (I am not the only one with this issue google it and you will find others). However, every other piece of hardware works seamlessly as it moves around the house. Laptops, iPads iPhones even my android tablet which can get finicky about wi-fi knows what do when it is suddenly somewhere else in the house.

I wish I could post this with 0 stars. I purchased the Netgear Orbi (RBK40) on January 6, 2019. It ran flawless for 8 months. Not a single problem. Suddenly, I began to experience sporadic drops. This could happen several times a day. Some days it didn't happen at all. When it happens, I noticed that the devices still had a strong connection to the router and/or satellite. However, when you open the Orbi app, the status is “Internet: Offline”. Initially, because the Orbi was only 8 months old, I blamed my ISP (TDS). However, after working with TDS for 3 weeks, I determined it was not the modem or internet connection from TDS. They put a modem watch on my system for 2 weeks and not a single drop occurred. I immediately began to troubleshoot the Orbi. I started to research the issue online and began to realize that I definitely was not alone. As a matter of fact, this was happening to many other customers and not a single resolution was found during my search. I’m a pretty technical guy, so all the suggestions I found were easy for me to make and nothing resolved the issue. At this time, the only fix was to reboot the Orbi (and we all know what a pain this is and how it takes at least 5 minutes to be back up and running). I later discovered a quicker method was to unplugged the ethernet cable from the router and then plug it back in. However, this was unacceptable to me especially when it would occur a few times a day. Even worse, when I’m working from home, it was unreliable and frustrating. It also could have caused major issues at work and there was a time when I was in the middle of performing a system upgrade and lost the connection. It appeared to get worse and worse over time and more and more manual resets had to happen. We now live in an era where we highly depend on the internet. My home is full of devices that depend on internet connectivity. Throughout the day, I would get notifications about something being offline. This also became a concern for me when my alarm system cameras would not function at times because of this intermittent issue. So, I recently created a case with Netgear in hopes to find someone that would be able to fix this issue. Before I created the case, I went online and looked at my support options. I was pleased to see that I have all the green check marks for support until January 6, 2020. I have a screen shot to prove this. I make the call and begin the troubleshooting case. The first person I informed me that I did not have support any longer and asked if I was aware that there will be a fee. I told her I was not aware of this and then I went back to the page where I had all the green check marks for support and suddenly they all had red X’s and the expiration date was a 2017 date. I told her that was not the case before I made this call. She then said I purchased this in 2017 and beyond the support dates. I told her no it wasn’t purchased in 2017 and I have proof that I purchased it from Amazon this year. I then asked what she did because now all of a sudden, the support has red X’s. She informed me that she did do something to cause that and will revert it. This was a red flag immediately for me and that I would be given the “runaround game”. I was asked to submit my proof of purchase. I submitted this immediately after the call ended. A few days go by and another tech picked up the case. He sent me a few KB articles to try. Of course, as I already knew, nothing worked. He then told me that the proof of purchase was needed to start an RMA claim. I informed him that I had already submitted it, but he suggested I do it again. So, I sent another email and then also updated the portal with the attachment. He still could not see it. So, he said to give it 48 hours and once it was received, I should be able to get a new unit shipped out to me. I waited 48 hours and finally received an email stating that the proof of purchase was received. Then, shortly after, I received the email that completely broke me. Sorry, but your Orbi was purchased from an unauthorized dealer on Amazon. I immediately became disappointed and sent a follow up. I asked what difference does it make where the product was purchased from? It’s still your product as you pulled up the S/N and could identify the model when I first opened up the case. I said this is wrong that you are doing this to your customers. You made a product and should stand by it. To this day, I have not received a response back. As I became more and more angry, I began to research this issue even further and began to realize if you google “orbie issues” you will come across lots of people with this exact issue and Netgear did nothing to offer any support. They already have our money is basically what everyone is saying. This is horrible to hear from a company that I’ve purchased many products from. I’ve been a long-time supporter of Netgear and have recommended many products to coworkers, family, and friends. I know things happen and some products have manufacturer defect, but knowing the Netgear is aware of this and doing nothing for their customers, I will NEVER buy another Netgear product again, nor will I recommend it to anyone. Lastly, it’s said to say, I contacted Amazon in one last hope to recoup any of my loss. I was not expecting anything at all from them as I do not think any fault was of theirs. However, I was offered 80% of my money back if I shipped it back! This made my day as I was just in a total loss of $237 five minutes before I made the desperation call. One phone call and an immediate resolution. Now this is exceptional Customer Support from Amazon and it wasn’t even their product! Shame on you, Netgear. I think you’ve lost many customers over this horrible experience you are giving to your customers. Needless to say, even though I am still at a loss, I purchased a new router from a different company of course, and awaiting it’s arrival so that I can ship this now paper weight back to recoup some of my money.

Elegi este producto por recomendación de un amigo y en verdad fue una gran elección.Antes de tener estos satelites tenia el airport express de apple, una base y repetidor, sin embargo a pesar de tener contratado el internet de 200 megas ya a mi estudio solo llegaban alrededor de 20.Ahora con este me llegan aproximadamente 170 - 180 megas a mi estudio que esta en un segundo piso y en la planta baja alrededor de 190 megas.Increible que ahora todos los videos de youtube se ponen en 1080p todo el tiempo.

Después de mucho investigar esta solución de Mesh Wifi parecía lo que realmente necesitaba. Pero fue imposible poder utilizarla desde el inicio. Al arrancar el sistema todo parecía funcionar según lo esperado pero en cuestión de minutos empezó la pesadilla. La conexión a internet se empezó a detener en todos los aparatos y la red simplemente se caía en todos los nodos. después de varios reinicios y revisiones tuve que llamar a soporte técnico. la verdad fue bastante paciente su ayuda pero al final sin resultados. Al parecer (según estuve leyendo) es algo común la desconexión de internet en estos modelos por lo que hay que hacer un upgrade de firmware. El cual no puede ser hecho de manera automática ¿?. Empezamos con las actualizaciones manuales, a bajar versiones de internet y tener que ir con saltos escalonados. Al final fue imposible actualizar el satélite y las desconexiones eran mas frecuentes (cada 5 minutos). Recomendación final por parte de soporte técnico de NetGear "Devuelva el producto o busque un cambio físico por que al parecer se corrompió el firmware y no hay nada que hacer, adicional a que posiblemente haya un daño en al hardware que ocasiona esto. Para esta conclusión pasé mas de 10 horas con la gente de soporte tuve que utilizar 2 computadoras conectadas directamente a los aparatos y varios cables ethernet para hacer todo lo solicitado. Tengo experiencia en tecnología pero en realidad siento que hay fallas en el software de fondo en la operación de los equipos. una lastima. voy a probar quizá los eero.