Review on NETGEAR RBK30-100NAS Orbi Whole Home Mesh WiFi System – Easy setup, Wireless Router Alternative, No WiFi Dead Zones, Compatible with by Todd Adams

The Netgear Orbi has already received many reviews, so pay attention to what reviewers often say. I'm fairly knowledgeable about electronics and have set up and changed my home network several times over the years. The technology involved is quite complex, but I think if companies could spend more time making the setup hassle-free, it would be much better for the end user. A few things to look out for when testing your internet speed and I suggest doing this. Before you install a Wi-Fi system, look around your home to see what improvements the new hardware will bring. Use a special application to test the speed of the Internet. In the end I received the SpeedSmart application. The speed tests you can use on websites aren't as accurate and consistent as they would be in a dedicated app. Also, the speed test that comes with the Orbi app is bullshit and will tell you that you have super-fast internet speeds wherever you use it. Orbi App Speed Test – FAKE NEWS! The Netbear Orbi works AMAZINGLY well almost anywhere. The initial setup was seamless, it set itself up for the most part, I installed a few things and BOOM! it was operational. I then checked everything and my master bedroom internet speed was half that of my old router. So I unplugged the satellite in the upstairs attic that was about 40 feet down the hall from the bedroom and brought it into the bedroom. This is where the problems with this system begin. The satellite did not connect automatically. I had to cycle the modem to allow the Orbi network to reconnect to the satellite. When it finally connected, the internet speed in the master bedroom was half what it used to be with satellite in the same room! I took the satellite back up to the attic and again had to fiddle with the damn setup and turn it off, close the app, restart everything and wait and wait for it to connect. Good news. My WiFi speed has increased. strong, almost doubling the speed almost everywhere! BUT, the speeds are inconsistent at best. Testing the system on initial setup I had the low speeds mentioned above in the master bedroom averaging around 40-50Mbps. When writing this review I retested the 4 locations below and the master bedroom had a maximum download speed of 259 MB. WTF? When I retested the kitchen, it initially gave me download speeds of 23Mbps, so I checked at the office and it was over 300Mbps (about 30ft from the kitchen with the main router). So I went back to the kitchen and checked for the third time and the download speed went up to over 300MB! What? So I'm really not sure what's wrong with this setting. But below are my results using the SpeedSmart app. Kitchen - old: 150 MB Download. New: 250-312 MB/sLoft - Old: 9.2 MB. New: 168-276MB Master - Old: 111MB. New: 87.8-259 MB Office - Old: 169 MB. New: 288-337 Mbit/s. As you can see the numbers vary quite a bit and I have no idea why.