Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Darren Neal photo
United Kingdom, Belfast
1 Level
726 Review
54 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ά Renewed NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Mesh WiFi System – 3 Pack Router RBK43-200NAR by Darren Neal

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Ignore the hype around the rating, this device sucks!

Initial setup was easy. It took several hours for our 27 wireless devices to register. After 12 hours, all wireless device connections were terminated. I restarted the router and satellite several times before the WiFi router worked again, but the satellite would not connect to the router even though the connection indicator was blue. After a few hours, the wireless devices connected to the router failed again. Restarting the router didn't help the wireless connections, so I did a RESET (factory reset) not once, but thrice to no avail. When the WIFI was working, the signal strength was only 2-10 megabits better, not the 25-100 megabits I was expecting. At that point, I decided to call Netgear Orbi support. To my surprise, both calls were answered in less than 2 minutes (judging by the accent, their tech support is based in India). I spent over 3 hours following the technician's suggestions and in the end I was told that the satellite was definitely defective and the router might be defective as well. Also, based on the serial numbers, he said the router was 3 years old and the satellite was 2 years old. He suggested I send everything back to Revain for a replacement. I referred to Netgear's 90-day warranty that came with the device and asked if Netgear could send me a replacement satellite. I was told that Netgear does NOT honor these guarantees and was referred back to Revain. I called Revain for a replacement unit and was told the unit had been sold by Revain to a third party (WOOT is owned by Revain) and they were unable to offer a replacement. They offered a full refund after the device was returned. I accepted a refund. FYI, Netgear charges $60 per year to protect the "Armor" router. They also have Disney parental controls but I don't know if they charge extra for that. No more Netgear for me, I go with 3 packs of Plume Superpods which include a 5 year warranty and a lifetime membership (cupid protection, father control and more).

Pros
  • Nice
Cons
  • Bad Set