Review on NETGEAR Orbi Tri-band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System RBK23 - 2.2Gbps Speed, Router & Extender, Covers up to 6,000 sq. ft. - 3 Pack (1 Router & 2 Satellites) by Noah Smith

I had high hopes for Orbi after all the reviews I read both here and on other sites, but it didn't succeeded. The first problem arose almost immediately when satellite #1 failed to pair. I gave up after 4 tries and went to the second satellite and it connected immediately. So I went back to satellite #1 and it finally connected after 3 tries. Remember that the satellites were within 2 feet of the Orbi router. I then ran the requested firmware update. It went perfectly and only took 3-4 minutes. I then moved the satellites to their distant positions and they connected very quickly via Wi-Fi. The Orbi app speed test showed me downloads at 119 Mbps everywhere in my house! I connected Cat6 ethernet to the satellite positions, so I connected the satellites and got problems. I immediately lost contact with both satellites. By power cycling and reconnecting the ethernet cables multiple times, I finally got them to reappear. The problem here was with the Orbi app: every time you do something, it can take more than 5 minutes for the app to register the change. So all this fuss lasted almost 3 hours! Also, I could never get the app to show a wired connection, only Wi-Fi. Even if you move the satellite back to the router and connect it with a 2ft patch cord, it doesn't show a wired connection. The throughput of 119 Mbit/s displayed by the Orbi app was also problematic. I was able to stay where the app showed great connection but the speedtest app and fast.com only showed 20-25Mbps. Big difference! The best I could get from each satellite was 35Mbps. I got over 110Mbps with my old AC enabled routers in bridged mode and wasn't happy with just 25Mbps. Verdict: 1) The Orbi app is terrible. Allow a few hours for a simple installation. 2) the speed test with the Orbi app is implausible 3) I could never establish a wired connection between the router and any satellites even after a firmware update 4) the throughput of the satellites was poor. I was using an existing, well-established network, so that wasn't the problem. I took my first computer programming course in 1969 and used to own a networking company, so I don't feel guilty. Needless to say, the Orbi RBK23 returns to Revain.