Netgear Orbi 3-Pack AX1800 Dual Band Mesh Wifi 6 System

Bought this system as an upgrade from my netgear nighthawk router and linksys wifi extender. Have a 100 year villa at 180m2 that has the ONT box at one end of the house. Constantly plagued with poor coverage and dropouts. The Orbi system took about 15 minutes to setup including the 2 satellites. App was simple to use and gives me all the info I need. I especially like the fact that if you move a satellite ( ie unplug it ) it will pick up the network automatically when powered back on. So far the mesh network is working well with no complaints from the 3 young adults in the house. For the price that I paid ( ex demo ) I am very happy. Seamless wifi throughout the whole house. If I had more money to spend I would have gone for a tri band system , that said this is a ... MoreBought this system as an upgrade from my netgear nighthawk router and linksys wifi extender. Have a 100 year villa at 180m2 that has the ONT box at one end of the house. Constantly plagued with poor coverage and dropouts. The Orbi system took about 15 minutes to setup including the 2 satellites. App was simple to use and gives me all the info I need. I especially like the fact that if you move a satellite ( ie unplug it ) it will pick up the network automatically when powered back on. So far the mesh network is working well with no complaints from the 3 young adults in the house. For the price that I paid ( ex demo ) I am very happy. Seamless wifi throughout the whole house. If I had more money to spend I would have gone for a tri band system , that said this is a good compromise. Router and satellites are unobtrusive. Just had to put tape over the power LED on the one in the bedroom as this cannot be turned off.

Purchased this NETGEAR Orbi RBK353 AX1800 Dual-band WiFi 6 Mesh System- 3 pack to upgrade my standard 2degrees router.However after configuration and swap over found that that wired connections to my Sony TV and music stations could not see the internet (although they were correctly allocated with IP addresses by the router). After changing to WiFi the TV’s worked but this is not an option on my Music stations.Tried to contact Netgear support but couldn’t get through as my product could not be registered due to the serial number already registered to someone else…. go figure.In the end my wife was getting frustrated with the loss of functionality so had to change back to use the 2degrees router (with WiFi switched off) and the Orbi Mesh system switched to Access ... MorePurchased this NETGEAR Orbi RBK353 AX1800 Dual-band WiFi 6 Mesh System- 3 pack to upgrade my standard 2degrees router.However after configuration and swap over found that that wired connections to my Sony TV and music stations could not see the internet (although they were correctly allocated with IP addresses by the router). After changing to WiFi the TV’s worked but this is not an option on my Music stations.Tried to contact Netgear support but couldn’t get through as my product could not be registered due to the serial number already registered to someone else…. go figure.In the end my wife was getting frustrated with the loss of functionality so had to change back to use the 2degrees router (with WiFi switched off) and the Orbi Mesh system switched to Access Point mode. Not a very elegant solution….. but better than divorce… and at least WiFi coverage was much improved.After all this I read an earlier review by Dav3S8 (July 2021) highlighting this issue….. yes I should have read it before purchase… this reviewer is obviously much more technically proficient than I am but even after all his efforts to fix this problem, at time of writing was not able to get the system to work as intended. So don’t fancy my chances… best to head back to PB Tech and maybe part with more money to get a system that works.

I have purchased three RBK353s systems for three different clients of mine. Each of them are with Spark UFB, and in each case computers or TVs connected to the Orbi router unit via ethernet cable would not get online. Webpages would load with errors like "This site can't be reached" or "An error occurred during a connection to www.google.co.nz". I have not had the issue with the older Orbi units like the RBK50 and RBK23, just the RBK353.I had updated the firmware on router and satellite units in all cases to the latest, and have tried factory resets. I also tried changing the DNS settings from Spark's default 122.56.237.1 and 210.55.111.1 to Google's 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. respectively, which seemed to work for a moment but then back to pages not loading.I also ... MoreI have purchased three RBK353s systems for three different clients of mine. Each of them are with Spark UFB, and in each case computers or TVs connected to the Orbi router unit via ethernet cable would not get online. Webpages would load with errors like "This site can't be reached" or "An error occurred during a connection to www.google.co.nz". I have not had the issue with the older Orbi units like the RBK50 and RBK23, just the RBK353.I had updated the firmware on router and satellite units in all cases to the latest, and have tried factory resets. I also tried changing the DNS settings from Spark's default 122.56.237.1 and 210.55.111.1 to Google's 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. respectively, which seemed to work for a moment but then back to pages not loading.I also checked that the MTU size was 1492, a suggestion from a previous Netgear Support tech during my second installation, but it was set correctly.Devices connected to the satellite units via ethernet are fine and get good speeds, as does WiFi. So as far as I can tell, it's something to do with the LAN ports on the router unit not passing on the correct DNS settings. Those devices connected via ethernet to the router unit correctly get an IP address and see the gateway correctly, which reinforces to me that it is something to do with DNS.Apparently I'm the only person having this issue, but 3x different RBK353s for three different clients (all with Spark UFB) suggests that I can't be the only one.I have worked through the issue with Netgear Support for a couple of hours tonight but we got nowhere unfortunately, before they ended the chat session abruptly and said that their engineers would continue to help.My first 2x clients were happy connecting via WiFi only, but my 3rd client in this case needs the ability to connect devices to the router unit via ethernet, and also have the option of ethernet backhaul for the satellites if range at their house dictates.Hopefully someone at PB Tech can help or I'll need to return the unit.

I've been struggling with patchy WiFi for a long time and a general lack of control of my network devices for ages. I finally bit the bullet and picked up a Netgear Orbi system and it has been fantastic. Easy to setup with plenty of manual control if needed. Incredible WiFi signal and speeds inside and outside home. Apart from the great WiFi I have been really impressed with how easy it is to manage the whole system from the app. You're able to control devices, see what is connecting to the network and manage the Netgear Armor (subscription required) security software all in one place.I was a network and security engineer for many years and this level of functionality used to be unheard of. I have a complicated network setup and it has been so easy to troubleshoot ... MoreI've been struggling with patchy WiFi for a long time and a general lack of control of my network devices for ages. I finally bit the bullet and picked up a Netgear Orbi system and it has been fantastic. Easy to setup with plenty of manual control if needed. Incredible WiFi signal and speeds inside and outside home. Apart from the great WiFi I have been really impressed with how easy it is to manage the whole system from the app. You're able to control devices, see what is connecting to the network and manage the Netgear Armor (subscription required) security software all in one place.I was a network and security engineer for many years and this level of functionality used to be unheard of. I have a complicated network setup and it has been so easy to troubleshoot and manage some of the obscure things I do using the Orbi app. I even know when the kids are trying to hack into things they shouldn't be with realtime alerts. The only thing that I've found lacking so far is the lack of parental controls to control what web content the kids get into but that's easily sorted with other solutions.Probably not the cheapest setup, but it is a fully featured WiFi6 system with plenty of bells and whistles. Very impressed

So I purchased an Orbi 353 for a 100sqm home. Figured this would be an upgrade of my old Google wifi, and would support our new and improved (hopefully) service provider (Spark).I was sorely disappointed. From the off, this thing just didn't work. I followed the fairly detailed instructions in the app, which took way too long to move between one screen and the next. It looked like it was setting things up until it came time to connect any devices, at which point fail. The internet/ethernet ports at the back didn't work, so wired connection to my laptop didn't work for using the web interface to try set up. After perhaps 3 attempts using the Orbi App and just the netgear app, I rang (on the advice of Spark staff) the Netgear support line. If that is a typical ... MoreSo I purchased an Orbi 353 for a 100sqm home. Figured this would be an upgrade of my old Google wifi, and would support our new and improved (hopefully) service provider (Spark).I was sorely disappointed. From the off, this thing just didn't work. I followed the fairly detailed instructions in the app, which took way too long to move between one screen and the next. It looked like it was setting things up until it came time to connect any devices, at which point fail. The internet/ethernet ports at the back didn't work, so wired connection to my laptop didn't work for using the web interface to try set up. After perhaps 3 attempts using the Orbi App and just the netgear app, I rang (on the advice of Spark staff) the Netgear support line. If that is a typical experience of the way Netgear 'supports' customers, I'm amazed anyone buys their products. We went through a manual process twice, eventually getting it to look like it would work, but as soon as I tried to set the SSID/Password, it lost connection, couldn't find itself in its own app, couldn't connect to the internet, couldn't find it's satellite. Of course all this happened after the Netgear person had put down the phone, so far as she was concerned evidently the green light meant it worked, although it wasn't actually configured to my needs.So I returned this thing to the local Spark store today, and was told I had to have an email from Netgear saying it was faulty or they wouldn't take it back. Upon calling Netgear and speaking to a different person I was told they have never been asked to do this ever, and that this representative (who is in America) cannot do that as he doesn't have authority and his supervisor is not available as it was 2am (helpful). He said he would need me to take the device home and go through the diagnostic process again. Evidently it was a surprise to him when I suggested perhaps they had a record of yesterdays conversations and experience and could go from that and the recording of the call, in which the Netgear rep said it was probably faulty and I should return it to Spark.So, here is some advice if you are considering buying one of these. Good luck. It may be fine and you may have no problems at all, but be prepared for stress and raised bloody pressure as you navigate your way through the app, the web interface, the devices themselves and the questionable customer support. If you are considering buying from Spark, remember, if you end up with a rep who tells you to return it because its faulty, get them to email you that fact on the call when you make it - because spark are decidedly difficult about this and were initially very much in the 'we cannot take it back without this email' mindset.Thankfully, it seems a bit of moaning, looking like you're about to have a stroke, and having a quality customer service rep at spark advocating with the retail assistant behind the scenes helps. Its about 7 hours of my life I'll never get back, and I am so glad that Spark finally agreed to take it back even in the absence of a certified email from Netgear telling me their product is pants.I strongly suggest you look elsewhere, and do a lot of research. There is plenty of testimony out there about these things, though little about the support process and retail experience with spark... these are also factors to consider before you think of splashing the cash on these devices.

Fantastic System

I had originally asked my internet provider to increased our bandwidth, but they did some tests and recommended a new router instead. The old set up was a router with an extension. I looked at the mesh wifi 6 options and Orbi had received great reviews. I took the plunge and purchased the Orbi AX1800. It came with 1 satellite unit to increase the signal penetration across the house. After installing the products I was really impressed with the signal strength and speed of the new system. Why had I waited so long to upgrade my system. It's amazing!

Not bad for the price!

Don't be fooled by the low price this mini system can handle the average large home with ethernet backhaul and WIFI6 it's a big upgrade to repeaters of old. Three devices works so much better than two even for the larger more expensive models, this router and 2 satellites means you are not overspending or overpowering like the more expensive models. If you are looking for mesh wifi this is a great option to save $$ on the bigger models. Plenty enough for streaming and capable of running two NBN100 with bandwidth to spare. There are cheaper brands but all other things considered Netgear is definitely one of the best.

Recommended—the reliability's meant peace of mind

Straightforward set up via the written instructions and/or the Netgear Orbi app and within minutes you'll have a WiFi mesh. We have a string of security cameras round some edges of an 1800 sqm property that now stay reliably connected almost all the time. There is an occasional camera that goes into 'Connecting' mode but will quickly reconnect. This is a massive improvement on our previous WiFi extender, with which the camera connections were almost always in need of manual intervention. We use the cameras mainly to keep an eye out for foxes to look after our chooks so the investment has been as much in ensuring peace of mind as it has been financial. Recommended.

The Mesh Switching is a Problem

I have had this mesh network up and running for a while and if you are just sitting in one room its fine. Once you start moving around and it "tries" to switch to and from the satellite the connection is not fluid. Apps on the phone stall and crash and the system struggles to decide which mesh device to connect to. Also the security is a bit iffy, I have block on all new devices but if you need to reboot the router, which you often do, the satellite will fail to reconnect or will do some sort of Band-Aid connect which is glitchy. If your house isn't huge I would recommend a strong signal stand alone wifi router and avoid all the issues with these mesh systems, unless you are just sitting in the one place all the time. I should have paid more attention to the ... MoreI have had this mesh network up and running for a while and if you are just sitting in one room its fine. Once you start moving around and it "tries" to switch to and from the satellite the connection is not fluid. Apps on the phone stall and crash and the system struggles to decide which mesh device to connect to. Also the security is a bit iffy, I have block on all new devices but if you need to reboot the router, which you often do, the satellite will fail to reconnect or will do some sort of Band-Aid connect which is glitchy. If your house isn't huge I would recommend a strong signal stand alone wifi router and avoid all the issues with these mesh systems, unless you are just sitting in the one place all the time. I should have paid more attention to the youtuber warning about this issue.

Woweee, value for money is 10/10

I can confirm this system works great. I've seen others have had problems with speed and reliability, but I haven't experienced any. There was one small hiccup setting up with the app, where I let the screen turn off while it was doing its thing and then it restated the app. I had to start everything all over again, which was slightly annoying. But no biggie. I would highly recommend you update the system as soon as it's set up. Apparently this will fix alot of the issues people have complained about. I was recieving an average connection of 900Mbps+ in my Samsung Phones. Able to transfer about 1gb of Data between them in just over a minute. Also, can confirm the Ethernet connections work great. I hooked up my PC, Projector and TV to save on local network bandwidth.