Amazon.com: NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System (RBK852) – Router with 1 Satellite Extender | Coverage up to 5,000 sq. ft., 100 Devices | AX6000 (Up to 6Gbps) : Electronics

I went through a couple of “cheaper” iterations of whole home internet using a nighthawk router with extenders before trying to take the dive into mesh with an eero network, which seemed much affordable, but I truly thought maybe even mesh wouldn’t work for our 5000 sq ft home. After several days of lost work time without the ability to make video calls (and even when I could it was on my mobile hotspot with a hefty overage bill from my wireless carrier), and a cranky toddler and wife with inconsistent access to the internet, I decided to bite the bullet and invest in the Orbi 970. One router and two satellites later and I’m getting down-/upload speeds greater than 700 Mbps WIRELESSLY! And my Ethernet connected devices are reaching 1 Gbps! It’s finally reliable, flawless, easy, and extremely capable WiFi. Well worth the cost. I won’t be looking back at the “cheaper” headaches.

Pros:- Speed, speed, speed. Best WiFi speeds I've ever experienced, I routinely hit peaks at 800MBps (see pic) => 5 starsCons:- Web interface is excruciatingly slow, counter-intuitive and cumbersome. The previous Orbi generation web interface was already pretty bad, but this is worse, the new Orbi supposedly comes with a much snappier CPU and should run the webserver a lot faster, but it doesn't. To add insult to injury, Netgear removed a ton of options readily available in the Orbi first generation => -1 star- Security is not implemented well, the thing leaks like a sieve (see picture, you absolutely don't want the blue squares). I would caution against connecting the router directly to your provider's WAN, you might want to leave a gateway or a cheap yet capable router in the way. That's using the latest firmware available (V3.2.9.2_1.2.4), and with the firewall settings on ("Disable Port Scan and DoS Protection" is off, it makes no difference on or off anyway, I tried both) => -2 starsI own the previous generation of Orbi router/satellites, they are far from perfect, but they are rock solid and reliable when it comes to security. This new product was obviously rushed to market, and consumers are essentially being used as beta testers. Given the amount of similar reviews all over the interwebs, I'm surprised Netgear is not stepping up, the firmware in its current state is either going to lead to extremely negative headlines when someone manages to exploit the security holes on the WAN side, or to a class action lawsuit for selling an unfinished product and not implementing what their website says they did. Netgear keeps saying here in the comments they provide high security and point to their website security "good practices", but they haven't even implemented the first "security measure" listed on their site.I'll come back and update my review as they make progress, in the meantime, I'm putting my RBR850 behind an el-cheapo router with a standard firewall stack (it doesn't take much effort to implement, but I guess it's too much to ask from Netgear for now). This is disappointing to say the least, especially when you have to drop a grand to get a router and 2 satellites.*** 2/24/2020 update ***I did submit a case on the Netgear support website (per their request in the comments), and also pointed out the security issues on their forum. No peep from Netgear, so that's another star that's gone. Some forum users acknowledged they saw similar issues with the built-in firewall, but Netgear reps never took the time to look/respond at the forum either. I gave up and bought an Edgerouter 4 from Ubiquiti and switched the Orbi to AP mode (access point only). The Edgerouter proved to be rock solid and secure, though if you plan to make a similar move, make sure to triple-check your firewall rules on he router before you make the switch. It's unfortunate I had to spend another $200 to get basic security that was available in the previous Orbi generation. One positive note: the guest network in AP mode still works, it has its own subnet and dhcp, I was actually surprised moving to AP mode didn't screw that up (one can argue since guest devices are on a different subnet with its own dhcp, they're effectively being route, so it's not true AP mode for them, but that's the way it should be designed to keep the guest network isolated).*** 3/1/2020 update ***I keep finding new bugs on a regular basis. Latest one: if you plan to use the router in AP mode and plan to use a fixed IP address for the router instead of DHCP, the router will not connect to NTP servers to get the correct time, even if you try to use a third party server and not Netgear’s. Why does it matter? Many devices will not properly connect to WiFi guest due to the fact that the guest network has its own DHCP server (it’s on its own VLAN), I suspect the leases are out of whack due to the time discrepancy between the router and the devices.*** 3/18/2020 update ***Netgear pushed a broken firmware last week and essentially bricked many Orbi's in the process. See Netgear forums, lots of unhappy users over there. We're well into negative stars territory at this point.*** 4/1/2020 update ***Well, I really gave it the old college try, but I eventually gave up and put the thing for sale on fleabay. The hardware is great, but the software is simply not mature enough, and I have better things to do than debug the damn thing on behalf of Netgear. I switched to the Amplifi Alien and things have been rock solid since then. YMMV.

So the only real cons to the Netgear Orbi is the size of the product as it is quite large and the cost. Fortunately I paid a solid sale price. Outside of that, the set up was fairly easy and the performance is top notch. Speeds deliver on my 1.2 GB internet service. Average wireless test is well over 980MB to 1.2GB from the built in speed tester on the app. Most wireless devices are limited by their own wireless limits. Example, no way the iPhone will pull 1GB, but I consistently get will over 400 MB to 500MB and it’s plenty fast for everything I need. Obviously, the more devices you add the more bandwidth is shared, but it’s dynamic to what’s being used versus idle and this particular model easily services the 40 connected devices I have including cameras and gaming systems. The tri-band or third connection dedicated to backhauling between the router and satellite is what makes the difference in streaming performance. In short, not discrete in size and pricey, but worth the money on performance an capabilities for larger homes. For something more discrete and reasonable in performance when you have less than 1GB, there are cheaper and solid performing options like EERO or Google. Still, this was worth it for home size, number of devices and performance.

This Orbi Mesh Wifi 6 system is the sweet spot for me when it comes to cost and performance. It is more expensive than say the Google Nest Pro Wifi and Eero Wifi systems, but is not quite as expensive as other 6e or Orbi 7 systems.The performance is absolutely stellar! The antennas packed into them are very strong. The setup was a breeze. And THEY WORKED FOR MY CENTURYLINK FIBER! The last point is a godsend as other routers have issues with Centurylink Fiber as it requires VLAN Tagging to get to communicate properly with the ONT. It was simple, but also a little tricky on getting the settings configured in the correct order so that the router stays connected while everything got changed over, but once it did it really took off!Signal strength is great. The satellite is absolutely great as well. I now have an extremely consistent and fast connection all throughout my home! Better yet it has 3 LAN ports on both the Router and Satellite to connect all of my devices that I don't need wireless!Absolutely blown away by this system and I'm glad that I decided to test it out.

I recently purchased the Orbi 850 after reading rave reviews, and I have to say, it lives up to the hype and more! Setting up the main router satellite and (3) additional satellites was a breeze; the instructions were clear, and the app made the process seamless. The coverage is outstanding. I now have strong WiFi signal in every corner of my home, even in areas where it used to be weak. Streaming movies, gaming, and video calls are all smooth and uninterrupted. The design is sleek and fits well with my home decor. Overall, I'm incredibly satisfied with my purchase. If you're looking for reliable WiFi with excellent coverage, the Orbi 850 is definitely worth considering as highly recommend.