Netgear Orbi discussion thread

[RogerSC]

Would it be possible for you to share which Costco? I went to my neighborhood Costco but they seem to only have the R6900 and R7900.

This makes me wonder if they really have the Netgear Orbi, or some variant thereof. That would be typical of Costco, to have a somehow reduced version of a router, like the R6900 versus the R7000 or the R7900 versus the R8000. The R6900 and R7900 would still be said to be in the Nighthawk series, but are slightly different hardware. Since I don't see it at Costco online, can't tell, though.

 

[Marinemaster]

Not that it matters, but Netgear should have called this "Orbit" as that would be a more appropriate name to what it does....like something is launched in a orbit...you get the point, Orbi sounds uninspiring....but if it works well based on reports here then is all well

 

[krosswindz]

I found the Orbi 3 pack at another Costco near my house. I am attaching image of the product so that some one can provide more info if it is reduced version of the Orbi

 

[thiggins]

Model numbers for router and satellite are the same as RBK50 SKU

 

[krosswindz]

Model numbers for router and satellite are the same as RBK50 SKU

Do you need any other information to see if it is different from what Netgear sells elsewhere. Costco is known to do this with at least R6900 and R7900.

 

[thiggins]

R6900 and R7900 are different model numbers. The numbers on the box are the same models as in the RBK50 that is available everywhere.

 

[sfx2000]

Do you need any other information to see if it is different from what Netgear sells elsewhere. Costco is known to do this with at least R6900 and R7900.

This happens quite a bit at Costco (they can move a lot of inventory, so they can get better pricing from OEM's) - so the vendors will spin the model number and/or SKU numbers to prevent price matching and protect the other retail channels...

(not just routers - they do this with TV's and other AV gear, and they're pretty well known for Dell/HP/Acer Costco specific models for PC's (and some can be incredible deals there, BTW).

 

[RogerSC]

Yeah, the model numbers n the Costco pictures look like the same product that you buy elsewhere. Good for Costco!

 

[djc6]

Picked up the 3-pack at Costo to replace my TL-WR1043ND v2 N300 class router. Wow what a difference! Really easy to setup. I powered down my SB6190 cable modem, connected to router, turned modem on.. waited for it to sync and then powered router. That was it! Set the SSID name and password and all my existing deviced found the Orbi! Setting up the satellites was a simple matter of plugging in power adapter - thats it.

I never had a usable Wi-Fi signal in the basement and now I do! And third unit I put on 2nd floor of house. Where I had a 25Mbps on my iPhone 6S+ I now have over 300Mbps! I pay for 300/30 service with Cox and was able to get speeds of 320/31.5 (must be over provisioned a tad).

Yes it was expensive, but my plan B was running ethernet and PoE APs - this is a lot less work.

My main goal was to improve experience with my Tablo OTA DVR and its much more responsive now especially fast forwarding, rewinding around videos on my phone, tablets, rokus, etc..

 

[Jeffb]

Purchased Orbi Router and Satellite; up and running, excellent coverage and I like one SSID. Posted to sell
AC5300, RT AC68U and Linksys AC1200 extender in Buy, Sell, Trade.

 

[RogerSC]

Purchased Orbi Router and Satellite; up and running, excellent coverage and I like one SSID. Posted to sell
AC5300, RT AC68U and Linksys AC1200 extender in Buy, Sell, Trade.

Obviously can't tell what you're keeping from this, but I'd keep a backup router for a lot of reasons.

 

[djc6]

On Costco's website now:

http://www.costco.com/Netgear-Orbi-AC3000-Tri-band-WiFi-System.product.100318832.html

If you don't have a membership but know someone who does, have them buy you a small denomination gift card and you're allowed to shop and spend more than amount on card!

 

[Jeffb]

Obviously can't tell what you're keeping from this, but I'd keep a backup router for a lot of reasons.

As with many things, time will tell. Hopefully it will be solid; never had a Netgear router, might be my last!

 

[djc6]

As with many things, time will tell. Hopefully it will be solid; never had a Netgear router, might be my last!

I keep a spare modem & router for troubleshooting and to tide me over if something breaks, etc.. nothing fancy.

 

[RogerSC]

As with many things, time will tell. Hopefully it will be solid; never had a Netgear router, might be my last!

There are a lot of reasons why you'd want a backup router, to make a sanity test on your internet connection (problem isolation), bad firmware that takes you a while to recover from, a blown up router from a power glitch. Anything that might happen that could leave you without a router for a day or more. My personal preference is to have backup internet available to please the folks that are depending on my admin abilities *smile*. Haven't let them down yet.

I'm also betting on the Orbi for good reason...I've had good experiences with the R7000 (a little rocky in the beginning, though *smile*) and the R7800 so far. But I have a couple of backup routers, too should anything happen, namely the R7000 and R7800 *smile*. When I get a new router, I usually retire one of my routers, not all of them *smile*. I guess I'm sort of belt and suspenders that way.

 

[wchpitt]

Would it be possible for you to share which Costco? I went to my neighborhood Costco but they seem to only have the R6900 and R7900.

West Springfield MA
They also now have it listed on their website: http://www.costco.com/Netgear-Orbi-AC3000-Tri-band-WiFi-System.product.100318832.html

 

[adrian]

Wow! Genius! Is this the first to use MU-MIMO for backhaul and 4x4 config?
This is the best use of MU-MIMO if you ask me.
The problem with MU-MIMO are moving clients and the bandwidth seems overkill for clients.
I used to ignore MU-MIMO and Wi-Fi mesh but this one is genius. It makes sense!

 

[sfx2000]

Maybe @thiggins or another Orbi user can clear this up - 2.4GHz looks like it is wide channel only with VHT (TurboQAM/QAM256) - are there options to not use Wide Channels and to limit the 2.4GHz to 802.11 b/g/n mixed mode (hence disabling VHT/Turbo mode) - see below pics from the Orbi review..

Even running in AP mode (which is supported with the Orbi system), lack of options for 2.4GHz is a deal-breaker for me.

 

[RogerSC]

The usual wide channel on 2.4GHz. thing for Netgear is this:

"Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence"

I have that checked, and for me it would normally use 20MHz. channel width on 2.4GHz., since our 2.4GHz. band is so crowded. Have noticed that despite this setting it is using 40MHz. channel, so doesn't look like there's currently a way to be polite on 2.4GHz. I use it so rarely, hardly every look at it, just to see that it's working. I wouldn't mind being able to turn it off altogether, I'd be happy with that *smile*. This looks like a support inquiry to Netgear, shouldn't be using 40MHz. channel with 20/40MHz. coexistence enabled.

I'll ask Netgear, you've made me curious.

 

[djc6]

Found this on the netgear community forum and thought it may be of interest:

http://192.168.1.1/debug.htm

Some 'hidden' options - including 'Enable advanced view of Attached Devices page' which displays which device is connected to which satellite.