Firmware V1.12.0.18 Discussion

Both are fair answers, but the target market for this device seems to be the non-technical, not people who are likely to set up a dedicated router. Though I guess they're the same people who will be quite happy plugging this into their ISPs router, so maybe I'm the odd one out here!

There's no denying Orbi has a fantastic backhaul when it's all working correctly. 

you need to raise a support ticket and ask for it

Can you tell me how to create a support ticket and ask for the beta firmware if I'm past my complimentary 90 day support?  thanks in advance......

https://www.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx

If you are beyond the 90 day you will need to purchase support.  I think its the Gearhead option.

I'd like to know what magical routing capabilities you're looking for in a home router that can't be filled by the Orbi. I went from an R7000 running XWRT (and prior to that DD-WRT) to the Orbi and I've not missed any routing duties that the R7000 was doing.

Now if you're runnig a home lab or a very complex network then maybe but if you are, the majority of consumer hardware is probably not for you.

Using the Orbi as an AP seems like a huge waste of money.

100% disagree, If it's a waste of money can you show me a cheaper AP that'll handle my gig up/down connection and cover the whole flat/house at the same time?

Handling a gigabit up/down on a LAN can be done by ANY AP so I don't see how that's relevant.

As for coverage, sure, grab yourself literally any mesh system from Google, Eero, TP-Link, etc and you'll be saving between $50-100. 

ok let me rephrase, how can I get the max speed out of my wifi with google wifi or eero or linksys velop for that matter which I just returned due to it being 100Mbps-200Mbps up/down slower? and no, not every AP will handle a gig up/down. I tried many in the past on just a 300Mbps connection which failed to get above 200Mbps

Well let's take a step back then. Are you testing your speed being hardwired to the RBR, being connected wirelessly to the RBR, hardwired to a satellite, or connected wirelessly to the satellite?

Hardwired to the RBR I expect full gigabit up/down (or the closest consumer-grade approximation thereof).

Wireless to the RBR I expect somewhere around 60% of the max speed so figure ~520Mbps

Hardwired to the satellite I'd expect aroud 575Mbps

Wireless to the satellite I'd expect to look somewhat like a wireless connection to the RBR with an extra latency hop so around 520Mbps.

Now this is all assuming you're within line of sight and no other devices are talking at the same time.

I'd expect a Google WiFi or Eero to perform the same on the hardwired portion and at least similarly when conected to the main unit (the one connected to your WAN or LAN.)

I'm talking about the wireless speed here

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tomsliwowski wrote:

I'd like to know what magical routing capabilities you're looking for in a home router that can't be filled by the Orbi. I went from an R7000 running XWRT (and prior to that DD-WRT) to the Orbi and I've not missed any routing duties that the R7000 was doing.

 

Now if you're runnig a home lab or a very complex network then maybe but if you are, the majority of consumer hardware is probably not for you.

 

Using the Orbi as an AP seems like a huge waste of money.

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I use Orbi in AP mode, because I need a router with IPSEC site-to-site VPN capability and with L2TP remote access VPN capability.  Orbi has neither of those features.

Using Orbi in AP mode is not a waste of money at all. I use Orbi for it's single discriminating feature--the wireless backhaul--and that feature is available in AP mode. I'm using Orbi because I cannot easily run wired Ethernet.  If I could run wires I would use something else.

Right, your needs are almost certainly beyond the audience that the Orbi is aimed at. The people that I've personally interacted with needed a normal home router which had really good WiFi coverage. Hell, I bought it because I needed a stronger signal in an aluminum sunroom and ports for a couple of computers near it. 

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cinek wrote:

I'm talking about the wireless speed here

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Let's start with acknowledging that Orbi is towards the top part of most tests but accordin to smallnetbuilder, others aren't so bad:

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33125-wi-fi-system-roundup?showall=&start=2

The 5GHz tests show relatively low variance and 2.4GHz are a bit more mixed. 

Again, I'm using orbi for its strength, strong backhaul, wifi speed and coverage. Orbi is one of the fastest out there. Routing is not Orbi's strength, its meant for home networks so its not really much of a router (at least the functions are not exposed to the home user for that).

I use a sophos UTM box Which lets me do a lot more things including a lot more security than what an Orbi can do. Servers, etc.

Nope, Orbi is faster than most AP's out there, thats why I'm using it as an AP only as well.

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spinkick wrote:

Again, I'm using orbi for its strength, strong backhaul, wifi speed and coverage. Orbi is one of the fastest out there. Routing is not Orbi's strength, its meant for home networks so its not really much of a router (at least the functions are not exposed to the home user for that).

 

I use a sophos UTM box Which lets me do a lot more things including a lot more security than what an Orbi can do. Servers, etc.

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I'm really curious what special routing is needed. I'm not trying to be rude but I just don't see what real world needs would be. Like I know for business grade hardware the needs/capabilities are much much greater but for a normal house I honestly can't see what those would be.

For me, intrusion prevention, antivirus at the gateway. I am a computer consultant so I'm more interested in network security than most, I suppose.

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spinkick wrote:

For me, intrusion prevention, antivirus at the gateway. I am a computer consultant so I'm more interested in network security than most, I suppose.

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OK, that makes sense especially in your line of work.

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tomsliwowski wrote:

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cinek wrote:

I'm talking about the wireless speed here

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Let's start with acknowledging that Orbi is towards the top part of most tests but accordin to smallnetbuilder, others aren't so bad:

 

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33125-wi-fi-system-roundup?showall=&start=2

 

The 5GHz tests show relatively low variance and 2.4GHz are a bit more mixed. 

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The review is for the RBK40/RBK30, not the higher end RBK50 kit.

I have to say the new firmware made a difference. So much so that I didn't even realize it happened and just didn't notice things got a lot more stable in my house.

Good job! So far.