Netgear Orbi RBK53 Wired 2.1.4.16, too many issues!

So, I just set up this system on Monday, July 23rd, 2018.

 

Using it to replace a Google WiFi mesh system comprised of 3 Asus On-Hubs.

 

The reason I wanted to change was that I needed more range and power for a 6,000 sq. ft, 3 story house.

 

Here is the list of issues (the ones I can recall anyways):

• Now I constantly have connectivity issues.
• I have factory reset the system 3 times already.
• Cannot disable daisy chain because it will effectively set the connection to the farther satellite to poor instead of good.
• If I use wired backhaul to the farther satellite (which was working fine with the OnHub mesh) everything goes haywire and gets even worse.
• I have one Arlo base hardwired to each of the 2 satellites, and at least 1 will always lose connection, effectively hindering my security system.
• Devices that worked great with the onhub mesh for 2 years just lose connection all the time.
• The guest network has better range and stability than the main network (I just turned off the guest network, let’s see what happens then, but I’ll start by saying that the 5Ghz band just went away, except for the backhaul channels, so, effectively, I only have 2.4Ghz)
• My infrastructure (because the hardwired backhaul is obviously not an option) is as follows: Xfinity=>RBR50 (router mode)=>RBS50=>RBS50 (daisy chained) 

   

• I have daisy chain topology and MU-MIMO enabled, everything else is disabled.

 

• The farther satellite regularly just disconnects and I have to climb to the 3^rd floor to turn it off and back on:

 

• The Android app just blows. I have 2 Google Pixel 2 XL’s, and a Samsung Galaxy S9+, and in both phones the device list will not populate most of the times. When it does populate it takes forever, and only populates 55-60% of the devices that are actually attached, according to the orbilogin.com page and my FingBox.
• On top of that, the “Device Type” options are extremely limited. There are no options for most of the devices almost everyone with a high end and expensive mesh system have, such as smart speakers, garage door openers, smart lights, switches, plugs, alarm system, etc. It’s just lacking.

Any help to sort this out will be really appreciated. I really want to like this system, but at this point I am seriously thinking about bringing it back to Costco (it’s a good thing I didn’t throw away the box).

Things I have tried are:

• Factory reset
• Clearing NVRam and reboot
• Clearing NVRam and Factory reset
• Remove daisy chain (that limited my connection to satellite 2)
• Wired backhaul (which is what I really want for satellite 2, but we all know what that does)
• Enabled, and then disabled, implicit beamforming (most our devices can handle that)

What I have not tried, yet, is rolling back to a previous firmware, and the reason I have not done that yet is because I have no idea which was the last one that worked for this system (wired backhaul or daisy chain, at this point I will take whatever)

 

The fact is that, when it works, the range and speed are amazing, I don’t believe any other system can even compete with that, but I need stability much more than sheer power. My wife is driving me nuts whenever a connection fails, and since it’s an ongoing thing, she’s actually always looking out for that.

 

I tried calling Netgear support, and after holding for 49 minutes, the call just dropped. Also, even though my devices are registered to my account, their system would net recognize my device serial number (well, the 3 first characters) as a Netgear Orbi.

 

Please help.