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Antipodeansam7 wrote:

I can say for sure if the engineers don't come back with some kind of feasible diagnosus or plan on this next round I am jumping the netgear ship. Any other advice for a relaible mesh device that won't kill my funds like the orbi did?

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I've also been looking at alternatives, per this thread.  

The problem is that most other mesh products don't have the independant channel for the backhaul, so they take a speed hit for devices connected to satellites. Also, many only have two ethernet ports on the router, which means you need to run an Ethernet switch if you want to feed devices via Ethernet.  These other mesh devices (Linksys Velop, Ubiquiti Amplifi, Eero) also have negative reviews and cited problems on Amazon.com, but they run at about 10% 'critical' while the Orbi has double the level of critical reviews (21%).  

At this stage I'm leaning to the Ubiquiti ApmliFi.  The standard kit comes with a router and two wall plug sats, but the Sats have no Ethernet ports and can't be wired.  However, per this Datasheet you can buy the routers independently and additional routers can be used as mesh points with 4 x Ethernet ports. The additional routers can also be wired for backhaul.   

I'm also working with Netgear support and will see how that goes.  I'm really hoping that the Orbi can be resolved because it has the best features for my needs. However, if it doesn't work out then I'll also be jumping ship.