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Forum Discussion
What's the best alternative (Now that I'm returning Orbi ...)
Firmware 2.1.4.10 was the final straw. It re-introduced throttling in my RBR50 router that I'd previously fixed with a factory reset. Thanks to resurection of an old thread I now see that this throttling has been around for almost a year, that it requires users to factory reset after every firmware update (!) and that there have been no fixes over many, many, firmware releases.
Couple this with the complete unusability of my RBS30 with the RBK50 kit (disconnects after three days - only fixed by turning the wall satellite off) and I've had enough. Netgear offered to work with me to resolve the RBS30 but they haven't responded to either message that I sent. Probably because I'm in New Zealand and the time zones don't work well with USA.
I'm not wasting any more time on this. Thankfully New Zealand has robust consumer laws and I can return it for full refund.
What have other people looked at as alternatives to Orbi? Options include:
- TP-Link DECO M5 (AC1300, 2 x Ethernet per unit)
- Ubiquiti UniFi AC MESH UAP-AC-M Dual-band (AC1200, 1 x Ethernet per unit)
- Google Wi-Fi (Dual-Band AC1200, 2 x Ethernet per unit)
- Linksys Velop (AC2200, 2 x Gigabit Ethernet Port)
(Eero is not available in New Zealand).
I'm not that keen on commercial AP, because I can't easily run Ethernet through our house - its multi-story and none of the walls line up between the floors. That's why I was looking for something with WiFi backhaul. Ideally I’d like something that has dedicated WiFi backhaul channels and as many Ethernet ports as possible (the very features that saw me settle on Orbi in the first place).
What do folk recommend? And please don't suggest a RBK40 or Orbi Pro .... :manfrustrated:
11 Replies
Agree, please suggest replacement mesh wifi systems (preferably with review links). I need very good coverage, speed not so important (have max 100Mbit/100Mbit fiber anyway)
Thanks!!
JimSweden wrote:
Agree, please suggest replacement mesh wifi systems (preferably with review links). I need very good coverage, speed not so important (have max 100Mbit/100Mbit fiber anyway)
Thanks!!
I was looking at the Velop, but it too has some issues (check out the Velop Forum). Also only 2 Ethernet ports on the router is a bit of a deal-breaker for me. I need at least 2 LAN ports (I don't want my NAS on a switch) and the more Ethernet ports, the better.
Someone also suggested D-Link's Covr. Like the Eero, it's not available in New Zealand. Dlink are also releasing an updated version of the Covr (the Covr C1203) in the next couple of months, but this really doesn't standout from the crowd since it only has a limited number of Ethernet ports.
At this stage I'm leaning towards the Ubiquiti Amplifi HD. Review Review 2
It has four Ethernet ports on the Router, but none on the Wall Plug Satellites. But according to this review you can purchase the router seperately (they're not that expensive) and you can apparently use these additional routers purely as mesh points - giving 'Orbi-like' multiple Ethernet ports on a satellite. Using additional routers as satellites in this manner, apparently also allows you to wire-connect the sats.
The down-sides are that it's not as fast as the Orbi (but fast enough) and that the Amplifi doesn't have a seperate backhaul channel. But reviews seem to indicate that it performs quite well, especially for range. There's a ton of reviews on Amazon.com's product page and it rates quite well (4.4. out of 5 with over 1000 reviews - but Orbi gets 4.3 with over 4,000 reviews, so go figure!).
Does anyone else have any experience with the Ubiquiti Amplifi HD?
The sad thing about all this is that Orbi's design is still my sweet spot. If it could just be stable with the RBW30 and and not throttle speeds after firmware updates then I'd be a happy with it. Talk about Netgear snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...
agree, i would look there, they now have aimesh, i currently use asus dsl-ac68u for quite sometime. solid. i use the orbi simply as my wifi part now (AP mode)
unfortunately for me they don't yet do aimesh on that router, so i can't use that with a previous router of mine to create the mesh, so i'm using orbi.
i'm not getting quite the level of issues you see in the forum. good luck, and let us know what you go for and how it turns out.