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Forum Discussion
Circle 1st Gen vs Circle on Netgear vs Circle Home Plus
Writing this for 2 reasons: 1: I hope someone will tell me I'm wrong and have missed something 2: If not, maybe it'll make it clearer for others in the future. Background: We've had a Disney ...
Excellent question and well-stated - took me about 2 seconds to hit the Subsribe link. Like you, I have some history with Circle devices:
First there was the original Circle which sort of worked, despite an often glitchy Android app and CircleGo VPN issues. Mobile device performance was so bad on VPN as to render devices useless. It was easier to turn it off than endure the constant complaints from my teens that their mobile device internet would crawl to a halt once they left the house.
Then the new Circle platform was released. Enticed with a 50% discount due to my prior issues, I upgraded to the Circle Home Plus device that came with a premium parental controls subscription. While Circle's performance on my home wifi improved, there was still a measurable speed difference (350+ Mbps down to 150) even with Circle hard wired to my router. I saw no change in the CircleGo performance - in fact that appeared to be worse. After spending hours on the phone with support (they really are great people who want to help) and factory resetting my son's iPhone XR twice (another nightmare), I gave up again. It just wasn't worth the hassle and the added cost.
Fast forward to now, I've recently purchased an Orbi RBR50 with one satellite that is bathing my home in a nice warm mesh! I would love to try the embedded Circle on the router with my premium Circle subscription, but that doesn't appear to transfer. I'm also remembering all the good times I've had trying to get this to work and reluctant to try again, especially considering the RBR50 is using the Circle 1st Gen app for premium features. Whether or not it can work as a 2nd gen Circle is unknown. I'll definitely be watching this discussion and offering any help I run across.
You're very kind. Let's just say that my two objectives were to (1) clearly state the issue and the question and (2) prevent any "if you had done a search for it, you would have found..." trolling.
Sounds like you've been caught in the same crossfire as myself. I'll be curious to hear if you have any luck with your RBR50!
Sadly, we just broke down and got the Circle Home Plus as I knew we were at an impass. Thus far, I haven't noticed any appreciable speed issues, nor have the kids complained. So, we'll see. But please do report whatever you find and thanks for chiming in.
