Orbi 772 - Please Netgear, HELP!

Hello everyone,

I decided to write this post to let everyone know what I’ve been going through, all in one place, to ask for help and also acknowledge those who have truly supported me during this time.

My ordeal started back in February when I bought the 772 set, thinking it would be an upgrade from my single 961 unit and a step into Wi-Fi 7. Instead, it became a nightmare.

I began having constant issues with work calls on Teams—disconnecting all the time, whether wired or wireless, but mostly on wired. It made my job impossible because I couldn’t get through a single meeting without problems. On top of that, I have an Apple TV setup (latest version), tried wired and wireless, plus two second-gen HomePods in stereo playing TV sound (LG OLED C2, also tested wired and wireless) via eARC—and the audio keeps cutting out.

Those are the worst problems, but not the only ones. The main unit doesn’t show connection speed for 2.4GHz devices, only for other bands. Wireless devices randomly lose connectivity. The 5GHz channel settings disappear after a reboot, and sometimes the unit refuses to apply the manual channel I set—either sticking to the wrong one or picking something else entirely.

After eight long months of back-and-forth, countless logs, house maps, beta firmware tests (I tried every single version, now on the latest ending in .7), and repeated silence from support, they finally agreed to send me an RMA. Even then, I had to pay for overnight shipping because of Abrar’s incompetence at Netgear support. It still took six (!) days to arrive, late, after I had already left the location—costing me even more to get it delivered.

And let me be clear: this only happened because I came here to the forum and FURRYe38​ helped internally. Without that, nothing would have moved. Honestly, it seems like FURRYe38 and the community here are the only ones doing any real work.

After more tests with the replacement unit, the same problems persisted. And when it came time to return the RMA unit, suddenly support became very efficient—calling and messaging nonstop to make sure I sent it back, as if I’d want to keep a defective device.

When I reported the results, Abrar promised to send me a new device. I made it clear I expected a different model because this one seems fundamentally flawed. I even stressed—20 days ago—that there was a time window for shipping so it could reach me. And then, once again, support vanished.

Now I feel abandoned again, with no sign of a solution, and the shipping window will be missed. So I started doing my own research and tests, hoping to help others who bought this product and have needs like mine—just to survive until I can afford something else.

From my research, it looks like the latest Wi-Fi 7 models from Netgear have a design flaw: poor airflow. Later models in the 8 and 3 series have much larger vents on top and bottom, which clearly suggests a silent design fix. Many users said adding a fan solved their issues. In my case, it reduced disconnects, but they still happen—so I kept digging.

I focused on the wired network, since that’s my backhaul and my work desk connection to the main unit. I left my work laptop (Dell 7450 + TP-Link 2.5G adapter) pinging the main unit overnight. The next day, I found multiple lost packets and insane ping spikes—up to 1928ms—even on a direct 3-meter cable. To confirm, I ran the same test at work on a corporate network, and it passed perfectly: zero packet loss, all pings under 1ms. My home unit couldn’t even manage to keep it under 2ms.

So now I’ve isolated two problems: heat and component quality. I fixed the first, but the second persists—even on a second unit. That means it’s either a firmware issue with the network chipset, a design flaw, or a chipset that simply can’t handle stable connections.

I’m willing to pay for shipping a set 872 just to hope a newer model fixes this. I just need a solution, Netgear. That’s all I want—to put this behind me and move on. Life already has enough problems. I just want to get rid of one I paid (a lot) to avoid.

I still have a RBR20 on my wife's office, the RBRE960 on my in-laws and had the 752 set, but never had any of these problems that I'm having. As you can see I am (or was?) a Netgear diehard fan, but I'm being left behind with issues and poor to no support. This is not you treat any customers, even more a loyal one like me.

I hope someone reads this and helps and please Netgear, let's work here on something, PLEASE!

Thank you.

My Setup: RBE 772 (main unit already replaced by RMA)

Firmware: V10.5.20.7_2.2.48

Devices connected: ~45 (4 wired, 41 wireless, mostly 2.4ghz)

Backhaul: Wired