Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

mvasile79
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Returning mine tomorrow. I was trying to find answers on different websites, talked to customer support. Nothing. Expensive equipment, missing important features. How can they not have parental control?? Very disappointed...

Message 26 of 69
Brickford5
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

One of the MOST ridiculous intentional oversights of a company I have seen. It's absolutely mind boggling that for a year now NG has been refusing to take responsibility for obviously misleading product information and advertising. Shame on them. 

I have support tickets from early 2020 regarding this and nothing but excuses and empty promises. This will be my last NG product.

Message 27 of 69
vijay05
Guide

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Agreed. Is there a way to tag this conversation on social media?  Hopefully someone from leadership team will care to look at this?

Message 28 of 69
GREG873
Guide

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

This is my first NG router. At $500 I expected more. I won't buy again. I've given plenty of time to fix this issue. Good thing Costco will refund, as it may be that time. 

Message 29 of 69
huffla
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Ok. Here we are in January of 2021 and I don't see that this issue has been addressed by Netgear. I have to manually turn the devices on and off when I could schedule them on my old router. Very disappointing. Has anyone figured out a workaround until Netgear can get these basic parental controls on their entire Orbi line?

Message 30 of 69
DR427
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

As others have stated I too want to display my frustration!  Based on the info you get from this page Parental Controls you see a robust parental control package for Netgear routers including Orbi.  There is NOTHING indicating the AX series are not compatible. 

 

I thought at a minimum the "Basic" free option would match my free Linksys system I am replacing.  Nope, and I can't stomach $10/mo for something I have had for free and as a feature of the product. 

 

When I get home tonight I guess I will check out the www.orbilogin.com link (while connected to the Orbi router - not remotely) and see what options I can enable.  It you can block websites and services.  But my problem with this is what if I am not at home and want to enable or disable something?  I can via the app, but not the web link....grrrrr

 

Friggin fix this Netgear!  I didn't even think to look to the forums to see this issue.  Or give us the premium for a year (while you figure something out) without us resorting to a class action lawsuit to get it!

Message 31 of 69
huffla
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

I know this is the community to try and solve issues and that Netgear may or may not see it so I tried to go to the actual Netgear website to lodge this complaint so it might get better attention. I don't even see anything where you can review their routers much less lodge a complaint?? Who does that nowadays? Not happy at all! Looks like I'll have to CALL customer service to lodge a complaint. UNACCEPTABLE!!

Message 32 of 69
gverratti
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Lack of parental controls is beyond ridiculous, extremely disappointed!  

Message 33 of 69

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

This is absolute horse-crap for a $1000 system to not support parental controls AT ALL.  My question is this - are there any other wifi 6 mesh (router + satellites) systems on the market that are even close to the Orbi system in performance?  I'm returning this system regardless - just wondering if I'm going to have to go back to using my awful FiOS gateway + Velop setup, or if I can find something similar to the Orbi's but with solid parental controls.

Message 34 of 69

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Pretty sure that monthly cost won't even allow you full functionality - ethernet connected devices I don't think are covered unless you buy the standalone Circle Plus device.  Even then, your performance will take a major hit.  This is such an epic / colossal UFCK up by NG.

Message 35 of 69

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Add me to the list of users looking for Circle app to be natively supported on an Orbi Router RBR850.   I would think a $700 product like this would have parental controls.

Message 36 of 69
rjfuller1
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

For real let's get this going. I bought a near top of the line router. I spent lots of money. I didn't get a basic feature. It's actually disgraceful.
Message 37 of 69
Mattynabib
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

First of all, my router is a WiFi 6 RBR750, as reported by the Orbi app... that model DOES NOT SHOW UP as an option on the list above, so this is the second problem.

The first problem is the same as everyone else on this list: my router is apparently not supported by Circle, which limits the usefulness. Circle claims it will work in Compatibility Mode (yes my model shows up on THEIR list, unlike Netgear’s own list), but I cannot find instructions on how to put my router into the very limiting Compatibility mode, even if we wanted to sacrifice our gigabit speeds to the ridiculous 100mbps limit to do so. Meanwhile this router is also not supported by their own Genie app, nor does it appear to be usable with their Nighthawk app, so I see NO reasonable options for parental controls over this network in which I have invested heavily.

This is a HUGE failure on the part of Netgear and their marketing team. I want a statement from them as to exactly when we will see comprehensive parental controls available for the RBR750.

Either they should provide this functionality immediately, send all users of these products free physical Circle devices to make up for this shameful lack of promised functionality, or give us a damned refund and replace all of our stuff with Nighthawks or something with similar speeds and coverage that apparently DOES have parental controls.

Hope you’re listening Netgear... you basically lied in your marketing and we are still waiting.
Model: RBR50|Orbi AC3000 Tri-band WiFi Router
Message 38 of 69
dtay
Luminary

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??


@Mattynabib wrote:
First of all, my router is a WiFi 6 RBR750, as reported by the Orbi app... that model DOES NOT SHOW UP as an option on the list above, so this is the second problem.

The first problem is the same as everyone else on this list: my router is apparently not supported by Circle, which limits the usefulness. Circle claims it will work in Compatibility Mode (yes my model shows up on THEIR list, unlike Netgear’s own list), but I cannot find instructions on how to put my router into the very limiting Compatibility mode, even if we wanted to sacrifice our gigabit speeds to the ridiculous 100mbps limit to do so. Meanwhile this router is also not supported by their own Genie app, nor does it appear to be usable with their Nighthawk app, so I see NO reasonable options for parental controls over this network in which I have invested heavily.

This is a HUGE failure on the part of Netgear and their marketing team. I want a statement from them as to exactly when we will see comprehensive parental controls available for the RBR750.

Either they should provide this functionality immediately, send all users of these products free physical Circle devices to make up for this shameful lack of promised functionality, or give us a damned refund and replace all of our stuff with Nighthawks or something with similar speeds and coverage that apparently DOES have parental controls.

Hope you’re listening Netgear... you basically lied in your marketing and we are still waiting.

Completely agree about the lack of parental controls/Circle in the Orbi AX series mesh routers; I have the RBK853 (AX6000) and for a flagship mesh product, the lack of any parental controls is disappointing in today's competitive market of routers/mesh solutions.

 

I actually own the Circle Plus standalone product (which I was using before I bought the Orbi AX units) and regarding the "compatibility mode" option, that is actually on Circle itself, not the Netgear unit.  In your Circle app, under settings, you'll see an option labeled "Router Compatibility."  You can toggle that feature on and off at this page.  This is the info about the "compatibility mode" on Circle support's page: https://support.meetcircle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028507711-Using-Compatibility-Mode

 

 

Message 39 of 69
SergeL
Apprentice

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

I went back and forth with ordering, then returning, and then ordering again Circle Home Plus. I have a teenage daughter, and parental control unfortunately become necessity this days. I wish Netgear would listen their customers, and top of the line models will come with parental controls by default. Now about Circles. My first impression of Circle plus Home was negative, the first device that came failed properly filter the traffic, the logs were with UTC timestamp, and schedule didn't work as expected. I end up returning the device. However, after my kid spent several nights online, playing and chatting, I decided to give Circle another try. The second that I received unit actually was working as expected, and currently I have no problem with Circle. I was able to snach $50 off coupon, and got lifetime subscription for $250. The total cost of Netgear and Circle came up in about $700...

Message 40 of 69
SergeL
Apprentice

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

BTW, my RBR750 works with Circle without any "Compatibility" mode.

Message 41 of 69
blizaine
Tutor

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

I currently have a Google Wifi mesh AP's all over my house with the 2nd Gen Circle for parental control.  I also had the first Gen but I upgraded to the 2nd gen to get the gigabit port.  The Circle functions well and the feature set is really nice.  I have 4 teenagers.  I haven't been very happy with my Google Wifi AP's as of late tough.  Mostly because I upgraded to Gig fiber and all my wired connections get ~900Mbps up/down (if I bypass the Circle), my wifi gets 50-150 depending on where I am in the house regardless.  I was about to hit "Buy" on the new Orbi Wifi6 three pack because I knew the previous model had Circle built in.  I really want to have Circle built in because I don't like the bottle neck of having traffic route through the Circle and then the router.  

 

Cirlce really needs to be added to the new Orbi.  I'm not buy it until it is.  In the mean time, I'm watching reviews of the parental controls for other Wifi6 systems to see if anything has similar functions as Circle, in which case I'll purchase that instead of Orbi. Come on Netgear! 

Message 42 of 69
SergeL
Apprentice

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??


@blizaine wrote:

I currently have a Google Wifi mesh AP's all over my house with the 2nd Gen Circle for parental control.  I also had the first Gen but I upgraded to the 2nd gen to get the gigabit port.  The Circle functions well and the feature set is really nice.  I have 4 teenagers.  I haven't been very happy with my Google Wifi AP's as of late tough.  Mostly because I upgraded to Gig fiber and all my wired connections get ~900Mbps up/down (if I bypass the Circle), my wifi gets 50-150 depending on where I am in the house regardless.  I was about to hit "Buy" on the new Orbi Wifi6 three pack because I knew the previous model had Circle built in.  I really want to have Circle built in because I don't like the bottle neck of having traffic route through the Circle and then the router.  

 

Cirlce really needs to be added to the new Orbi.  I'm not buy it until it is.  In the mean time, I'm watching reviews of the parental controls for other Wifi6 systems to see if anything has similar functions as Circle, in which case I'll purchase that instead of Orbi. Come on Netgear! 


I've upgraded to Orbi from Google WiFi as well. Parental control on Google WiFi was okay, but the speed was terrible. Orbi delivers up to 1Gb for all my devices, very pleased. Circle Home Plus is not routing traffic through, it's monitoring and filtering traffic for managed devices, and will degrade speed if you are running it in the "compatibility mode" which is unnecessary for RBR750.

Message 43 of 69
blizaine
Tutor

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Thanks for the info.  I don't run Circle in Campatiblity mode, but any managed device on my network takes a huge performance hit, so I assumed all managed traffic was being forced through the Circle.  For instance a PC that is wired to a netgear gigabit switch with both the Circle and main Google Wifi router node hardwired to the same switch will get about 150-200Mbps when it is set to "managed" in the Circle app.  But If I set the PC to unmanaged or disable the Circle, I get the ~900Mbps.  

Message 44 of 69
SergeL
Apprentice

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??


@blizaine wrote:

Thanks for the info.  I don't run Circle in Campatiblity mode, but any managed device on my network takes a huge performance hit, so I assumed all managed traffic was being forced through the Circle.  For instance a PC that is wired to a netgear gigabit switch with both the Circle and main Google Wifi router node hardwired to the same switch will get about 150-200Mbps when it is set to "managed" in the Circle app.  But If I set the PC to unmanaged or disable the Circle, I get the ~900Mbps.  


Why do you need "Compatibility mode"? Have you had any issues with filtering? 

 

In Circle app I've created a profile for my kid only and mapped her devices, the Home profile is empty, I'm not assigning any other devices to it. I'll run test on her "managed" devices to see, but I'm not using "compatibility" mode.

Message 45 of 69
ahaj
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

this is very dissapointig that it is not clearly disclosed and thus far they have not done anything about it.  Pretty much Netgear is teling us not to buy Netgear anymore and use Linsys or others

Message 46 of 69
dajale4life
Initiate

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Very disappointed that this highly expensive router does not have Circle Support or even the most rudementry parental controls. Netgear you must understand that these tools are very important to parents especially now. I previously purchased one of your standard AX routers and had to take it back because of no parental control, your loosing market share because of this issue. You should make sure that these tools are part of your roadmap and deliver them as soon as possible. I love the speed of this MESH but that doubles why I need to protect my children with a comprehensive set of tools. 

Fix this Netgear, it will not cost much to rolle your own simple tools or pay Circle what they want to support your current routers, make it happen!!

Message 47 of 69
srikalyan3
Aspirant

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

This is absolutely ridiculous that $400+ Wifi 6 mesh system doesn't have parental controls. I had Samsung and TP link mesh systems prior to Orbi RBR750 that have pretty good parental controls. I am returning this to Costco and getting another one with better parental controls. 

Message 48 of 69
abdohma
Aspirant

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

I reached to this post while searching for a solution to integrate Circle to Orbi after the upgrade from rbk050


I'm disappointed that still no solutions came out yet since a year+ ago.
Message 49 of 69
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Why No Circle for RBR750 or other Wifi6 Routers??

Message 50 of 69
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