Re: Tell the Wire Cutter to reconsider their recommendation of the Orbi

bentwookie · ‎2018-03-19

I bought the Orbi 3 pack at Costco on the recommendation of the Wire Cutter. It might have been a fine product then, but it's garbage now (and has been for months). I've reached out to the review site via their Contact-Us link to ask them to reconsider their recommendation. Given what so many of us are experiencing, I encourage you all to do the same.

https://thewirecutter.com/contact-us/

djc6 · ‎2018-03-20

I bought my RBK53 three pack at Costco in November 2016, its been a pleasure to use for almost 1.5 years.

I recommended it to two of my friends, they are happy with it as well. While there are a lot of complaints on this forum, I think there are many more it works great for.

Retired_Member · ‎2018-03-20

same here....bought mine from Costco last Nov 2017. Other than a few disconnects, it works. I'm able to get to the Internet.

bent_wookie · ‎2018-03-20

That it annecdotaly works for some people (and apparently only some of the time at that) doesn't make it a product worthy of their highest recomendation.

Products worthy of recomendation don't have their firmware downgraded for months on end. Netgear didn't do that just for kicks. People are having real problems.

In its current state, the Orbi is not worth recommending to anyone.

tomsliwowski · ‎2018-03-20

It may not work reliably for you but it does for me. I've had one minor issue a couple of releases back which has been resolved since 2.1.2.18.

Annecdotaly I can also say that in addition to myself; I've had my best friend, 2 co-workers and my sister all buy either the RBK50 or RBK53 kits and they've a great experience running their systems for at least 6 months each.

Forums like these don't represent reality as those who have had a positive experience rarely come to the forums to say so. Conversly, those who have had a bad experience will spend as much time as possible complaining. This is especially true for a product as expensive as the Orbi.

Netgear should definitely do more to fix issues and respond sooner but I don't think the Wire Cutter needs to modify their recommendations.

Adjack · ‎2018-03-20

I also read the Wire Cutter review and that helped me decide on the Oribi, about a month ago.

I found this forum and was worried about all the issues so I was prepared to return it with 30 days (Amazon) at the first sign of disconnect.

It's been a month now and I have had zero issues.

I am on the latest BIOS, I have used both Ethernet and wireless backhauls (currently Ethernet).

A lot of people clearly have issues and they need to fix them for sure.

But a lot of people probably do not have any issues and don't have any reason to go post in these forums to say that it's working well for them.

After all, it's a router. If it works, there is really no point talking about it 🙂

I do hope they will fix these issues soon, it's not good for any of the owners (with working or defective units) to have this drag on and possibly destroy the product success and lifespan

bent_wookie · ‎2018-03-20

They pulled their own firmware! They wouldn't have done that if there wasn't a problem!

"When you buy this product, it comes with firmware the company has deemed defecitve. You'll have to downgrade each component yourself. 5 Stars!!"

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-20

Mines been working great as well, however new to the Orbi scene. Been online for two months solid. It's not always a HW or FW issue. There are other factors that can cause routers and wifi not to work well, theres environment, configuration and user set up that can impact how well all this works. ALL FW versions are still available from NG support. NG just pulled the recent one from being automatically upgraded. It's still available for use. Users and NG support need to troubleshoot where issue are present to really find out where the real problem is, where it be HW or otherwise.

The article and recommendation is valid.

bent_wookie · ‎2018-03-20

For the third time: The problem was widespread and serious enough for the company to pull its own firmware.

Why should the Wire Cutter put their own reputation on the line to recommend a product with known issues like this?

I don't understand the zeal to defend Netgear's poor efforts here. How do I get more customers like you guys?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-20

Again, NG only pulled it from being auto updated. It's still available and some have had good experiences with that version of FW.

Again, it's not always a HW or FW issue. Again, the problems seen can be caused by other factors.

Some of us are here to help find out where the real problems are, answer questions, provide help for those asking and help NG improve where issues are really at. Nothing wrong with this.

Besides, wirecutter isn't the only one with reviews about the Orbi system:

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33028-netgear-orbi-reviewed

This site tends to offer more testing results and more accurate reviews of routers and wifi.

tomsliwowski · ‎2018-03-20

In addition to the review, SmallNetBuilder did a relatively recent comparison of the Orbi and Velop and still found Orbi the better of the two: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33132-wi-fi-system-retest-netgear-ac3000-o...

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-20

Saw that as well.

Seen many other users posing about the good and the bad, Linksys, Google, NG.

Still haven't seen any one talk about D-Links Mesh system though accept for SNB reivew.

djc6 · ‎2018-03-20

@bent_wookiewrote:
For the third time: The problem was widespread and serious enough for the company to pull its own firmware.

But thats why I'm confused - sounds like they did the right thing? They identified a problem and stopped the rollout to limit its impact. Impacted users could roll back - I wish Apple would let me roll back some of their garbage iOS releases but they prevent you from doing so. You act like they will never release another firmware revision again.

Starbucky · ‎2018-03-20

Aren't the Dlink COVR products pretty new to the mesh game?

I did alot of research too before buying Orbi and never ran into a Dlink solution.

bent_wookie · ‎2018-03-20

You can help Netgear fix their mess all you want. God speed.

That has no bearing on whether a review site, whose entire business depends on steering their readers away from problematic products, should recommend the Orbi in its current state.

By removing 2.1.2.18 from the update server, they're indicating they want as few people as possible to have the experience associated with that release. New systems come with 2.1.2.18 (or at least mine did).

I had to downgrade my Orbis (x3) and prevent them from auto updating via telnet. That's an incredible headache for any consumer product, much less a "top recommended one".

The company is telling you there is a problem with the product. Other than dedication to the Netgear brand (which customers and review sites don't have), I do not understand the motivation to encourage other people to buy an Orbi as it works right now.

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-20

Ya, middle of last year.

Friend of mine has one...Workes well in there older 50 style house. Helped them set it up. Major improvement on there older single wifi router which didn't have the power on the radios.

Retired_Member · ‎2018-03-20

what would you recommend we use?

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-20

Well this has been going on since the dawn of router times. Nothing has been perfect on release to market. Each Mfr has had there own problems with there products at launch time. Of course we all expect to buy good working units and yes, they should work well as expected. However many people fail to understand and realize that even though there maybe faults in the code or HW, again there are other factors that can contribue to bad experiences with router and wifi devices. These have to be fully vetted before placing blame on HW and FW.

Review sites are always the first to get and test and review products. We presume that in there configuration and FW state at the time, problems may or may have not been seen or would have been noted. It's not the responsibility of a Review site to go back and re-test and re-review a product again.

One reason why you fail to understand why we seem to support NG and help others out is that some of us have the knowledge, experience and patience to help out. Some of people are not experienced, knowledable enough, nor understand fully how these devices operate or have the patience to help, give details or wait for updates. Thats there choice and there problem. Not NG or anyone elses.

Again, not everyone is having a bad time with the Orbi system. So it's telling that in most part the system does work. It's up to NG and there users to figure out where the problems are and see if we can help fix them for NG users. This has been on going for a long time.

@bent_wookiewrote:
You can help Netgear fix their mess all you want. God speed.

That has no bearing on whether a review site, whose entire business depends on steering their readers away from problematic products, should recommend the Orbi in its current state.

By removing 2.1.2.18 from the update server, they're indicating they want as few people as possible to have the experience associated with that release. New systems come with 2.1.2.18 (or at least mine did).

I had to downgrade my Orbis (x3) and prevent them from auto updating via telnet. That's an incredible headache for any consumer product, much less a "top recommended one".

The company is telling you there is a problem with the product. Other than dedication to the Netgear brand (which customers and review sites don't have), I do not understand the motivation to encourage other people to buy an Orbi as it works right now.

bent_wookie · ‎2018-03-20

@djc6wrote:
But thats why I'm confused - sounds like they did the right thing? They identified a problem and stopped the rollout to limit its impact. Impacted users could roll back - I wish Apple would let me roll back some of their garbage iOS releases but they prevent you from doing so. You act like they will never release another firmware revision again.

Pulling 2.1.2.18 is the right thing to do, but that doesn't make a unit with 2.1.2.18 a product to recommend for new customers! Until new-in-box units ship with firmware that doesn't have problems serious enough to pull for existing customers, why recommend it?!

Imagine if Apple had a release which was so bad even they decided to prevent existing phones from updating to it. After three months and no timeline for getting the problem fixed, you think a review site worth its salt would still recommend it?

I bought an Orbi on the recommendation that it would work. Full stop. Not on the promise that if I screwed with its firmware enough it might work in the future.

JeremyWxB · ‎2018-03-20

My Orbi is great. I just purchased another set for my holiday home. So, it’s not a universal problem.

Brain29 · ‎2018-03-20

Wish I had an Orbi that worked where do I find one ??

ever since 2.1 I have constiant disconnects and straight up router freezing/locking up

moved back to 2.0.1.4 and the freezing continued every day I must resetstart at least once something that never happened the first month I had Orbi (makes remote connection very fun wondering why my server won't ping back)

as for reviews I bought mine because of the raving reviews too but I found the orbi to be extremly lacking settings

This is my frist netgear product that is managed and I have not been impressed by any means

- its very sad because this is one of the only systems that has 4 lan ports on both units could have helped allot.

maybe 2.2 will be amazing but because it has been so long for an update they probally found a problem much bigger then code that is effecting "most of us"

FURRYe38 · ‎2018-03-22

Hopefully soon, the next FW update will be available.