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I just upgraded to the Orbi 970 system. In the past I was able to use older satellites to extend my wifi to a pair of distant bedrooms with a wired backhaul, when going from 750->860->960. Now my 860 Satellites don’t work in that spot. I tried synching, and that didn’t work. The 860 satellite stays magenta, and gives flaky, slow service. Sometimes it gives ~400gb/s, sometimes 30gb/s.
For my purposes, this does not need to be a seamless mesh. It’s just for kids doing homework. I upgraded to get wired 10g service to my office.
What’s the least expensive way to get reliable service to the kids rooms? I’d love a solution that doesn’t cost $900. Is there a way I can use an older Orbi router or satellite to extend? Do the ‘mesh extenders’ work with the 970? Keeping the network name and worth a few extra dollars, but not $900.
I think Netgear would maintain better brand loyalty if they would support easier upgrade paths between their products.
So it's official, you can't extend an Orbi 970 network with anything but a 970 satellite. I tried the 'mesh range extender' it was a no-go. I tried my old 960 router as a AP, and that didn't work either.
The 970 Satellite was up and working in 20 minutes.
Feels like Netgear makes it difficult on purpose. Notice you can't just buy the 970 router, by itself. They want you to go all in with the latest, most expensive.
I considered jumping off the Orbi train this time around, and probably will next time. I'm still within the return window, but once it's in and working, it's hard to start over.
But I'm not an entirely happy customer. Next firmware version should really bring better compatibility, if they want to retain customers.
The 970 seires is all new tech and hardware that makes using older model Orbi devices not compatible. Not everything can be made to work all together sometimes.
Even with the RBS ethernet connected, and placement out at 30-40 feet, the one RBS and RBR should get you good coverage, though ya, concrete will be problematic.
Can try the extender to see if it will connect however it may not being it's of older tech and the Orbi is of new tech. May need to add another RBS970 series satellite to this area via ethernet.
I tried using my 960 router in AP mode, but it stays magenta, and doesn’t actually provide an internet connection with the different network name.
Sometimes it can take a while for the magenta light to go away. I’ll check back in a while.
The ethernet is going though a Moca adapter, and the connection is decent up there when I plug it into a laptop directly. But a 960 AP as a 970 access point seems like a fail.
Having a different wifi name was at least useful to debug if it was working. Seems like Netgear really wants to force customers to use the expensive 970 satellites.
There is actually a signal from the downstairs router, but it’s weak, and flaky. One minute it’s 600Mb/sec, the next it’s below 50. Upload speeds can be as low as 3Mb/sec.
Tomorrow I’ll receive the ‘mesh extender’ and I’ll give that a shot. I also ordered a 970 satellite, so if nothing else works, I’ll spend the money and stop messing around.
So it's official, you can't extend an Orbi 970 network with anything but a 970 satellite. I tried the 'mesh range extender' it was a no-go. I tried my old 960 router as a AP, and that didn't work either.
The 970 Satellite was up and working in 20 minutes.
Feels like Netgear makes it difficult on purpose. Notice you can't just buy the 970 router, by itself. They want you to go all in with the latest, most expensive.
I considered jumping off the Orbi train this time around, and probably will next time. I'm still within the return window, but once it's in and working, it's hard to start over.
But I'm not an entirely happy customer. Next firmware version should really bring better compatibility, if they want to retain customers.
Take in to account that Orbi 970 series has new tech and also deploys mixed mode WPA2 and WPA3 which there has been a long standing problem with older wifi devices that even though they never developed for WPA3 support, have problems connecting to wifi signals what have WPA3 on the signal though WPA2 is present. I have a few NG routers that won't work in wireless bridge mode if WPA3 is present. New tech means less compatibility as well and new specs for WiFi 7 may not allow for this. There comes a time when tech just has to progress forward and yes, leave old tech behind. Something you'll have to figure out and we all have to deal with. I presume this will be with all mfrs having to deal with new tech.
