Is it just time to upgrade to a newer model?

[MNVik]

We have 5 family members on our Orbi RBR50 with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, lots of research and cell phones connected by Broadband. Should we upgrade to a more powerful system?

[plemans · Accepted solution]

Depends on if its working or not. the RBR50 system was one of the fastest/widest coverage/reliable systems you could get for a long time. 

I've got it and still use it at times even over my AX11000 mesh system. 

As well as what speeds you pay for. If you're on a 100-300+mbps ISP setup, the bottleneck won't be the orbi. 

Plus, if it was me, I'd be waiting on generation 2 of wireless AX devices for a few more bugs to be ironed out. 

[plemans · Accepted solution]

Depends on if its working or not. the RBR50 system was one of the fastest/widest coverage/reliable systems you could get for a long time. 

I've got it and still use it at times even over my AX11000 mesh system. 

As well as what speeds you pay for. If you're on a 100-300+mbps ISP setup, the bottleneck won't be the orbi. 

Plus, if it was me, I'd be waiting on generation 2 of wireless AX devices for a few more bugs to be ironed out. 

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

One User Experience/Configuration:
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Most-Stable-Orbi-Configuration/m-p/1941087/highlight/true#M970...

You can find other speed diagnosis steps in the community faq: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-AX/Community-FAQ-My-Orbi-speeds-are-slow-inconsistent-and-don-...

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@MNVik wrote:

We have 5 family members on our Orbi RBR50 with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, lots of research and cell phones connected by Broadband. Should we upgrade to a more powerful system?

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[MNVik]

Thank you, you confirmed what I was thinking about waiting until the next system came out!

[theoak]

I get 300/30 from my ISP. From an ISP perspective, getting an AX based Orbi is going to do me nothing.

All but one of my devices are AC. I have only one AX based device and it is sub 1gig anyway. So upgrading my Orbi RBR50 to a newer version, again, is going to do me nothing.

Now, if I had hundreds of devices at home the newer devices can handle more connections; but again, I don't.

The next bump up from my ISP is 1gig. Again though, wirelessly, none of my devices can go that fast; hence, bumping up the speeds on my ISP will do me nothing. Even streaming multiple 4k programs, my 300 Mbps down is plenty.

Until through natural progression the bulk of my devices get to a point where I would actually use 1 gig or higher wirelessly, I will be quite happy with the RBR50 and its satellites for a good while.

Of course, if my ISP "wants" to bump me up to 1 gig because of some special or the like, I am not going to complain. Again however, the bulk of my devices won't use that and hence it would still be a tough justification to upgrade my RBR50 based system.

Now, if you are brand new to mesh, and getting your first mesh system, get the newest you can afford. That is essentially the general rule though with any electronics.

[GMoGoody8]

I personally am holding out for two things 

 - Tri-Band - WiFi 6E Supporting Orbi
 - An Orbi that has at a minimum two 2.5Gb or greater Ethernet Ports. I want one on both WAN and LAN side.