Netgear Orbi is a joke considering what it costs!
I have a fairly large house with two floors of 3,000 square feet each.
So I need satellites!
I have an RBR40 Router, two RBS40 satellites and two RBS20 satellites.
1. The system is awful at choosing the strongest signal between devices and satellite or router and switches itself back and forth a bit sometimes seemingly randomly.
For example, a device would much rather choose the Router that is 100 feet away with two outer walls than the satellite that is 50 feet away without an outer wall. Or often another satellite 70 feet away with two outer walls.
And only sometimes choose the nearest satellite with by far the strongest signal
And I can do nothing to influence the selection.
The interface is a joke with an App and a web login that looks completely different to each other.
And the two interfaces (App & Web) makes it virtually impossible to follow the configuration during trial and error changes.
It is slow, it takes several minutes before changes are seen.
In the app you see the signal strength of the devices directly, in the web interface you have to click for a while to get a verbal description of the signal strength.
None of the interfaces show all the devices and about 30% of them are never displayed even if they are active and working.
The web interface usually does not display the real names of all the satellites, it only says "Satellite."
The app shows the configuration graphically, but only for three satellites. The fourth is only seen in tabular form and then you can no longer see connected devices (if they are now visible at all).
There is no graphical presentation in the web interface at all.
The help texts are substandard and are sometimes completely missing when you are forced to sit up for several nights and look and chance with changes that are suggested on the Forum.
For example, to set the signal strength of the Router so that it does not take devices that are MUCH closer than the satellite. Can be set to 100, 75, 50 or 25% but makes no difference at all!
The whole system is not built for fixed Wifi devices at all, it only seems to be built for mobile devices.
I have many white goods (fridges, ovens etc) and home automation devices that constantly get a much worse signal than what should get and it is terribly frustrating that I can not set which satellite they should choose. Orbi chooses wrong almost all the time !!!!
What is your recommendation for the easiest way to make this substandard system to work???
To install a fixed ethernet cable to the rooms where there are many fixed units (bedroom, kitchen, study room, living room) and have satellites placed there that are extremely close to the fixed units?
Sitting up for another 10 nights and taking a chance with new settings and booting about 100 times is NOT an option.
Nor to sell the rubbish as I have paid a lot for it.
But it's pretty easy to pull cables for me!
