Orbi is a Complete Netgear Failure

[eswiderski]

I've experienced just about every major issue on this forum, and finally moved to Ubiquity last weekend.  Life is much better now.

That said, I could not be more dissapointed with Netgear's complete disregard for their customers, with a "no refund" policy.  They launched (and continue distribute) out a product that is eseentially alpha status--full of bugs, connection drops, etc, and refuse to acknowledge and address it.  It was not easy spending $800 on something that is a complete POS, now they refuse to accept respeonsibility.  

Goodbye Netgear.

[linkwrt]

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wrote:

I've experienced just about every major issue on this forum, and finally moved to Ubiquity last weekend.  Life is much better now.

That said, I could not be more dissapointed with Netgear's complete disregard for their customers, with a "no refund" policy.  They launched (and continue distribute) out a product that is eseentially alpha status--full of bugs, connection drops, etc, and refuse to acknowledge and address it.  It was not easy spending $800 on something that is a complete POS, now they refuse to accept respeonsibility.  

Goodbye Netgear.

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Your post is not revelant without facts.

What are your facts or why you ar upset ?

[eswiderski]

Facts?  How about I send you 6 months of logs from all three of my devices? 

If you live in a trailor, Orbi is likely a great system for you.  However, if you live in a home anywhere near the sq. footage that Negeat claims it "covers wall to wall", then forget it.

I posted this so other consumers can avoid the many, many, many weekends of hopeless attempts of getting this system to work. Not to mention, $800 of useless pods collecting dust in my closet.

I'm personally putting out a $500 bounty out for any consumer that has used Netgear's Orbi system in a home beween 3500-5000 sq. ft, and has had a flawless experience (nevermind, horrible as with many here).

[aaz]

I'll claim that bounty - How are you going to pay? I live in a 4500 sq ft house with in floor heating so 2" gypcrete on each floor and 3 levels plus a garage. The orbi covers all three levels and well into the yard and neigbors house.  It's been pretty stable since day one except where one of my devices was causing a UPNP issue forcing me to turn off UPNP. 

It's been more stable than many other routers that I have tried as well, you can look up my previous posts.

[shadowsports]

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wrote:

I'm personally putting out a $500 bounty out for any consumer that has used Netgear's Orbi system in a home beween 3500-5000 sq. ft, and has had a flawless experience (nevermind, horrible as with many here).

Going to have to give you a kudo for that.  While my stability and reliability has been much better than yours (apparently), I am disappointed with the coverage (broadcast signal strength) claimed by Netgear.  I'm serving approx 2,600 sq. feet.  I am in full agreement, there is no way the standard Orbi can serve "up to a 5k sq. foot" home (wall to wall) adequetely.  I'll give them 2,600...  but thats it.

Cheers

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[tagteam]

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aaz wrote:
It's been more stable than many other routers that I have tried as well...

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Same experience here and my house is roughly the same size as your house. I have strong signals in my driveway and way out in the back of the lanai. I have been using my Orbi system since September and have had zero (unintentional) reboots or disconnections.

[st_shaw]

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wrote:

Facts?  How about I send you 6 months of logs from all three of my devices? 

If you live in a trailor, Orbi is likely a great system for you.  However, if you live in a home anywhere near the sq. footage that Negeat claims it "covers wall to wall", then forget it.

I posted this so other consumers can avoid the many, many, many weekends of hopeless attempts of getting this system to work. Not to mention, $800 of useless pods collecting dust in my closet.

I'm personally putting out a $500 bounty out for any consumer that has used Netgear's Orbi system in a home beween 3500-5000 sq. ft, and has had a flawless experience (nevermind, horrible as with many here).

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Send me $500 too then.

I've had my Orbi for over 12 months and it has worked great in my 3-floor 3000 SF home.  In fact, I can get a very usable signal (20 Mbps speedtest) on my iPhone 200 feet away from my house.  So, Orbi is covering 200*200*3.14 = 125,600 square feet!

[aaz]

I don't think he was going to give $500 to everyone, I think the intent was the bounty would be shared. With the amount of Orbi owners not having issues it may work out to a fraction of a penny to everyone. 

Not saying anything about the Ops issues, but it's obviously not a systemic problem since there are many owners that don't have any issue. I do think it's something environmental, but why does it seem to affect orbi for those people more so than other routers.

[st_shaw]

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wrote:

I don't think he was going to give $500 to everyone, I think the intent was the bounty would be shared. With the amount of Orbi owners not having issues it may work out to a fraction of a penny to everyone. 

Not saying anything about the Ops issues, but it's obviously not a systemic problem since there are many owners that don't have any issue. I do think it's something environmental, but why does it seem to affect orbi for those people more so than other routers.

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Good point!

Everybody has the same hardware and firmware (within a given version.)  If mine works and yours doesn't, then the problem is almost certainly caused by something about your enviornment--a rogue Android device on the network, a Sonos device using the same channels or causing a network loop, neighbor's WiFi stomping on their backhaul channel, a Nielsen box near your TV blasting out RF, a wireless HDTV extender, too many walls between the router and satellite, etc.  None of these issues are problems with the Orbi.  However, some people with these issues might see relief with a different brand of router, because Orbi is unique in the way it uses the WiFi spectrum.  Orbi uses a lot of WiFi channels, and requires WiFi links between the router and sats.  That makes it harder to setup properly, more vulernable to interference, and harder to diagnose when there are issues.

[GrumpyTanker]

I've learned (at work and at home) that there are two situations that apply with wireless communications:

1. It doesn't work. And you don't know why.

2. It works. And you don't know why.

[aaz]

Completely agree - I have a special pointy black hat at work when dealing with especially devious problems. Rarely can the fix be explained to everyone's satisfaction. 

[timch]

Yes the Orbi is not a complete failure; it appears to be causing real problems for some people but mine works perfectly in a London terraced multifloor brick house.  With one satellite I get fantastic Wi-Fi reception across all the floors despite the very congested Wi-Fi spectrum typical of city living.  I also conclude that despite the self selecting evidence of a customer forum, the majority of owners are not having a problem since eBay shows no evidence of people moving on in the UK.

[Dd852]

I certinly wouldn't want to minimize the frustrations that some people are having, but I've been extremely happy in a flat that was pretty impossible to service with wifi before because of very thick well-constructed interior walls and a long rectangular shape. Orbi works well and very stably giving 200 Mbps up/down in my study where I need it the most and 30 MBps in remote corners, which is still way more than I need. 

I'm sure if it doesn't work for you you will certainly just get angry reading this, but to trash an entrie system and a company because some have severe problems and some have a roaring success doesn't seem right. Most people who write to forums are the ones with issues - the "silent majority" don't bother looking at the forums unless they are nerds like me.

Your milage may vary - that's the unfortunate truth about networking and wireless. It's tricky. 

[Ely]

So sorry to hear about your experience bud, but after almost two years of absoulte rock solid stability and connection, I can tell you without a doubt that Orbi has been the best Wi-Fi I have ever had.

My home is big and made out of bricks, I only have two units (Rourter  and Sat.) and every inch of my home is covered. I can make a speed test anywhere inside and I get full bars and the full speed provider by my ISP.

I cannot be happier with Orbi honestly, I do understand that the firmware has had issues, even for me, this last one I had to update manually, but that's not a big deal, can happen with any router of any brand, specially when dealing with new technology such as consumer Mesh Networks.

It seems to me a small ammount of people do seem to have problems with this system (Perhaps because of enviromental issues) and Netgear has yet to figure it out.

Best luck to you.