NETGEAROrbi Whole Home Tri-Band WiFi 6 Mesh Network System (RBK852) – Router with 1 Satellite Extender -Security Features - Coverage Up to 5,000 sq. ft., 100 Devices - AX6000 (Up to 6Gbps)

I’ve been using the Netgear Orbi 970 for a few weeks now, and overall, it’s a solid mesh WiFi system, but it’s not perfect. The setup was pretty easy, even for someone who isn’t super tech-savvy. The app walks you through everything, and I had the whole thing up and running in about 20 minutes.The coverage is impressive. I have a three-story house with a lot of dead zones, and the Orbi 970 pretty much wiped those out. Speeds are fast and consistent, even when multiple people are streaming or gaming at the same time. I also like that it supports WiFi 7, so it feels future-proof.That said, the price is steep. It’s definitely on the higher end, and I’m not sure everyone needs this much power unless you have a big house or a lot of devices. Also, the units themselves are kind of bulky, so they’re not the easiest to hide.One thing that bugged me is that some advanced features are locked behind a subscription. For the price, I expected more included out of the box. The parental controls and security features are good, but having to pay extra for them feels a bit much.In short, the Orbi 970 is a great choice if you want top-tier performance and don’t mind spending extra. If you’re on a budget or have a smaller space, you might want to look at other options. But if you want fast, reliable WiFi everywhere in your home, it delivers.

So easy to set up, no lag in speeds, great coverage through the entire house, out into the front and back Yard

I've never written a review for anything in the past but hopefully this helps add a bit of clarity around what can be expected with this router/satellite, especially given the price.After many hours of researching the RBK852 Wifi 6 router/satellite combo (the $650 version), I decided to give it a try. I was hesitant at first given the negative reviews on Amazon, but in light of the overwhelmingly positive reviews from nearly every tech site I read (with the only real 'con' listed across most sites being the price), I was banking on negative experiences being a result of either QA issues that slipped through the cracks or simple human error.That said, I'm reasonably tech savvy, so I figured/hoped I could get a good result.In the interest of full disclosure, I've only been using it for 2 days - so time will tell if what I write here remains true in the long run. I'll update this review if things turn out differently.Setup:Took about 30 min from unboxing to completion. Really straight forward using the Netgear app on my phone. In the app, your able to setup the network, change the default SSID and password. Unlike most other routers I've worked with, there is no need to configure the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz networks separately; the router handles the broadcast of each using an identical SSID and assigns each connected device to the frequency best suited.I followed another reviewer's recommendation to setup the router with the satellite a few feet away, then moved the satellite to it's proper place. This seemed to work just fine, I don't know if I would have had an issue otherwise.I have the router in a small downstairs office and the satellite in the upstairs game room.Speeds:The farthest point in my house away from either the router or satellite is about 60 ft (in a straight line with walls/doors obstructing line of sight).At that farthest point, I average 400Mbps.In a room with the maximum number of walls between me and either the router or satellite I get around 350 Mbps.Most places in the house average 650 Mbps.If I'm in the same room as EITHER the router OR satellite, I'll get a minimum of 960 Mbps, frequently hitting over 1 Gbps.I've experienced no loss of connection moving through the house and have had no issues to speak of, whatsoever.Conclusion:If you're looking for a whole-home, high-speed wifi setup and have the money to spend, I'd definitely recommend giving this a try. I've had a few high end, "high-speed" wireless routers in the past, but nothing that comes close to the speed and coverage of the Orbi. Your experience may differ, but at the moment, I regret nothing.

Update 2: Replaced with the router in my first update and everything now works flawlessly. I can’t believe the difference. My system is completely stable now. The instability that I was getting with the Orbi 970 was extremely painful. When you buy a router system, what you should expect is that it just works. Even the app was bad. It frequently had errors causing me to not be able to see any devices. When I searched online, sure enough a lot of other people were also having these issues. Please, don’t put yourself through the trouble of this router.Update: This is the most frustrating router that I have ever used. I stopped buying from Netgear along time ago and for some reason forgot why. The router randomly restarts every couple of weeks (common issues with others that have this router as well). The real problem is, when it restarts my Hue and Nest cameras get very messed up. Lights won’t respond. Cameras going offline. It takes several restarts of the satellites and router, plus several hours to get everything running again. This mesh system is just pure garbage. I’ll be selling this trash and moving to an Eero Max 7.Had several frustrations so far. It was going very well for the first three weeks. I had no issues at all. Then, it randomly rebooted by itself. That random reboot led to some serious issues with my Philips Hue system. I had lights not responding and dimmer switches having connection issues.I started troubleshooting my Hue system because it seemed that was the likely issue. Then, I upgraded my Orbi firmware and magically everything was fine again. During the upgrade the Orbi satellites also upgraded and all of them rebooted.Several days later I needed to unplug a satellite. When I tried to replug it back in, it struggled to reconnect. I restarted the router thinking that might fix the issue. The satellite did eventually reconnect, but ALL of the Hue problems came back. It took me literally hours of troubleshooting Hue, restarting the router and satellites to get it working again. Finally, I restarted the router and all satellites (which I had already tried several times), and everything worked again.What a hassle this system is for $2,000. I contemplated between the 970 and the Eero 7 before settling on the 970. The only reason I chose the 970 was the dedicated 2.4 Iot channel. I regret not going with the Eero 7.What it does well is speed, range and keeps all of Nest cameras from disconnecting. My old Asus AXE16000 had issues with cameras going offline, the 970 fixed that completely. However, I’m sure the Eero 7 would have done that as well.

I upgraded my old Google mesh WiFi to 970s and these mesh access points are so much faster. I am getting a full Gig during Speedtest on wireless. I highly recommend.