Add-on Orbi Satellite (RBS50)

Don't buy this product. The hardware is great. When it works, it works wonderfully. However, as of the date of this post, the Orbi has been crippled by its firmware for around three weeks. Appreciating that a firmware update can have unintended consequences, and hoping that a fix may be forthcoming, Netgear's completely inadequate handling of the situation suggests to me that this company is one you will not want to trust going forward.I purchased this product about 6 months ago. I have a system with a router and two satellites. At first, all was good. The setup was particularly easy. Some users reported occasional drops on ios and android devices which they attributed to the Orbi. I experienced some drops, but nothing particularly troublesome and who knows if it was the Orbi. Functionality always restored quickly, and my overall coverage was so much improved that I was very happy. Eventually, Netgear pushed a firmware update, and my measured wifi speeds dramatically decreased with distance away from the router. Logging in to the router, it was clear that the two satellites had ceased to communicate with the router/hub. Every effort to wipe, reset, and resync the system was useless. Tech support should have been aware of the firmware problem within a day or so but continued to obliviously suggest doomed-to-fail efforts to reset and resync. Eventually, after 4 or 5 hours of escalated phone support, the support technician acknowledged what should have been completely obvious, there was a firmware problem, and there was no ETA on the fix. On my last call, I was told it "should be about a week." That was about 4 days ago, but I am not holding my breath.As it stands, with the new firmware, my system is not a mesh network at all. It is a single access point with two dead satellites. For weeks now, the Orbi has done nothing more than the cable modem/router it replaced. It is possible to manually roll back the system to older firmware. After a roll back, all is in order and running great. What is really infuriating is that Netgear, in its wisdom, configured the Orbi to auto update firmware in a manner that cannot be turned off or blocked. So, you can roll back the firmware and have a working mesh system that breaks itself in a day or two after auto updating. Netgear support advised that preventing users from stopping the auto update was a feature for easy operation. Thanks for that Netgear. A big ol' rock is also easy to operate and is as useful to my network as the Orbi satellites.You will see some good reviews here. Aside from shills, those are understandable. The hardware once worked terrifically, and some users claim the newest firmware works for them. Don't believe it. Maybe you will get lucky, but my experience is that Netgear pushed firmware that made my system completely non-functional then hid from the problem while I wasted hours on support calls. Even if you get lucky, do you want to deal with a company that forces autoupdates of broken firmware? You don't. If you are still tempted, take a look at the Orbi message boards maintained by Netgear. You will see almost a month of upset users postings with no meaningful response from the company. Netgear could simply disable autoupdates or push the older firmware while it works on a fix. For whatever reason, this company prefers a strategy of radio silence.I believe that Amazon should delist this product, at least while so many users continue to report that it is not functioning for any aspect of its intended purpose.UPDATE: After posting this review, Netgear replaced both of my satellites. Counterintuitively, this seems to have fixed my system. It has only been up and running for a few days. I have experienced a couple of wifi drops, but I have not reached a conclusion as to whether I expect this to be a frequent problem. There is still no new firmware, there is still no way that I can determine to get around the firmware auto updates, and there are still apparently folks with non-functioning systems posting in the forums. I would like to see Netgear address these issues. If my system stays functioning well for a fair period of time, I will definitely up my one star review. When it works, it is a FLAMETHROWER. If Netgear fixes the underlying issues with the firmware in a way reproducible for all users, it would really be a top-notch product.UPDATE (12/22/17): I am changing my initial 1-star to a 4-star. The new firmware is, in fact, working great. Per my earlier review, when this system is working, it is hard to beat. The new firmware is killing it. I used conventional range extenders before, and there was always a huge drop in performance with the extenders. This Orbi system has fast speeds everywhere even at the farthest reaches of my property. Compared to old-fashioned range extenders, it's like magic. The satellites, which once did not work at all, are suddenly very stable. I also just received the firmware push including the Circle parental control feature, and that is a really great surprise added bonus. I do think users of network products need more control over firmware, and the several weeks I spent with a non-functioning system due to a push of bad firmware really prevents me from a full 5-stars at this point. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that experience, but it is going away. I am loving this system today. I am happy with the purchase and would recommend it to others.

Orbi simplifies your home wifi with a single SSID and an expandable mesh network that reaches the farthest corners with blazing speed.Can be configured as a hub and spoke (Router is hub and satellites are spokes around the house) or in a daisy chain (router is at one end of the house and talks through satellite(s) to get to other satellites.Tech support at netgear is non existent but dont worry. There is an excellent user community that will help you online if you have any issues.This piece of equipment appears to be simple, but the operations it performs are complex. It has dozens of settings and security options that depending on your setup you may want to change.Pro tip: If your cable modem has a router built into it, I highly recommend you disable or bridge that router and turn off the modem's wifi before installing Orbi. You can only have one router in a network else you will end up in what is known as a double-nat situation and become extremely frustrated. Bridging is normally easy to do, but you might want to jump on the netgear community board before install if you dont have a simple cable modem.At the end of the day, this thing is scalding fast and works superbly with excellent security and controls from either a web browser or a smart phone app.

Got tired of spotty wifi In the 2-flat during the pandemic so we bought the Orbi based on reviews reporting it was easy to install. The instructions were clear and each step worked as it should. Within 45 minutes, the base and satellite were linked and working fine. Wifi speed and reliability were several times better. After a couple of weeks, we bought two more satellites to add coverage to the basement and rear of the building. All four linked together without problems. Two months later, it has operated flawlessly other than needing to be reset after a power failure.

I was shocked at the performance of these units along with the coverage and seemless transition from one unit to another. Single SSID for multiple devices with a seemless transition to a higher signal unit is wonderful. There are units with better coverage and there are units with better throughput but the expandable nature with the extra satellites along with the aforementioned surprised me. I work in the technology field so I do not make these comments lightly. You are not going to mount these on a wall would be a limitation if you wanted to be picky but they are not ugly by any means. I would recommend these units. I have a 5800 sq ft house along with a lot of land and I can actually still be connected in my yard up to about 200' from the house. I added 3 satellites and could have likely got away with 1 or 2 satellites. If you buy I would suggest getting the base unit and then seeing your coverage before buying a satellite at a time until you are happy. The Ethernet ports on the back are helpful for devices that require hard wire so you can connect them and let the Orbi shoot the connection over wifi on the satellite units.