Our Asus high-speed multi band router with extenders simply was getting overloaded with all our smarthome devices - even with only 2 people at home. I decided on the Orbi RBK20 router + 2 satellite pack after some extensive research on mesh wifi systems. Most of the lower cost systems are dual band and often don't have MU-MIMO whereas the Orbi had multiband and MU-MIMO. Even the in-store Geek Squad tech commented that the Orbi is head and shoulders above everything, including the much praised Velop - in particular he mentioned that the RB20 is easily the better overall product to the more expensive RBK50 set up.
Setup was a bit troublesome, and I did end up having to call Netgear support, however as it was later in the evening, the wait time was only a couple of minutes and once I connected with a support tech, I found them to be very helpful. It took us about 40 minutes to get the router and internet access configured which included a reboot of my Fido high-speed modem. After than he even helped me set up the DNS for my VPN services. Once I got the router going, re-connecting all our devices to the new network was a breeze. I only have a couple of Echo Dots to connect now because I decided at 11pm at night to give it a rest.
We are in a two-storey home, with the router located in the basement (one of the reasons for poor connectivity across my previous set up with 2 extenders). I have set up one satellite on each of the main and second floors in a zig-zag pattern as suggested by the support tech. I am still futzing a bit with location, but all seems very stable and very fast.
The key pros I found with the Orbi include:
- single network across the entire environment rather than the multiple networks under a router plus extender setup
- excellent signal strength throughout the entire home.
- streaming seems more reliable
- mobile app
- web-based control app much more intuitive and easier to use than previous web-consoles I have used
- all 3 units - home router and both satellites, include 2 ethernet ports providing additional device connectivity options if you need them.
There are one or two cons, however.
- units are larger than other competing products (Velop, Google, etc.)
- locating satellites will take some time to get it just right
- setup was less intuitive than I would have hoped.
I have attached a D-Link 8 port Metal GB switch to the router for all my attached devices (VoIP box, personal cloud drive, etc.) and the entire footprint for these two devices is smaller than the previous footprint of my Asus RT-AC87R router which was one big piece of kit.
There are much, much less expensive products available and I was a bit unsure about dropping this much cash on home networking, however, now that it's up and running, I admit to being very happy with the end result.
Overall, you'd be very hard pressed to find a home mesh wifi system with this level of features at this price point.