I always have to laugh when i say products state " major upgrade to network security" or such. Its like saying "everything else was not secure, please upgrade!". hehe
I wish manufacturers would experiment more with designs of wifi hardware. I always thought for a business a wifi base station that would look like a plant pot..but lets you grow a real plant in middle of it, would be great for business (in before the tech nerds go "water be bad! even though obviously can make it so water won't touch hardware). Puts the whole eco friendly/hardware mesh into play.
As Netgear recently decided that it could not be bothered to fix security problems in 45 devices, they are no longer on my list of trustworthy manufacturers. (See https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/netgear_aba... for details of the routers that Netgear abandoned.)
Netgear is just about trash with support. They also are the only one that offers a "is this legal?" 90 day phone tech. support, even on their $800 mesh combo units. A non-technical friend bought an Orbi and was stunned they needed to pay money to call Netgear. You can still email Netgear for free, but I'll do an Irish jig if the first 5 emails aren't automated bots.
I'm in the same boat with Netgear and their lack of security and firmware updates. I've never used an Orbi Product so don't know if they treat it the same way, but I generally stay away from routers that don't get regular patches and updates.
I Second - could never wrap my head around spending anywhere near that kind of coin on some Netgear shit. Their support has been historically awful, they make Linksys\Belkin look like Apple.
Any business legitimately looking to spend nearly this much on a SMB-class router need not look further than the Ubiquiti Dream Machine for $300 because even with link aggregated\teamed GBe ports, you will never be able to use 4x4 802.11ax, and if you really plan to push the theoretical 3-4Gbps wirelessly, again, consider the Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP with a 10GbE uplink, which is SHOCKINGLY less expensive than these Netgear things.
That Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP is $799 for a single AP. I'm not sure how you come to the conclusion that this is SHOCKINGLY less expensive than these Netgear things, which is about the same price for 2 APs (well, router and AP). Additional Netgear APs are $420. I'm not defending Netgear, but your price assessment is inaccurate based on my findings.
I'm also unable to find any trusted third party speed tests of the Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP, so I have no idea what real world speeds it can achieve. So far the Netgear Orbi AX6000 has the fastest real world wifi speeds for any consumer device I've seen tested.
How fast? Let's compare it to the Nest Wifi, our current top pick in the mesh category. We clocked that system's top wireless transfer speeds at 612 megabits per second at a close-range distance of five feet. The Netgear Orbi 6 hit a top speed of 666Mbps -- at a distance of 75 feet. Up close, the number was 871Mbps, which is the fastest speed we've ever seen from a mesh router in that test.
How impressive? When I took the two-piece Orbi system home and tested how fast I was able to connect throughout my house, I saw average speeds at the farthest point from the router that were 95% as fast as my average speeds up close, in the same room as the router. No other mesh system I've tested has managed to get any higher than 82% in that same test. Most come in below 60%.
So many “tech sites” put the RAX 80 at the top of their list and I have nothing but problems. Between that and the extender I’m $700 invested into what was supposed to be a perfect setup finally. It’s horrible and drops out all the time everyday even streaming locally off a media server hardwired in. Never again with this company
I own a first gen Orbi. Updating the firmware has burned me so many times I’m reluctant to buy Netgear again. It’s so odd that Eero does not yet support WiFi 6. Anyone heard when this will happen?
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
18 Comments
Back to Article
imaheadcase - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
I always have to laugh when i say products state " major upgrade to network security" or such. Its like saying "everything else was not secure, please upgrade!". heheI wish manufacturers would experiment more with designs of wifi hardware. I always thought for a business a wifi base station that would look like a plant pot..but lets you grow a real plant in middle of it, would be great for business (in before the tech nerds go "water be bad! even though obviously can make it so water won't touch hardware). Puts the whole eco friendly/hardware mesh into play.
ZeDestructor - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
Actually, when it comes to wifi, water bad cause it absorbs the signals quite well.imaheadcase - Friday, September 4, 2020 - link
Actually water is not near the wifi, so won't absorb anything smartass.Duncan Macdonald - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
As Netgear recently decided that it could not be bothered to fix security problems in 45 devices, they are no longer on my list of trustworthy manufacturers.(See https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/30/netgear_aba... for details of the routers that Netgear abandoned.)
DigitalFreak - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
Not saying it's right, but I expect the other vendors of consumer network equipment would do the same thing in that situation.Makaveli - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
Not all Vendor's Asus still patches a 7-8 year old AC68U router.Its the reason I only use Asus routers running merlin firmware in soho setups.
ikjadoon - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
The two exceptions I've found:-- Synology Wi-Fi routers (still updating its first router, released in 2015)
-- ASUS Wi-Fi routers (still updating 2012 routers)
Both have released security patches in the past 90 days.
Source: https://www.synology.com/en-us/releaseNote/RT1900a...
Source: https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTN66U/HelpDesk...
Netgear is just about trash with support. They also are the only one that offers a "is this legal?" 90 day phone tech. support, even on their $800 mesh combo units. A non-technical friend bought an Orbi and was stunned they needed to pay money to call Netgear. You can still email Netgear for free, but I'll do an Irish jig if the first 5 emails aren't automated bots.
Reflex - Friday, September 4, 2020 - link
Ubiquiti also supports stuff forever, I still get updates for my N class AP's.silencer12 - Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - link
Their not bots. Pre-made templates for the first e-mail. All companies use templates.Makaveli - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
I'm in the same boat with Netgear and their lack of security and firmware updates. I've never used an Orbi Product so don't know if they treat it the same way, but I generally stay away from routers that don't get regular patches and updates.willis936 - Thursday, September 3, 2020 - link
It’s a nice feature set but that price earns every coffee spit sticker shock response it gets.Samus - Friday, September 4, 2020 - link
I Second - could never wrap my head around spending anywhere near that kind of coin on some Netgear shit. Their support has been historically awful, they make Linksys\Belkin look like Apple.Any business legitimately looking to spend nearly this much on a SMB-class router need not look further than the Ubiquiti Dream Machine for $300 because even with link aggregated\teamed GBe ports, you will never be able to use 4x4 802.11ax, and if you really plan to push the theoretical 3-4Gbps wirelessly, again, consider the Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP with a 10GbE uplink, which is SHOCKINGLY less expensive than these Netgear things.
pbollwerk - Friday, September 11, 2020 - link
That Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP is $799 for a single AP. I'm not sure how you come to the conclusion that this is SHOCKINGLY less expensive than these Netgear things, which is about the same price for 2 APs (well, router and AP). Additional Netgear APs are $420.I'm not defending Netgear, but your price assessment is inaccurate based on my findings.
pbollwerk - Friday, September 11, 2020 - link
I'm also unable to find any trusted third party speed tests of the Ubiquiti UniFi XG Wave 2 AP, so I have no idea what real world speeds it can achieve.So far the Netgear Orbi AX6000 has the fastest real world wifi speeds for any consumer device I've seen tested.
pbollwerk - Friday, September 11, 2020 - link
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/netgear-orbi-ax6000-w...How fast? Let's compare it to the Nest Wifi, our current top pick in the mesh category. We clocked that system's top wireless transfer speeds at 612 megabits per second at a close-range distance of five feet. The Netgear Orbi 6 hit a top speed of 666Mbps -- at a distance of 75 feet. Up close, the number was 871Mbps, which is the fastest speed we've ever seen from a mesh router in that test.
How impressive? When I took the two-piece Orbi system home and tested how fast I was able to connect throughout my house, I saw average speeds at the farthest point from the router that were 95% as fast as my average speeds up close, in the same room as the router. No other mesh system I've tested has managed to get any higher than 82% in that same test. Most come in below 60%.
tekeffect - Friday, September 4, 2020 - link
So many “tech sites” put the RAX 80 at the top of their list and I have nothing but problems. Between that and the extender I’m $700 invested into what was supposed to be a perfect setup finally. It’s horrible and drops out all the time everyday even streaming locally off a media server hardwired in. Never again with this companyFXi - Sunday, September 6, 2020 - link
Rather surprised this didn't also include Wifi 6e.GreenThumb - Thursday, September 10, 2020 - link
I own a first gen Orbi. Updating the firmware has burned me so many times I’m reluctant to buy Netgear again. It’s so odd that Eero does not yet support WiFi 6. Anyone heard when this will happen?