NETGEAROrbi 970 Series Quad-Band WiFi 7 Mesh Network System (RBE973S), Router + 2 Satellite Extenders, Security Features, Up to 27Gbps, Covers Up to 10,000 sq. ft., 200 Devices, 10 Gig Internet Port

I went through a couple of “cheaper” iterations of whole home internet using a nighthawk router with extenders before trying to take the dive into mesh with an eero network, which seemed much affordable, but I truly thought maybe even mesh wouldn’t work for our 5000 sq ft home. After several days of lost work time without the ability to make video calls (and even when I could it was on my mobile hotspot with a hefty overage bill from my wireless carrier), and a cranky toddler and wife with inconsistent access to the internet, I decided to bite the bullet and invest in the Orbi 970. One router and two satellites later and I’m getting down-/upload speeds greater than 700 Mbps WIRELESSLY! And my Ethernet connected devices are reaching 1 Gbps! It’s finally reliable, flawless, easy, and extremely capable WiFi. Well worth the cost. I won’t be looking back at the “cheaper” headaches.

I had my doubts about how well this would work for my use case. This has allowed me to extend my local network to the edges of my property. The setup just worked the first time (a real rarity in my experience) and the system is way fast. Expensive, but so far worth it.

Although the speed of this WiFi mesh network is great, the reliability and glitches are big detractors. I purchased two of the Orbi 970s for coverage of my 3500sqft home with AT&T Fiber 2gb/s. For context, I was upgrading from the standard issue AT&T hub and WiFi extender.The set up process for the Orbi was fine, but not without hiccups, including an initial botched setup secondary to the Orbi app timing out, I was impressed by the speed of my new WiFi network - clocking in at close to 2gb/s was mind blowing. However, my joy was short lived. The first issue I began discovering was that the range did not reach as far as advertised - it would not reach several of my outdoor Ring cameras that the standard issue AT&T router could. So I played around with moving the satellite Orbi and even physically moved my Ring cameras closer to my house on my backyard fence. Eventually I got it all working, only to have it start dropping cameras on the front of my house. Ugh. Frustrated I decided to purchase a Ring Chime Pro to serve as a connection strength booster for my cameras. Good - it was finally all up and runningOr so I thought. The Orbi now keeps dropping my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. And the devices will not reconnect unless I turn off WiFi and then turn it back on. And this consistently happens several times a day. And it occurs when I’m not walking around, so it’s not like the Orbi is trying to transfer from one satellite to another. I’ve tried everything - turning off private WiFi address, reconfiguring IP addresses, resetting network settings, rebooting the network (yes it’s the most up to date Orbi firmware). Imagine the frustration when you are downloading a Mac system update and the internet drops for no reason and creates a whole mess of frozen MacBook bliss. Been there. Imagine trying to browse the internet and webpages randomly stop loading. Yup, been there too. It’s very frustrating and happens without warning - my stress level is as high as this Orbi’s price tag. Ok I’m being dramatic, but you get the point - this is all very frustrating for such an expensive system. And it’s made worse because I just recently set up an Eero mesh network for my mom and hers has been working flawlessly. Not only was it easier to set up, but the performance and reliability has been superior. Netgear is an old company and I think we are seeing an example that older is not always better.Needless to say, I’ve decided to order myself an Eero. Unfortunately I am out of the return window for the Orbi as I kept trying to fiddle with it, changing settings on my devices, etc. So I’ll be eating the cost of the Orbi. Please learn from my mistakes.

Very fast, great coverage all over the house. I used a wired backhaul, the wireless backhaul was not as flawless as I would have liked. The built-in security is very good. All in all I would definitely buy it again.

work well. I have the router and two satellites for 2800 sq ft. Great signal throughout. All are mounted near the ceiling. Set up was Easy.

We have had a NETGEAR modem for a few years now paired with the google mesh network. The google mesh network constantly dropped and I had to restart the routers at least once a week for almost 5 years. Finally, I got sick of it and found the NETGEAR Orbi 970. It was outside my budget but I made the splurge and haven’t regretted it. I also chose to upgrade my modem to a NETGEAR CM3000. The combination has been amazing. If you want the best internet and WiFi experience then this is the WiFi router for you. I can’t forget to mention that the NETGEAR app is amazing. You can check what devices are connected to your network and the NETGEAR Armor scans all devices connected to your network for vulnerabilities. In a world where everything and everyone is trying to steal your information, I can’t imagine a better service.