NETGEARRBK53S,

ORIGINAL REVIEW please see update below.I knew that this was overkill when I opted for it (the RBK30, or certainly the RBK40, would probably have done the job) but, at the time, the prices between the three kits on amazon made the RBK50 the logical choice.Setup was a breeze - really couldn't have been any easier.We're now getting 74 Mbs throughout the 5 apartment flat. Previously, with a BT Wi-FI extender in the sitting room, we were getting 4 to 6 Mbs, depending on the time of day.The router is in the office - which is at the opposite end of the flat to the sitting room - and is connected to a BT Home Hub 5. The satellite is in the sitting room. All walls in between are made of brick.As a bonus, we also get 50-60 Mbs in both the front and rear communal gardens and the flat is on the second floor.It's been in for a couple of weeks now and, so far, has been stable.I reckon this will turn out to be Install-And-Forget, which is just as it should be.Very happy with the purchase and would highly recommend.======= UPDATED at 9 Months In ===========One of the devices I had connected to this by Wi-Fi was an amazon Fire TV Box. This was connected - for audio - with other devices through a switching box by an SPDIF cable to a SONOS Playbase.I would get an intermittent but regular micro drop-out on audio (0.25seconds) while streaming movies or shows through it. Really annoying. Plugging in an ethernet cable - which connects through a Netgear switch to the SONOS Playbase and would then be using the SONOS mesh system - would temporarily solve the problem. This Sonos Mesh is ultimately connected to the Orbi Router again by ethernet which may or may not just be a pass through to a BT HH6 which has now replaced the BT HH5.Restarting the Orbi Satellite in the sitting room would also solve it - for maybe an hour or so.These micro drop-outs only happened while streaming TV - not when watching Broadcast TV or Blu-rays or listening to music through the SONOS Playbase.When I added into the set-up an X-Box ONE S (reporting in excess of 70Mbps over Wi-Fi) and was getting the same problem while streaming as I had with the Fire TV I figured I might as well try a BT Powerline adaptor (reporting in excess of 60Mbps) which I still had in use elsewhere in the house for a NON WI-Fi Humax Box.Glad I did. Problem solved - No drop-outs.The BT PowerLine adaptors are connected directly to the BT HH6 - NOT the Orbi Router.Nothing is now connected to the Ethernet port on the SONOS Playbase - it all goes through the Netgear switch to the Powerline adaptor.Ultimately, although I had one, I had to buy another pair of Powerline adaptors as the one I had was needed elsewhere. Ironically I'd sold a pair when I got the Orbi.There is now NO TV Streaming over Wi-Fi - it all goes through the Netgear switch to the Powerline adaptor.The Orbi Satellite will stay in the sitting room but the bandwidth that will now go through it will be greatly reduced as most of it will now be going through the Powerline adaptors.I'm still happy with the Orbi. Perhaps though not quite as much as I was two weeks in when I wrote the original review.In all other respects the Orbi has been stable.The Powerline adapters are achieving speeds 6 to 8 times faster when connected to the BT HH6 than they were when connected the the old BT HH5.======= end of first update ================ second update 6, March 2019 ========I was having a problem with the SONOS Mesh - mentioned above - which is a stand alone system to stream music to my SONOS Network with the SONOS Network itself creating its own Mesh.Anyway, when streaming from my personal music collection on an external Hard Drive connected to my MAC it'd regularly drop the connection and report "insufficient bandwidth to maintain the buffer".Relevance to the Orbi?Well, I've switched to a Wi-Fi setup for SONOS so all music now goes through the Orbi Mesh to my SONOS Network now with no issues streaming from the Hard Drive.It's been very stable since I initiated the change a week ago.So, back to loving the Orbi.====== end second update ============== third update 12, December 2020 ========I changed my TV to an LG OLED with Netflix & Prime apps built in.6 Month ago I went back to streaming TV over Wi-Fi through the Orbi Mesh and it has all been very stable. None of the previous issues with audio dropouts - it's all good.====== end third update ============== fourth update April 2022 ========Four years in and all going well - in fact I forget it's there most of the time. It really was a great buying decision.My neighbour's family were recently without access to Wifi for about a week or so, can't remember why. I setup a guest account with their own password and they could get 50Mbps+ connection through their floor.I recently swapped-out the X-Box ONE S for the Panasonic DP-UB820EB to cover 4K & Blu-ray duties. I sold the X-Box - I don't play games so was only using it as a 4K Player that did not have Dolby Vision.Anyway the Panasonic does and it integrated seamlessly into the Orbi/Sonos setup. Not only is the Picture better than the X-Box but the sound most definitely is as well.So, another great buying decision.

Have been running the RBK50 router and one satellite for over a month now and am very pleased. It’s a big step up in coverage and speed from the Virgin Media Superhub3 that it’s replaced.Install is in a 3 floor terraced house, with a small cellar. Now getting coverage everywhere in the home, the cellar was a “not spot” before. Typically 3 laptops, 3 smartphones connected at any time, peak will see this increase to 5 phones, plus a TV and a tablet, with no complaints from any users.Speeds (on an advertised 100Mps ISP connection) measured on Ookla, are comfortably above 80Mbps, except the cellar where it drops to about 30. Range is much improved as well: speeds measured at the bottom of the garden, 15m from the house and about 20m from either Orbi are 30Mbps, up from 7-8 previously.Mesh works as advertised – there’s no drop out as a device moves around the house. My key benchmark is that the quality of video streamed from a NAS to the TV is much more stable. Buffering of video is now very rare, before it was happening regularly.Set-up was easy, the app is straightforward (although see comments at the end of this review). My only observation is that it took the router a few minutes (3-4) to find the satellite. I was expecting something closer to the instantaneous connection I’m used to on a phone when it attaches to the wifi. Changing default SSID and password and setting up a guest network were no bother. I haven’t used parental controls, device time limits or other advanced features.I’ve connected printer via USB to the Orbi. This is the only part of the installation that was clunky. The Netgear app (which you have to download to each laptop using the printer) looks and feels old and although it’s not hard to follow, the UX/ UI could be easier. Biggest hassle is that you have to run the app when you start up a laptop and more often than not, click to connect before you start printing. 10 years ago, I had a Netgear NAS that connected seamlessly to a printer via USB and everything on the network could print automatically with no hassle. This feels a step backwards.I think these next points only apply because my purchase was an Amazon warehouse reconditioned unit and not a brand new one. I’d have dropped 1 or 2 stars from the review otherwise.I can’t register the unit with Netgear for support as the serial number is already registered with Netgear and won’t allow me to register. I’m guessing the original owner registered the unit before returning it and the reconditioning work done by Netgear/ Amazon has not reset the registration. 5 weeks on, Netgear have not answered my email and the product is unregistered with them and I can’t get support from them. Luckily, I haven’t needed it, but this is poor for a product sold “as new” with only a damaged packing box.The router came wrapped in a sleeve which had QR code, SSID name and password on it – all designed to help with set up. The data on the sleeve was wrong, after a couple of failed attempts where the SSID didn’t appear anywhere on the network, I looked at the data label stuck to the bottom of the Orbi: Different SSID and password - using these worked. My guess is that the sleeve was put on as part of the “re-work” and the firmware in the Orbi wasn’t changed to reflect this. Again, a product sold “as new” shouldn’t have these problems.