WIFI mesh - Orbi or Google

[Hoosier CPA]

I know there's a lot of WIFI threads but wondering if someone in the know could give me a specific recommendation.

I like buying at Costco due to return policies. We currently have a TP Link Deco M9 which has worked great but we've had trouble with it recently. Since I bought it this year at Costco, I'm planning to return it.

Looking at two different Mesh systems that are a bit pricey, but since we have 2 adults WFH and 3 kids soon to be on e-learning, I'm ok with it.

They have a google nest 4 pack, which is $400, but I've noticed they go on sale from time to time. https://www.costco.com/google-nest-wifi ... 17182.html

They also have a high end wifi 6 Orbi, which is currently knocked down to $430 from $500.

https://www.costco.com/netgear-orbi-who ... 33367.html

Seems like the Orbi has much better specs but I'd read many threads on here about people being happy with the Google system. I'm hesitant with Google due to privacy but mainly I want something that is plug and play (and I figure my work email is google so it's not like they don't have my info anyway). As far as usage is concerned, my wife and I work a decent amount of hours, and I'm consistently on video calls. Kids will have chromebooks on once school is e-learning, but it's fairly low data usage. We also stream netflix, youtube tv, etc., but not too much of that.

Thanks in advance...

[Cruise]

We have an earlier version of Orbi, which has worked out great for us. My wife is constantly in Zoom, and I am frequently on at the same time. All the while, we have five security cameras streaming to the cloud and two computers accessing non-video data.

[JBTX]

We've had an Orbi system for several years and it has worked flawlessly.

[imsomeguy]

Been using Google WiFi for about 4 years and it's been great. Super easy setup

[MBB_Boy]

Have the Orbi system, and de-Googled my life about 5 years ago. Definitely bias away from them. The Orbi has been plug and play

[Monsterflockster]

I know there's a lot of WIFI threads but wondering if someone in the know could give me a specific recommendation.

I like buying at Costco due to return policies. We currently have a TP Link Deco M9 which has worked great but we've had trouble with it recently. Since I bought it this year at Costco, I'm planning to return it.

Looking at two different Mesh systems that are a bit pricey, but since we have 2 adults WFH and 3 kids soon to be on e-learning, I'm ok with it.

They have a google nest 4 pack, which is $400, but I've noticed they go on sale from time to time. https://www.costco.com/google-nest-wifi ... 17182.html

They also have a high end wifi 6 Orbi, which is currently knocked down to $430 from $500.

https://www.costco.com/netgear-orbi-who ... 33367.html

Seems like the Orbi has much better specs but I'd read many threads on here about people being happy with the Google system. I'm hesitant with Google due to privacy but mainly I want something that is plug and play (and I figure my work email is google so it's not like they don't have my info anyway). As far as usage is concerned, my wife and I work a decent amount of hours, and I'm consistently on video calls. Kids will have chromebooks on once school is e-learning, but it's fairly low data usage. We also stream netflix, youtube tv, etc., but not too much of that.

Thanks in advance...

Google WiFi is $229 at my Costco. It not the Nest system... just “Google WiFi.” But better than $400

[TallBoy29er]

Two very good options. No right or wrong answer, whichever you choose will be fine. I have used Google for 5+ years, zero issue, love it.

[marcwd]

I know there's a lot of WIFI threads but wondering if someone in the know could give me a specific recommendation.

I like buying at Costco due to return policies. We currently have a TP Link Deco M9 which has worked great but we've had trouble with it recently. Since I bought it this year at Costco, I'm planning to return it.
...

My recommendation is to attempt to understand why your existing system which was working great not long ago might now be giving you trouble. Was there a recent software update from the manufacturer? The hardware itself is highly unlikely to have developed problems.

[firedup]

I've used Google Wifi for a few years and had no problems. I would recommend it.

I will say that when setting it up, I benefited from watching some YouTube videos created by people a lot smarter than me who helped make my set up work flawlessly.

I'm sorry I don't remember the exact details, but I had to adjust a setting in my current AT&T router that made the Google Wifi work seamlessly. Had I not made that adjustment, I may have had some issues.

[Cpadave]

Had orbi which worked great for a while then started to disconnect from internet frequently. Switched to google and for most part had no issues.

[Hoosier CPA]

I know there's a lot of WIFI threads but wondering if someone in the know could give me a specific recommendation.

I like buying at Costco due to return policies. We currently have a TP Link Deco M9 which has worked great but we've had trouble with it recently. Since I bought it this year at Costco, I'm planning to return it.
...

My recommendation is to attempt to understand why your existing system which was working great not long ago might now be giving you trouble. Was there a recent software update from the manufacturer? The hardware itself is highly unlikely to have developed problems.

I am going to see if I can figure it out and follow up with TP Link at least on Monday. It has worked flawlessly since March, but it's had a number of issues the past couple weeks. I can get by for work by plugging in to the ethernet port but the wireless has issues. Agree with what you are saying about the hardware.

[Afty]

I've used Google WiFi for 3.5 years, and it's been totally reliable and maintenance free. For the last several months we've had 4 people on video calls all day, and no problems at all.

[mortfree]

Google store has sale on November 25.

But I know you prefer Costco.

[hudson]

I know there's a lot of WIFI threads but wondering if someone in the know could give me a specific recommendation.

They have a google nest 4 pack, which is $400, but I've noticed they go on sale from time to time. https://www.costco.com/google-nest-wifi ... 17182.html

I've been running google wifi...3 nodes... for one year. It replaced my router. It works through 2 brick walls. Two students have made it fine working from home. They do netflix and all of that stuff. I believe the new version is nest. Setup was almost idiot proof. I manage it on my iphone. I'd buy it again.

[tedgeorge]

I’ve been burned by firmware updates before so that could have happened to you on your setup. Worth checking out to see if there is a setting or something that was flipped by the update. Or maybe you need to update.

One dumb thing that got me was a node went offline and the only way to tell was checking the app. It wasn’t obvious because your devices will try to reach any node it can so if you’re on the edge of two nodes you’ll start getting really poor service as you’ve latched on to a far away node.

I updated to Google WiFi when we installed google fiber. Works great with multiple users streaming.

[TomatoTomahto]

Had orbi which worked great for a while then started to disconnect from internet frequently. Switched to google and for most part had no issues.

Had this also, and Orbi has a limited number of satellites (difficult stone house). So, I moved the Orbi boxes to our detached garage/office and switched to eero in the house.

Theoretically, they are not as fast as Orbi, but they have performed flawlessly.

[IowaFarmBoy]

We've been running the Google mesh for several years- probably 3-4 and it has been very good. I think it may have been the only option available at the time. My general opinion is that we are very happy with it but there might be better (cheaper) options out there now- I haven't had a reason to look.

[Ruprecht]

I have the Orbi 6. Have been using it about seven months now. Works great. Was very easy to set up.

[michaelingp]

I love the Orbi. I think one difference is the Orbi has Ethernet ports. At least I think that was the difference back when I compared them. An Ethernet cable has advantages over WiFi in terms of consistency. Of course, it won't matter if in your situation you would never connect anything with a cable.

[Afty]

I love the Orbi. I think one difference is the Orbi has Ethernet ports. At least I think that was the difference back when I compared them. An Ethernet cable has advantages over WiFi in terms of consistency. Of course, it won't matter if in your situation you would never connect anything with a cable.

Google Wifi also has ethernet ports, two per unit. Google Nest Wifi does not. It's confusing.

[Hoosier CPA]

I love the Orbi. I think one difference is the Orbi has Ethernet ports. At least I think that was the difference back when I compared them. An Ethernet cable has advantages over WiFi in terms of consistency. Of course, it won't matter if in your situation you would never connect anything with a cable.

Google Wifi also has ethernet ports, two per unit. Google Nest Wifi does not. It's confusing.

Yes, that's annoying. Google Wifi is AC1200, and Google Nest is AC2200. Based on that, I was leaning towards the Nest. I with the nest had the ethernet ports instead of the speaker, which I won't use.

[Hoosier CPA]

Google store has sale on November 25.

But I know you prefer Costco.

Yes, saw that. Thanks. Costco's return policy is the key for me on this.

[BIGal]

I decided it was time to move to a mesh system from my Apple Airport Extreme. I chose the Eero and have been "extremely" satisfied.
https://eero.com/shop/eero-pro-6

May want to expand your search to include this system.

Good Luck with whatever decision you make!!

[michaelingp]

Yes, that's annoying. Google Wifi is AC1200, and Google Nest is AC2200. Based on that, I was leaning towards the Nest. I with the nest had the ethernet ports instead of the speaker, which I won't use.

You definitely want better than AC1200. With AC1200 most likely the router will be slower than what your ISP provides. I went from a AC1200 router to the AC3000 Orbi, and until then I never realized that the router was the choke point in my network. I was paying Verizon for 100 Mbits but even on Ethernet I was getting less than half that. With the Orbi, all my devices get over 100 Mbits in speed test.

[02nz]

Yes, that's annoying. Google Wifi is AC1200, and Google Nest is AC2200. Based on that, I was leaning towards the Nest. I with the nest had the ethernet ports instead of the speaker, which I won't use.

You definitely want better than AC1200. With AC1200 most likely the router will be slower than what your ISP provides. I went from a AC1200 router to the AC3000 Orbi, and until then I never realized that the router was the choke point in my network. I was paying Verizon for 100 Mbits but even on Ethernet I was getting less than half that. With the Orbi, all my devices get over 100 Mbits in speed test.

These numbers are pretty meaningless. There was almost certainly something else affecting your speed, nothing to do with AC1200 vs AC3000 or whatever. That you were getting slow speeds on Ethernet means the issue had nothing to do with wi-fi (and the ACXXXX number only applies to wi-fi).

The number behind AC has to do with theoretical maximum speeds for the wifi connection (not your internet provider), and it's a bunch of crock. Most computers and cell phones with AC wifi can "only" do a theoretical max of 867 Mbps, with real speeds around 300-500 Mbps. That's way faster than most people's home internet, and so if you have 100 Mbps internet it matters not a whit whether your router is AC1200 or AC3000.

AC1200 = 2x2 AC 5GHz at 867 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 300 Mbps - but you can't actually connect one device to both bands simultaneously
AC2000 = 4x4 AC 5GHz at 1734 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 450 Mbps - again, hypothetical speeds supported by very few phones and computers

[teCh0010]

Orbi has a dedicated backhaul radio, google does not. I would pick Orbi

[02nz]

Orbi has a dedicated backhaul radio, google does not. I would pick Google.

Depends on which one you're talking about. Not all of the Orbi systems have dedicated backhaul.

[Freefun]

I realize you want something at Costco but I bought an eero pro 6 set at Amazon (also good return policy). Works great - I get 940 mbps down and 50 up. Setup was very fast and seamless.

[Barsoom]

Have you looked at Eero?

I looked into mesh wifi, but have avoided it so far. I am staying away from anything the has Google built into it, but I read that Eero looks like a good product.

-B

[gwe67]

Just installed Google Nest wifi mesh system today. Kind of a pain to set up, but seems to be working well. I will have to research the privacy settings more, but I declined all options to send info to Google.

Unfortunately, only one ethernet port is provided, so I have to buy an ethernet splitter to connect various wired devices directly to the router.

[JimMolony]

Neither. Bought eero by Amazon. $379 at Best Buy. Works incredibly well.

[marcwd]

I decided it was time to move to a mesh system from my Apple Airport Extreme. I chose the Eero and have been "extremely" satisfied.
https://eero.com/shop/eero-pro-6

May want to expand your search to include this system.

Good Luck with whatever decision you make!!

Did your living space grow? Curious that you migrated to a 6-unit mesh system from a single router that must have worked at least fairly well.

[illumination]

I had a bad experience with Orbi, had to return.

Absolutely love my Eero Pros. Have helped a few family members install their Eero (non-pro), everyone was really happy with them.

[Gadget]

I personally have the Orbi and so does a friend. If you're even slightly technologically inclined, I'd recommend Orbi. Or if you're a gamer, or have a home server, or a lot of wifi cameras. Some situation like that.

If you're a normal internet user and just want the easiest setup possible without hassling with settings, I'd go with the Google Nest Wifi one. It's both cheaper and less finicky with firmware updates.

[cannister]

Glad to see others are having the same dilemma.

I did a home experiment to compare Costco's Nighthawk Mesh vs. Netgear Orbi ($430) with AT&T gigabit.

* If setting up with iOS 14 you may run into app problems. I had to use an old Ipad to setup but then things worked on iPhones afterward.
* Found Orbi to be superior. Here's a screenshot of my results https://imgur.com/IA2NHIm
* Nighthawk speeds dropped
* Orbi markedly improved basement connectoin
* Ethernet backhaul in Orbi permitted me to retire an old power-link adapter for my 8 year old canon laser printer

[BogleZogle___Mogul]

I decided it was time to move to a mesh system from my Apple Airport Extreme. I chose the Eero and have been "extremely" satisfied.
https://eero.com/shop/eero-pro-6

May want to expand your search to include this system.

Good Luck with whatever decision you make!!

Did your living space grow? Curious that you migrated to a 6-unit mesh system from a single router that must have worked at least fairly well.

That’s 6 as in the WiFi 6 standard, not a 6 unit system. The Eeros linked above come in either a 3 pack or a 1 pack.

I’ve used a 3 pack of Eero Pros for the last 3 years or so and highly recommend them. They work great, easy setup, and you never have to think about them.

[Dave55]

I have had the Google WiFi Mesh since April, no hiccups, works great.

Dave

[Hoosier CPA]

Yes, that's annoying. Google Wifi is AC1200, and Google Nest is AC2200. Based on that, I was leaning towards the Nest. I with the nest had the ethernet ports instead of the speaker, which I won't use.

You definitely want better than AC1200. With AC1200 most likely the router will be slower than what your ISP provides. I went from a AC1200 router to the AC3000 Orbi, and until then I never realized that the router was the choke point in my network. I was paying Verizon for 100 Mbits but even on Ethernet I was getting less than half that. With the Orbi, all my devices get over 100 Mbits in speed test.

These numbers are pretty meaningless. There was almost certainly something else affecting your speed, nothing to do with AC1200 vs AC3000 or whatever. That you were getting slow speeds on Ethernet means the issue had nothing to do with wi-fi (and the ACXXXX number only applies to wi-fi).

The number behind AC has to do with theoretical maximum speeds for the wifi connection (not your internet provider), and it's a bunch of crock. Most computers and cell phones with AC wifi can "only" do a theoretical max of 867 Mbps, with real speeds around 300-500 Mbps. That's way faster than most people's home internet, and so if you have 100 Mbps internet it matters not a whit whether your router is AC1200 or AC3000.

AC1200 = 2x2 AC 5GHz at 867 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 300 Mbps - but you can't actually connect one device to both bands simultaneously
AC2000 = 4x4 AC 5GHz at 1734 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 450 Mbps - again, hypothetical speeds supported by very few phones and computers

I haven't bought anything yet as I've been trying to fix the issue with TP Link. Issue is that the system will not work if I change either the network name or the password. TP Link customer support was not helpful. Kept telling me I need to also change the network name/password on the device I'm using, which is obvious. I wish I could figure out what the issue is since the units have worked well. We had to change our password since one of our kids gave it to a teenager next door.

Back to your message - we pay for 200 MB service. Given that, is there any issue with getting an AC1200 router, such as the regular Google WIFI? I had excluded the regular Google WIFI for that reason but like the idea that it has the ethernet ports on all the units, and the price is much lower. Plus I have no use for the speaker.

The reviews on all this stuff aren't helpful. People seem to either love them if they work or hate them if they have any issues at all, which I guess has been my experience too.

[02nz]

Yes, that's annoying. Google Wifi is AC1200, and Google Nest is AC2200. Based on that, I was leaning towards the Nest. I with the nest had the ethernet ports instead of the speaker, which I won't use.

You definitely want better than AC1200. With AC1200 most likely the router will be slower than what your ISP provides. I went from a AC1200 router to the AC3000 Orbi, and until then I never realized that the router was the choke point in my network. I was paying Verizon for 100 Mbits but even on Ethernet I was getting less than half that. With the Orbi, all my devices get over 100 Mbits in speed test.

These numbers are pretty meaningless. There was almost certainly something else affecting your speed, nothing to do with AC1200 vs AC3000 or whatever. That you were getting slow speeds on Ethernet means the issue had nothing to do with wi-fi (and the ACXXXX number only applies to wi-fi).

The number behind AC has to do with theoretical maximum speeds for the wifi connection (not your internet provider), and it's a bunch of crock. Most computers and cell phones with AC wifi can "only" do a theoretical max of 867 Mbps, with real speeds around 300-500 Mbps. That's way faster than most people's home internet, and so if you have 100 Mbps internet it matters not a whit whether your router is AC1200 or AC3000.

AC1200 = 2x2 AC 5GHz at 867 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 300 Mbps - but you can't actually connect one device to both bands simultaneously
AC2000 = 4x4 AC 5GHz at 1734 Mbps + 2.4 GHz at 450 Mbps - again, hypothetical speeds supported by very few phones and computers

I haven't bought anything yet as I've been trying to fix the issue with TP Link. Issue is that the system will not work if I change either the network name or the password. TP Link customer support was not helpful. Kept telling me I need to also change the network name/password on the device I'm using, which is obvious. I wish I could figure out what the issue is since the units have worked well. We had to change our password since one of our kids gave it to a teenager next door.

Back to your message - we pay for 200 MB service. Given that, is there any issue with getting an AC1200 router, such as the regular Google WIFI? I had excluded the regular Google WIFI for that reason but like the idea that it has the ethernet ports on all the units, and the price is much lower. Plus I have no use for the speaker.

The reviews on all this stuff aren't helpful. People seem to either love them if they work or hate them if they have any issues at all, which I guess has been my experience too.

Google Wifi should work just fine for you. AC1200 means theoretical max link speed of 876 Mbps on 2x2 devices, or more than 4x the speed you get from your ISP. Generally you want 2x, beyond that it makes little to no difference. And even if other systems might be a hair faster under some circumstances, Google Wifi's (and Eero's) consistency and ease of use are huge pluses. Need to change the password? Just use the app, no logging into some arcane browser-based interface.

[Bronko]

Google Mesh. Two years running with no issues.

[urodoc1]

This is maybe a dumb question but anyone know if google wifi works well if you have fiber internet (currently have ATT fiber, going to switch to google fiber in march when my contract runs out)?

[eye.surgeon]

I have the high end 3 piece orbi wifi 6 mesh router. The performance has been excellent. The set-up was difficult as their app wasn't compatible with the latest iphone software believe it or not. For that reason I wouldn't recommend it.

[hudson]

I haven't bought anything yet as I've been trying to fix the issue with TP Link. Issue is that the system will not work if I change either the network name or the password. TP Link customer support was not helpful. Kept telling me I need to also change the network name/password on the device I'm using, which is obvious.

It sounds like the TP link system is a mesh system.
You've already contacted their support and that didn't help....maybe call them again...if the new person doesn't help, ask for your case to be escalated.
Have you reset that system to original factory settings and started over?

[marcwd]

I haven't bought anything yet as I've been trying to fix the issue with TP Link. Issue is that the system will not work if I change either the network name or the password. TP Link customer support was not helpful. Kept telling me I need to also change the network name/password on the device I'm using, which is obvious.

It sounds like the TP link system is a mesh system.
You've already contacted their support and that didn't help....maybe call them again...if the new person doesn't help, ask for your case to be escalated.
Have you reset that system to original factory settings and started over?

This

[Hoosier CPA]

I haven't bought anything yet as I've been trying to fix the issue with TP Link. Issue is that the system will not work if I change either the network name or the password. TP Link customer support was not helpful. Kept telling me I need to also change the network name/password on the device I'm using, which is obvious.

It sounds like the TP link system is a mesh system.
You've already contacted their support and that didn't help....maybe call them again...if the new person doesn't help, ask for your case to be escalated.
Have you reset that system to original factory settings and started over?

This

No, but I'll try that tonight. I figured tech support would suggest that but they didn't.

[snapvestor]

+1 for Orbi. Had it since the beginning and really have loved the simplicity. We've had 4 people at home all day since March and it's held up extremely well (3 of them working in some capacity).

[Jags4186]

I installed a Google WiFi mesh at my mothers house a few weeks ago. 3 units, $199. Very happy with it. The furthest away access point still gets over 100mbps downlink (wired connection is 300mbps).

[stl717]

I bought the Google, used it for a while then returned it. Bought the Orbi from Costco and never looked back. Google seemed to work okay, but the Orbi seems to perform better and covers our entire house (5800sq/ft).