Netgear Orbi RBK-753 3-Pack $500 @ Costco (Sign-in Req.)

Be forewarned this is the crappy version of this. You really want the Orbi WiFi 6 System AX6000.

Very good deal on this. The Orbi 752 (2pk) is $450 at Netgear but a 10% coupon is always avialable. The direct competitor in this price range is the Asus Zenwifi XT8 which is AX6600, For most users, the biggest part of the bandwidth is used for backhaul. The remaining bandwidth for 2.4 and 5GHz are similar between these 2 brands. The 3 pack Orbi for $50 more (or $95 more if consider the discount) is a steal, but there is a concern with the narrower backhaul bandwidth. The Orbi 853 (AX6000) is obviously more expensive. The Zenwifi has very limited supply right now driving the market price much higher too. Due to the lack of competition and low availabilty, the price of Zenwifi in other countries has increased by near 20%. This has also happened briefly at Amazon (not market place) last week when it was back i stock. This 3pk Orbi 753 at Costco may help Netgear to compete.

Quote from salazarjohn : Be forewarned this is the crappy version of this. You really want the Orbi WiFi 6 System AX6000.

Well, I wouldn't call this unit crappy. Unless you want to enumerate what makes it crappy?

The 853 three-unit plan has an MSRP of a thousand bucks. It also offers port aggregation so you can get ethernet speeds greater than one gigabit (I think the spec stated 2.5 Gbit). Other than that, there really is not much difference.

Sure, the 853 can handle 6 Gbits of throughput, while this unit only handles 4.2 Gbits of throughput.

But there is a point of diminishing returns. I have not heard of an internet provider greater than one gigabit per second. So that becomes the bottleneck and transferring 6 gigabits of data across the mesh kind of becomes meaningless. Because even when using the port aggregation, you still have a maximum of 2.5 gigabits across the Ethernet network.

I guess one could argue that the six gigabits of throughput is needed for a completely wireless system with no ethernet cabling at all. And that's the best case scenario when clients have the ability to use that much bandwidth.

Let's see, one gigabit per second is equal to 125 megabytes per second. So six gigabits per second equals 750 megabytes per second. That is a huge amount of data for residential use. And that assumes all of that data is staying internal to the residence. Since only 125 megabytes per second is ever going to make it out into the internet.

Based on the above, I think this is a good deal

Quote from CalmCreator709 : Well, I wouldn't call this unit crappy. Unless you want to enumerate what makes it crappy? The 853 three-unit plan has an MSRP of a thousand bucks. It also offers port aggregation so you can get ethernet speeds greater than one gigabit (I think the spec stated 2.5 Gbit). Other than that, there really is not much difference. Sure, the 853 can handle 6 Gbits of throughput, while this unit only handles 4.2 Gbits of throughput. But there is a point of diminishing returns. I have not heard of an internet provider greater than one gigabit per second. So that becomes the bottleneck and transferring 6 gigabits of data across the mesh kind of becomes meaningless. Because even when using the port aggregation, you still have a maximum of 2.5 gigabits across the Ethernet network. I guess one could argue that the six gigabits of throughput is needed for a completely wireless system with no ethernet cabling at all. And that's the best case scenario when clients have the ability to use that much bandwidth. Let's see, one gigabit per second is equal to 125 megabytes per second. So six gigabits per second equals 750 megabytes per second. That is a huge amount of data for residential use. And that assumes all of that data is staying internal to the residence. Since only 125 megabytes per second is ever going to make it out into the internet. Based on the above, I think this is a good deal

Thank you for this analysis!

Fyi, you cannot install vpn software on these mesh routers. I have older netgear mesh router and happy with its performance.

If I have the 3 pack of the AC3000 for $299 a few years back from Costco (they work great btw) why would I want these $500 sets? Are they that much better? The AC3000 are great for both Ethernet and wireless backhaul

Edit: looks like 2400mbps vs 1733 mbps for backhaul speeds. Also AC vs AX wireless connection (5ghz vs both 2.4 and 5)

So going to keep on rocking with the AC units

Quote from CalmCreator709 : Well, I wouldn't call this unit crappy. Unless you want to enumerate what makes it crappy? The 853 three-unit plan has an MSRP of a thousand bucks. It also offers port aggregation so you can get ethernet speeds greater than one gigabit (I think the spec stated 2.5 Gbit). Other than that, there really is not much difference. Sure, the 853 can handle 6 Gbits of throughput, while this unit only handles 4.2 Gbits of throughput. But there is a point of diminishing returns. I have not heard of an internet provider greater than one gigabit per second. So that becomes the bottleneck and transferring 6 gigabits of data across the mesh kind of becomes meaningless. Because even when using the port aggregation, you still have a maximum of 2.5 gigabits across the Ethernet network. I guess one could argue that the six gigabits of throughput is needed for a completely wireless system with no ethernet cabling at all. And that's the best case scenario when clients have the ability to use that much bandwidth. Let's see, one gigabit per second is equal to 125 megabytes per second. So six gigabits per second equals 750 megabytes per second. That is a huge amount of data for residential use. And that assumes all of that data is staying internal to the residence. Since only 125 megabytes per second is ever going to make it out into the internet. Based on the above, I think this is a good deal

I think it's not a good deal. Right now RBK50 should be sufficient. You can get a good deal on rbk50.
These early models of wifi 6 does not support 160hz band. Hence, you will end up upgrading next year.
Why would you want to spend $500 on incomplete wifi 6 when you can get inexpensive RBK50 which is sufficient even up to 1 gig internet. I doubtany users have anything over 1 gig or even 400mbps.

I advise to wait it out don't even get rbk853 at $500 forget rbk753.

Install RBK50 and wait it out for a year because you will see nearly same speed.

I bought 530 a couple of years ago and couldn't be happier ever since.

Had the RBK53 and it died on me. Returned it to Costco today and ordered the 753. Performance of the RBR50 was great, can't wait to get the new ones.

In for 1

Quote from CalmCreator709 : Well, I wouldn't call this unit crappy. Unless you want to enumerate what makes it crappy? The 853 three-unit plan has an MSRP of a thousand bucks. It also offers port aggregation so you can get ethernet speeds greater than one gigabit (I think the spec stated 2.5 Gbit). Other than that, there really is not much difference. Sure, the 853 can handle 6 Gbits of throughput, while this unit only handles 4.2 Gbits of throughput. But there is a point of diminishing returns. I have not heard of an internet provider greater than one gigabit per second. So that becomes the bottleneck and transferring 6 gigabits of data across the mesh kind of becomes meaningless. Because even when using the port aggregation, you still have a maximum of 2.5 gigabits across the Ethernet network. I guess one could argue that the six gigabits of throughput is needed for a completely wireless system with no ethernet cabling at all. And that's the best case scenario when clients have the ability to use that much bandwidth. Let's see, one gigabit per second is equal to 125 megabytes per second. So six gigabits per second equals 750 megabytes per second. That is a huge amount of data for residential use. And that assumes all of that data is staying internal to the residence. Since only 125 megabytes per second is ever going to make it out into the internet. Based on the above, I think this is a good deal

Quote from laluprasad : I think it's not a good deal. Right now RBK50 should be sufficient. You can get a good deal on rbk50. These early models of wifi 6 does not support 160hz band. Hence, you will end up upgrading next year. Why would you want to spend $500 on incomplete wifi 6 when you can get inexpensive RBK50 which is sufficient even up to 1 gig internet. I doubtany users have anything over 1 gig or even 400mbps. I advise to wait it out don't even get rbk853 at $500 forget rbk753. Install RBK50 and wait it out for a year because you will see nearly same speed.

It seems many people are confused by the total bandwidth numbers. It has nothing to do with your internet service. Even if there is a 6Gbps service, you cannot achieve that with any AX6000 routers. The number is simply the summation of the 3 wireless bands. Each device would connect with one of the three bands (or wired to a gigabit port). The number is basically the maximum total wireless bandwidth inside your home. As a major part of it is for backhaul between node and router (unless you use wired backhaul), you would not be able to use even half of that total bandwidth.

If you have the RBK50 system already, there is little reason to upgrade now unless you have a bunch of Wifi 6 devices already. If you don't have a mesh system and has blind spots at home, then you should upgrade to a newer mesh system. I usually upgrade my home wifi system every 3-5 years. When I upgrade, I would not consider any 3 year or older product no matter how cheap it is, or it would become obsolete within the next 3 years. RBK50 is right around the 3 year mark. It is a good system to keep, but not really for an upgrade for now.

No support for legacy apps such as circles. I'll stick with my previous version orbi for now.

Quote from billcsho : It seems many people are confused by the total bandwidth numbers. It has nothing to do with your internet service. Even if there is a 6Gbps service, you cannot achieve that with any AX6000 routers. The number is simply the summation of the 3 wireless bands. Each device would connect with one of the three bands (or wired to a gigabit port). The number is basically the maximum total wireless bandwidth inside your home. As a major part of it is for backhaul between node and router (unless you use wired backhaul), you would not be able to use even half of that total bandwidth. If you have the RBK50 system already, there is little reason to upgrade now unless you have a bunch of Wifi 6 devices already. If you don't have a mesh system and has blind spots at home, then you should upgrade to a newer mesh system. I usually upgrade my home wifi system every 3-5 years. When I upgrade, I would not consider any 3 year or older product no matter how cheap it is, or it would become obsolete within the next 3 years. RBK50 is right around the 3 year mark. It is a good system to keep, but not really for an upgrade for now.

So what would you recommend, if not the RBK50 for a 1 router house looking to upgrade to a MESH system to help with dead zones? We have multiple phones/laptops/tablets/Roku's all competing for wifi bandwidth...

Quote from ranran : So what would you recommend, if not the RBK50 for a 1 router house looking to upgrade to a MESH system to help with dead zones? We have multiple phones/laptops/tablets/Roku's all competing for wifi bandwidth...

I recommend the rbk50 still if you can find one for a good deal. I found one at my local warehouse. the 3 pack for 299. I mean 500 is a hard pill to a swallow. But the time you get all wifi 6 devices the price might come down. Also costco will take anything if you don't like it. You could also try the nighthawk mesh wifi 6 its on sale for 199. Its not triband so backhaul is shared but its def budget friendly.

Quote from ranran : So what would you recommend, if not the RBK50 for a 1 router house looking to upgrade to a MESH system to help with dead zones? We have multiple phones/laptops/tablets/Roku's all competing for wifi bandwidth...

I would not recommend the RBK50. It's old. I do not think it's work $300 for the 3-pack.

eero pro is old too. Not as fast as RBK50.

Costco has a great return policy. But if 500 is too steep, you have options:

1. Nest WiFi dual router package sold only by Amazon... Wait for $239 sale. Not tri-band, but has Ethernet backhaul. Uses 4x4 mimo to transmit or receive 4 simultaneous streams. One if the fastest Wifi 5 routers... With excellent range. There are issues some folks are having, but not all folks. The only dual band mesh system worth it today... and outperforms some WiFi 6 mesh systems.

2. If you need tri-band, they are not all created equal. Orbi is the best IMO... Velop in second place. I prefer the orbi. Both have well documented reliability issues. Not experienced by all folks thiugh. Maybe the RBK23 or RBK33 suitable.

3. eero pro 3 pack on sale for 400... And best buy gives 15 percent off for returning any modem. Pulls price down to 339. Or wait for another week pro sale here. Tri-band... But used older 2x2 mimo. Old mesh system though.

I just bought the Nest Wifi dual router... Will use Ethernet backhaul. If I needed a tri-band, I would purchase this deal. We can all wait for prices to come down. They always do. Cannot wait forever