W130

I just packed up my Orbi RBK43 system to return. I gave it two weeks and still could not make 3 units work together even using ethernet as the Backhaul (unit to unit connection at 1gb). Buying the Arris for some is just an extension of the Surfboard modem(s) we have used for yearsSo far it took less time to set up this Arris system including the satellite. Just FYI the initial setup uses Bluetooth so don't walk to far away and make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.I have a cable with 1000 mbps down and 40 up. the router connects to mt modem with optimum speed at around 930 Mbps maybe because I am also connected the Arris SB8200 modem.The backhaul is faster than my wired network basement to second floor distance, several floors and walls.What has improved after removing the Orbi RBK43 VS the ARRIS Surfboard mAX Plus1. The basic down load on the router connected to my modem increased from 860 to 930 mbps. The Orbi is not a good router but the Arris is.2. My 3-year-old laptop went from 90 mbps to 300mbps Plus where I use it.3. All of my devices re-connected easily without any input including all of amazon’s devices, echo’s and 4K fire sticks. I did need to restart some devices to connect at 5Ghz but no password resets even though the default DNS server is 192.168.7.1 and not ---.---.0.14. Only two units running instead of 3.5 Didn't ask me to buy anything additional once the setup was complete. (no ads)Notes:1. The units are not small2. The software is phone based only and very limited. I would say its plug and play for those who don't care to get inside your wireless network.3. I like the blue light lets me see if its running from a distance (you can turn it off).4. Has other features like parental controls, antivirus (?) and works with Alexa commands. All of which I do not use or need so I did not check these.Very little information exists on the web for this device. I wish Arris would promote it so some people can read more reviews. Its unfortunate most of the Amazon reviews are from people who didn't have a good experience. Given the price point here I have found nothing comparable. Anyone who has used a surfboard modem as I have for many years trusts Arris so I have some idea how their equipment works over the long haul.Update:These units have a constant 2.7Gbps connect between them (backhaul) which is much faster than any wired network. My laptop is connecting to the internet at 300-400 Mbps @ 5Ghz but again that is through the router and out to the internet for a speed test. I am happy with these speeds.My phone says 500Mbps plus on a wireless connection and I have much better voice calling over wireless as I can now take a call in the deep recesses of my basement.I had one disconnect not sure what happened.I also noticed that the router does not readily reconnect to the modem when unplugging. It does if you use the mobile app reset button? If I unplug the unit, I also need to unplug the modem. I have been reconfiguring my network into a rack mounted setup so the reason I have been playing.Ordered som flat ethernet cables as the space underneath is very tight. The cable work fine. the unit comes with oneI noticed that you may need to reboot both units to reestablish a good backhaul especially after moving the units or playing around with your setup.

I purchased this mesh unit when I moved into a new house in December, 2019. I was a little disappointed at the lack of ability to configure most of the router options I was used to. I have over 20 years of IT experience configuring/installing routers of many types for many people/businesses. I like my options, but I was okay with the lack of options when I got the bandwidth/speed I wanted for my family. The inability to truly configure guest network or general security options was frustrating, but again livable.I had occasional issues where I had to reboot the routers when response dropped, but nothing more than I am used to on heavily used systems. And then, sometime in the last month, all changed. I historically have all lower security items (firesticks, TVs, smart plugs and switches, etc.) on my guest network just as a nice separation from those items and my NAS/computer storage on the main network. Suddenly, the guest network starting dropping and my family could no longer access our many smart items in the house. The guest network started dropping every few days and could only be revived by shutting unplugging and rebooting the routers. This became daily and then started happening every few hours. I would have checked the configuration, except the app is terrible. The only options for guest network are enabling/disabling, naming the network, and setting the password.I cannot tell if this all changed with a firmware upgrade (they are silent in the background) or something else. The online information/FAQs are nearly completely worthless and generic. The phone support is effectively inaccessible (and not for free) due to "high volume of calls due to COVID" which is reasonable, but useless to the consumer. Finally, the online support chat was worthless. After every text exchange, I would wait 2 minutes to get a response. The responses were the standards: 1. Reboot it. 2. Turn features on/off 3. Reset to factory defaults. I had already done all of those, but tried again for the sake of politeness. When none of those items worked, I was told "sorry, that's all I know to do" and the exchange ended.If this were almost any other router available, especially those at this price range, I would have had a legitimate software interface to use to try to configure/fix my problems. This software cannot do any of the normally expected standard router functions. You cannot configure security beyond password selection. You cannot monitor individual devices. Well, you can, but apparently all of my devices never send or receive any data regardless of what I'm doing on them. The monitoring is minimal and doesn't even work. If you want to setup QoS, too bad. If you want to have multiple networks setup for multiple levels of access/tracking, too bad. If you want to control NAS and setup rights, nope. If you want advanced controls/features, do not get this router. The hardware is good. Perhaps excellent. The fact that the only way to configure it is through a lousy phone app prevents any power user from ever knowing.If you want a fast AX mesh router for very basic use, this is a fine router. You will get speed. If you want to use a router for anything more than a broadband spigot with no modern configuration/features, this will be fine. If that's the case, though, there are still cheaper options. Hopefully the software will be upgraded one day to something comparable to the industry standards. If so, I will happily come back and edit this rating/review. I hope that happens, but won't hold my breath. More likely, I will be reviewing another brand mesh router system before the end of the year when I finally give up on Arris.

We have gone from suffering blank spots around our home to being fully bathed in fast wifi access. Where previously we had interference from other wifi sources and intermittent connection issues this has now all gone. The product met all our expectations and more.While I would have gone for the pro version was it available it likely would have been overkill for our needs, with the plus system providing us with great speeds, and from what I understand, the same backhaul speeds between units.While we have only had it going and installed for two days we are impressed so far with the speed. The units were easy to set up, going through a step by step process with the first unit and then adding the second.There is limited configurability with only a single wifi network and possible additional guest network (which I believe is totally separated), but in reality that is all we needed. There is also something for parental controls which can limit times for chosen devices, but we have not tried this.Once set up it seems to work flawlessly. Very happy, and so is the family.The only downside is that now Minecraft is at every corner of the house.The only improvement I could suggest is the ability to turn off the colored ring or to just glow if there is a problem. At least it does not flicker like our router but gives a nice steady blue glow. Just we would prefer no glow at all.Update: the app allows the LED light to be turned off, so now it is the perfect device.