NETGEAR Orbi Mobile Setup and Monitoring

NETGEAR tries it's best to get you to use the Orbi mobile app instead of the browser-based admin panel. I do understand why given the app is a more user-friendly approach for the target customers here. There are reminders everywhere on the product box and paperwork as well as the QR code on the router and satellite units to where you might as well download the NETGEAR Orbi app available for Android and iOS devices. There's an interesting discrepancy in user reviews with the iOS users seemingly very happy with the app whereas those on Android see room for improvement.


If you would like to see how to set up an Orbi mesh system via the old-fashioned browser method, please refer to this page in my Orbi RBK853 review. I will say that one good reason to skip the app entirely is there is no option to use it without a NETGEAR account. I had to log into my rarely used account, which in turn automatically registers the product to my account. The average customer should not have an issue with it since it also helps keep track of firmware updates and contains a few other remote-monitoring options as needed, but it makes for another online account, and more targeted advertisement headed your way, which is ironic from a networking company that wants to sell an online security suite. Once done, the app will prompt you to set up a new Orbi system and walks you through the various steps. You can either add it manually or just skip a few steps by scanning the QR code on the router as seen above. The QR code informs the app that this is a 1 router / 2 satellite system and will thus automatically prompt you to power on and add the satellite units too. They should come pre-synced to the router but in case the app doesn't see them I would suggest doing a power cycle and pressing the sync button on the back until the LEDs on the front go from flashing white to a solid blue. At this point the system will detect any internet connection and now you will also see the icon change to the specific one for the RBK863S—no icon for the black edition though!


Next the app will go through setting up the mesh system and personalizing settings in the form of WiFi network credentials, admin password and security questions, enabling touch ID if your phone supports it, and so on. A few of these steps take longer than I'd deem necessary, given the router and satellite indicator LEDs clearly showed everything was done well before the default timer expired. NETGEAR is erring on the side of caution here but it may end up testing some people's patience. By the way, note how the app did a firmware check and mentioned there was no update available. We'll get to that on the next page!


Now we get to the home page as it pertains to the Orbi RBK863S, including the side menu and associated settings + options. Interestingly the product is detected as the RBR860 router even though the app clearly sees the two satellites. The settings tab covers router and WiFi network info and customization options in addition to allowing you to set up guest networks and also ensuring everything is securely encrypted. This is also where you will see registration of the Orbi RBK863S has automatically given you an year of NETGEAR Armor security suite which you can disable if you so desire. Anywhere access is also neat in allowing you to remotely access the Orbi system even if you are away from your home network. This can be handy if you have other devices or a VPN tied to the router/satellite perhaps.


The home page also has widgets for more commonly used features. These include profiles wherein you can create new ones for users and set up parental or even remote monitoring. Devices can be set to connect to specific profiles, which can in turn be associated with specific time windows or days for internet access. This is also where a lot of these features are found to be behind a paywall, with a free 30-day trial to convince you to pay more. That said, I did like some of the other options, including the quick signal strength visualizer that can be used to map out the signal strength in various rooms of your house or wherever else the Orbi system is placed. As a teaser to the performance metrics on the next page, we see that the Orbi RBK863S fared quite well, providing good signal strength and high throughput to my phone. The traffic meter is also more pleasing visually, and the ease of use is why NETGEAR has spent a lot of resources developing and marketing the Orbi mobile app. I do wish that NETGEAR had not discontinued its desktop-based program that offered a few of these paywalled features for free if you were a power user and knew how to set up your own QoS rules. As it stands, the subscription model is strongly implemented here preventing an inexpensive means of making the most of the product you already paid for.