Netgear Nighthawk Whole Home Mesh WiFi 6 System, 3-Pack, BLK (Renewed)

I used to be a router snob. No more. I had an ultra-expensive router at my home a few years ago when a friend asked me to come help him install this system in his new home. I did and it was easy to install--and it gave him fine speed for his needs, adequately covering a 6000 sq. ft home. My ultra-router has been nothing but a pain in the years since while this Netgear ultra-cheap mesh set has just plugged away, performing reliably well in my friend's house. So when I needed a router for my vacation cottage, this is what I bought--a refurbished mesh set for dirt cheap, and it's working just fine. I like the fact that I can manage the vacation cottage's router from home. But most of all, I like that it's cheap, reliable and sufficiently fast to handle my 300 megabits/second service. Really, this is all most of us will ever need. And in the recent past I've spent over $500 on a single router. The only thing this set seriously lacks is wired ethernet that goes faster than 1gb/sec.

I have spent 8 hours trying to get this working. I think I will get it working but it has been challenging.

Description: I actually had to add a second group due to the number of connected devices. This works perfectly with the right placement you can have access everywhere inside and outside your home. Easy installation and options for hardwired devices too.

I purchased this in August of 2023 on Wirecutter's recommendation. The first six months were great. Good speeds, setup only moderately frustrating, and a decent price. It's now January 2023 and my router has stopped assigning IP addresses properly. If I try to connect via DHCP, it never finds an IP address. I have power cycled; I have done a factory reset; I have changed the range of IP addresses assigned; I have used my google-fu as best I can. I can only connect to wireless if I assign a static IP. I've looked at the logs and I can't see anything that changed that would cause this problem. It's been on the same firmware since I purchased it, and that's the most recent version. This wouldn't normally be that big of a deal, but: I use a lot of smart switches. I love a cozy room but I don't want to turn 12 lamps on and off manually. Giving each of them a static IP address *once* would be a PITA. Plus, the first advice that Netgear offers for troubleshooting is "do a factory reset". Then I'd have to reassign the static ip's all over again. I haven't even come to the worst part. NETGEAR DOES NOT OFFER CUSTOMER SUPPORT after 3 months unless you pay them. That's right. They want to charge me for troubleshooting a product that has failed within 6 months of purchase. This product has become a waste of money and a source of endless frustration. I don't even feel right giving it away and handing the problem off to someone else. It's literally just trash now. Do yourself a favor and buy literally anything else. And NYT, you might want to update your recommendations.

First, this was a great deal, couldn't pass up an Amazon refurbished item at this price point. It wasn't the easiest mesh to set up, you legitimately need to follow the steps very carefully, otherwise you'll have to reset all three devices and start from scratch. Once all three devices are set and it has gone through it's software updates, the mesh system works flawlessly. Coming from a TP link mesh system, this is a huge upgrade; the switch between the main modem and the satellite connections is seamless, the speeds are excellent, the ability to connect a device on Ethernet to the satellite for faster speeds is amazing. All three satellites are sleek, they mesh well with the decor of my house, there's no antennas or flashy lights everywhere. I 3d printed a bracket for one of them and mounted it on a wall, out of sight and out of mind. The app works great, if for some reason you need to reboot the router, monitor who's using all your bandwidth, or stop your kids from using data on their Xbox when they should be studying, you can do it from there.