In my previous post, I detailed my struggles with Comcast. They resulted in my Internet connection's ability to do 2.5 Gbps downloads and 350 Mbps uploads. I decided to upgrade my home LAN to accommodate these speeds. I also really wanted to stop using my Comcast XB8-T as a router because it requires using the Xfinity app to do anything—a very frustrating process. (I wonder why Xfinity excludes customers who do not have a cell phone?)

I had two Deco TP-Link X55 mesh extenders, but these never worked well, and only did 1 Gbps networking. I decided to get the three of the upgraded TP-Link Tri-Band WiFi 7 BE10000 Whole Home Mesh System (Deco BE63). Supposedly they deliver speeds of 5188 Mbps on 6GHz, 4324 Mbps on 5GHz, and 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz. They are also compatible with the old X55s, so I could have four mesh extenders. Note that my extender system was connected by Ethernet, not WiFi (an Ethernet backhaul). I would put one Deco next to the Xfinity Gateway, one in mt bedroom, and one downstairs in the atrium (next to my television systems. 

You must actually log into the XB8-T's Web page to change it into bridge mode. This is a bit tricky because it is on a different subnet from the Decos, you must directly connect a laptop to the XB8-T to switch it back to router mode if you need to. But I was never able to get the Deco (to be used as a router) to connect to the Gateway, get an ip address, and have Internet access.

So I put the Gateway back in router mode and used the main Deco as just an extender, and hooked up the other two Decos similarly. This was totally unusable. Everything kept dropping the WiFi connections. I returned this new system to Amazon.

I later learned that Deco has an issue with Ethernet backhaul:

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that not all network switches allow Deco units to talk together in order for EB to be established. This is because Deco EB utilises the IEEE 1905.1 standard. How this works is each Deco unit when connected to a given network, will always transmit TWO types of packets: a) a discovery packet, and b) a control packet. If any two Decos cannot receive any one of these packets, EB will fail and WB is attempted instead.

I did not have the recommended TP-link switches in my network. Perhaps this would have solved my problems, but connecting the main Deco directly to the Xfinity Gateway did not work. As usual, it is difficult to get Comcast to say whether their Gateway supports the IEEE 1905.1 standard. Finally an answer arrived from a user:

The XB8 is based on the Broadcom BCM3390 DOCSIS 3.1 chipset..  According to this wikipedia article, that chipset is not listed as supporting that protocol (see subheading Chipsets). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1905

So, do not get a Deco system if you use the latest, greatest Xfinity gateway.

Instead I purchased the Netgear Orbi 770 Tri-band WiFi 7 Mesh network (RBE773). This consists of a router and two satellites. I also purchased three TP-Link 2.5 Gbps bridges which do support IEEE 1905.1 (just in case...). I put one bridge near the Orbi router, and one at each satellite.

Netgear uses a proprietary protocol to link the devices over Ethernet and does not need IEEE 1905.1. The Orbi system costs $350 more than the Deco, but you get what you pay for. First of all, there are three Orbi devices instead of the two Decos. The router has four 2.5 Gbps ports, and the satellites have two each. The installation went flawlessly except for the Xfinity end of things. 

I had to reset the XB8-T to its factory settings. Once again, Xfinity support's AI robot could not tell me how to do this, but Google's AI did. Hold the WiFi connect button in for 30 seconds and The XB8-T will reset.

The Netgear setup recognized that the XB8-T was on the 192.168.0.1 subnet and changed my network to 10.0.0.1. (This required some of my 50-or-so connected devices to be reconfigured). Netgear also has a cell phone app called Orbi, but you need not use this to set up the Orbi system. All can be done by logging into the Orbi router at https://orbilogin.com. You will get a security message because the Netgear certificate has expired. Ignore this.

 Note that you should be sure to update the firmware on all three devices.

The Orbi also comes with a trial subscription to Netgear Armor. This is a router-based security/firewall system that is built upon Bitdefender's malware system. I use Bitdefender, but it is not available for my Orbi router. You can install the Armor app on all your phones and tablets for no extra cost, and also use the Netgear VPN.  I recommend buying Armor, but with a few caveats.

I keep an open ssh port on my Linux system. This is pelted (many times a minute) by people trying to log in with well-known user IDs and passwords. I (of course) only allow logins using ssh certificates, so my Linux machine is safe. But now Armor blocks them at the router, leaving my computer to do more useful things. However, Armor then spams my phone notification screen with a message for each attack.

Also, the Netgear Armor reports are only available on the Orbi phone app, not from the router Web page. 

Another problem is that the underlying Bitdefender engine issues false security alerts.

In fact, all of these vulnerabilities have been patched on the Wiim Pro Plus, rather than the software being updated to newer versions. Apparently, Bitdefender just looks at the versions.

Finally, wait for a good offer for the Armor extension. I got a 75% off one. I think you also get extended Netgear support (after 90 days) and an extended warranty with an Armor subscription.

How good is this Netgear Orbi system? It depends on when/where i try, but on the 6 GHz band, my phone can get up to 1.5 Gbps downloads and the full 350 Mbps uploads. I spent 2 hours with Netgear support trying to figure out how to manage 6 GHz connections. Turns out, you can't. 6 GHz is automatically enabled on devices that support it.

There is one more issue to discuss: My Google Pixel 9 Pro XL phone kept dropping its connections to the Orbi system. It turns out that this is a phone issue. In the Developer options, you must disable Wi-Fi scan throttling. That solves the problem.