Customer reviews from arris.com
ARRIS - SURFboard mAX Pro Wireless-AX11000 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Router - Black
Average customer rating
4
(33 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 33 reviews
5 Stars
18
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
3
1 Star
3
79%of customers recommend this product.
(
23 out of
29)
Customer Reviews for ARRIS - SURFboard mAX Pro Wireless-AX11000 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Router - Black
Customer Rating
5
Excellent mesh system, very powerful, super fast!
on November 22, 2019
Posted by: ShellyB122
from Bartlett, TN
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Our old router was several years old and was not equipped to handle all of the smart home devices and various wireless electronic devices we have acquired in the past few years. We had very frequent internet outages (at least once a day, often a few times a day) and the connection was very slow. I did a speed test right before installing this new router - we pay for up to 200 Mbps, but the speed test from my laptop showed that my speed was under 11 Mbps download, 5 Mbps upload. We also have a range extender in another room because of the poor connection in that area. We have a doorbell camera and a few other cameras inside and outside of the house that were not working very well because of our connection issues - the picture on each camera was blurry and pixelated, and in live streaming view it would freeze a lot. To say that I was extremely excited to try out this mesh wifi system would be an understatement.
Installation was extremely easy - the app that you will need to download walks you through each step. The whole process took about 10 minutes. The hardest part of installation was getting to the old router and unplugging it. It seems to be designed to be as easy as possible to install it, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your level of expertise. Great for me, because I don't know much about this type of thing and I was nervous about setting it up myself. It could not have been more simple. There were a few (connection) error messages during setup, but it rectified them all itself, all I had to do was sit there and watch the app work. We gave the network the same SSID (name) as the old router, so all of our devices connected to the new Max router on their own, we didn't have to reconnect any devices.
The first day went very well - there's a speed test in the app that says my speed is 184.6 Mbps download, 10.1 Mbps upload. I don't get those speeds on my laptop (wireless) though - my laptop speeds (through Ookla Speedtest) shows 40.20 Mbps download, 11.52 Mbps upload. That is a big improvement over the speeds from our old router, but I was hoping to see more speed. I have noticed that our cameras are all working MUCH better - no blurriness or pixelated images, no freezing or connection issues. I connected my laptop to the router via ethernet today and got a download speed of 225.29 Mbps, upload 11.05 Mbps. Now that we have a router that can handle such high speeds, we will definitely be upgrading our ISP plan to something faster.
About 27 hours after installing it, we had our first issue - we lost the internet. I checked our ISP to see if it was just us or if there had been more outages reported. It was just us. The main router had a solid blue LED light, but the satellite router had a slowly flashing red LED light. I have no idea what the problem was. I could not get into the app because my phone was not connected to the same network, because we had no internet. I was using my mobile data connection. So when your internet goes out, the app appears to be completely useless. I could get no further than the "onboarding/factory reset" screen on the app. This was frustrating. I'm not sure what difference it would have made to be able to get into the app, but it was irritating to not have that option. I unplugged the router in my room for a minute then plugged it back in - nothing. Still flashing red. Unplugged and plugged in again - still red. I had to go into the room where the main router is located and unplug that one then plug it back in. That seemed to do the trick, the router in my bedroom started working again after that.
* It's now been 3 days since this incident and we have not had this happen again so far. It's been running very smoothly!
* It's now been 3 days since this incident and we have not had this happen again so far. It's been running very smoothly!
If you like to be able to manually choose which band to connect your electronics to, I don't think you can do that with this router. Our old router would broadcast the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks and I could connect to the one that I preferred, but this Max router chooses the best band automatically for you.
The app will allow you to set up parental controls that will allow you to pause the internet whenever you want to. You can set up profiles for children and from there you can block out the internet for certain profiles or devices on individual days of the week or every day of the week, at any time that you'd like. For instance, I could choose to block the internet for child #1 every day after school from 3 to 4 P.M. so they will be sure to come home and do their homework or chores instead of using a game console or social network. I could pause the internet when it's time for dinner and unpause it when we're all done eating. You can set these controls up just about any way that you need to.
You can enable a guest network so you can have guests use your wifi without having to give them your main password. There's an Alexa skill you can download so that you can tell Alexa to enable the guest network.
In summary, this is a really nice router, it's capable of extremely high speeds, and the mesh system will eliminate internet dead spots in your home so you can have blazing fast speeds anywhere around the house. It was ridiculously easy to set up and, aside from that one incident with the internet being dropped, it works very well. If your home is 3,000 square feet or less you should be able to get away with using only 1 router, but if you have multiple floor levels or a larger than 3,000 square feet then I'd definitely recommend this mesh system. If your home is very large you can purchase a single Max router to add to your mesh system - 1 main router and 2 satellites.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
1
Look good, unstable wifi
on October 21, 2020
Posted by: Hobbiton
from San Jose, CA
Gender:Female
I just bought it & wifi is very unstable. Keep disconnecting. I wouldn’t recommended to pay for something at this price & worse than my cheap wifi.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
5
Awesome for streaming video services
on December 3, 2019
Posted by: Thouz83
from Des Moines, IA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I got the SURFboard mAX Pro Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System to see if i could improve my ability to stream video services better than my old wireless system. It was easy to set up and really made streaming video so much better. The range is awesome also. I would recommend this wireless system to anyone wanting to have a better streaming experience!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
4
This gives me exactly what I want!
on December 4, 2019
Posted by: bbjniles
from Stillwater, ok
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I am not an internet genius or technical specialist. I just want fast internet across every room of my house and yard, and the ability to add, block, and remove devices from my network. And this mesh system from ARRIS, does the trick, and for that I am satisfied.
The setup is relatively simple, and I had no problems, but you do have to hop on the internet to finish the process, so definitely have a smartphone with data to jump on to complete everything.
The speed is much better than I hoped or expected, and I’ve experienced no dead spots. My devices connect easily and stay connected, which was a problem on my old system. Steaming video at different ends of the house is no longer an iffy proposition, and I don’t have to tell everyone to get off the internet when I have massive uploads to do (as a requirement of my work). This used to be a frustrating process, with me suspecting devices of hogging the internet when I needed to get work done, but I’m suspicious no more. Everyone in the family is happier with this system.
All my varied devices have connected and remained so, from phones, tablets, televisions, and gaming systems. This was simple and sound, and a once and for all task. No more getting kicked off and reconnecting in a tedious cycle.
The app isn’t bursting with options, but again, I’m not super technical so I’m not interested in how things work in the system, nor am I wanting to fine tune devices, I just want fast internet everywhere. And that’s what the ARRIS Surfboard Max system gives me. No fuss, no muss.
Too, I like the look of the units. They are sleek and modern, and I don’t mind seeing them in the different parts of my house.
Do recommend.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
5
Lightening Fast Mesh Wi-Fi System
on December 3, 2019
Posted by: Neddy
from Charlotte, N.C.
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This Arris SURFboard mAX Pro Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System is a bundle product which contains 2 routers, between the two units your mesh coverage is up to 6,000 square feet and they can support up to 255 devices. I found it easy to attach all the Ethernet cable and love the sleek design and how the unit funnels all the cables to one area making it much more visually appealing than my last router. When you start setup the first thing you need to do is download the SURFBOARD mAX Manager app In Android or iOS, from there the setup is relatively easy and painless. The app is the go-to place for all things home network. You can test the performance speeds in the app, easily create and manage a new guest network and monitor your network by seeing what devices are on the network and how much individual bandwidth is being used by every device. I really love the fact that you can monitor all this from the app remotely- even if you’re not connected to the network. I really liked the fact the app listed all of the devices connected. You can also set parental controls for your children through the app and ‘pause’ the internet. The SURFBOARD mAX Manager app is also Alexa compatible and you can use the two together to do things such as asking Alexandria how many devices are on the network or asking Alexandria to enable guest Wi-Fi.
The SURFboard maX Pro System uses Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the latest Wi-Fi technology which delivers up to 400% faster speed than the current generation (802.11ac). The Wi-Fi 6 also expands the range by up to 400%! The SURFboard mAX Pro is the worlds first tri-band Wi-Fi 6 Mesh System that connects the two SURFboard mAX Pro units using a dedicated 3rd Wi-Fi band delivering true Gigabit speeds. This system is engineered to handle bandwidth-demanding 4K video streams, online gaming consoles, smart home automation, home security devices, smart phones, and tablets simultaneously and keep them running super smooth. The mesh system automatically connects all of your devices to the fastest internet path available in your home. I was blown away by how fast the mesh system really works and how easy it was to setup the system. Buffering and lag is now a thing of the past, there are literally no dead spots in my 3300 sq ft home and my internet is running at lightening speed. The system works flawlessly with all of my devices and is the fastest and most stable wireless system I have ever used. As I continued to use the SURFboard maX Pro System over the past few weeks the connection rates have gone from amazing to superior as the system intuitively works to improve and maximize the connection overtime. I’m able to achieve the full speed of my Wi-Fi plan. I would recommend the SURFboard maX Pro System to anyone looking to maximize Wi-Fi speeds within their in home network or anyone looking for a mesh system with the latest bandwidth.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
5
Great Coverage For WiFi
on November 21, 2019
Posted by: Chelsea 13
from Pittsburgh, PA
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I received the Surfboard max pro AX 11000 and immediately set it up within my house. I was looking forward to making this change due to limited WiFi connection in my front yard. Additionally, I wanted to use this with my new iPhone for the WiFi 6 capabilities. Set up was a breeze. Not only are the directions easy to follow, but there are videos along the way to watch if needed. However, if you are purchasing this product, you probably know a thing or two about technology.
In order to set up the satellite tower in an appropriate location to properly space these two towers out, I had to place one in my bedroom. Whether this is a pro or a con, it emits a fairly bright blue light, which created a nice nightlight for us. I have since learned that you can turn off the light in the app, which is something I didn’t know for the first couple weeks of use.
Prior to installing this, we had two separate WiFi networks and we are now all on one network. Additionally, through the app that needs to be downloaded, you have the option of of a guest network, which is nice to have. In the future, we also have the option of parental controls, which I’m sure will be necessary!
All in all, we now have service throughout our entire (large) yard and am happy to have this product in our house.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
2
Decent speed, loss of WiFi control
on December 8, 2019
Posted by: DougK
from San Francisco
Gender:Male
First off, I have a tech background so my expectations may be different than others who buy this.
I purchased the W31 to take over router capabilities on my gigabit xFinity internet service. I have the Samsung S10+ which has ax WiFi and I have the X570 motherboard and AMD R7 3700X for my desktop so both my clients in this review are fully 802.11ax compliant and fully compatible.
On the W31 functionality- the setup is very smooth and well done with the app which brings up my biggest gripe and the reason for the poor rating. As a caveat, if you want a "set it and forget it" solution then this is great for you unless you are expecting some major speed improvements over your existing 802.11ac network,
The APP is all you get. That's it. There is no web page to access the detailed settings. You have absolutely no access to or the ability to change the WiFi channels or remove the consolidated 2.4 and 5Ghz channels. You also cannot kick a device off your network, you lose all control except to create the network name.
In terms of performance I experienced a considerable drop in speed. My xFinity network is split in to 2.4 and 5Ghz networks and I consistently achieve over 600Mbs on my desktop WiFi. On the consolidated W31 network and with a variety of different adapter configurations but never hit over 300 Mbs over a 3 week period with the W31 as my only router.
The minute I removed the W31 and went back to my XB6 xFinity router I was again hitting 600Mbs and over consistently.
I did not test this on ethernet.
For me, the loss of all ability to configure any of the crucial elements of this router and the loss of the ability to directly control what devices were on my network in real time created a low score for this. I really feel that these manufacturers need to allow those who want that detailed control to be able to do that. But with the issues of a loss of WiFi speed too, there is no reason for me to ever use this router again.
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com
Customer Rating
4
Fast!!
on November 23, 2019
Posted by: Nanette03
from East Aurora, NY
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have a 2300 sq. ft. home with 5 adults living here. We each have a smartphone, laptop and iPad. We also have an outdoor building (about 200 feet from house) which is all wired for Ring security. This system handles it all. Super fast router with a big range is a plus! I needed some help setting this all up, especially with the mobile app, but once we got it all situated, we are very pleased with the result. We all can be on wifi, internet surfing, streaming movies etc and no more disconnects or buffering. You will be amazed with the speed!!
Written by a customer while visiting arris.com