RBK843S (RBR840, RBS840) all running v4.6.14.5. I noticed that the router shows 2.4ghz wireless mode "up to 1147 Mbps" but both satellites show 2.4ghz wireless mode "up to 574 Mbps" (both router and satellites show 5ghz 2402 Mbps).... So it appears the router is actually AX6000 but the satellites are AX5400.
The hardware specs (on the box):
AX6000 Tri-Band WiFi :Orbi AX6000 Router and AX6000 Satellites
Antennas :Eight (8) high-performance internal antennas with high-power amplifiers
Beamforming :Implicit & Explicit Beamforming for 2.4GHz & 5GHz bands
MU-MIMO :MU-MIMO capable for simultaneous data streaming
Processor :Powerful quad-core 2.2GHz processor
Satellite Ports :4 LAN Gigabit Ethernet ports each
This looks like an update to the original 840 as the specs match the 850 (the original apparently had a different hardware config). Since the hardware looks to be the same as the 850, firmware 7.2.6.31 "should" work but NG decided not to support it on the 840 -- that's another story, but v4.6.14.5 .may be the reason that the satellites are different.
Any clue why I'm not getting 1147 Mbps on the 2.4ghz band on the satellites? Is the "late" version of the 840 actually the same as the 850? Is this a bug in v4.6.14.5? Is there any way to get 7.2.6.31 to install on the 840?
As you can see, it actually IS an AX6000 with the hardware specs I identified in my original post (and these are exactly the same as the hardware specs on the 850). These are quite different from the specs you posted, which apparently represent the original version.
In any case, I'm not getting the documented link rates from the satellites (either the original AX5700 version or the AX6000 version I have).
Also of interest in the actual firmware chk file for v4.6.14.5 for the 840 test for "machid" = "801000e" or "801010e" and the firmware chk file for v7.2.6.31 also shows a test for "machid" includes both of these in a much longer list, so that's why I am assuming the hardware is supported by the v7 firmware.
I am not looking at the actual link rates used by a device, I am logging in to the satellite (in my system it's 10.0.0.20) and see on the status page that the 2ghz link rate is set to max 573Mpbs. that's a hardware / firmware limit. Very different from logging in to the router, there are no options to configure anything for the satellite other than a manual update of the firmware.
My impression is that most customers utilize that 90 days of 'complimentary support' during the initial setup, or let them expire before having a reason to call. I so envy people who can "contact support". (My 90 days ran out in 2016.)
(Somehow I suspect that Netgear support would respond "huh?" and struggle to grasp the question.)
It is not clear to me what information the Netgear firmware uses to display those Link Rate values on
The router Advanced Tab, Show statistics, and
The satellite home web page
Maybe the values are hard coded into the web code? No one knows.
My guess is the only to confirm is to find a WiFi device that supports 2.4G 802.11ax, 1024QAM (and can be made to use only the 2.4G band), stand very close to a satellite, and see what Link Rate the device (and the Orbi 'app') report.
I see 573Mbps under the wireless mode for 2.4Ghz WiFi on my Satellite and I have the RBK853. Looking at the specs, the main difference between the 840 and 850 series is the 2.4Ghz radio supports 256 QAM on the 840 compared to 1024 QAM on the 850 (this is why max link rate on the specs of the 840 is 900Mbps instead of 1200Mbps for 2.4Ghz). I think we both probably have the enable 20/40Mhz coexistence checked (it's a default setting and I leave it enabled because I don't want interference with bluetooth). When this is enabled you won't get the full rate on 2.4Ghz (indicated on the satellite configuration page). This doesn't really matter though because 5Ghz is preferred for faster speeds and should be what most devices are using which makes the 840 series practically identical to the 850 series in actual use cases. I think that Netgear should post an updated firmware for the 840 series as it likely is compatible with the same software that is on the 750 / 850 series and there were recent security fixes. Hopefully that gets posted soon.
Hi Musicman, thanks for the confirmation, looks like you have the same rates so I won't be so concerned. I think you'll see the attached specs in my previous post that the "updated" 840 also supports 1024-QAM. I'm thinking the marketing guys created a special for Costco and called it the RBK843s (I don't believe the updated hardware was available anywhere else) so the cheaper price wouldn't impact sales of the "identical" RBK853. I'm also hoping (although I consider it very doubtful) that NG will release any further firmware updates since they very easily could have already -- and you'll note in an earlier post that the validation of machine ID's in the firmware for the 840's actually IS included in the new firmware for the 850's, which is why I'm asking in my original post if there is any way to get the newer firmware on the 840.
