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Forum Discussion
rvidra
Jan 02, 2018Initiate
Correct settings for optimal usage for orbi
I am running firmware V2.1.1.16 and it is showing my Orbi Satellite status as poor and all my devices are showing as connecting to the router even though the router is located further away. I have m...
- Jan 02, 2018
As with the previous several firmwares, I'm still getting excellent performance and stability on V2.1.1.16, but I acknowledge there are a heckuva lot of moving parts both with Orbi itself and environment-dependent factors that can make or break that performance... For what it's worth, here are my thoughts on the Orbi setup options specifically...
I have a basic 1-router-1-satellite Orbi setup. The Sat is ~20-25 feet from router with a "Good" wireless backhaul connection (ethernet wired connection not a option in my house). The router is in my basement and sat is on main floor - a couple of walls in between too.
Daisy Chain
I recommend enabling this feature only if you have multiple sats that link like this: R-S-S. If you have just one sat or your multiple sats are hub-&-spoke (S-R-S), then leave Daisy Chain disabled.
Implicit Beamforming
It's my understanding that implicit beamforming is only potentially helpful for older non-ac wireless devices (i.e. b/g/n 2.4-only devices). I only have a few of those in my house, and they connect fine with beamforming disabled, so that's where I leave it. I've experimented with having it "on" too, and didn't have any issues, but I also didn't notice any improvements. So, in an effort to keep things as simple as possible, I leave that option disabled.
It's also my understanding that explicit beamforming (specifically for wireless ac devices) is inherently built into Orbi - there's no seperate selection option for that explicit beamforming capability.
MU-MIMO
I'd bet almost anything that you don't have multiple mu-mimo devices that could potentially take advantage of this feature (such devices are still quite rare). I don't have any such devices at all, so I leave this feature disabled. To paraphrase one of the wise old-heads on smallnetbuilder.com, MU-MIMO is the 3-D TV of wifi these last couple years -- a lot of glitzy hype, but no real substance ;)
Fast Roaming
I have this feature disabled, since it caused my phone to bounce back-&-forth between my router and sat wayyy too much. I am very dependent on wifi-calling, so that's how I noticed it. My wifi-calling is super stable with this feature disabled, but it's certainly worth playing around with in your own setup - maybe it'll work great in your particular environment.
Wireless channels (2.4 and 5)
I've always left mine at the default since those work fine for me, but I'm in an uncongested area. If you are in a more congested area, it's definitely worth analyzing your overall local wireless environment to determine the best channel selections for you, but that's good advice for setting up any router - Orbi or otherwise.
Good luck!
aaz
Jan 02, 2018Virtuoso
If you are running 2.1.1.16 without too many issues I would stay on that until they fix the device display issues.
As for settings, yes, enable all those options as they should give the most flexibiltiy. I think auto channel settings are just fine, but dependant on how heavility you are surrounded by other Wifi routers.
Daisy chaining is an option if you have a very long space to cover and the router is on one end and the two satellites are lined up so then the furthest satellite can connect to the in-between satellite if it cannot reach the router with its backhaul signal. For my space I have it off, but it should not hurty anything to have it enabled if the software is reliable - which I don't think it is at this point so you may need to make manual adjustments to get the most reliability from your Orbi.