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Forum Discussion
Does Orbi Use HT160 Larger Channel Widths?
What exactly are the capabilities of the Orbi system? I find their specs vague and misleading, but maybe that’s just me. For example, I have Spectrum Gig service, 940Mbps wired, and I am barely gettin...
Well, first, what speeds do you get connected directly to the modem when you do a speed test? Just because you're paying for gigabit internet, and ostensibly have a plan which provides it, doesn't mean you're actually getting it. Problems could include network congestion, an older modem that isn't capable of your plan's speeds, multiple devices using bandwidth at the same time (so, in aggregate, you'd be getting close to the full speed, but any single device could only be getting a fraction of it at any given time).
Second, you can do a wired speed test via the Orbi router. Ideally, you want the testing device to be the only one connected and using any bandwidth, so no other devices connected via ethernet, and no devices connected via wifi. But you should get very comparable results doing wired speedtests when both connected directly to the modem and conected (via ethernet) to the router.
Third, you do a wireless speedtest. But here, there may be some degradation. There's overhead for wifi, your results will depend on the distance between your router and device, what materials are in between (walls, floors, electrical wiring, pipes, ducts, furniture, appliances, people), and what other devices are causing radio interference (neighbors' routers on the same channel, sometimes microwaves, baby monitors, etc.).
If step one gives you good results, and step two is comparable, but three is much worse, you could try respositioning your router/satellite(s)/devices, try finding a channel with less interference and specifying it (as opposed to using auto channel selection), making sure your microwave isn't in use while running the test, etc. You could also look at the wireless settings in the Orbi, and maybe consider performing a factory reset, reconfiguring the Orbi and a single device, then running the speedtest again.
Tech specs are here and you should be able to get in excess of gigabit speeds both on the backhaul between router and satellite(s), and over the (wired or wireless) connection between your device and the Orbi, though this will, of course, depend on network conditions, how many other devices are connected, etc. But the system is capable of giving you the speed you want.
Thanks for the detailed response. I’m getting 940Mbps wired from the Spectrum modem. I’m testing with nothing else connected or taking up bandwidth. I reliably had a link speed WiFi connection between my laptop (Intel 9260ac WiFi card) and the Spectrum WiFi router of 867Mbps, with actual speed tests in the 650Mbps range. I purchased the Orbi to do better and it’s doing less, link speed connections are sub 750Mbps and actual speed tests are sub 500Mbps.
Most of your suggestions do not relate to the link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router. If the Wifi capabilities of the Orbi will only allow a max WiFi link speed connection of 867Mbps, the rest of the equation is moot. To do better than 867Mbps the Orbi has to be able to use the higher 5Ghz channel widths, of 80+80 or 160Mhz. I see no ability in the router settings to do this, at least not manually. Currently, it’s not doing this automatically either based on the sub 750Mbps link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router, sitting 8 feet away.
Unless the Orbi can be configured to give higher linkspeed connections by using the higher 5Ghz channel widths, the rest doesn’t matter.
Has anyone achieved higher than 867 Mbps link speed connections between their wireless devices and the Orbi router?
Most of your suggestions do not relate to the link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router. If the Wifi capabilities of the Orbi will only allow a max WiFi link speed connection of 867Mbps, the rest of the equation is moot. To do better than 867Mbps the Orbi has to be able to use the higher 5Ghz channel widths, of 80+80 or 160Mhz. I see no ability in the router settings to do this, at least not manually. Currently, it’s not doing this automatically either based on the sub 750Mbps link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router, sitting 8 feet away.
Unless the Orbi can be configured to give higher linkspeed connections by using the higher 5Ghz channel widths, the rest doesn’t matter.
Has anyone achieved higher than 867 Mbps link speed connections between their wireless devices and the Orbi router?
Ok, as best I can tell, the Orbi does not suport HT160, since it appears there are other Netgear routers that do, and the place where I think the setting would be visible on the Orbi (Advanced > Advanced Setup > Wireless Settings) doesn't show it as an option under either
Advanced Wireless Settings (5GHz 802.11a/n/ac) or MU-MIMO (which is where it, apparently, appears on some other Netgear routers).So, I think the short answer to your question is "no." I don't know whether this is a hardware limitation, where you would need to buy a different router, or if this is something that can either be enabled via the command line over telnet, or in future firmware updates.
ETA: I found reference to the HT160 setting on a different Netgear router here.
Orbi operates one fronthaul (client) network on the 2.4GHz band (with a 2x2 radio—two spatial streams up and two spatial streams down—offering speeds up to 400Mbps), one other fronthaul (client) network on the 5GHz band (with a 2x2 radio offering maximum speed of 866Mbps), and a second backhaul 5GHz network with a 4x4 radio offering maximum speed of 1733Mbps.
The maximum bandwidth of the used 5GHz channels in Orbi are 80 MHz (not 160 MHz as in routers supporting HT160).
Please see the table below. The -theoritically- possible fronthaul wireless speeds in Orbi are those that are in the red square (maximum of 2 spatial streams with maximum of 80 MHz bandwidth). The MCS value that your connection will get depens on how close or far you are from the router/satellite, the radio conditions among other things.
Spike13 wrote:
Thanks for the detailed response. I’m getting 940Mbps wired from the Spectrum modem. I’m testing with nothing else connected or taking up bandwidth. I reliably had a link speed WiFi connection between my laptop (Intel 9260ac WiFi card) and the Spectrum WiFi router of 867Mbps, with actual speed tests in the 650Mbps range. I purchased the Orbi to do better and it’s doing less, link speed connections are sub 750Mbps and actual speed tests are sub 500Mbps.
Most of your suggestions do not relate to the link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router. If the Wifi capabilities of the Orbi will only allow a max WiFi link speed connection of 867Mbps, the rest of the equation is moot. To do better than 867Mbps the Orbi has to be able to use the higher 5Ghz channel widths, of 80+80 or 160Mhz. I see no ability in the router settings to do this, at least not manually. Currently, it’s not doing this automatically either based on the sub 750Mbps link speed connection between the laptop and the Orbi router, sitting 8 feet away.
Unless the Orbi can be configured to give higher linkspeed connections by using the higher 5Ghz channel widths, the rest doesn’t matter.
Has anyone achieved higher than 867 Mbps link speed connections between their wireless devices and the Orbi router?Of course nobody has achieved greater link speeds than 867. Orbi is a 2x2 device with a maximum link speed of 867 Mbps. The most throughput I've seen with Orbi is about 630, under perfect conditions.
Your statement that you need 160 Mhz channel width for link rates higher than 867 is incorrect. What is needed is a 3x3 or higher radio. Very few APs, and even fewer client devices, support 160 MHz channel width at this point.
Orbi is designed to cover a large area with good speeds, not to provide maximum speed for a single client. It does a good job at what it's designed for. If you think you need 160 Mhz channel width, you need to buy something else.
- My understanding is that a 2x2 device like the Orbi can theoretically achieve Gigabit speeds over WiFi if it can handle HT160. This would seem to be confirmed by the table posted above. The other option as you mention is a 3x3 device over 80Mhz, which of course the Orbi is not.
None of the specs I’ve seen for the Orbi say much of anything about channel widths, so I had hoped using a 160Mhz channel width was possible. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s not the case, so for any others out there keep in mind the Orbi can only achieve a maximum theoretical link rate of 867Mhz so if your paying a premium for Gig service like I am this may not be the device for you.
Thanks to all for the feedback, very helpful.- And one more lesson learned...Spectrum’s RAC2V1 WiFi routers actually consistently give higher link rates than the Orbi router (867Mhz compared to ~667Mhz, at least when connecting with an Intel 9260 WiFi card), so if you’re looking for speed enhancements over what the stock spectrum equipment gives you the Orbi is not the answer, but it will provide the convenience of one network over a large area.
